Looks like it doesn't recognise the -n flag: 

empeg:/empeg/bin# mke2fs -n -m 0 -b 1024 -i 131072



mke2fs 1.19, 13-Jul-2000 for EXT2 FS 0.5b, 95/08/09

Usage: mke2fs [-c|-t|-l filename] [-b block-size] [-f fragment-size]

        [-i bytes-per-inode]  [-N number-of-inodes]

        [-m reserved-blocks-percentage] [-o creator-os] [-g blocks-per-group]

        [-L volume-label] [-M last-mounted-directory] [-O feature[,...]]

        [-r fs-revision] [-R raid_opts] [-s sparse-super-flag]

        [-qvSV] device [blocks-count]


Steve.
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Mk2a 10+40Gb Darkstorm Neon Red Nakamichi CD45z, Genesis Five Channel, Genesis A16s, JL 8W6 x3