Automatic fsck

[Matt Zimmerman]

On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 02:09:19PM -0700, Bryce Harrington wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 11:52:25AM +0100, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> > == Filesystem checking / AutoFsck ==
> > 
> > A suggestion was made to the technical board that Ubuntu could be smarter
> > about how and when it performs filesystem integrity checks (fsck).
> > 
> > Decision: This should be discussed more widely in the developer community
> > Action: Scott to start a thread on ubuntu-devel/-discuss
> 
> I find the autofsck to be most notable on my laptop, perhaps because I
> reboot it more frequently, and because it usually chooses to autofsck at
> some inopportune time.  I don't know if laptop harddrives need fsck more
> than desktop's, but I wouldn't mind seeing the frequency be reduced for
> laptops.
> 
> Alternatively, maybe the autofsck could be made to take a few more
> factors into account, such as total run time since last fsck, total
> absolute time since last fsck, drive age, etc.

Total run time sounds like an interesting one to watch.

Some of the other ideas which have been proposed are:

Run fsck during shutdown (when the user isn't expecting to be able to use
the system for a while anyway) rather than at startup.
https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/prompt-for-fsck-on-shutdown

Allow fsck to be easily skipped.  This was implemented in 8.04 as part of
https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/usplash-polish

Skip fsck when running on battery.  Also implemented in 8.04 as part of
https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+spec/usplash-polish

-- 
 - mdz