root@1[mnt]# mount -t ext3 -o sb=859963392 /dev/bigben/bigben1 /mnt mount: block device /dev/bigben/bigben1 is write-protected, mounting read-only mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/bigben/bigben1, missing codepage or other error In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try dmesg | tail or so