From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

I had some disk partitions that were formatted as EXT3.

These partitions were converted to EXT4 according to the
instructions found here (and elsewhere):

<https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-convert-an-ext3-filesystem-partition-to-ext4>

Doing a filesystem check with e2fsck on these converted
partitions requires considerably more time than with
partitions that were directly formatted as EXT4 (i.e. no
conversion), even though the partitions are roughly the
same size.

Is this normal behavior or has the EXT3 --> EXT4 conversion
been done incorrectly?

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:04:29 +0000, Leroy H wrote:

Doing a filesystem check with e2fsck on these converted partitions
requires considerably more time than with partitions that were
directly formatted as EXT4 (i.e. no conversion), even though the
partitions are roughly the same size.

Haven’t needed to do a filesystem check in years. Time was you would
get a message on boot like “no filesystem check done in 6 months,
check forced”, but all that seems to have gone now.

The journalling system seems quite adequate nowadays for recovering
from crashes.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 2026-04-24 02:04, Leroy H wrote:

I had some disk partitions that were formatted as EXT3.

These partitions were converted to EXT4 according to the
instructions found here (and elsewhere):

<https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-convert-an-ext3-filesystem-partition-to-ext4>

Doing a filesystem check with e2fsck on these converted
partitions requires considerably more time than with
partitions that were directly formatted as EXT4 (i.e. no
conversion), even though the partitions are roughly the
same size.

Is this normal behavior or has the EXT3 --> EXT4 conversion
been done incorrectly?

I have never done that conversion. All my ext partitions in use are ext2
or ext4.
--
Cheers, Carlos.
ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 02:29:18 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

Haven’t needed to do a filesystem check in years. Time was you would
get a message on boot like “no filesystem check done in 6 months,
check forced”, but all that seems to have gone now.

I believe that most distros disable this checking because of potentially
long boot times.

The option "enable_periodic_fsck" in /etc/mke2fs.conf will enable/disable
this.

I enable these checks because it causes no harm and with ext4 partitions
the check completes quickly.

But, as my post indicates, the checks take longer with converted ext3 partitions.

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 24/04/2026 10:23, Leroy H wrote:

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 02:29:18 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

Haven’t needed to do a filesystem check in years. Time was you would
get a message on boot like “no filesystem check done in 6 months,
check forced”, but all that seems to have gone now.

I believe that most distros disable this checking because of potentially
long boot times.

The option "enable_periodic_fsck" in /etc/mke2fs.conf will enable/disable this.

I enable these checks because it causes no harm and with ext4 partitions
the check completes quickly.

But, as my post indicates, the checks take longer with converted ext3 partitions.

Well of course one way is to backup the data, reformat and restore.
But that wasn't the answer you wanted, was it?
--
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

—Soren Kierkegaard

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.misc

On 4/24/26 05:23, Leroy H wrote:

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 02:29:18 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

Haven’t needed to do a filesystem check in years. Time was you would
get a message on boot like “no filesystem check done in 6 months,
check forced”, but all that seems to have gone now.

I believe that most distros disable this checking because of potentially
long boot times.

The option "enable_periodic_fsck" in /etc/mke2fs.conf will enable/disable this.

I enable these checks because it causes no harm and with ext4 partitions
the check completes quickly.

But, as my post indicates, the checks take longer with converted ext3 partitions.

Um ... are there any OTHER partitions on
the disk - unix/winders/etc ??? I had
unreasonablly slow check times with a disk
with one winders and a few linux partitions
once upon a time.

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