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Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!uunet!shelby!agate!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!rayssd!icus!limbic!gil
From: gil@limbic.UUCP (Gil Kloepfer Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.att,unix-pc.general
Subject: Re: 3b1 40meg disk woes: Help
Summary: Could be in /etc/rc
Message-ID: <489@limbic.UUCP>
Date: 9 May 89 04:26:04 GMT
References: <3961@emory.mathcs.emory.edu> <17513@cup.portal.com> <2947@ihuxy.ATT.COM> <586@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> <17733@cup.portal.com> <1989May5.150438.13740@ziebmef.uucp> <480@becker.UUCP>
Reply-To: gil@limbic.UUCP (Gil Kloepfer Jr.)
Organization: ICUS Software Systems, Islip, NY
Lines: 32

In article <480@becker.UUCP> bdb@becker.UUCP (Bruce Becker [and others]) write:
>	The main problem seems to be that fsck *always* runs
>	twice at reboot time. I'm not sure why that is, but I
>	seem to recall that it did not happen "at the beginning",
>	but started happening fairly early on.

If you look at the stock /etc/rc in the UNIX-pc, I believe that it
redirects the output from fsck to a file called /etc/.lastfsck.  If
this is the case, the fsck is writing to the filesystem while it is
being checked, which is not a real good idea.  If there are enough
"possible file size errors", it might be enough to fill the file beyond
a physical disk block and cause the machine to be rebooted and fsck'd
again.  This would be because the fsck found a file (/etc/.lastfsck)
become "sick" on the root filesystem while it was doing the fsck.

To solve this problem, you could redirect the fsck output to a window (which
you may not see in time).  You could also make the fsck execute in non-
windowed mode (like I do) without the -y option so that any problems in
the filesystem can be modified individually before rebooting.  This does
take some practice and understanding about the filesystem, but I've seen
many a UNIX-pc get munged by fscks gone berzerk.  In any event, to use the
/etc/fsck in non-windowed mode, you have to do the fsck before loading the
window driver at boot time .. this means modifying your /etc/rc file.
If you don't feel comfortable doing this, then don't.

There could be some other reason for the multiple-reboot...this is but
one.

-------
| Gil Kloepfer, Jr.
| ICUS Software Systems/Bowne Management Systems (depending on where I am)
| {decuac,boulder,talcott,sbcs}!icus!limbic!gil   or    gil@icus.islp.ny.us