The size field in the inode. It is also a limitation of the VFS
layer, and libc (struct stat, for one.)
> we have a need to use files larger than 2G (ugh, dont ask - we also need
> to bump our machine up from 512M to 1G or more of memory...), so i have a
> couple of questions:
>
> - why is there a 2G limit?
Because that's where a signed 32-bit integer runs out.
> - can the 2G limit be _safely_ increased (to, say, about 5G)?
> - if so, what changes are needed in the ext2 code to do it?
Massive changes, including a format change in the ext2 filesystem
(which should be backward-compatible if done right, though.)
> the machine in question is running a pre-something version of 2.0.31. i
> wouldn't mind moving to a newer 2.0.x kernel, if need be.
Large files *might* be introduced in the 2.3.x kernels, but no sooner
than that.
-hpa
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