By default, Linux uses write caching, meaning that data and directory
information isn't written immediately to disk. If you run /sbin/update,
then that information will be written out periodically. If you use the
"sync" option to mount (this is the default in *BSD), then the write
caching will be disabled. This can be much slower, but if your system
crashes, or you have users accustomed to DOS who abruptly power it off,
there will be minimal loss of data.
The folks here would definitely be interested in just why and how your
system crashed. The Documentation/oops-tracing.txt file that comes with
the Linux source might be relevant if you want to make a report.
As for recovering your files, I've had success with LDE
(http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/filesystems/lde-2.3.4.tar.gz) but
having a backup is much better. Good luck.
___
Trevor Johnson
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu