FSCK 1.40.2 /Dev/Sda1 contains a fle system with errors, check forced:::::::::::
/Dev/Sda1/:::::::::::::::
an automatic file system check (fsck)of the root system failed..(fail)
a manual fsck should be performed, then the system restarted.
the fsck should be performed in maintenance mode with the root file system mounted in read-only mode.
the root file system is currently mounted in read-only mode.
a maintenance shell will now be started.after performing system maintenance, press control-D to terminate the maintenance shell+restart the system.

ok i use linux firefox ubuntu and i really dont have a clue what to do or how to perform any hardcore technical stuff but i can follow directions if given.

i was perusing a website last week and some goon had done a link to something funny.

funny thing is it wasnt my pc crashed and wont get past the above screen no matter what keys i hit.

please help me out as i have 60 gb of family pics stored on the harddrive so really want to keep them if possible and hopefully i can get my pc upand running again.

ps ive bought a new pc so have access.

thanks in advance linux folks..

dellboy

I think you need to disable auto fsck check. Edit your /etc/fstab file... like following.

That zero will turn automatic fsck check off... Then copy all your things safely and with rescue disc (if u can do it) fsck and fix errs... :-)

when you are dropped to the shell, type
fsck /dev/sda1/
then
press control-D

What I would do is get a live CD and boot your system with a live CD. You could try your Ubuntu install CD ( or DVD ), or get a good distro like Knoppix.

Basically, you do not want the file system mounted as it is being checked, and hopefully fixed. What is happening as you boot your system, is, the root file system on /dev/sda1 gets mounted, and now it is trying to fix itself. This can lead to problems. You want it unmounted, so the fixing system can read and write any part of the failing partition.

Since you have data you want to recover, and another system, a live CD like Knoppix will allow you to boot, and mount partitions in read only mode. You could set up a network connection to another system, and copy your files, all while /dev/sda1 is corrupt. I would guess your files you need to save are not on /dev/sda1. ( at least they should not be ).

Once you back up those files, then try running fsck. You can run it on one partition at a time, in interactive mode. ( -r option ) ( see the man page for all options ). You will be able to find man pages online, or from a live CD like Knoppix.

You did not tell us what file system type /dev/sda1 is. You can find out you can look in /etc/fstab on /dev/sda1. It will tell you each fs type for each partition. Each file system type has different checkers, and different options. There are man pages for each one.

What ever you do, do not panic, and try to re-instll, until you have recovered your data. As long as your data is not on /dev/sda1, you should be able to recover it, then try to fix. If all attempts to fix fail, then I would re-install, but do not format any other partition during install. Just install to dev/sda1 do not format other partitions. You can control all that through the installers. I have upgraded many times, and never have I had to reformat /home. It will be there in tack when you re-boot. Hope this helps. Post your questions.

Perhaps in the future you could consider a good backup strategy.

Do a "shutdown -rF now". The "F" forces an fsck at bootup.
You shouldn't edit your /etc/fstab to disable the fsck with a 0.

There is already a fsck at startup

But it failes

If you want to play it safe, take out the hard drive and put it in your new computer so you can copy the pictures. When you restore the drive to the proper computer, you'll have a lot less to worry about as you will at least have a back-up.

wow what a response a very big thanks to you all for your advice and comments but like i said im pretty clueless so the easiest option would be to hard drive into my new pc and copy files etc.

so am i correct assuming that it isnt the hard drive and maybe the registry or motherboard thats at fault.

dont laugh at my assumptions as im not a pc technohead far from it and out of curiosity how do you understand all this stuff is there a forum for complete idiots like myself or maybe some magazine.


many thanks again folks ya sure know what your taking about unlike me

lol

dellboy

From what you have said, I suspect you have little or no experience here. Moving a drive sounds simple, a lot depends on what you know. If both systems have IDE drives, ( by far the most common ), then you have to look after the jumpering on the drive you move. A system with one drive will be on the primary IDE bus and jumpered as master. To move a drive like this, to a system with a primary master, you can either jumper the drive as slave, OR plug it to the secondary bus. What you do is your choice, and depends on the cables that are in the machine you move it to. Some systems are el-cheapos, and do not have the necessary cables. So, you need to remove covers, and look first. You also need to locate spare power plugs in the target system.

If this scares you, then use the live CD, boot it, create the network connection, and copy the files. Much safer, unless you know the hardware, and you know what you are doing. It may take some time, to learn a few things, but there is no panic, you can ask questions, learn as you go.

Not necessarily. What you described in your first post sounded more like a software writing to disk type error. What caused it you may never discover. I would encourage you to format the partition, and try the drive again, after you copy your data off. I have a Think-pad, that is five years old that looked like the drive was going south under windoze XP. It was the wifes machine. I bought her a new one for her birthday. Blew away windoze, installed Mandriva 2009, and it works like a charm. Don't assume it is a hardware failure, it could be, but until you give it another try, I would not conclude that.

I'm not laughing.... I know all too well there are lots of people how are not all that well versed on hardware and software. I was an instructor for over 20 years, teaching hardware, and more recently, taught PC how to fix courses. ( hardware and software ).

thanks again folks you sure know youre stuff.

like camorri mentioned i have no experience of linux and only basic experience of pc's

the reason i had linux as the os was i have a dell desktop and allegedly the motherboards are prone to messing up therefore you cannot use windows xp which was the installed system.

my friend who btw passed away early this year was a whizzkid at cpmputers and had a server as his home pc with 8 x 80gb hd's so he reformatted my harddrive and plonked it back into my system-nothing whatsoever so showed me it was formatted and running xp when he plonked it into one of his hd slots on his server.

the only option was linux which btw is superb no crap pop ups adaware etc etc etc.


consequently as my friend is no longer with us im in a bit of a rut.

i can do the harddrive into new pc thats no problem done it before but ideally i prefer not to start taking the systems to bits.

so in laymans terms what exactly would i have to do once ive switched on my knackered pc.


i really do mean laymans terms like type this that or whatever.

all your info is really appreciated but to technical unless its in basic terminology-i hope its not already.

lol

again a big thanks and ill keep you uipdated on my progress if i have simplified instructions.

ps i can do a very neat bit of coded TIG welding btw somehow i dont think this will help me

dellboy

If you can move the hard drive to another machine, is that other machine a linux based system? This matters, if it is a windows machine, windows will not be able to read and write your linux file system.

In other words, if that system is windoze, don't bother. If it is linux, go ahead. Let me know which the OS the other system is. What we do will depend on that.

crap my new machine os is windows vista and tbh its way faster in everyway than my 3 year old dell yet the net connection page loading speed is 100mbps which is sh*te slow imho.


my virgin account for browdband is 2gb if im not mistaken so surely this isnt right.

dellboy

By far, the safe way out for your data is to get a linux boot CD, as I suggested before. Knoppix is the best. Since you have a machine that works ( your Vista box ) down load the latest Knoppix CD image and burn it to a CD. There are instructions on this board on how to burn the ISO image.

Go here -->http://iso.linuxquestions.org/knoppix/knoppix-5.1.1/

and download Knoppix 5.1.1 iso file. Note the md5sum string of hex characters. Write that string down, it matters.

Go to this link -->http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/answers/LQ_ISO

There are several set of instructions on how to burn the file you downloaded. If you follow the instructions, you will have a bootable CD with Knoppix 5.1.1 on it. This is an invaluable tool.

Put it in your broken machine. You will need to set the BIOS to boot from the CD drive. That is set in the BIOS. When you turn the machine on, there should be a prompt that is there for a short period of time that tells you how to enter the BIOS setup program. In there is an option on what device to boot from first, second third. Set the CD-rom as first, HDD as second. I leave my machines that way.

Once that is set, save your settings. Put the Knoppix CD in the drive. Boot it. You should see a Knoppix image appear. Press enter, with any luck your system will boot. Get that far, if you can. Let me know what happens. Once you have that machine booted, we can rescue your data, and copy all your files over to your Vista machine.

nothing wont allow me to change itll only allow me to change cd drive to boot from 1st then if i try hd to 2nd it just changes cd back to 2nd


DOH

happy new year to you all btw

dellboy