Checking if SSD OK, but don't understand the result'

General Help
1

Is this result anything I should worry about?
tom@tom-SATELLITE-PRO-NB10t-A-11G:~$ sudo fsck -fy /dev/sda1
fsck from util-linux 2.37.2
e2fsck 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block
fsck.ext2: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sda1

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193
or
e2fsck -b 32768

2

Hi, Can you please install GParted via Terminal:

sudo apt-get install gparted

then run it:

sudo gparted

image
image779×539 26.1 KB

This will identify what File Systems you have installed.

3

Hi @swarfendor437,

Here it is

Screenshot from 2025-03-27 09-22-50
Screenshot from 2025-03-27 09-22-501368×721 28.9 KB

4

Well that is weird because fsck stated it could not find any Ext4 files. That said I think you have to unmount your drive before fsck will run. Perhaps might be better to boot off installation media and run fsck from that.

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5

Forgpt tp say I had unmounted the drive.

I'm not sure how I'd boot off installation media and run this command

6

Open a terminal and add 'sudo' in front of the comnand whilst using live media. You will need to point to the SSD name after /dev.

7

Did that and got the same result as in the original post

8

Just found this interesting article:

1 Like
9

Hi @swarfendor437 . Looks like it might be relevant. Are you able to summarise, in plain English for numpties, what, if anything, I should do?

10

To be honest not sure. I no longer own an SSD as eldest needed it to replace failing second drive. I'd ask to see if @community-moderators or others can assist.

11

Yes, it is, assuming that drive has been formatted to ext4 filesystem.
If it has never been formatted to ext4, then that is the cause of the error. If it has, it indicates the drive may be failing.

It indicates that the partition table or EXT4 system has corruption or cannot be read with ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block. When it tried to repair using the backup, it gave ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block; so even the backups are corrupt.

I would expect bad sectors to show up on a S.M.A.R.T. test of the drive.

2 Likes
12

Hi @Aravisian , Does the figure I put up for @swarfendor437 not shown sda3 as ext4? Is that OK? It,s supposedly a new SSD.
How do I run SMART? I found a website that said use smartctl, but am not sure what to do with it. I tried the commands it gave on the site, but they didn't worka

13

Hi Tombar,

Open Disks then use the S.M.A.R.T. tool there:

image
image952×652 85.6 KB

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14

It establishes that it has been formatted in EXT4, so the error has a cause other than the format.

New components can still come out faulty. I hope the SSD is not faulty.

If it is not faulty, then something, somehow, corrupted quite a bit of files there...

1 Like
15

Hi @Aravisian . I ran SMART from Disks, as suggested by @swarfendor437, and it said Disk OK. A reinstall called for?

16

This thread is about checking if the disk is ok. I lack context based on this thread for why you were checking or if a reinstall is needed.

17

It was nearly a week ago and I have trouble remembering stuff from yesterday - old age.
I don't know what context you'd like. I bought a secondhand laptop with, supposedly, a new SSD with Ubuntu installed and replaced it with Zorin Pro. I suppose I was wanting to check anything I could check about this laptop.
Edit. Probably because I was expecting it to be faster than it is with 8 Mb RAM and an SSD

1 Like