FSCK(8)             Linux Programmer's Manual             FSCK(8)

NAME
       fsck.minix - a file system consistency checker for Linux

SYNOPSIS
       fsck.minix [ -larvsmf ] device

DESCRIPTION
       fsck.minix  performs  a  consistency  check  for the Linux
       MINIX filesystem.  The current  version  supports  the  14
       character and 30 character filename options.

       The   program   assumes  the  file  system  is  quiescent.
       fsck.minix should not be used on a mounted  device  unless
       you can be sure nobody is writing to it (and remember that
       the kernel can write to it when it searches for files).

       The device will usually have the following form:
              /dev/hda[1-63] (IDE disk 1)
              /dev/hdb[1-63] (IDE disk 2)
              /dev/sda[1-15] (SCSI disk 1)
              /dev/sdb[1-15] (SCSI disk 2)

       If the file system  was  changed  (i.e.,  repaired),  then
       fsck.minix  will  print "FILE SYSTEM HAS CHANGED" and will
       sync(2) three times before exiting.  Since Linux does  not
       currently  have raw devices, there is no need to reboot at
       this time (versus a system which does have raw devices).

WARNING
       fsck.minix should not be used  on  a  mounted  filesystem.
       Using  fsck.minix  on a mounted filesystem is very danger-
       ous, due to the possibility that deleted files  are  still
       in use, and can seriously damage a perfectly good filesys-
       tem!  If you  absolutely  have  to  run  fsck.minix  on  a
       mounted  filesystem (i.e., the root filesystem), make sure
       nothing is writing to the disk,  and  that  no  files  are
       "zombies" waiting for deletion.

OPTIONS
       -l     Lists all filenames

       -r     Performs interactive repairs

       -a     Performs  automatic  repairs  (this  option implies
              -r), and serves to  answer  all  of  the  questions
              asked  with  the  default.   Note  that this can be
              extremely dangerous in the case of  extensive  file
              system damage.

       -v     Verbose

       -s     Outputs super-block information

       -m     Activates MINIX-like "mode not cleared" warnings

       -f     Force file system check even if the file system was
              marked as valid (this marking is done by the kernel
              when the file system is unmounted).

SEE ALSO
       fsck(8),    fsck(8),    fsck(8),   fsck(8),
       mkfs(8),   mkfs(8),    mkfs(8),    mkfs(8),
       mkfs(8).  reboot(8)

DIAGNOSTICS
       There  are  numerous  diagnostic  messages.  The ones men-
       tioned here are the most commonly seen in normal usage.

       If the  device  does  not  exist,  fsck.minix  will  print
       "unable  to  read super block".  If the device exists, but
       is not a MINIX file system,  fsck.minix  will  print  "bad
       magic number in super-block".

EXIT CODES
       The  exit  code  returned  by fsck.minix is the sum of the
       following:

       0      No errors

       3      File system  errors  corrected,  system  should  be
              rebooted if file system was mounted

       4      File system errors left uncorrected

       8      Operational error

       16     Usage or syntax error

       In  point  of fact, only 0, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 16 can ever be
       returned.

AUTHOR
       Linus Torvalds (torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi)
       Error code values by Rik Faith (faith@cs.unc.edu)
       Added support for file system valid  flag:  Dr.  Wettstein
       (greg%wind.uucp@plains.nodak.edu)
       Check  to  prevent  fsck  of  mounted  filesystem added by
       Daniel Quinlan (quinlan@yggdrasil.com)
       Minix v2 fs support by Andreas Schwab (schwab@issan.infor-
       matik.uni-dortmund.de),   updated   by  Nicolai  Langfeldt
       (janl@math.uio.no)
       Portability patch by Russell King (rmk@ecs.soton.ac.uk).

Util-Linux 2.6             2 July 1996                          1