fsck fails with invalid superblock

Dan

5/10/24, 4:32 PM

New install of 22.04.2 on a Dell Insperion N4110 Corei3. When I run fsck from live CD I get:

ubuntu@lubuntu:~$ sudo fsck -f /dev/sdb
fsck from util-linux 2.37.2                                                                                                           
e2fsck 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)                                                                                                           
ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block                                                                                         
fsck.ext2: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...                                                                                
fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sdb                                                              
                                                                                                                                      
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem.  If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
    e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
 or
    e2fsck -b 32768 <device>

Found a dos partition table in /dev/sdb
lubuntu@lubuntu:~$

Dos partition can go. I have no need for it. Suggested superblocks do not work either.

update

an@dan-dellsysteminspironn4110:~$ sudo lsblk
[sudo] password for dan: 
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
loop0    7:0    0 349.7M  1 loop /snap/gnome-3-38-2004/140
loop1    7:1    0   242M  1 loop /snap/firefox/2645
loop2    7:2    0  63.3M  1 loop /snap/core20/1879
loop3    7:3    0     4K  1 loop /snap/bare/5
loop4    7:4    0  63.3M  1 loop /snap/core20/1822
loop5    7:5    0  91.7M  1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1535
loop6    7:6    0 240.6M  1 loop /snap/firefox/2356
loop7    7:7    0 346.3M  1 loop /snap/gnome-3-38-2004/119
loop8    7:8    0  49.8M  1 loop /snap/snapd/18357
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
└─sda1   8:1    0 465.8G  0 part /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell
                                 /
sdb      8:16   1     0B  0 disk 
sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom  
dan@dan-dellsysteminspironn4110:~$

434

0 + 3

mount

lubuntu

fsck

hard-drive

Jos

5/10/24, 6:13 PM

You don't run `fsck` on a drive, but on a filesystem. `/dev/sdb` is a drive. Possibly there are one or more partitions on that drive that contain a filesystem, `/dev/sdb1`, `/dev/sdb2` and so on. Use `lsblk` to find out.

Dan

5/10/24, 7:57 PM

see update to question. would that be /dev/sdb1

Jos

5/11/24, 9:39 AM

No partitions on drive `/dev/sdb` have been found. If there were any data on it, it is now practically inaccessible. As the operating system seems to be installed on `/dev/sda1` you are free to format the disk `/dev/sdb` (i.e., create one or more partitions) and install a filesystem on it. Use `gparted` to do so.

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