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Bug 268720 - The amd64 minimal install cd kernel detects hard drive partitions as /dev/hdxN format; seemingly outdated behaviour.
Summary: The amd64 minimal install cd kernel detects hard drive partitions as /dev/hdx...
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: Gentoo Linux
Classification: Unclassified
Component: [OLD] Unspecified (show other bugs)
Hardware: AMD64 Linux
: High normal (vote)
Assignee: Gentoo Release Team
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2009-05-05 12:20 UTC by Amitav
Modified: 2011-06-19 13:21 UTC (History)
0 users

See Also:
Package list:
Runtime testing required: ---


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Description Amitav 2009-05-05 12:20:09 UTC
I was installing Gentoo amd64 from the minimal install iso from the latest autobuild at the following site: http://gentoo.osuosl.org/releases/amd64/autobuilds/20090430/

An fdisk -l at the minimal install cd prompt showed my ATA hard drive as /dev/hdb. The cdrom itself was /dev/hda. I had the portage snapshot in a USB stick which was detected as /dev/sda.

Newer kernels use /dev/sdxN for hard drives irrespective of ATA or SATA. So, I doubt the install cd kernel might be outdated.

Trusting the install cd, I wrote my fstab entries in /dev/hdxN format which got me a kernel panic when I rebooted to start my newly installed system. The installed system (from gentoo-sources) needed entries in /dev/sdxN format. So, I had to change to fstab.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.use the minimal install cd to boot and do fdisk -l
2.install Gentoo with fstab entries in the format seen in fdisk -l
3.reboot to log into your newly installed system
Actual Results:  
kernel panic with a message from VFS saying your root partition could not be found.

Expected Results:  
successful detection of root partition
Comment 1 Andrew Gaffney (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2009-05-06 02:32:29 UTC
Newer kernels have support for accessing all drives via /dev/sdX. However, the old IDE drivers are still present. We enable both in the install kconfig.

However, it's usually been /dev/sdX where both drivers support it the controller. Perhaps your controller wasn't supported by the newer drivers (or support for it wasn't enabled). Which controller do you have?
Comment 2 Andrew Gaffney (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2009-05-06 02:34:56 UTC
# CONFIG_PATA_CYPRESS is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_HPT3X3_DMA is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_OLDPIIX is not set
# CONFIG_PATA_NINJA32 is not set

Those are the only PATA drivers not enabled. Is your IDE controller one of those?
Comment 3 Amitav 2009-05-08 14:20:23 UTC
lspci -k gives the following output:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ/P/PL Memory Controller Hub (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: r8169
Comment 4 Andrew Gaffney (RETIRED) gentoo-dev 2009-05-09 02:12:38 UTC
The driver listed (ata_piix) should be the new-style driver.
Comment 5 Amitav 2009-05-09 06:51:02 UTC
From the install cd prompt, lspci -k returns the following about IDE controllers:
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: PIIX_IDE
	Kernel modules: ata_piix, pata_acpi
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
	Kernel modules: ata_piix, pata_acpi

The kernel driver in use is again the new style driver; but the old style is seen in fdisk -l.
Comment 6 Drake Donahue 2011-05-18 21:55:17 UTC
This 2 year old bug deserves attention particularly now that udev will not make nodes for the legacy drivers.
Comment 7 Jorge Manuel B. S. Vicetto (RETIRED) Gentoo Infrastructure gentoo-dev 2011-05-25 12:01:51 UTC
The IDE drivers were removed from the amd64 kernel specs sometime ago. I've now done the same to the x86 kernel specs.
catalyst builds the install CD using the latest stable kernel available for each arch in the tree. Currently for amd64 and x86 that means gentoo-sources-2.6.37-r4.
What else is needed from RelEng in here?
Comment 8 Jorge Manuel B. S. Vicetto (RETIRED) Gentoo Infrastructure gentoo-dev 2011-06-19 13:21:32 UTC
No answer so I assume this is fixed.
Feel free to reopen if you hit this again.