fsck & 3b1 continuous power up

[Tanya Katz]

In article  <1763 at gbmatl.UUCP> Gary Mckenney writes:

>According to the rc script in /etc fsck will force a reboot and therefore a
>second fsck if it finds problems through the first fsck.  In other words if
>there is a permenent problem found by fsck I don't think you will be able
>to boot up your machine.

If I recall correctly the fsck in the /etc/rc file is "fsck -p"
which is just a verification pass, and will not really repair any damage.
If fsck fails continuously, there is this vicious boot-fsck loop that
takes over, and nothing short of booting the floppy disk and doing fsck
by hand will stop this.  I discovered this after we had a sudden blackout
one evening while I was editing a file.

Usually fsck reveals a minor filesize problem, and it is easly
corrected, but the bootup fsck doesn't correct as if it were fsck -y.

Besides, you wouldn't want fsck to mysteriously clear files, anyway :-) 

In the past week or two there have been many discussions on whether 
the 3b1 is best left up and running continuously.  I shut my computer
down if I know I will not be home or it will not be used.  I also
disconnect the power strip from the wall during a thunder storm.

It is because of this boot-up loop problem that I am afraid to let it
run unattended.  I have visions of a power outage, then this berserk
computer trying in vain to reboot itself!

Any Comments??

Tanya

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