Re: [PATCH] Fix ext3 warning for unused var

From: Valdis . Kletnieks
Date: Sun Oct 09 2005 - 19:05:58 EST


On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 23:08:38 BST, Al Viro said:

> Since when does fsck run fsck.ext3 on filesystems that are not marked
> as ext3 in /etc/fstab?

Part of the problem is that if a partition is formatted with mkfs.ext3,
it gets an ext3 magic number scribbled at a known offset into the partition.
If you then reformat it with mkfs.reiserfs, that scribbles a different
magic number elsewhere on the partition, but leaves the ext3 magic number
intact. As a result, if you forget to update /etc/fstab, fsck.ext3 checks
for its magic number, finds it, concludes it's probably an ext3, and then
discovers that everything is totally scrogged.....

Yes, it's pilot error, but it's definitely hitting your feet with much larger
caliber rounds than you would have expected... :)

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