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  • @Tok : Will it dump like this (as shown in the answer) :Backup superblock at 163840, Group descriptors at 163841-163841 or is it this way : Backup superblock at 163840, Group descriptors at 163841-163842? Was that a typo error? :-) Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 13:44
  • @TOK : Backup superblock at 163840, Group descriptors at 163841-163842, What info does the Group Descriptors convey? Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 13:46
  • @Sen - theoretically the group descriptors could span multiple blocks, but for most desktop systems you will see them take only a single block and be referenced as $((BackupBlock+1))-$((BackupBlock+1)) Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 13:47
  • @TOK : ok in my system I see it like $((BackupBlock+1))-$((BackupBlock+2)) Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 13:52
  • @Sen - The group descriptor describes a block group. What does that mean? More metadata. Essentially a group descriptor contains a blocks bitmap (block number of the block allocation bitmap), an inode bitmap (same but for inodes), an inode table (block number of the starting block for the inode table), free block and inode counts, and a used directory count. This is all based on an ext2 file system. Group descriptors are very important to proper file system operation and are duplicated alongside the superblock. Commented Nov 30, 2010 at 13:53