fsck.ext2: Memory allocation failed while retrying to read bitmaps for /dev/hda4
empeg:/bin#

This is a new one by me. I am guessing that the amount of data generated by an FCSK on the larger drives is too big to fit into the memory space of a MarkII(empeg). Any thoughts?

The data generated by an FSCK on even a small drive is often too big to fit in the memory space of a Mark II. The player issues "swapon /swapfile" before running fsck, and so should you. Do "swapoff /swapfile" afterwards.

That error from "fsck /drive1" is exactly what I'd expect to see if /drive1 isn't mounted (though the wording is extremely off-putting). Try naming the partition device instead: "fsck /dev/hdb4" (for drive 1; drive 0 is /dev/hda4; on Mark I's drive 1 is /dev/hdc4 IIRC).

Peter