This is the strangest problem I have encountered to date but it appears my 2.6.10 kernel broke mkfs and grub. my system boots and runs flawlessly ,video and sound are fine, but when I tried to mke2fs /dev/hdc1 all I get is
mke2fs: no such file or directory trying to determine hardware sector size
if I use -V I get the message that it's using e2fs libraries version 1.35 and nothing more. If I try to format a FAT32 partition it says it cannot access the partition. I also cannot install grub to hdc or hdc1, the error message is that it read one of grub's files incorrectly. The only other clue I have is that hdc is a Compact Flash Card.
If I boot into kernel 2.4.26 everything works fine, so I'm thinking a missing module that needed to be compiled into the kernel - OR - something in kernel-init-utils or hdparm that is broken by the new kernel. I've googled this to death and so far not a clue that has panned out. Anyone with the slightest notion of what the problem could be or the wildest theory plz post here and thanx in advance.

SYSTEM: CV860A mainboard, 256mb Flashcard, 256mb RAM
Slackware 10 with kernel 2.4.26 and 2.6.10

Normally, you missed e2fs compabiltity, but that's very rare.

When you do a:

# make menuconfig (make xconfig could work as well),
go to
File Systems,
and check Second Extended fs (First sentence!). It normally shouldn't be a module! (Well, unless you're using an initfile, but normally one doesn't).
So, if there's an M, try change it to *.

Also,check the output of:
$ which mke2fs (I don't have one, it surprised me)
$ which mkfs.ext2
Normally these files are in /sbin/.

Be sure you're root (I think you are, just to be sure)

Be sure you got these libraries: (second column is where it should be on your file hierarchy, output of ldd /sbin/mke2fs, maybe your output is different, but it uses this libs on my machine

libext2fs.so.2 => /lib/libext2fs.so.2 (0x22f38000)
libcom_err.so.2 => /lib/libcom_err.so.2 (0x22f58000)
libblkid.so.1 => /lib/libblkid.so.1 (0x22f5b000)
libuuid.so.1 => /lib/libuuid.so.1 (0x22f63000)
libe2p.so.2 => /lib/libe2p.so.2 (0x22f67000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/libc.so.6 (0x22f6d000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 => /lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x22f14000

All rather trivial, so I wonder if it's of any help, but that's all I can think of.

All that checks OK.
I've statically compiled in everything (no M's in the menuconfig)
makes the kernel fairly large but I'm shooting for minimal filesystem, not kernel.
I've verified I can format a hard drive partition so it has to be something to do with
the compact flash card. The card in on a slot in the mainboard on the 2nd IDE bus,
and I can format it normally in kernel 2.4.26 but not in 2.6.10.
I didn't compile in JFS or XFS or anything like that - only ext2/3 and I also included
the modules/drivers for MTD's.
But so far I can only read the card, not format it.

I compiled in support of PCMCIA bus hoping that the problem is support for a PCMCIA > IDE bridge that connects this flashcard to the IDE bus on this mainboard. the error message has changed now so I must be on the right track -
mke2fs: No such file or directory while setting up superblock.

any other suggestions?
next I will compile in all the available drivers for pcmcia I guess

Either I've stumped everyone or no one has ever had this problem before. I have compiled in PCMCIA support and all drivers for PCMCIA, as well as JFFS and any MTD's and USB devices that would appear to have anything in common with the Compact Flash card on this mainboard. Still no change in the situation and I cannot format this flash card. I've also used my 2.4 .config file to create the new 2.6 .config to try and get anything that might be missing but no change either.

Now I'm wondering if there might be something that make modules_install is missing that is required for mkfs to work on the Flash Card hardware, but I don't have a clue yet what that might be. If I knew I could either compile it in or add it to /lib/modules/2.6.10 and modprobe it.

Any more suggestions or wild theories welcome here.

I have run strace on mke2fs /dev/hdc1 on both kernels and found one thing for certain, in kernel 2.4.26 (working) mke2fs opens /dev/hdc1 3 times. in 2.6.10 (failing) it fails to open /dev/hdc1 on the 2nd attempt. lsof doesn't show anything using /dev/hdc1 and why would this change with the kernel using the same version of e2fsprogs ?

God forbid anyone else should have to go through this again so here's the fix:

Using strace on badblocks I noticed that /usr/lib/gconv/gconv-modules.cache was missing - that comes from glibc using the program iconvconf - and that program was also missing. My glibc was 2.3.2 installed through Slackware Packages and should have been fine, but I installed glibc-2.3.3 using source, then ran iconvconfig and gconv-modules.cache reappeared. immediately I was able to format the CF card - so problem solved. Now I have a fully-functional 2.6.10 kernel

Nope, not fixed - the very next time I sat down at the machine and booted into kernel 2.6.10 it still will not fomat the CF card. Must have been my imagination.
Further research has shown that in dmesg ther is a set_drive_speed_status 0x51 DriveStatusError So it appears that there is a speed issue here, not a library or file issue.

Google has several hits for that type of error on CF cards, and some specifically with kernel 2.6.10 and Toshiba CF cards (what a coincedence ) But most of the "fixes" are missing from the pages

With this new information I'm hoping that someone may have an idea and will respond so that this thread will stop looking like my personal blog.

I had the same problem using kernel 2.6.8. By accident, I formated the flash card as /dev/hdc instead of /dev/hdc1. It worked. I cannot make partitions, but can format it.

It may be something connected to that the card is mistaken to a removable storage device, like a floppy....Just an idea.

I'll be damned, that worked,
wonder why it makes you format it as /dev/hdc instead of /dev/hdc1 ??