FSCK usage

[Mickv]

Hi, When running an fsck on Red Hat Linux, when I try to run:
fsck /dev/hda1
I get a warning message saying that it can cause severe damage to the file system.

What is the correct way to run it? Do I need to unmount the drive first?

Thanks,

[pbharris]

yes! unmount it that is.

[H. M. Murdock]

you dont need to totally umount it, but you do need to atleast remount it read-only so that while it is checking the filesystem, nothing can change anything on the disk and meess it up. Unmounting is the best option, but that is not always possible, especially if it is yopur root filesytem without booting from some sort of floppy.

Murdock

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In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.

[hambleto]

As Murdock said you can mount it in Read only. However from personal experience if you run fsck while mounted be prepared to have to fdisk the whole dir. I lost everything on one of my external drives by not unmounting the disk before running the util. Good luck