Sergio's Nexus
FSCK:
 Download  RISC OS 4
 E-Format Expl.
 Oregan Disc Doctor
SOFTWARE:
 FSCK  PPPdriver
 FCFS  Info-ZIP
 RealCount  HSC
 NUKE  
Computing
Software
Movies
Myself
Links
fsck: the disc fixer for RISC OS

New fsck 1.35 available now!

fsck is a suite of programs for RISC OS that are able to analyse and fix E-Format discs. Basically, this means that fsck works on the most widely used filing systems (ADFS, SCSIFS, ATAFS, BDFS, EADFS, etc.) while it doesn't work on DOS discs, image filing systems and, obviously, remote filing systems such as NFS.

The suite is currently composed of 3 programs, one (fsck) for everyday disc scanning (and eventually fixing), one (eliminate) for removing broken files that the OS can't otherwise delete and one (hardfix) for fixing heavily corrupted discs.

Features

fsck is able to fix most logical disc errors found on E-Format discs:

fsck also reports various informations about the allocation of files and directories, giving a detailed count of the amount of disc space that is wasted due to the way files are stored on it (see RealCount for an easier way to obtain these statistics).

fsck cannot obviously fix physical disc errors, recover the disc content after a reformat or a reinitialisation, 'undelete' files or optimize the files allocation in order to minimize the wasted disc space.

To date, fsck fixed hundreds of discs, received a number of positive comments in the comp.sys.acorn groups, is mentioned in the comp.sys.acorn FAQ, has been positively reviewed in the RISC User magazine (September 1995) and has been included in the Acorn User Cover Disc (March 96).

If you have any question about E-Format discs or you want to know more about disc maps you can have a look at my E-Format explanation and FAQ.

RISC OS 4

fsck requires RISC OS 3.1 or later, including RISC OS 4. However, it will not work on discs formatted with RISC OS 4 itself (ie. new-format discs with long filenames and 'big' directories). I have no plans, at the moment, to write such a big update for fsck, mostly because of lack of time. My only disc tool that has already been updated to fully work on RISC OS 4 is nuke which is much simpler than fsck and not as hard to test and debug.

For a full explanation of the 'history' of fsck from its first release to the current 'final' one, the fsck archive contains a file named RISCOS4 that explains my position on the (lack of) future upgrades.

Please note that the latest version of fsck (1.35) will safely ignore new-format discs while older versions used to report nonexhistent errors without actually trying to fix (ie. corrupt!) the disc.

Conditions of use

fsck is ShareWare: you can try it freely for some time but if it fixes your disc or if you use it regularly you must register. However, the unregistered version has been limited so that it refuses to fix discs larger than 512Mb, it will only scan them and will report which operations should be performed in order to fix the disc (so that you know the software is actually working properly).

The current registration fee is just 5 UKP and once you have registered you will receive a user-code that will allow you to 'convert' your ShareWare version into a properly registered and fully functional one.
Please check the !SHAREWARE file inside the fsck archive for more informations.

fsck-announce mailing list

If you want to be kept informed via email about the development of fsck you can subscribe to the fsck-announce mailing. This is a low-traffic announce-only mailing list where I post informations about new releases and future development plans, it is not an open-discussion mailing list.

To subscribe you can send an email to majordomo@lists.monesi.com containing 'subscribe fsck-announce' (in the body, not in the subject) or simply type your address in the box and click on Subscribe:

For more informations about this mailing list you can send an email containing the sentence 'info fsck-announce' in the body of the message to majordomo@lists.monesi.com.

Downloading

The latest version of fsck is available via HTTP from here:
The latest publicly distributed version of the fsck suite should be available via FTP from HENSA.

Blatant advertisement!

The desktop version of fsck has been finally released as a commercial product. It is distributed by Oregan Developments with the name Oregan Disc Doctor.

Disc Doctor features three main programs:

For more information about Disc Doctor have a look at the Oregan WWW Site.
© Sergio Monesi
Updated: 10 Sep 1999