mount: wrong fs type, bad superblock on /dev/cdrom or too many mounted filesystems

[Alvin]

I keep getting that message "wrong fs type, bad superblock or too many
mounted filesystems" when i try to mount my cdrom on Redhat 9. The same
message when i try to mount a floppy or usb flash drive.

I tried also to mount from command line but still fails.

It worked a few days ago, now suddenly it refuses to mount and keeps
giving that error message.
I have come across this problem before but have never really worked out
how to fix it.

Is there a way to increase the max number of mounted
filesystems?

Thanks.

[Tommy Reynolds]

Post by Alvin
I keep getting that message "wrong fs type, bad superblock or too many
mounted filesystems" when i try to mount my cdrom on Redhat 9. The same
message when i try to mount a floppy or usb flash drive.
I tried also to mount from command line but still fails.
It worked a few days ago, now suddenly it refuses to mount and keeps
giving that error message.
I have come across this problem before but have never really worked out
how to fix it.
Is there a way to increase the max number of mounted
filesystems?

You don't need to do this. Too few filesystem mount points is almost
never the real problem here. I suspect that you've updated the kernel
or something and hosed your configuration.

There are lots of points where trouble could have crept in. Work
through some in this order:

1) Make sure that your "/etc/fstab" entry looks something like:

/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0

It should, because the KUDZU service makes this line. If not, be
sure that KUDZU is running:

# service kudzu status
kudzu has run

and if it has not:

# chkconfig kudzu on <-- Run automatically at boot
# service kudzu start <-- Start now w/o rebooting

2) If that doesn't help, make sure that the kernel's module loading
database hasn't been corrupted. The code for running the CDROM and
understanding USB devices is all contained in files separate from the
kernel image itself and some modules depend on code from other
modules. The "/etc/modules.conf" file tells the kernel how to run
your USB bus controller, so there should be a line there that looks
like:

alias usb-controller usb-uhci

If not, add it.

3) Whether you changed "/etc/module.config" or not, rebuild the
module-loading database by:

# depmod -ae

If you get any errors, you'll need to reinstall the kernel. If not,
try to mount your CDROM now.

4) By now, it's probably OK. Otherwise, check your "/etc/grub.conf"
file to make sure that the "kernel" line for your kernel version
has an "hdc=ide-scsi" command line argument. If not, add it and then
reboot.

Hope this helps.

[Alvin]

thanks! this has helped a lot. Indeed, i have updated the kernel, and this
may have been the cause.

however, mounting suddenly works again after rebooting without any
tweaking... dunno why. but thanks for your advice. I now understand a lot
more about possible causes of mount problems. thanks