Re: making bootup fsck more user-friendly
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On 2008-06-13 11:25, David wrote:
> Hi list.
>
> I already checked this problem with Google and with my LUG, and would
> like to ask on this mailing list before I fire off a bunch of feature
> requests in the Debian BTS.
>
> ===== FROM MAIL TO MY LUG =====
>
> I've tried Googling for this but haven't found much info, so asking here.
>
> Every X days or Y reboots, Linux (on my home PC, which I boot & shut
> down 2x each day) wants to scan partitions for errors at startup.
> While this is a bit annoying (can't use the PC for 10-20 minutes), I
> usually let it finish and read a book while waiting.
read 'man tune2fs' for some tips for setting interval and mount count to
something that better meets your needs.
> But at other times I want to use the PC quickly for something, and
> waiting for fsck to finish isn't an option. The problem is, hitting
> Ctrl+C in the middle of boot fsck leaves your root partition in
> read-only mode, and the machine has a lot of boot problems, and takes
> a long time. I've tried this a few times this morning when I was in a
> hurry (reboot, ctrl+c during fsck, hit boot problems so reboot again),
> but in the end was forced to let fsck finish.
Ctrl-C worked without problems the last time I tried on my debian lenny.
> Is there a way to interrupt the bootup fsck 'cleanly', so that it will
> remount read/write, and retry the next time you boot?
Works for me on lenny.
> Even better would be a way to get fsck to run in the background after
> you're already logged into KDE.
Does not work cleanly, because the filesystem has to be unmounted for
fsck'ing properly.
Maybe not to actually fix problems (I
> understand this is hard to do in r/w mode, while being actively used,
> for technical reasons), but at leat to flag them for the next 'real'
> fsck so they can be checked and fixed quickly then if they aren't
> bogus...
>
> Any suggestions?
Set your mount count and intervals apropriately for your needs. You
could also fsck manually (shuttdown's -F option), whenever it suits you,
eg. disable automatic checking and only check manually.
It all depends on how important your data are and how good your backups!
There are other OSs that don't have regular automatic file system
checks. On the other hand, I've never lost any data on a linux box
without hardware defects, while I've often seen data loss on Wind0w$,
even though the hard disk still worked after a repartitioning. YMMV.
> I researched the options they mentioned, and I'm not happy with the
> situation (at least with Debian Unstable, I don't use Ubuntu).
>
> I want to submit these feature requests, but first I'd like some
> feedback from this list before I do so:
>
> sysvinit:
>
> - When it's time (during startup)to run a full fsck, give the user a
> few seconds to hit ESC before running them
>
> - /sbin/shutdown allows the user to (any of these would help):
> * Force a fsck during the restart (-rF), and then to shut down the system.
Does not work for me, because I want to shut down the computer
completely, not just waste all that power with standby mode. I.e. if you
want to turn off the power supply completely, shutdown is not enough,
YOU have to switch off manually.
> * Force a fsck during shutdown, after drives have been unmounted
> + But only if an fsck is due the next time the machine boots?
Won't work, IIRC. Even the autofsck you mention checks after boot not
before shutdown.
> e2fsprogs:
>
> - fsck allows the user to abort cleanly with ESC (fsck will be
> retried on the next boot)
Works with Ctrl-c (the last time I tried on lenny).
> - ability for a readonly fsck on a r/w filesystem to gather info to
> make a later fsck on the filesystem as r/o to find and fix problems
> faster.
Do you have some technical expertise on how to implement this? I doubt
that the ext3 developpers overlooked that, if there was a good technical
solution....
YMMV, take care,
Johannes
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