empeg:/empeg/bin# fsck -fay /
e2fsck 1.29 (24-Sep-2002)
fsck: Is a directory while trying to open /

Just adding a footnote to an old thread...

tman pointed out a small problem in my ext3 setup instructions that actually causes this. The stock /bin/fsck does not need to be replaced, just /bin/fsck.ext2. If you leave the stock fsck it will call the newer fsck.ext2 which knows how to deal with ext3 and it works with the 'fsck -fay' syntax. I have updated my ext3 instructions so that new ext3 installs will be FAQ compatible. If you previously installed ext3 according to my instructions you can move '/bin/fsck.bak' back to '/bin/fsck' if you like.

-Mike