Re: mounting unpartitioned drives

Mauro Condarelli (MC5686@mclink.it)
Wed, 18 Feb 1998 17:43:26 +0000


> > # mount -t vfat /dev/hdc /mnt/mo
> > hdc:hdc: read_intr: status=0x59 { DriveReady SeekComplete DataRequest Error }
> > hdc: read_intr: error=0x20 { }
> > hdc1 hdc2 hdc3 hdc4
> > hdc: hdc1 hdc2 hdc3 hdc4
>
> It looks like your drive is using ATA-2 media change notification and
> your kernel doesn't include support for it. I believe that was fixed in
> 2.0.32.
>
> FYI: error 0x20 is "Media changed" in ATA-2, but the entire mechanism has
> changed in ATA-4 (the current IDE spec).
>
> > By errors I mean those kernel messages "hdc: read_intr: status=0x59 ...".
> > But also attempts to determine the partitions when I'm _explicitly_
> > mounting /dev/hdc are looking strange. This is probably a bug of
> > "mount".
>
> No, the partition analysis will _always_ happen - it is done in the
> driver when it detects changed media. You'll have to live with that bit
> of ugliness if you want to use the media in that way.
Correct.

>
> It might be worthwhile opening a debate about some method for telling a
> driver not to both with a partition scan. A boot option or /proc
> interface might do the trick:
Uh??
If the drive is removable (else why should you get "Media Changed") You
MUST do a partition scan.
The requested partition is usually different on the new media and might
not exist at all.
I know removable media is usually formatted as a single partition (You
can even make a filesystem on the raw device), but checking what's
actually on the media is (IMHO) an absolute "must".
You can have a "quiet" option if You care, anything else seems just too
dangerous (i do not think there's any chance the first sector of a
sensible filesystem can have the "aa55" signature at the end; *only* if
this signature is absent I would allow raw partition mounting).
>
> hdc=nopartscan
>
> (If this has already been done, ignore me ...)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> - Grant R. Guenther
> grant@torque.net
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Best Regards

Mauro Condarelli

-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu