[SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

[Telengard]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

I didn't expect to be given a link or told to read the man page in response to my question. Sorry I wasn't specific about that.

It just seems to me that the HowTos we have in this community are a good way to introduce inexperienced users to unfamiliar concepts. Man pages are great, and I would not want to do without them, but for someone new to Kubuntu who has an urgent need the man page can seem too intimidating. IMHO the benefit of being in a community is introducing each other in a more gentle way to aspects that we might struggle to learn on our own.

Sure, I can read the man page and search the web. I can write HowTos about problems I've solved for myself. But I haven't yet solved any problems with tune2fs, whereas some of you apparently have. That was the spirit of my request.

Thanks for your response.

[Snowhog]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

Don't take this the wrong way, as it isn't intended as a rebuff or a dig to your comments. Providing links to solutions is what many of us do. It's quick. It's simple. And, contrary to what you might think or believe, some of us don't *know* the how of the information provided, but rather, have the ability to locate the (possible) answers. Given this latter position, you would be asking us to 'learn' the solution so we can tell you. Why would we/I want to take the time that you/others should take for themselves?

Okay, off my soapbox. Again, no rebuff or dig intended. I honestly hope none was received.

[askrieger]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

I installed and set up autofsck earlier this evening. In order to test it I turned off my computer. It did, indeed, run an fsck on shutdown. The interesting point is that it is STILL ver. 3.2-1. This would imply that it is not maintained. I'll let you know about a month from now whether it repeats this behavior.

@Ole Juul: Personally, I've never (well, hardly ever) used touch for anything other than creating empty files.

[Ole Juul]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

@Snowhog: Sorry, I got out of sync there. Thanks for that old link. It explains clearly what other sites don't:

If a file named /fastboot exists, fsck will not be run on the next boot;
useful when you're going to give a presentation.

If a file named /forcefsck exists, the file system will be checked at the
next boot, resetting the 30-mount count.

BTW, checking a Kubuntu 9.04 machine here. The count is 29 on root and 33 on /home. Neither the / or the /home settings are 30.

askrieger: Personally, I've never (well, hardly ever) used touch for anything other than creating empty files.

Interesting. I've used some version for years in DOS, but never for that. I don't think any of them do it.

Hang on! I just tried it with my current favourite (in dos) and it says "file not found, create it [n,y?]n". Haha . . . well, I never ...

[Ole Juul]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

. . . Sure, I can read the man page and search the web. I can write HowTos about problems I've solved for myself. But I haven't yet solved any problems with tune2fs, whereas some of you apparently have. That was the spirit of my request. . . .

I'm with you. Every HowTo is different and many don't do the trick for any one person. An example is me ignoring how to use touch for forcing fsck because they left out what to me was essential information needed to make sense of the situation. That last link from Showhog was bang on, many others were just noise. Yes, we can always use another HowTo, and it's amazing what we learn by following along with other people's problems here in these forums.

Regarding tune2fs, I wrote up the little bit that I got straight, in the hopes that it would fall on the right ears at some point. I too would like to get a grip on other functionality of the program, but am (not yet) qualified because I don't have the foggiest.

[Snowhog]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

BTW, checking a Kubuntu 9.04 machine here. The count is 29 on root and 33 on /home. Neither the / or the /home settings are 30.

I believe that counting for fsck starts from zero. So, integer 29 would be the thirtieth mount.

[Ole Juul]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

BTW, checking a Kubuntu 9.04 machine here. The count is 29 on root and 33 on /home. Neither the / or the /home settings are 30.

I believe that counting for fsck starts from zero. So, integer 29 would be the thirtieth mount.

No. This is the default that the system installed for 9.04. I didn't change it. For example the output for root is:

Mount count:       10
Maximum mount count:   29

For /home it is:

Mount count:       31
Maximum mount count:   33

The Mount count is what you are talking about, and the one to change if one wants to fsck on the next boot. In this case change root to 29 or greater, and /home to 33 or greater.

When I reset my own computer's root partition it went back to 1 - so that 's where it starts. It had a default maximum mount count of 30 on that partition. It was also set for 30 on the other 3 partitions. Obviously 8.04 is different from 9.04.

It makes sense to have different maximum mount count numbers when there are different partitions. Perhaps also for different uses of the computer. The 9.04 install was done with a separate root and /home partition. Perhaps if only one partition was used the default install would have set the maximum mount count to 30.

Edit: I just rebooted the 9.04 installation and both partitions reset the "Mount count" to 1.

[kubicle]

Re: [SOLVED] How to control fsck on reboot

It makes sense to have different maximum mount count numbers when there are different partitions.

The rationale could be that with these numbers you only rarely get all your filesystems automatically checked on the same boot (of course the downside is that you'll get more frequent checks).