Re: udev: what's up with old /dev ?

Bartlomiej Zolnierkiewicz
2004-10-11T20:51:50Z

On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 16:06:02 -0400, Hacksaw <hacksaw@hacksaw.org> wrote:
> >> If the initrd gets corrupted, are we just hosed?
> >
> >In some way, the answer is yes... I think the best is having a real,
> >on-disk, full "/dev" hierarchy in case the INITRD gets lost or
> >corrupted, which will still allow booting. Now, the INITRD can mount
> >tmpfs over "/dev" and use udev to create needed device nodes.
>
> And see, this is where I say, what if /dev is hosed too? If the kernel at this
> point gives up, then the user has to dig up a boot CD or something worse and
> start trying to fix the system.

What if kernel image is hosed instead?

Having corrupted initrd is not so diffirent from having corrupted kernel
image and usually they are both located on the same medium...

> If, however, the kernel just made /dev/console and maybe /dev/null, it could
> start a shell and say "/dev missing /console device, initrd corrupted. Hit
> enter for a shell or ctrl-alt-del to reboot."
>
> As a sys-admin, I'd like that. Get me into single user mode the best you can.
> If a shell can be found, that's good enough.
> --
> The best is the enemy of the good -- Voltaire
> The Good Enough is the enemy of the Great -- Me
>
>
> http://www.hacksaw.org -- http://www.privatecircus.com -- KB1FVD