# fsck.minix

## NAME



           fsck.minix - check consistency of Minix filesystem
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **fsck.minix**[options] _device_
    


## DESCRIPTION



           **fsck.minix** performs a consistency check for the Linux MINIX
           filesystem.
    
           The program assumes the filesystem is quiescent. **fsck.minix** should
           not be used on a mounted device unless you can be sure nobody is
           writing to it. Remember that the kernel can write to device when
           it searches for files.
    
           The _device_ name will usually have the following form:
              ┌────────────────┬─────────────┐
              │                │             │
              │ /dev/hda[1-63] │ IDE disk 1  │
              ├────────────────┼─────────────┤
              │                │             │
              │ /dev/hdb[1-63] │ IDE disk 2  │
              ├────────────────┼─────────────┤
              │                │             │
              │ /dev/sda[1-15] │ SCSI disk 1 │
              ├────────────────┼─────────────┤
              │                │             │
              │ /dev/sdb[1-15] │ SCSI disk 2 │
              └────────────────┴─────────────┘
    
           If the filesystem was changed, i.e., repaired, then
           **fsck.minix** will print "FILE SYSTEM HAS BEEN CHANGED" and
           will sync(2) three times before exiting. There is _no_ need
           to reboot after check.
    


## WARNING



           **fsck.minix** should **not** be used on a mounted filesystem.
           Using **fsck.minix** on a mounted filesystem is very
           dangerous, due to the possibility that deleted files are
           still in use, and can seriously damage a perfectly good
           filesystem! If you absolutely have to run **fsck.minix** on a
           mounted filesystem, such as the root filesystem, make sure
           nothing is writing to the disk, and that no files are
           "zombies" waiting for deletion.
    


## OPTIONS



           **-l** , **--list**
               List all filenames.
    
           **-r** , **--repair**
               Perform interactive repairs.
    
           **-a** , **--auto**
               Perform automatic repairs. This option implies
               **--repair** and serves to answer all of the questions
               asked with the default. Note that this can be
               extremely dangerous in the case of extensive
               filesystem damage.
    
           **-v** , **--verbose**
               Be verbose.
    
           **-s** , **--super**
               Output super-block information.
    
           **-m** , **--uncleared**
               Activate MINIX-like "mode not cleared" warnings.
    
           **-f** , **--force**
               Force a filesystem check even if the filesystem was
               marked as valid. Marking is done by the kernel when
               the filesystem is unmounted.
    
           **-h** , **--help**
               Display help text and exit.
    
           **-V** , **--version**
               Display version and exit.
    


## DIAGNOSTICS



           There are numerous diagnostic messages. The ones mentioned
           here are the most commonly seen in normal usage.
    
           If the device does not exist, **fsck.minix** will print
           "unable to read super block". If the device exists, but is
           not a MINIX filesystem, **fsck.minix** will print "bad magic
           number in super-block".
    


## EXIT STATUS



           The exit status returned by **fsck.minix** is the sum of the
           following:
    
           **0**
               No errors
    
           **3**
               Filesystem errors corrected, system should be rebooted
               if filesystem was mounted
    
           **4**
               Filesystem errors left uncorrected
    
           **7**
               Combination of exit statuses 3 and 4
    
           **8**
               Operational error
    
           **16**
               Usage or syntax error
    


## AVAILABILITY



           The **fsck.minix** command is part of the util-linux package
           which can be downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive
           <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>. This
           page is part of the _util-linux_ (a random collection of
           Linux utilities) project. Information about the project
           can be found at 
           ⟨https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/⟩. If
           you have a bug report for this manual page, send it to
           util-linux@vger.kernel.org. This page was obtained from
           the project's upstream Git repository
           ⟨git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/util-linux/util-linux.git⟩
           on 2025-08-11. (At that time, the date of the most recent
           commit that was found in the repository was 2025-08-05.)
           If you discover any rendering problems in this HTML
           version of the page, or you believe there is a better or
           more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
           corrections or improvements to the information in this
           COLOPHON (which is _not_ part of the original manual page),
           send a mail to man-pages@man7.org
    
    util-linux 2.42-start-521-ec46  2025-08-09                  _FSCK.MINIX_(8)
    


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