Joachim Schipper wrote:
quoted text
>>> make a dump of the partition before going to execute potentially data
>>> destroying actions?
>> yes, this is sound advice of course.  but what are you going
>> to do with the dump if say, fsck is not able to revive the fs?
>> "dump" it back, run fsck again and answer "no" at a couple of
>> fsck prompts?  how is it going to change anything in the end?
> 
> Well, if fsck can't revive your partition, you can always try different
> tools. Something like fsdb may be able to recover part or all of your
> filesystem even in cases where fsck loses the plot.

Also, fsck may fail in the middle due to lack of memory, so moving the
dump to a bigger box to make it run through may be a good solution in
that case. Or old fsck fails where a -current fsck won't.