Score:0

Hard disk not recognised as ext4 on reboot

sa flag
SWS

I have a 12TB internal hard disk on my Ubuntu 18.04 workstation that when I boot, is assigned a 17MB 'Microsoft Reserved' partition and the rest is allocated to a second partition as free space (according to the Disks utility).

If I run fsck on the drive (i.e. fsck /dev/sdb), I get the following output:

fsck from util-linux 2.31.1
e2fsck 1.44.1 (24-Mar-2018)
ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block
fsck.ext2: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
data2 was not cleanly unmounted, check forced.
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes

Just running this, even without it completing, usually results in it being recognised as ext4 and mounted properly. However, if I reboot, the drive reverts to the same state as before with the Microsoft Reserved partition. This could be the result of the drive having been accidentally put into a separate Windows system, but I don't understand why fsck doesn't permanently resolve it. Unmounting the drive before reboot does not resolve the issue either.

Any suggestions on how I can permanently enable the drive to be mounted as ext4, without running fsck every time?

vanadium avatar
cn flag
The output you show cannot be from `fsck`. Always indicate the *full* command as you executed it. Use "edit" to update your question. Is this a removable USB drive, or an internal drive on a system that is also used by Windows? Putting in a WIndows system and correctly removing it from Windows should not cause the issue. However, it could if you remove the drive after shutting down Windows with "Windows Fast Start" enabled, because then it is not properly closed by Windows.
MaestroGlanz avatar
in flag
It looks like your drive wasn't unmounted, when you shut down your system.
MaestroGlanz avatar
in flag
Futhermore: How do you mount it?
in flag
How are you running `fsck` you should be able to specify the file system and have it correct errors: `fsck -t ext4 -f /dev/sdX`. Be sure to replace `sdX` with the proper device location.
SWS avatar
sa flag
SWS
Thanks for the comments. The Ubuntu system is separate from the Windows system I refer to in the post. I have run fsck with no arguments, and also with -f, and now -t, as per the suggesitons. They all produce the same output as posted above, and all seem to resolve the issue, at least until I reboot and the incorrect partitioning reappears.
oldfred avatar
cn flag
You do not run fsck on a drive like sdb, but on a partition like sdXY. https://askubuntu.com/questions/642504/ubuntu-14-04-is-not-booting-normaly-after-a-manual-hard-boot/642789#642789
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