When an ext3 file system reports being "read-only" quick action needs to be taken.

• Power off the server ('init 0') to avoid data loss.
• Boot into a rescue environment
• Do not allow the rescue to mount the drives. For Red Hat, choose the 'Skip' option when prompted to find your RHEL installation.
• Once in the rescue shell, locate the / file system (ex: /dev/sda5)
• Remove the existing journal:

 sh#   tune2fs -O ^has_journal /dev/hda5

If this fails because of the needs_recovery flag preform the following <pre> sh# debugfs -w /dev/sda5