ext2 disk keeps trying to clean -> can´t mount -> stuck?!

[rafaelr]

i´ve been using my dns323 with stock fw for a couple of yrs, until the
dlna/upnp server didn´t work correctly with a couple of other devices
on my network. so i decided to give alt-f a try.
i copied the fun-plug and alt-f0.1b7.tar to my dns323 and rebooted.
after freeing up its memory i got alt-f to boot correctly and got into
the web menu.
there it immediately started trying to clean my disk, but apparently it
´s not successful, because nothing gets mounted afterwards and if i
try to do it manually in disk/filesystems all it does is trying to
clean it again(has done that 3 times so far).
so i´m getting kind of desperate...what are my options now?
i don´t want to lose my data(520gb, disk has 750 overall) but i still
want to use alt-f(seems to be pretty great from what i´ve read so
far).
i also can´t access the disk to copy anything to another drive since it
´s not mounted.
can i change the file system from ext2 to ext3 in the filesystem menu
without problems or will my data get wiped?
any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Joao Cardoso]

Converting implies a checking, so it will fail -- *don't* do that until the
fsck problem is solved.

The checking that is done is the automatic one (done by all linux systems on
boot), and if it fails then Alt-F should mount the filesystem in read-only
mode.
To see why that is not done, I need the log: go to System->Utilities->View
logs, select the System Log (the boot.log should also provide the fsck info
done at boot time), and then attach it.

Joao

[rafaelr]

>
> Converting implies a checking, so it will fail -- *don't* do that until the
> fsck problem is solved.
>
> The checking that is done is the automatic one (done by all linux systems on
> boot), and if it fails then Alt-F should mount the filesystem in read-only
> mode.
> To see why that is  not done, I need the log: go to System->Utilities->View
> logs, select the System Log (the boot.log should also provide the fsck info
> done at boot time), and then attach it.
>
> Joao
>

thanks alot for the answer!
first of all the logs:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=REZR8JAY (sorry can´t seem to upload them
here)

ok, while i was at work partition got mounted as read only. but what
can i do to change that so i can have rw?
still can´t access it from windows.

[rafaelr]

ok, got a bit further:
i started the smb server and now i have read access in windows for a
start
for how to get rw access i guess i better wait for your hints, don´t
want to break anything... :)

bes regards,rafael

[Joao Sousa Cardoso]

On Thursday, September 15, 2011 16:11:51 rafaelr wrote:
> > Converting implies a checking, so it will fail -- *don't* do that until
> > the fsck problem is solved.
> >
> > The checking that is done is the automatic one (done by all linux systems
> > on boot), and if it fails then Alt-F should mount the filesystem in
> > read-only mode.
> > To see why that is not done, I need the log: go to
> > System->Utilities->View logs, select the System Log (the boot.log should
> > also provide the fsck info done at boot time), and then attach it.
> >
> > Joao
>
> thanks alot for the answer!
> first of all the logs:
> http://www.megaupload.com/?d=REZR8JAY (sorry can´t seem to upload them
> here)

As you can see on the bottom of the system log, 'fsck', the program that does
the filesystem checking and fixing, gives some errors; the output is
truncated, but typically at the end it shows: "RUN fsck MANUALLY."

This means telnet or ssh the box, login as 'root' user, same password as the
web GUI page, and typing the commands:

umount /dev/sda2 # un-mounts the filesystem
fsck -f /dev/sda2 # force check and clean, questions asked

Probably tons of cryptic questions will be asked for each action, so if you
loose data it's your responsibility. The first time I used it, some 25 years
ago, I went through all questions, but after half an hour of answering 'yes' I
gave up, and since then I have been using, without data loss, the following
command instead:

fsck -fy /dev/sda2 # force check and clean, no questions asked, assume YES

If you want a progress bar, then use

fsck -fyC /dev/sda2 # same, with a progress bar

The fsck manual says: "For some filesystem-specific checkers, the -y option
will cause the fs-specific fsck to always attempt to fix any detected
filesystem corruption automatically. Sometimes an expert may be able to do
better driving the fsck manually."

At the end you have to mount the filesystem using the command

mount /dev/sda2

or use the web interface.

> i started the smb server and now i have read access
> in windows for a start

Now that you have access to your files using samba, you might want to do a
backup before running fsck.
Notice that the problem arose because the stock firmware does not do an
automatic fsck, and what could be a small problem at the beginning might have
been turned into a major one after using the filesystem for days or months
after the initial problem.
This "feature" of the stock firmware was the first motivation for Alt-F.

Joao

[rafaelr]

wow, thanks for taking the time for such a detailed answer!
gonna do as you suggested and backup the most important stuff before
the manual fsck.

[rafaelr]

well, everything seems to be running fine now.
got minidlna, transmission and automatic working too.
one last question, ist there any benefint/danger in switching the
filesystem from ext2 to ext3 or something else?

once again, thanks for the help, and for developing such a fine piece
of custom firmware!

[Joao Cardoso]

On Sep 17, 4:27 pm, rafaelr <r.reifeltsham...@gmail.com> wrote:
> well, everything seems to be running fine now.
> got minidlna, transmission and automatic working too.
> one last question, ist there any benefint/danger in switching the
> filesystem from ext2 to ext3 or something else?

ext3 has journaling, that provides more data security, as long as
regular fsck are done; the stock firmware also supports it, so you are
safe if you decide to return to it; it is slightly slower than ext2.

ext4 is not supported by the vendor's firmware, has better support for
big files and non-framentation. Current linux distributions use ext4.

You have a one-line description in the Disk->Wizard.

Disk data manipulation always has risks involved -- a power outage
occurring during the conversion, e.g., but I would say that it is
otherwise safe.

> once again, thanks for the help, and for developing such a fine piece
> of custom firmware!

Thanks

[wulb]

I have the same problem as rafaelr with fchk keeps running every time I restart, after installing ALT F on a CH3SNAS. I login with telnet to my nas, try to run unmount my drives, but I get the message that they cannot unmount because the drive is busy. Running fchk before unmounting seems like a bad idea. Any suggestions on how to unmount?

I tried to force unmount the disk, but then telnet (putty) closed and I was no longer able to access the Alt-f page, so I had to restart the NAS and now it is running fchk for the 6th time.  

[João Cardoso]

On Saturday, February 28, 2015 at 8:47:05 AM UTC, wulb wrote:

I have the same problem as rafaelr with fchk keeps running every time I restart, after installing ALT F on a CH3SNAS. I login with telnet to my nas, try to run unmount my drives, but I get the message that they cannot unmount because the drive is busy. Running fchk before unmounting seems like a bad idea. Any suggestions on how to unmount?

Easy way: Disk->Filesystem,  set '1' mounts under "Set mounted filesystems to be checked every" and reboot. at/before mount time the filesystem will be checked. You might have to reboot twice. Afterwards set the number of mount time/days to a sensible value

The reason why you can't unmount is  probably because Alt-F packages are installed on that filesystem.

And there is a recent topic about that subject, even with a suggestive name: FSCK on sda2 "couldn't unmount"

[Added]: you should afterwards convert ext2 to ext3 or ext4 (Disk->Filesystem), as otherwise a full fsck will be performed whenever there are problems (and ext2 will always be shown as Dirty in the Status page)