Stef Epardaud <stef@epardaud.net> writes:

quoted text
> I had no idea my EXT3 filesystem could go wrong without notifying me
> (fsck thought the filesystem was clean before I forced it). Is this
> normal ?

Filesystem clean = the "dirty" flag is not set. With journaling
fs it basically means the kernel didn't found errors during
operation.
It doesn't mean there are no errors.

quoted text
> If not, what can I do to figure out what went wrong ?

I'd check with memtest86. Silent fs corruption is usually caused
by faulty hardware such as RAM.

quoted text
> I am in the process of getting a live linux CD to look at the disk,
> maybe there are some logs that can help.

I wouldn't count on it.

quoted text
> Note that it's the first time I've lost a EXT3 (or EXT2) filesystem
> without having experienced any system crash or power failure to explain
> the filesystem problem.

A system crash or especially power failure shouldn't damage ext3fs.
-- 
Krzysztof Halasa
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