My server crashed today. It switched the /sda8 device (/home) to read only and the log said "ext3_xattr_block_get: inode 590080: bad block 6"
From rescue mode (something my hosting provider offers where the OS is loaded from the network) I ran e2fsck -c on the offending (unmounted) device.
This was the result:
/home: Updating bad block inode.
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Inode 590080 has a bad extended attribute block 6. Clear<y>? yes
Inode 590080 has illegal block(s). Clear<y>? yes
Illegal block #6 (3225896002) in inode 590080. CLEARED.
Illegal indirect block (161766104) in inode 590080. CLEARED.
Illegal triple indirect block (161776560) in inode 590080. CLEARED.
Inode 590080, i_size is 693150323631456341, should be 4096. Fix<y>? yes
Deleted inode 8669125 has zero dtime. Fix<y>? yes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Entry '1362510759.H198758P4400' in /mail/tmp (8666577) has deleted/unused inode 8669125. Clear<y>? yes
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
Block bitmap differences: -8685568 -8687060
Fix<y>? yes
Free blocks count wrong for group #265 (5593, counted=5595).
Fix<y>? yes
Free blocks count wrong (7313501, counted=7313503).
Fix<y>? yes
Inode bitmap differences: -8669125
Fix<y>? yes
Free inodes count wrong for group #265 (29385, counted=29386).
Fix<y>? yes
Free inodes count wrong (11764285, counted=11764286).
Fix<y>? yes
/home: ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
/home: 630530/12394816 files (4.3% non-contiguous), 5076620/12390123 blocks
I don't really understand that, but it sounds like it found something wrong.
But when I ran "dumpe2fs -b /dev/sda8" it doesn't list any bad blocks.
So are there bad blocks? If yes, where are they? If no, what was the server complaining about?