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* 2.4.21 Floppy Fallback with NFS root ...
@ 2003-06-16 14:18 Herbert Poetzl
  2003-06-17 15:11 ` Pavel Machek
  2003-06-19 16:03 ` Herbert Poetzl
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Herbert Poetzl @ 2003-06-16 14:18 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: linux-kernel; +Cc: Rusty Russell


Hi!

I'm curious, is it intentional that, if you select
NFS support and NFS Root support, that the fact, that
no nfs is available, or selected via boot options,
automatically leads to a floppy boot?

I would suggest the following trivial patch, to give
the kernel compiler a chance to disable this 'feature'.

please correct me if I'm talking nonsense ...

best,
Herbert



diff -NurbP --minimal linux-2.4.21/fs/Config.in linux-2.4.21-ffb/fs/Config.in
--- linux-2.4.21/fs/Config.in   Tue Dec 10 03:25:19 2002
+++ linux-2.4.21-ffb/fs/Config.in       Mon Jun 16 15:05:09 2003
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@
    dep_tristate 'NFS file system support' CONFIG_NFS_FS $CONFIG_INET
    dep_mbool '  Provide NFSv3 client support' CONFIG_NFS_V3 $CONFIG_NFS_FS
    dep_bool '  Root file system on NFS' CONFIG_ROOT_NFS $CONFIG_NFS_FS $CONFIG_IP_PNP
+   dep_bool '    Floppy Fallback' CONFIG_FLOPPY_FALLBACK $CONFIG_ROOT_NFS
 
    dep_tristate 'NFS server support' CONFIG_NFSD $CONFIG_INET
    dep_mbool '  Provide NFSv3 server support' CONFIG_NFSD_V3 $CONFIG_NFSD
diff -NurbP --minimal linux-2.4.21/init/do_mounts.c linux-2.4.21-ffb/init/do_mounts.c
--- linux-2.4.21/init/do_mounts.c       Fri Jun 13 17:49:28 2003
+++ linux-2.4.21-ffb/init/do_mounts.c   Mon Jun 16 15:00:23 2003
@@ -754,8 +754,10 @@
                        printk("VFS: Mounted root (nfs filesystem).\n");
                        return;
                }
+# ifdef CONFIG_FLOPPY_FALLBACK         
                printk(KERN_ERR "VFS: Unable to mount root fs via NFS, trying floppy.\n");
                ROOT_DEV = MKDEV(FLOPPY_MAJOR, 0);
+# endif
        }
 #endif
        devfs_make_root(root_device_name);


^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: 2.4.21 Floppy Fallback with NFS root ...
@ 2003-06-17 16:29 John Bradford
  0 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: John Bradford @ 2003-06-17 16:29 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: herbert; +Cc: linux-kernel, pavel, rusty

> > > I'm curious, is it intentional that, if you select
> > > NFS support and NFS Root support, that the fact, that
> > > no nfs is available, or selected via boot options,
> > > automatically leads to a floppy boot?
> > > 
> > > I would suggest the following trivial patch, to give
> > > the kernel compiler a chance to disable this 'feature'.
> > > 
> > > please correct me if I'm talking nonsense ...
> > 
> > This might be okay for 2.5.X, but its definitely bad idea for
> > 2.4.X. (User visible change without good reason).

If it defaults to off, it shouldn't be a problem.

> okay, first the good reason :)

>  currently it is not possible to compile a kernel with 
>  root NFS support, which in case of NFS failure, (or
>  missing NFS/network options) boots from HD, instead
>  it asks you to insert a Floppy ...

For 2.5, it might be more useful if the default NFS-on-root
configuration is to wait for 60 seconds, and retry, if there is an
error.  If a machine is re-booted remotely, and it can't contact the
server for any reason, it's not really very desirable to have it wait
for you to insert a floppy :-)

> and now ad 'user visible change' ...

> what if I make it CONFIG_NOFLOPPY_FALLBACK and
> change the #ifdef to #ifndef ? This would give
> the same (strange?) behaviour as now, but an option
> to disable the fallback (to floppy) ...

I'm not really sure how useful the root filesystem on floppy option
is.  I'd imagine that it is probably a relic from the times when a lot
of people booted the kernel image directly, instead of using a
bootloader.  It would be quite useful in those circumstances, as you
wouldn't have a bootloader prompt to override the default for the root
filesystem.

Since 2.6 will no longer have the in-kernel bootloader, I suggest we
remove this functionality as well, and replace it with the wait 60
seconds and retry functionalily I described above.

It would be worth putting this in to 2.4, though.

Oh, and it would be even better if it tried the second floppy drive in
the case that the first one didn't contain a disk, (in case somebody
wants to mount a 5.25" floppy as the root filesystem, and their 5.25"
drive is the secondary one).

John.

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2003-06-19 15:49 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 6+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2003-06-16 14:18 2.4.21 Floppy Fallback with NFS root Herbert Poetzl
2003-06-17 15:11 ` Pavel Machek
2003-06-17 15:40   ` Herbert Poetzl
2003-06-17 16:58   ` Bernd Eckenfels
2003-06-19 16:03 ` Herbert Poetzl
2003-06-17 16:29 John Bradford

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