On 12 Feb 2001, Harry Putnam wrote:
> "Mikkel L. Ellertson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> > I am not sure why it is a problem with kernel 2.4. Using LABEL instead
> > of the device name for mounting ext2 partitions has been around for a
> > while (5.x?) The old syntax also works. The advantage of using LABEL
>
> It was new in 7.0... Wasn't stock in 6.2 or earlier. Its been around
> only a few months as default.
>
Well, I know it works in 5.2 - that is the oldest system I have
installed. It has only been the default starting with 7.0
>
> > is that the device can change without requiring change in /etc/fstab.
> > This can be real handy with SCSI drives, where the device can change
> > when you add another drive in the change. If you have 3 drives, with
> > IDs 0, 1 and 2, and the drive #2 (ID 1) dies, drive #3 changes from
> > /dev/sdc to /dev/sdb. For IDE drives, it is handy if you do something
> > like move a drive from secondary master to primary slave...
>
> May be handy for those cases but is really useless for figuring out
> where things are mounted, or will mount.
>
> mtab only has mounted.
>
> I think there should be a parellel file generated that gives the hdXX
> sdXX etc locations.
>
> If you've ever had to repair a drive or restore it after the table is
> overwritten, things like `/usr/home' are useless. `Fdisk' or `df' can
> no longer see a drive in such a case.
>
> You will be in dire need of a listing of where things are on disks not
> some imaginary `label'.
>
> I keep a daily backup of fstab, fdisk -l /dev/hda /dev/hdc and df
> output, sent to a remote machine for just such emergencies.
>
When it comes to restoring an overwritten partition table, you are much
better off having a backup of the table, or at least a copy of fdisk -l
or cfdisk -P s for the drive. Using Labels for partitions will add one
more step to the process - you will have to look at your partitions
after you re-create them to see what label they should have. It is not
that big of a deal if you are working from a rescue disk.
Basicly, you have to deside if the extra step is worth the advantages
that using labels give you. You are not forced to use them. For the
novice user, the advantages when moving disks is probably worth it.
Most would not know how to recover a overwritten partition table, or how
to boot a system after changing drive position.
Mikkel
--
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons,
for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
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