[gentoo-user] Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[gentoo-user] Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

Hi,



I need some urgent help...



The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored 
on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
is ext4.

Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times I
removed the sdcard, put it in a card reader and did an
ext4.fsck on it.

"Clean" was the result.

Then I forced a check with "-f -p".

The result was:

    solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
    rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.  

    rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
        (i.e., without -a or -p options)
    [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2


Return code 4 means

    4    - File system errors left uncorrected

which indicates nothing and all at the same time.


At this point I started to write this mail.

Before I fscked the sdcard I mounted the FS and tar'ed everything on
it into a backup file.

The tar process did not return an error.

Since it costs A LOT OF TIME to compile everything from source on a 
1GHz CPUed embedded system natively - and for abvious different other 
reasons - I am very interested in doing the next steps correctly.

What can I do to eliminate the problem without data loss (best
case) or to save the most while knowing what and where the corrupted 
data are located on the system?

Thank you very much in advance for any help!

Best regards,
mcc

Re: [gentoo-user] Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Pandu Poluan]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1605 bytes --]

On Sep 2, 2013 11:16 PM, <meino.cramer@gmx.de> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
>
>
> I need some urgent help...
>
>
>
> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> is ext4.
>
> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times I
> removed the sdcard, put it in a card reader and did an
> ext4.fsck on it.
>
> "Clean" was the result.
>
> Then I forced a check with "-f -p".
>
> The result was:
>
>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.
>
>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
>
>
> Return code 4 means
>
>     4    - File system errors left uncorrected
>
> which indicates nothing and all at the same time.
>
>
> At this point I started to write this mail.
>
> Before I fscked the sdcard I mounted the FS and tar'ed everything on
> it into a backup file.
>
> The tar process did not return an error.
>
> Since it costs A LOT OF TIME to compile everything from source on a
> 1GHz CPUed embedded system natively - and for abvious different other
> reasons - I am very interested in doing the next steps correctly.
>
> What can I do to eliminate the problem without data loss (best
> case) or to save the most while knowing what and where the corrupted
> data are located on the system?
>
> Thank you very much in advance for any help!
>

I'm not really sure how to fix the corrupt fs, but don't forget to backup
the whole disk using dd

Rgds,
--

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Re: [gentoo-user] Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

Pandu Poluan <pandu@poluan.info> [13-09-02 18:40]:
> On Sep 2, 2013 11:16 PM, <meino.cramer@gmx.de> wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> >
> >
> > I need some urgent help...
> >
> >
> >
> > The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> > on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > is ext4.
> >
> > Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times I
> > removed the sdcard, put it in a card reader and did an
> > ext4.fsck on it.
> >
> > "Clean" was the result.
> >
> > Then I forced a check with "-f -p".
> >
> > The result was:
> >
> >     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.
> >
> >     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> >         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> >     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >
> >
> > Return code 4 means
> >
> >     4    - File system errors left uncorrected
> >
> > which indicates nothing and all at the same time.
> >
> >
> > At this point I started to write this mail.
> >
> > Before I fscked the sdcard I mounted the FS and tar'ed everything on
> > it into a backup file.
> >
> > The tar process did not return an error.
> >
> > Since it costs A LOT OF TIME to compile everything from source on a
> > 1GHz CPUed embedded system natively - and for abvious different other
> > reasons - I am very interested in doing the next steps correctly.
> >
> > What can I do to eliminate the problem without data loss (best
> > case) or to save the most while knowing what and where the corrupted
> > data are located on the system?
> >
> > Thank you very much in advance for any help!
> >
> 
> I'm not really sure how to fix the corrupt fs, but don't forget to backup
> the whole disk using dd
> 
> Rgds,
> --

Currently doing exactly this...

mcc

[gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[walt]

On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored 
> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> is ext4.
> 
> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times

Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?

I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
to check for bad blocks.  

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Francisco Ares]

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2013/9/2 walt <w41ter@gmail.com>

> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> > on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > is ext4.
> >
> > Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
>
> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
>
> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> to check for bad blocks.
>
>
Sorry if this is obvious, but did you try to boot using, for example, a
live CD?  Gentoo's live CD comes with a handful set of tools for quite a
good range of file systems, including ext4

Good luck
Francisco

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

Francisco Ares <frares@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> 2013/9/2 walt <w41ter@gmail.com>
> 
> > On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> > > on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > > is ext4.
> > >
> > > Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> >
> > Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> >
> > I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> > blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> > to check for bad blocks.
> >
> >
> Sorry if this is obvious, but did you try to boot using, for example, a
> live CD?  Gentoo's live CD comes with a handful set of tools for quite a
> good range of file systems, including ext4
> 
> Good luck
> Francisco

This is an embedded system. See my initial posting.

Best regards,
mcc

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored 
> > on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > is ext4.
> > 
> > Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> 
> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> 
> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> to check for bad blocks.  
> 

No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge ...).


I did the following now:
I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.

Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
already invalidated data?
Or whatelse could this indicate?

Best regards,
mcc

PS: What come mind just in this moment:
Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd somehow?

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[William Kenworthy]

On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored 
>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
>>> is ext4.
>>>
>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
>>
>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
>> to check for bad blocks.  
>>
> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge ...).
>
>
> I did the following now:
> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
>
> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> already invalidated data?
> Or whatelse could this indicate?
>
> Best regards,
> mcc
>
> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd somehow?
>
>
>
>
>

Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me on
solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
smaller SD cards with standard settings.

BillK

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> >> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> >>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored 
> >>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> >>> is ext4.
> >>>
> >>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> >> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> >>
> >> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> >> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> >> to check for bad blocks.  
> >>
> > No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge ...).
> >
> >
> > I did the following now:
> > I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> > I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> > I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
> >
> > Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> > indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> > already invalidated data?
> > Or whatelse could this indicate?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > mcc
> >
> > PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> > Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd somehow?
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> 
> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me on
> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> 
> BillK
> 
> 
> 

Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)


> >     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.
> >
> >     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> >         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> >     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >
> >

Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???

And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?

Best regards,
mcc

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[William Kenworthy]

On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
>> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
>>> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
>>>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
>>>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored 
>>>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
>>>>> is ext4.
>>>>>
>>>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
>>>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
>>>>
>>>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
>>>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
>>>> to check for bad blocks.  
>>>>
>>> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge ...).
>>>
>>>
>>> I did the following now:
>>> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
>>> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
>>> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
>>> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
>>> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
>>>
>>> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
>>> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
>>> already invalidated data?
>>> Or whatelse could this indicate?
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>> mcc
>>>
>>> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
>>> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd somehow?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me on
>> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
>> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
>>
>> BillK
>>
>>
>>
> Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
>
>
>>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
>>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.
>>>
>>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
>>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
>>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
>>>
>>>
> Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
>
> And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
>
> Best regards,
> mcc
>
>
>
>
>
df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
corrupting the FS.

No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
you re-format.

I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
have been fine ... so far :)

Billk

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Sep 3, 2013 10:51 AM, "William Kenworthy" <billk@iinet.net.au> wrote:
>
> On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:

--snip--

> >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me
on
> >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> >>
> >> BillK
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> >
> >
> >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list
found.
> >>>
> >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >>>
> >>>
> > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> >
> > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > mcc
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
> seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> corrupting the FS.
>
> No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
> ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
> you re-format.
>
> I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
> couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
> of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
> have been fine ... so far :)
>
> Billk
>
>

While you're considering of formatting the flash disk, consider also
whether ext3/4 is suitable.

When I first use Gentoo, I got bitten by inode exhaustion several times, so
I used an inode-less fs (reiserfs, to be precise).

I have no idea if reiserfs is suitable for a flash disk, though.

Rgds,
--

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[J. Roeleveld]

On Tue, September 3, 2013 04:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd somehow?

Yes, if you dd (or cp) the whole drive or just a partition, you can use
any other tool on the image.
That is how I recover pictures of memory cards after someone has pressed
the "format" option in the camera menu... ;)

--
Joost

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Francisco Ares]

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2013/9/3 William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au>

> On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> >> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> >>> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> >>>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> >>>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> >>>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> >>>>> is ext4.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> >>>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> >>>>
> >>>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> >>>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> >>>> to check for bad blocks.
> >>>>
> >>> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge ...).
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I did the following now:
> >>> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> >>> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> >>> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> >>> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> >>> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
> >>>
> >>> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> >>> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> >>> already invalidated data?
> >>> Or whatelse could this indicate?
> >>>
> >>> Best regards,
> >>> mcc
> >>>
> >>> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> >>> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd
> somehow?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me on
> >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> >>
> >> BillK
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> >
> >
> >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list
> found.
> >>>
> >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >>>
> >>>
> > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> >
> > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > mcc
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
> seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> corrupting the FS.
>
> No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
> ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
> you re-format.
>
> I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
> couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
> of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
> have been fine ... so far :)
>
> Billk
>
>
>
Just my  2 cents: while updating I think it would it be a good practice to
have some sort of external storage (even networked) and do a unionfs with
the working file system.  Some folders inside /usr use to keep almost half
(more, sometimes) of all files in my systems (like "/usr/portage" ,
"/usr/src" and "/usr/include" , which are not needed while not under system
maintenance).

Francisco

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

Francisco Ares <frares@gmail.com> [13-09-03 17:23]:
> 2013/9/3 William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au>
> 
> > On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> > >> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > >>> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> > >>>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > >>>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> > >>>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > >>>>> is ext4.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> > >>>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> > >>>>
> > >>>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> > >>>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> > >>>> to check for bad blocks.
> > >>>>
> > >>> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge ...).
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> I did the following now:
> > >>> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> > >>> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > >>> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> > >>> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > >>> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
> > >>>
> > >>> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> > >>> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> > >>> already invalidated data?
> > >>> Or whatelse could this indicate?
> > >>>
> > >>> Best regards,
> > >>> mcc
> > >>>
> > >>> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> > >>> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd
> > somehow?
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me on
> > >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> > >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> > >>
> > >> BillK
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> > >
> > >
> > >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list
> > found.
> > >>>
> > >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> > >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> > >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> > >
> > > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> > > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > mcc
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
> > seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> > corrupting the FS.
> >
> > No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> > the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
> > ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
> > you re-format.
> >
> > I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
> > couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> > cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
> > of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
> > have been fine ... so far :)
> >
> > Billk
> >
> >
> >
> Just my  2 cents: while updating I think it would it be a good practice to
> have some sort of external storage (even networked) and do a unionfs with
> the working file system.  Some folders inside /usr use to keep almost half
> (more, sometimes) of all files in my systems (like "/usr/portage" ,
> "/usr/src" and "/usr/include" , which are not needed while not under system
> maintenance).
> 
> Francisco

Hi Francisco,

GOOD point!
Only one thing "forbids" this:
I often commute between two places. I bought this little embedded
computer to do try this or that with it at both places. I have
internet access at both places but only at home there is my PC
with Gentoo Linux.
I dont want to miss Gentoo-hacking ;) at one of the places... :)

Best regards,
mcc

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

Pandu Poluan <pandu@poluan.info> [13-09-03 17:16]:
> On Sep 3, 2013 10:51 AM, "William Kenworthy" <billk@iinet.net.au> wrote:
> >
> > On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> 
> --snip--
> 
> > >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me
> on
> > >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> > >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> > >>
> > >> BillK
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> > >
> > >
> > >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list
> found.
> > >>>
> > >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> > >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> > >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> > >
> > > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> > > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > mcc
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
> > seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> > corrupting the FS.
> >
> > No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> > the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
> > ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
> > you re-format.
> >
> > I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
> > couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> > cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
> > of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
> > have been fine ... so far :)
> >
> > Billk
> >
> >
> 
> While you're considering of formatting the flash disk, consider also
> whether ext3/4 is suitable.
> 
> When I first use Gentoo, I got bitten by inode exhaustion several times, so
> I used an inode-less fs (reiserfs, to be precise).
> 
> I have no idea if reiserfs is suitable for a flash disk, though.
> 
> Rgds,
> --

Hi Pandu,

ext3/4 is what is recommended by www.beagleboard.org/Robert
Nelson/Angstrom Linux...but I have to confess that took this
as simply "given".

The other thing is: With sdcards one have to keep an eye on 
what part of the sdcard is written how often repeatedly, since
sdcards tends to wear out.

I read somewhere on the internet (dont remember where...sorry) that
Samsung has offered code  to the Linux kernel, which implements a
special FS especially suitable and made for sdcards. 

But I dont know its name and whether it is already available in
the kernel sources...

Best regards,
mcc

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 17:16]:
> On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> >> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> >>> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> >>>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> >>>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored 
> >>>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> >>>>> is ext4.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> >>>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> >>>>
> >>>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> >>>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> >>>> to check for bad blocks.  
> >>>>
> >>> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge ...).
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I did the following now:
> >>> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> >>> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> >>> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> >>> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> >>> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
> >>>
> >>> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> >>> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> >>> already invalidated data?
> >>> Or whatelse could this indicate?
> >>>
> >>> Best regards,
> >>> mcc
> >>>
> >>> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> >>> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd somehow?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for me on
> >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> >>
> >> BillK
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> >
> >
> >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.
> >>>
> >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> >>>
> >>>
> > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> >
> > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > mcc
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
> seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> corrupting the FS.
> 
> No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
> ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
> you re-format.
> 
> I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
> couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
> of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
> have been fine ... so far :)
> 
> Billk
> 
> 

df -i gives the following:

rootfs           971040 352208   618832   37% /
/dev/root        971040 352208   618832   37% /
devtmpfs          63420    434    62986    1% /dev
tmpfs             63456    389    63067    1% /run
shm               63456      1    63455    1% /dev/shm
cgroup_root       63456      6    63450    1% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/mmcblk0p1        0      0        0     - /boot


You mentioned rsync to backup...

I used 

    sudo tar cvf <backup file> <root of embedded system>

the rootfs has only one partition...

Is it alos ok to use tar or is there any drawback....?

Best regards,
mcc

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Alan McKinnon]

On 03/09/2013 18:06, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:

> 
> The other thing is: With sdcards one have to keep an eye on 
> what part of the sdcard is written how often repeatedly, since
> sdcards tends to wear out.
> 
> I read somewhere on the internet (dont remember where...sorry) that
> Samsung has offered code  to the Linux kernel, which implements a
> special FS especially suitable and made for sdcards. 
> 
> But I dont know its name and whether it is already available in
> the kernel sources...


F2FS perhaps? It's in the mainline kernel already.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2FS
http://www.linux.org/threads/flash-friendly-file-system-f2fs.4477/



-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Francisco Ares]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 4926 bytes --]

Em 03/09/2013 13:12, <meino.cramer@gmx.de> escreveu:
>
> William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 17:16]:
> > On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> > >> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > >>> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> > >>>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > >>>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> > >>>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > >>>>> is ext4.
> > >>>>>
> > >>>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> > >>>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> > >>>>
> > >>>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> > >>>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> > >>>> to check for bad blocks.
> > >>>>
> > >>> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge
...).
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> I did the following now:
> > >>> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> > >>> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > >>> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> > >>> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > >>> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
> > >>>
> > >>> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> > >>> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> > >>> already invalidated data?
> > >>> Or whatelse could this indicate?
> > >>>
> > >>> Best regards,
> > >>> mcc
> > >>>
> > >>> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> > >>> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd
somehow?
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for
me on
> > >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> > >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> > >>
> > >> BillK
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> > >
> > >
> > >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list
found.
> > >>>
> > >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> > >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> > >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> > >
> > > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> > > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > mcc
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
> > seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> > corrupting the FS.
> >
> > No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> > the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
> > ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
> > you re-format.
> >
> > I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
> > couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> > cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
> > of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
> > have been fine ... so far :)
> >
> > Billk
> >
> >
>
> df -i gives the following:
>
> rootfs           971040 352208   618832   37% /
> /dev/root        971040 352208   618832   37% /
> devtmpfs          63420    434    62986    1% /dev
> tmpfs             63456    389    63067    1% /run
> shm               63456      1    63455    1% /dev/shm
> cgroup_root       63456      6    63450    1% /sys/fs/cgroup
> /dev/mmcblk0p1        0      0        0     - /boot
>
>
> You mentioned rsync to backup...
>
> I used
>
>     sudo tar cvf <backup file> <root of embedded system>
>
> the rootfs has only one partition...
>
> Is it alos ok to use tar or is there any drawback....?
>
> Best regards,
> mcc
>
>
>

There are some parameters for creating a better backup archive using tar,
like --same-owner and --atime- preserve.

By the way, it would be an interesting project to export some folders on
your home computer using nfs, tuneling it through ssh, monting it locally
in your embedded computer, and applying an unionfs to the rootfs.  Just
dreaming, of course.

Góod luck
Francisco

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[meino.cramer]

Francisco Ares <frares@gmail.com> [13-09-04 02:08]:
> Em 03/09/2013 13:12, <meino.cramer@gmx.de> escreveu:
> >
> > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 17:16]:
> > > On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> > > >> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > >>> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> > > >>>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > >>>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> > > >>>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > > >>>>> is ext4.
> > > >>>>>
> > > >>>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> > > >>>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or poweroff?
> > > >>>>
> > > >>>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> > > >>>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c flag
> > > >>>> to check for bad blocks.
> > > >>>>
> > > >>> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge
> ...).
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> I did the following now:
> > > >>> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> > > >>> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > > >>> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> > > >>> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > > >>> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> > > >>> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> > > >>> already invalidated data?
> > > >>> Or whatelse could this indicate?
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Best regards,
> > > >>> mcc
> > > >>>
> > > >>> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> > > >>> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd
> somehow?
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for
> me on
> > > >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo on
> > > >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> > > >>
> > > >> BillK
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > > > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > > >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list
> found.
> > > >>>
> > > >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> > > >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> > > >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > > > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > > > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> > > >
> > > > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the files
> > > > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > > > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> > > >
> > > > Best regards,
> > > > mcc
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I have
> > > seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> > > corrupting the FS.
> > >
> > > No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> > > the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.  Once an
> > > ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed until
> > > you re-format.
> > >
> > > I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just emerge a
> > > couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> > > cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge numbers
> > > of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard settings
> > > have been fine ... so far :)
> > >
> > > Billk
> > >
> > >
> >
> > df -i gives the following:
> >
> > rootfs           971040 352208   618832   37% /
> > /dev/root        971040 352208   618832   37% /
> > devtmpfs          63420    434    62986    1% /dev
> > tmpfs             63456    389    63067    1% /run
> > shm               63456      1    63455    1% /dev/shm
> > cgroup_root       63456      6    63450    1% /sys/fs/cgroup
> > /dev/mmcblk0p1        0      0        0     - /boot
> >
> >
> > You mentioned rsync to backup...
> >
> > I used
> >
> >     sudo tar cvf <backup file> <root of embedded system>
> >
> > the rootfs has only one partition...
> >
> > Is it alos ok to use tar or is there any drawback....?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > mcc
> >
> >
> >
> 
> There are some parameters for creating a better backup archive using tar,
> like --same-owner and --atime- preserve.
> 
> By the way, it would be an interesting project to export some folders on
> your home computer using nfs, tuneling it through ssh, monting it locally
> in your embedded computer, and applying an unionfs to the rootfs.  Just
> dreaming, of course.
> 
> Góod luck
> Francisco

Hi Francisco,

as I understand the man page, --same-owner is only activ while
extracting a tar:

     --same-owner
              create extracted files with the same ownership

while extracting I always use

      --preserve
              like --preserve-permissions plus --same-order

. Atime setting is disabled via fstab on my embedded system for two
reasons:
Performance wise since any access to a file will trigger a write
action to the flash chip even when reading the file.
Any write action to a flash chip wear out the chip -- it has a limited 
number of write cycles.
I also disbaled atime on my PC for the first reason.

What makes the unionfs'ed nfs mount of my PC on the embedded system
interesting to you ?
(sorry if this question sounds bad/negative/... or so...its my limited
english. Its simply and only a question and the wish of getting more
infos... :)

Best regards,
mcc

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Francisco Ares]

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2013/9/3 <meino.cramer@gmx.de>

> Francisco Ares <frares@gmail.com> [13-09-04 02:08]:
> > Em 03/09/2013 13:12, <meino.cramer@gmx.de> escreveu:
> > >
> > > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 17:16]:
> > > > On 03/09/13 11:26, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > > > William Kenworthy <billk@iinet.net.au> [13-09-03 05:08]:
> > > > >> On 03/09/13 10:45, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > > >>> walt <w41ter@gmail.com> [13-09-03 04:15]:
> > > > >>>> On 09/02/2013 09:15 AM, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> > > > >>>>> The rootfs and $HOME of my embedded system is stored
> > > > >>>>> on a 16GB SD-card (about 5GB used, rest free). The FS
> > > > >>>>> is ext4.
> > > > >>>>>
> > > > >>>>> Since the system hangs for unknown reasons several times
> > > > >>>> Does it hang at a predictable point, like during boot, or
> poweroff?
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>>> I know almost nothing about SD cards (yet).  Do they develop bad
> > > > >>>> blocks like other storage media?  I notice fsck.ext4 has a -c
> flag
> > > > >>>> to check for bad blocks.
> > > > >>>>
> > > > >>> No, it hangs while compiling or while updateing (eix-sync; emerge
> > ...).
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> I did the following now:
> > > > >>> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.
> > > > >>> I made a backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > > > >>> I say "YES" to fsck to fix what it found.
> > > > >>> I made another backup of the all files from the bad fs with tar.
> > > > >>> I md5summed both tar archives and found them identical.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Now...is the conclusion correct, that the identical md5sum
> > > > >>> indicate, that the fixed error of the fs only had impact to
> > > > >>> already invalidated data?
> > > > >>> Or whatelse could this indicate?
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> Best regards,
> > > > >>> mcc
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>> PS: What come mind just in this moment:
> > > > >>> Can I ran fsck on an binary image of the fs which I made with dd
> > somehow?
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > >> Have you run out of inodes? - ext 4 has had very mixed success for
> > me on
> > > > >> solid state.  Running out of inodes is a real problem for gentoo
> on
> > > > >> smaller SD cards with standard settings.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> BillK
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > > Does this error message from fsck indicate that? I am really bad in
> > > > > guessing what fsck tries to cry at me ... ;)
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >>>     solfire:/root>fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > > > >>>     rootfs: Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked
> list
> > found.
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>     rootfs: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
> > > > >>>         (i.e., without -a or -p options)
> > > > >>>     [1]    18644 exit 4     fsck.ext4 -f -p /dev/sdb2
> > > > >>>
> > > > >>>
> > > > > Is there any way to correct the settings from the default values to
> > > > > more advances ones, which respect the sdcard size of 16GB *without*
> > > > > blanking it...a "correction on the fly" so to say???
> > > > >
> > > > > And if not: Is there a way to backup the sdcard and playback the
> files
> > > > > after reformatting it by preserving all three time stamps of the
> > > > > files (atime is deactivated via fstab though) ?
> > > > >
> > > > > Best regards,
> > > > > mcc
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > df -i - if you get 100% iUSE or near to it thats your problem ... I
> have
> > > > seen that error message you give as a result of running out of inodes
> > > > corrupting the FS.
> > > >
> > > > No, your only way out is to copy (I use rync) the files off, recreate
> > > > the fs with max inodes ("man mke2fs") and rsync the files back.
>  Once an
> > > > ext* fs has been created with a certain number of inodes its fixed
> until
> > > > you re-format.
> > > >
> > > > I get it happening regularly on 4G cards when I forget and just
> emerge a
> > > > couple of packages without cleaning up in between packages.  On 16G
> > > > cards, its compiling something like glibc or gcc that uses huge
> numbers
> > > > of inodes at times.  On a single 32G card I have, the standard
> settings
> > > > have been fine ... so far :)
> > > >
> > > > Billk
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > df -i gives the following:
> > >
> > > rootfs           971040 352208   618832   37% /
> > > /dev/root        971040 352208   618832   37% /
> > > devtmpfs          63420    434    62986    1% /dev
> > > tmpfs             63456    389    63067    1% /run
> > > shm               63456      1    63455    1% /dev/shm
> > > cgroup_root       63456      6    63450    1% /sys/fs/cgroup
> > > /dev/mmcblk0p1        0      0        0     - /boot
> > >
> > >
> > > You mentioned rsync to backup...
> > >
> > > I used
> > >
> > >     sudo tar cvf <backup file> <root of embedded system>
> > >
> > > the rootfs has only one partition...
> > >
> > > Is it alos ok to use tar or is there any drawback....?
> > >
> > > Best regards,
> > > mcc
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > There are some parameters for creating a better backup archive using tar,
> > like --same-owner and --atime- preserve.
> >
> > By the way, it would be an interesting project to export some folders on
> > your home computer using nfs, tuneling it through ssh, monting it locally
> > in your embedded computer, and applying an unionfs to the rootfs.  Just
> > dreaming, of course.
> >
> > Góod luck
> > Francisco
>
> Hi Francisco,
>
> as I understand the man page, --same-owner is only activ while
> extracting a tar:
>
>      --same-owner
>               create extracted files with the same ownership
>
> while extracting I always use
>
>       --preserve
>               like --preserve-permissions plus --same-order
>
> . Atime setting is disabled via fstab on my embedded system for two
> reasons:
> Performance wise since any access to a file will trigger a write
> action to the flash chip even when reading the file.
> Any write action to a flash chip wear out the chip -- it has a limited
> number of write cycles.
> I also disbaled atime on my PC for the first reason.
>
> What makes the unionfs'ed nfs mount of my PC on the embedded system
> interesting to you ?
> (sorry if this question sounds bad/negative/... or so...its my limited
> english. Its simply and only a question and the wish of getting more
> infos... :)
>
> Best regards,
> mcc
>
>
>
>
>
>
Hi, Meino.

Sorry for my delay in answering your message. Sorry for my english, too, as
a non-native speaker, I know sometimes I may sound strange.

I am (trying to) finishing an embedded equipment, using an Intel x64, and
Gentoo Linux. The main file system will be stored in a SATA "disk on
module" flash device, but there are some directories that are not needed
for daily use, or should not be present at all on the final product, like
private source code used to build the program that run this equipment.

So on the development system, I have used several disk partitions (as a
first approach) for this directories, like /usr/portage , /usr/src ,
/usr/include and so on, and I was thinking on a way of remote access, so
that a remote system could use the structure of this local development
system. So I suppose that some unionfs mounts would make things appear
local to the remote system. But probably just nfs would do the trick. As I
said, just dreaming.

And what about your problem?

Best regards,
Francisco

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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Need help: Filesystem (ext4) corrupted!

[Daniel Wagener]

You dont happen to have a reasonable identical SD Card around, so you could dd the image on to see whether this is card related, do you?

On Tue, 3 Sep 2013 04:45:04 +0200
meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:

> I did a binary image backup with dd of the sdcard.