Home directory in limbo?

[Guest Enos Shenk]

Probably the wrong forum, but its not what i would term a software problem...

 

I got bored and decided to install linux on a $30 garage sale computer i got, since ive had good experiences with mandrake in the past i chose it.

 

Installation was fine, but after loading the system for the first time, KDE gave me an error that it couldnt write to my home directory. I figured OK, hop on a terminal, SU, and chmod it until it gives up.

 

Well, it seems /home/enos isnt really there. I get this when i login on a terminal:

 

No directory /home/enos!

Logging in with home = "/"

-bash: /home/enos.bash_profile input/output error

 

I can ls in /home and see /enos sitting right there, but when you try to cd to it, get the input/output error again.

 

I dont use linux very much. Im proficent in working with a linux install thats working fine, but i dont have a damn clue about this. So keeping any answers at a level i can understand would be nice.

[iphitus]

Could be a damaged hard drisk.

 

Try reinstalling but i bet the hard drive is out.

[Hirogen2]

Do a

cat /dev/hdX /dev/null

or even (with pretty status display)

dd_rescue /dev/hdX /dev/null

to check whether the HD can be read without faults. If the latter aborts with I/O error, you got the answer. The second method (dd_rescue) will go through all blocks (like Windows Scandisk), when it's finished it shows the number of bad bytes/kbytes/etc.

Replace hdX accordingly.

Also listen to your HD while it is being scanned for scratching noises. Try to distinguish it from the normal operation noise (idle and intense r/w).

[illogic-al]

mount /home