[NTLUG:Discuss] sudden file system errors on boot

[Fred James]

I don't remember hearing about this before, and it has certainly never 
happened to me before.

The box, and the OS:
Dell Latitude C800 - pretty much a Plain Jane, have had it since new 
with all factory installed parts, no modification, and no 3rd party 
stuff (except the Xircom 10/100 ethernet and 56K modem combo card) - 
Intel PIII 850 Mhz CPU, 18 GB drive, 256 MB memory, CD-RW, floppy.
I have run this box successfully under Red Hat Linux 6.2, 7.1, 7.2, and 
7.3 - the latest being 7.3 - for quite some time with no serious, system 
threatening, issues.

The Problem:
Suddenly (under RH 7.3), after a history of no problems, it started 
reporting file system errors and forcing file system checks on every 
boot (fsck) - consistantly on /, and sometimes also on /home (partitions 
were /, /boot, /swap, and /home).

The Action (not trying to represent my action as correct - just 
recording history as briefly as I can):
(1) After a week or so of having to go through manual fsck on every boot 
(at least 2 a day, and no let up in sight), I decided to try wiping the 
disk and reinstlalling the OS - backed up all my stuff to another 
machine on my network, and went for broke.
First install attempt (7.3) - actually try this a few times with the 
same result each time - in stall failed until I stopped asking it to 
check for bad blocks.
First successful install (7.3) - file system errors and manual fsck 
again, on first boot - I mean the install had just completed.
(2) Decided to try starting with 7.1 and do upgrades to 7.3 - made 
verious attempts in different combination, but the net result seems to 
be that anything higher than 7.1 and I have file system errors/manual 
fsck all over the road.

Some of the messages along the way (reasons for failed installes) 
suggested such possibilities as bad media, or hardware failure - but not 
requesting a check for bad blocks seem to get passed that.

So, here I am back on RH 7.1 as the only successful install I seem to be 
able to do, and wondering what's up with that?

Thank you in advance, for any suggestions, advise, or pointers, you may 
offer, and of course I'll try to provide more details to anyone that 
wants them.

PS: Working from another box at the moment - have not restored all my 
files yet - I am a little shaken still, and wishing I felt more 
confident that the box is OK.