Why does e2fsck or resize2fs fail to operate on an ext4 file system with the 64bit feature enabled on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6?

Issue

• e2fsck fails to check an ext4 file system with the 64bit feature enabled.

• resize2fs fails to resize an ext4 filesystem with the 64bit feature.

• Messages similar to the following are reported by e2fsck:

  # e2fsck -f <device>
  
  e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
  <device> has unsupported feature(s): 64bit
  e2fsck: Get a newer version of e2fsck!
  

• Messages similar to the following are reported by resize2fs:

  # resize2fs <device>
  
  resize2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
  resize2fs: Filesystem has unsupported feature(s) while trying to open <device>
  Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.