Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 22:10:54 +0100 (BST) From: Mark Valentine <mark@thuvia.demon.co.uk> To: Julian Elischer <julian@elischer.org> Cc: Poul-Henning Kamp <phk@critter.freebsd.dk>, "M. Warner Losh" <imp@bsdimp.com>, freebsd-arch@freebsd.org Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/lib/libdisk Makefile chunk.c write_alpha_disk.c write_i386_disk.c write_pc98_disk.c Message-ID: <200210252110.g9PLAsxP081665@dotar.thuvia.org> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0210251230340.7147-100000@InterJet.elischer.org>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> From: Julian Elischer <julian@elischer.org> > Date: Fri 25 Oct, 2002 > Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/lib/libdisk Makefile chunk.c write_alpha_disk.c write_i386_disk.c write_pc98_disk.c > On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Mark Valentine wrote: > > The GEOM naming scheme therefore removes my ability to specify the partition > > in the most natural way for this platform. > > I dispute that. > The install code has been using ad0s1a for about 5 years I think. That doesn't make it correct. I fix it when it bites me. > Very few systems have ad0a in /etc/fstab as we specifically have been > telling people to not do that for ages.. My fstab is the way it is because otherwise I have problems, due to a mismatch between the way FreeBSD sees the MBR partition table and the way the rest of the world does. There is currently a mechanism for making FreeBSD play ball better with the systems it shares a disk with. GEOM in its current state removes this mechanism, with no replacement. > Most systems other than BSD and Linux only ever see their own > partitions. We are trying to set things up so we can > read anything anywhere any time. > > Anyway I had a machine where the -current root partition was ad1s4e. > How does the old scheme help me? ad1s3 was also a BSD slice (FBSD3.x) You're simply describing the obscure usage I mentioned earlier. Modulo the 8 partition limit, there's nothing here a single disklabel can't do; in fact that's all we have on most BSD platforms. > if you don't know where your root is you are in trouble. I know where my root is - it's BSD partition 'a' on the MBR partition of type 0xa5. There is no guarantee as to which partition table entry might refer to that partition at any given time. That is not my choice, it's based on the assumptions made by DOS (which originally implemented the MBR partition table). All I need is a way to tell the system where it is so that my FreeBSD systems will continue to boot. Cheers, Mark. -- Mark Valentine, Thuvia Labs <mark@thuvia.co.uk> <http://www.thuvia.co.uk>; "Tigers will do ANYTHING for a tuna fish sandwich." Mark Valentine uses "We're kind of stupid that way." *munch* *munch* and endorses FreeBSD -- <http://www.calvinandhobbes.com>; <http://www.freebsd.org>; To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-arch" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200210252110.g9PLAsxP081665>