LinuxQuestions.org

LinuxQuestions.org (/questions/)
-   Linux - Newbie (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/)
-   -   Improper shutdown question... (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/improper-shutdown-question-450655/)

TippyToes 06-01-2006 02:16 PM

Improper shutdown question...
 
Greetings

No modern operating system (Windows, Linux, etc) likes to be shut down improperly which is why you should always shut it down from the start/system menu but what happens when you have multiple power outages, crashes, programs freeze up, etc over a period of weeks or months and you have no other choice but to just shut your computer off at the switch (manually)?.

In cases like this, would it be better to simply hit the "reset" button on the front of your PC or does'nt it matter?.

How do you "gracefully" recover from crashes/freezes/outages without corrupting your OS and ending up with all kinds of errors (ie; kernel panic, bad_geometry, disk error, etc) until it is so screwed up that it is no longer bootable and you have to start all over again with a complete reinstallation?.

Also, is there someway to whip your system back into shape after such crashes or some way of running an integrity check and correcting any/all problems?. I just hating having to do fresh installs every month or so.

Incidentally, I'm using Fedora Core 5 w/Gnome. Thank's for any assistance I can get on this (I really do appreciate it!).

- Regards, TT

david_ross 06-01-2006 02:24 PM

In the case of a hard freeze you would be much better using the reset button than a hard power off as it shouldn't damage the hardware. If you have multiple freezes or kernel panics then I'd seriously look into why this is happening as in theory it shouldn't happen at all.

If you have frequent power problems then put a UPS in place, even a cheap ups with surge protection will get you over most power glitches except prolonged outages.

Fedora should check it's filesystems automatically after a crash but if you want to run a manual check then fsck is the tool you are after. Some other services may require additional checks at an application level. Databases are a good example, the tools will obviously vary on the server and backend.

TippyToes 06-01-2006 02:36 PM

Thank you. Your information was very helpful and makes a lot of sense. I will use the "reset" button from now on but will this do a better job of preventing the OS from becoming corrupt than simply using the off button?.

Also, I su'd into root and typed "fsck" and nothing happened so next, I searched for "fsck" in the package manager. Still nothing. How do I go about obtaining this tool and does it have a frontend/GUI?.

Thank's again for your help.

- Regards, TT

david_ross 06-01-2006 03:03 PM

The reset button shouldn't make any difference to the OS becomming corrupt however it should greatly reduce the chance of any physical damage to your disks and in turn reduce the chance of data loss.

I've not used any frontends for fsck. I'd be surprised if it isn't installed. When you su try using "su -" to load a complete root session which should add additional paths to your $PATH variable.

The man page has all the details "man fsck". Make sure you have the filesystems unmounted when you check/repair it though.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:01 AM.