I am having a problem with my ubuntu ext3 filesystem. I can't boot from it or mount the volume when running live CD.
When I try e2fsck I get: "Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sda5". I have tried all the alternative superblocks with the same result.
I have heard you can delete the journaling system and mount as ext2, but the suggestions on how to do this (eg this one) all require a valid superblock. Is it credible that all the backup superblocks are corrupted or is there something else going on?
The filesystem seemed fine before I rebooted, so pretty sure it's recoverable. What else can I try?
Output from fdisk
Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa4e507fa
/dev/sda1 26 8903 71303168 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 8903 38914 241061889 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 8904 13159 34186320 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 38167 38914 5999616 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda7 13160 38166 200868696 7 HPFS/NTFS
Output from sudo file - `</dev/sda5`
bash: /dev/sda5: Permission denied
(What was this supposed to show?)
Output from sudo file -s `/dev/sda5`
/dev/sda5: data
