FSCK(8) 		   Linux Programmers Manual		      FSCK(8)



NAME
       fsck.minix - a file system consistency checker for Linux

SYNOPSIS
       fsck.minix [ -larvsmf ] device

DESCRIPTION
       fsck.minix performs a consistency check for the Linux MINIX filesystem.
       The current version supports the 14 character and 30 character filename
       options.

       The  program  assumes  the file system is quiescent.  fsck.minix should
       not be used on a mounted device unless you can be sure nobody is  writ
       ing  to	it  (and  remember  that  the  kernel  can write to it when it
       searches for files).

       The device will usually have the following form:
	      /dev/hda[1-63] (IDE disk 1)
	      /dev/hdb[1-63] (IDE disk 2)
	      /dev/sda[1-15] (SCSI disk 1)
	      /dev/sdb[1-15] (SCSI disk 2)

       If the file system was changed (i.e., repaired), then  fsck.minix  will
       print  "FILE  SYSTEM  HAS  CHANGED" and will sync(2) three times before
       exiting.  Since Linux does not currently have raw devices, there is  no
       need to reboot at this time.

WARNING
       fsck.minix   should  not  be  used  on  a  mounted  filesystem.	 Using
       fsck.minix on a mounted filesystem is very dangerous, due to the possi
       bility  that deleted files are still in use, and can seriously damage a
       perfectly good filesystem!  If you absolutely have to run fsck.minix on
       a  mounted filesystem (i.e., the root filesystem), make sure nothing is
       writing to the disk, and that no files are "zombies" waiting for  dele
       tion.

OPTIONS
       -l     Lists all filenames

       -r     Performs interactive repairs

       -a     Performs	automatic repairs (this option implies -r), and serves
	      to answer all of the questions asked  with  the  default.   Note
	      that  this  can  be extremely dangerous in the case of extensive
	      file system damage.

       -v     Verbose

       -s     Outputs super-block information

       -m     Activates MINIX-like "mode not cleared" warnings

       -f     Force file system check even if the file system  was  marked  as
	      valid  (this  marking is done by the kernel when the file system
	      is unmounted).

SEE ALSO
       fsck(8),    fsck.ext(8),    fsck.ext2(8),    fsck.xiafs(8),    mkfs(8),
       mkfs.minix(8), mkfs.ext(8), mkfs.ext2(8), mkfs.xiafs(8).  reboot(8)

DIAGNOSTICS
       There  are  numerous  diagnostic messages.  The ones mentioned here are
       the most commonly seen in normal usage.

       If the device does not exist, fsck.minix will  print  "unable  to  read
       super  block".	If  the device exists, but is not a MINIX file system,
       fsck.minix will print "bad magic number in super-block".

EXIT CODES
       The exit code returned by fsck.minix is the sum of the following:

       0      No errors

       3      File system errors corrected, system should be rebooted if  file
	      system was mounted

       4      File system errors left uncorrected

       8      Operational error

       16     Usage or syntax error

       In point of fact, only 0, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 16 can ever be returned.

AUTHOR
       Linus Torvalds (torvalds@cs.helsinki.fi)
       Error code values by Rik Faith (faith@cs.unc.edu)
       Added   support	 for   file   system   valid   flag:   Dr.   Wettstein
       (greg%wind.uucp@plains.nodak.edu)
       Check to prevent fsck of mounted filesystem  added  by  Daniel  Quinlan
       (quinlan@yggdrasil.com)
       Minix  v2  fs  support  by Andreas Schwab (schwab@issan.informatik.uni-
       dortmund.de), updated by Nicolai Langfeldt (janl@math.uio.no)
       Portability patch by Russell King (rmk@ecs.soton.ac.uk).



Util-Linux 2.6			  2 July 1996			       FSCK(8)