From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Aug 22 08:29:21 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 351B31065673 for ; Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:29:21 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from olli@lurza.secnetix.de) Received: from lurza.secnetix.de (unknown [IPv6:2a01:170:102f::2]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 999808FC25 for ; Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:29:20 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from olli@lurza.secnetix.de) Received: from lurza.secnetix.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by lurza.secnetix.de (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id m7M8T5nZ048762; Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:29:05 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from oliver.fromme@secnetix.de) Received: (from olli@localhost) by lurza.secnetix.de (8.14.2/8.14.2/Submit) id m7M8T5Is048761; Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:29:05 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from olli) Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:29:05 +0200 (CEST) Message-Id: <200808220829.m7M8T5Is048761@lurza.secnetix.de> From: Oliver Fromme To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG, Polytropon In-Reply-To: <20080822021926.d2d9ee0f.freebsd@edvax.de> X-Newsgroups: list.freebsd-questions User-Agent: tin/1.8.3-20070201 ("Scotasay") (UNIX) (FreeBSD/6.3-STABLE (i386)) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-2.1.2 (lurza.secnetix.de [127.0.0.1]); Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:29:05 +0200 (CEST) Cc: Subject: Re: Again: fsck_ffs memory requirements X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG, Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:29:21 -0000 Polytropon wrote: > Allthough fsck_ffs 5 does seem to be able to calloc() the needed > memory, it fails with the same message as fsck_ffs 7: > > fsck_ffs: bad inode number 306176 to nextinode > > Don't know what to do next. I may gather all information I > have, write al little "story" and bring this topic up here > next week. Maybe someone has better ideas than me. Unfortunately fsck isn't able to cope with any arbitrary level of damage. If certain kinds of unexpected problems occur, it throws in the towel. In theory it might be possible to deal with your particular problem, but nobody has implemented it in fsck yet. Someone with intimate knowledge of UFS2 might be able to help you, possibly using fsdb(8), but this requires direct access to the file system image and is beyond what can be done through a mailing list. Usually such services cost money. (The price to pay for not having backups.) You might also have success using one of the various recovery or forensic toolkits out there, e.g. sleuthkit (it's in ports). > > PS: Better make good backups next time. > > More precise: Better make _at least any_ backups. :-) More than > 5 years without any (!) problem with FreeBSD and now this stupid > problem... :-( Well, there's nothing an OS can do against hardware failure (such as a crash because of power loss). Such failures can cause arbitrary damage to mass storage, especially if the power failure happens in the middle of writing a track, and especially when using "consumer grade" disks. Disks are cheap these days. Cheaper than your valuable data. So, a simple way to make backups is to buy an external disk (USB2, Firewire/IEEE1394, eSATA, or even a hot-swappable PATA drive tray), sync your system to it once per week, and store it in a safe place. If you're paranoid, then use two such disks alternating, so you have one good (safe, i.e. disconnected) copy at every point in time. If you're even more paranoid, store multiple backup disks in different places (e.g. one at home at one at your office, or at a friend's place, or even in a safe deposit box at your bank company), so you still have a good backup if your house burns down or an alien space ship crashes on it. Best regards Oliver -- Oliver Fromme, secnetix GmbH & Co. KG, Marktplatz 29, 85567 Grafing b. M. Handelsregister: Registergericht Muenchen, HRA 74606, Geschäftsfuehrung: secnetix Verwaltungsgesellsch. mbH, Handelsregister: Registergericht Mün- chen, HRB 125758, Geschäftsführer: Maik Bachmann, Olaf Erb, Ralf Gebhart FreeBSD-Dienstleistungen, -Produkte und mehr: http://www.secnetix.de/bsd Python is executable pseudocode. Perl is executable line noise.