Superblock error

[Dmayner]

I am kind of new to all of this, so I hope I can explain my situation well. I have been running 11.04 without any issues, but after I upgraded to 11.10 whenever I run fsck I get this error message "superblock last mount time is in the future." I have it do the fix but it always comes up with that message. I have checked and rechecked my system clock and it is on time. If I re-install 11.04 I do not get this message. Also, when I boot into the system restore it comes up read only and requires that I run fsck to fix the problem. When it fixes the issue it give me the normal options but will not properly run the check broken packages. Other than that 11.10 seems to run fine I am just not sure if I should be concerned with the error message and the other things I mentioned. Thanks for the help.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Superblock error

In a konsole or terminal, type:

cat /etc/default/rcS

Near the bottom there should be an entry for UTC=no

if it says UTC=yes, then you will need to change that to no.

You can use any text editor, but you will need to use sudo or kdesudo. If you need further help with it, please post back.

[Dmayner]

Re: Superblock error

Thanks for the reply. I checked the rcS file and it is set to UTC=no. I have also found that when I go to recovery mode it comes up in "Recovery mode (limited read-only menu). If I run fsck from there I also get this message: "[ 83.259454] Adding 521212k swap on /dev/sda6. Priority:-1 extents:1 across:521212k" It then gives me the Superblock message and claims to fix it. This happens every time I enter recovery mode. Any ideas? Thanks

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Superblock error

Hmm. Only thing I can think is that somehow your hardware clock has gotten out of sync.

From a terminal:

sudo hwclock -r && date

hwclock gives that time according to your hardware, while date give the time according to the operating system. They should be very close. If the hardware clock is way off, then you can set it to the system time with:

sudo hwclock -w

Worth a try.

[Dmayner]

Re: Superblock error

Thanks again. I ran the hwclock command and found it to be .01 sec. difference. I then ran the -w command and rebooted the computer, but still have the same message. So, I don't know. DO you have any ideas about the swap disk message? Thanks again.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Superblock error

The swap disk message is OK, that's what we would expect to see in a normal boot.

Which partition is giving the superblock error?

Please run and post the output of:

sudo fdisk -l

[Dmayner]

Re: Superblock error

Thanks for all this help. Here is the fdisk report:

Disk /dev/sda: 60.0 GB, 60022480896 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 7297 cylinders, total 117231408 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x9dc96e9e

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 63 80324 40131 de Dell Utility
/dev/sda2 * 80325 97688597 48804136+ 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3 97689598 117229567 9769985 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 97689600 116185087 9247744 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 116187136 117229567 521216 82 Linux swap / Solaris
dave@dave-Dimension-4550:~$

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Superblock error

Which partition is giving the superblock error? It should be teeling you /dev/sda6 or some similar thing.

[Dmayner]

Re: Superblock error

Sorry I missed that part of your question. Yes, it is sda6

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Superblock error

Sorry, nothing is jumping out at me right now. Everything looks as it should be.
Only thing left to suggest is Teunis' suggestion -- to get a liveCD or, even better, a Parted Magic cd, and try fixing it from that.

http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=start

[Dmayner]

Re: Superblock error

Thanks. I just downloaded pmagic. What is interesting is that there are two partitions I can't see/access sda1 and sda3. I tried to see them with dolphin but no luck. Do you have any ideas how I can gain access to them and see what is there?

[Snowhog]

Re: Superblock error

If you are in GParted, note the /dev enumerations for the partitions on your HDD, especially the one for SWAP, as it is the partition that is being reported with a bad superblock -- you may have a swap partition that was not cleaned upon shutdown.

Open a console and type:

swapoff -a /dev/sdxx

replacing sdxx with the designation show by GParted for your swap partition.
Then:

mkswap /dev/sdxx -L swap

replacing sdxx with the designation show by GParted for your swap partition.

Close out of GParted and boot normally into Kubuntu.

[doctordruidphd]

Re: Superblock error

sda3 is an extended partition, a placeholder, if you will, that sets aside space on the disk for the logical partitions sda5 and sda6. There is nothing in sda3 itself.

sda1 is a repair partition that probably holds a proprietary file format, and thus will not be visible to file system tools other than those used by Dell.

[Dmayner]

Re: Superblock error

Well, guys thanks for all the help, but I just accidentally wiped out the whole drive (don't ask). This really isn't a problem as I just use this computer to play with linux. So now it will be just linux with no window$. I will let you know if I still have that problem after a complete install and reformat. Thanks again.

[reiki]

Re: Superblock error

The Dell Utility partition is typically fat16 and the partition editor can manipulate it if you want to, but I've never tried mounting it and reading the files.

And I agree that if it's the swap partition causing the issue, get rid of it and recreate it..... moot point now if the OP wiped the entire drive