kudzu and kudzu-knoppix packages provide a program called updfstab, which is used to update /etc/fstab file when a USB/firewire/other storage device is plugged or unplugged. Gentoo's hotplug system calls to this program if it is installed, and also you can call it by hand in order to test your configuration. When you are running a 2.6 kernel, this program is unable to update fstab when a new hot plug device is either added or removed. Also, this program is restricted to the platforms which can install either kudzu or kudzu-knoppix. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Install either kudzu or kudzu-knoppix 2. Set-up either /etc/updfstab.conf or /etc/updfstab.conf.default to the needed patterns to recognise an USB storage device like a stick. 3. Start Gentoo with a 2.6 kernel, with hotplug, udev and USB storage support. 4. Plug the stick. Actual Results: The fstab file is not updated according to the new plugged device. Expected Results: The fstab should contain one or more new lines, corresponding to the partitions in the USB storage device, or only one line when the device has no partitions. I have tried it with a PowerBook G4 (first generation) and a PC Athlon 800MHz with a Asus A7V motherboard, both of them with 512MB. I can mount USB storage devices plugged to both systems. I have found in the web a partial replacement for updfstab when you are running a 2.6 kernel, based on udev. The URL is http://ccomb.free.fr/wiki/wakka.php?wiki=UsbMassStorageEnglish This replacement only works for USB hotplugged devices, but after looking the code I think it should be easy to add firewire support. Also, it only handles devices with partitions, bypassing those ones which are raw. It is easy to change it, so raw devices also work (for instance, an USB CD-ROM).
I understand what your idea is. But kudzu is not a Gentoo-Package and this "Bug" should probably be UPSTREAM'ed.
I 100% recomment *not* using kudzu for such things. If you want automatic drive mounting and detection, then I suggest using udev/dbus/hald. Add "hal" to your USE flags and "emerge -uD --newuse world" to update your packages. If you are using a dbus/hald-capable desktop, such as Gnome, it will pull in dbus/hald automatically with this USE flag. Otherwise, "emerge hald && rc-update add hald default" to get hald starting at boot. It will detect and configure fstab for 2.6-based kernels.
I should have done that a while ago... sorry...
