Partition renumbering under 2.4.0
Quoted 6 lines
Note that the ext2 logical partition is called "hdb9" by 2.2.16 and "hdb5" by 2.4.0. This makes it difficult to manage multi-boot systems with 2.2.x and 2.4.x kernels, as it requires updating fstab between boots. Switching to other identification strategies such as ext2 labels - as discussed in other threads - could be a workaround, as far as I know.
Your problem is caused by the identification loop in fs/partitions/msdos.c having been split into two parts in 2.4. One part identifies msdos and extended partitions in the first pass and then goes on to identify other disklabel partitions in the second. You can restore consistency either by combining the two passes (as was the case in 2.2) or by moving the extended msdos partition identification into the second pass.
However, the underlying problem remains the same as it was when I first wrote the solaris code: You only have 11 minors for all of the remaining extended partitions, that's why the solaris code does the slice renaming. Under 2.4, if you use devfs, the solaris (and other) slice recognition code could be enhanced to give the correct names to all the slices. This would turn out to be something like /dev/ide/hdb2s7 (or something even worse---I'm afraid I only really know the naming scheme for SCSI devices) but at least you can find the exact slice you're looking for in an easy and intuitive way.
So, would you prefer the quick fix, or the more durable solution (which would require you to change your fstab)?
James
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Quoted 8 lines · James Bottomley
Under 2.4, if you use devfs, the solaris (and other) slice recognition code could be enhanced to give the correct names to all the slices. This would turn out to be something like
/dev/ide/hdb2s7(or something even worse---I'm afraid I only really know the naming scheme for SCSI devices) but at least you can find the exact slice you're looking for in an easy and intuitive way.So, would you prefer the quick fix, or the more durable solution (which would require you to change your fstab)?
Personally I'd be happy with the quick hack, but the slice-enhanced naming scheme possible with devfs looks like the way to go.
Besides, I think that documenting this issue in the "Changes" file would help somehow.
Thanks,
David
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