Linux

Hi everyone,

OK, I've made a monumental fsck-up of my linux installation AND I did not backup my data properly (idiot!), so I'm really up the proverbial without a paddle here.

Basically the problem is I re-sized my /home partition (hda13) using Partition Magic 8.0, after doing so my mandrake OS wouldn't boot!

I've got an ATA disc that is dual booted with windows 2000 and Mandrake 9.0. During boot time I get as far as selecting the Mandrake OS and then it starts to check the filesystem...I get the following error message:

<snip>

/dev/hda13: The superblock could not be read or does not describe a current ext2 filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2 filesystem (and not swap or UFS or something else) then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternative superblock:

e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

</snip>

I am then given the option of "repairing the errors"...

<snip>

fsck.ext3: invalid argument while trying to open /dev/hda13

</snip>

All other devices (partitions) are recovered and given a "clean" status. It then prompts with:

Failed to check filesystem. Do you want to repair (Y/N)?

At which point i can get a command prompt.

Now I tried the suggested method (e2fsck) without success using several different superblock location pointers(?) - i.e. 8193, 16387 and other multiples of 8193.

I also tried to use the rescue mode with the mandrake 9.0 installation CD1 and can mount all partitions (apart from hda13 - my /home partition) under /mnt. I did also try commenting out the relevant mount command of the /home partition in fstab, but it still did not boot.

Now I'm a relative newcomer to linux and am (more than) a bit stuck. Can anyone help me recover this situation or point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this!