Comment 17 for bug 124773

Ah, Ubuntu must set up their scripts so that even in single user mode, it doesn't bypass single user mode. Well, that's what init=/bin/sh is for (although this might not work if your boot setup requires an initrd ramdisk image --- but that's a boot scripts issue).

BTW, and if you don't know how to change Ubuntu to use a text boot (by editing /boot/grub/menu.lst) I would again question whether you know enough not to screw yourself up by bypassing necessary system functions willy-nilly. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. It's probably more OK for Windows because Windows users are used to arbitrarily losing all of their data.... :-)

Can we get back to why your system was hanging in fsck in the first place? What version of e2fsck did you have installed on your system, and was it always hanging at the same percentage level?