I do not know if this is a bug or if it is just a problem
that I had.  I was trying to install linux to dual boot
Win98.  I planned on creating a 250 - 300 Mb partition for
Win98 and use the rest for Linux.  I basically went through
4 - 5 installs before I could get the process to work.

The problem:

I always install using the custom process, and I always
select check for bad blocks when formatting a drive.  While
checking for bad blocks on a partition that was greater than
2000 Kb during a custom install, "mke2fs -c" would receive a
scrolling error about not reading the sector (I did not
write down the full error).  The sector number was
continuously incrementing.

The solution:

"Mke2fs -c" worked with a partition that was less than
2000Kb.

More Info:

On my first install, I installed Win98 first with a 300 Mb
partition.  During the Linux install I created swap=64,
/boot=24, /var=200, /tmp=100 and /~=2030.  The hard drive
was set up as LBA in BIOS.

I thought there might be a problem with LBA mode, and I did
a similar install with the drive set to NORMAL in BIOS.  I
still received the errors while checking for bad blocks.

I tried a server install without Win98 instead of a custom
install.  I believe this process does not check for bad
blocks.  This install worked.  I can not remember the
partition sizes.

I installed Win 98 again in a 250 Mb partition.  I performed
a custom install.  I created /boot=24, /var=256, /tmp=128,
swap=128 and /~=1930.  This worked.  I did not have any
problems checking for bad blocks the large partition.  The
drive was set for NORMAL in BIOS.