Index: linux.t/fs/block_dev.c
===================================================================
--- linux.t.orig/fs/block_dev.c	2004-03-08 09:56:06.000000000 -0500
+++ linux.t/fs/block_dev.c	2004-03-09 09:48:15.000000000 -0500
@@ -116,9 +116,18 @@ static int
 blkdev_get_block(struct inode *inode, sector_t iblock,
 		struct buffer_head *bh, int create)
 {
-	if (iblock >= max_block(I_BDEV(inode)))
-		return -EIO;
-
+	if (iblock >= max_block(I_BDEV(inode))) {
+		if (create)
+			return -EIO;
+
+		/* 
+		 * for reads, we're just trying to fill a partial page.
+		 * return a hole, they will have to call get_block again
+		 * before they can fill it, and they will get -EIO at that
+		 * time
+		 */
+		return 0;
+	}
 	bh->b_bdev = I_BDEV(inode);
 	bh->b_blocknr = iblock;
 	set_buffer_mapped(bh);