[TriLUG] filesystem error on upgrade to RH 7.2

[Richard O. Hammer]

I still cannot get RH 7.2 running on my machine (5-year-old
Intrex, pentium 120, 64 Megs ram, 2 IDE hard drives, Windows
98 and Minix in other partitions).

No matter how I vary the installation, whether as upgrade from
RH 7.0 (which works fine) or as fresh install on newly
partitioned space (which I've tried in about six different
configurations), I get a filesystem error on booting after the
installation.

I have learned that this happens when checking the root
filesystem.  When the rc.sysinit script is running this
command:
	initlog -c "fsck -T -a $fsckoptions /"
that command returns 11 
[	which I deduce (from man fsck) adds up from:
		1  file system errors corrected
		2  system should be rebooted
		8  operational error.
].

It complains
	invalid operand: 0000 
then it drops me to a "Repair filesystem" prompt, in a
situation where the root filesystem is still mounted
read-only.  I can restart the installation in rescue mode and
then modify configuration files, but I am clueless as to what
to do.

Here is one perhaps-enlightening exchange:
   (Repair Filesystem) 8 # fsck.ext3 /
   e2fsck 1.23, 15-Aug-2001 for EXT2 FS 0.5b, 95/08/09
   fsck.ext3: Is a directory while trying to open /
 
   The superblock could not be read or does not describe a
   correct ext2
   filesystem.  If the device is valid and it really contains
an
   ext2 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 <device>


On Saturday, Tanner wrote:
>Do you use initrd?

I am afraid I do not know what initrd is, or if I am using
it.  I suppose I am using the default for a RH 7.2
installation.  I notice that I have a directory "/initrd"
which is empty.  And on booting I see:
	boot:
	Loading initrd.img .......



What I can try with this installation, to diagnose and cure
its ailment?

Is there a good book which deals with startup scripts and
filesystems at a level which would help me diagnose this? (I
have a half dozen books on Linux, which introduce it and teach
for certification, but they do not cover what I need for
this.)

Thank you,
Rich Hammer