Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!maytag!watvlsi!jabarby
From: jabarby@watvlsi.waterloo.edu (Jim Barby)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mips
Subject: Re: root file system not checked on reboot
Message-ID: <4533@watvlsi.waterloo.edu>
Date: 2 Aug 89 11:43:10 GMT
References: <4529@watvlsi.waterloo.edu> <24497@abbott.mips.COM>
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 28

In article <24497@abbott.mips.COM>, rogerk@mips.COM (Roger B.A. Klorese) writes:
> In article <4529@watvlsi.waterloo.edu> peregier@watvlsi.waterloo.edu (Phil Regier) writes:
> >How a command like fsstat can determine when a root file system needs
> >checking without actually running fsck is beyond me.
> 
> It does some of the preliminary work of fsck.  It checks for a superblock, and
> tests the BFS_CLEAN and BFS_MOUNT bits.  As BFS_CLEAN is set by fsck, and
> reset by mount if it discovers that it was mounted at the time the system 
> went down, this is being used to predict the cleanness of the filesystem.
> 
> The logic seems to be that the only way to have a damaged filesystem if it
> was dismounted cleanly would be if something scribbled on the unmounted
> device file.
> -- 
> ROGER B.A. KLORESE      MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.      phone: +1 408 720-2939

Roger, is the root filesystem not an unmounted filesystem (ie always
there)?  If so, the above logic just does not wash.

In the case Phil mentioned, the root filesystem was corrupted at the
MIPS plant.  That is MIPS shipped a hot disk that had not been fsck'd
properly.


-- 
	Jim Barby  (U of Waterloo VLSI Group, Waterloo Ont.)
	jabarby@watvlsi.waterloo.{cdn,edu,bitnet}
	jabarby@watvlsi.uwaterloo.ca