> > > Trond suggested to draft a patch to address the
> > > Floppy Fallback issues (mentioned several times
> > > on lkml) by adding a kernel boot parameter, to
> > > disable the fallback, or to put it more general,
> > > to disable alternate root device attempts ...
> > >
> > > Currently the NFS-Root Floppy Fallback is the
> > > only _user_ of such a boot parameter, but in
> > > future, this could be used to limit multiple
> > > root situations to a make-or-brake ...
> > >
> > > please comment!
>
> Hi John!
>
> your comments are welcome,
>
> > I think the best thing to do if it's not possible to mount an
> > NFS-based root filesystem, is to wait 60 seconds, then try to contact
> > the NFS server again.
>
> I totally agree on that ...
>
> > Before the in-kernel bootloader was removed, the current behavior was
> > quite useful - it was quite possible that a hard disk-less machine
> > would boot from a floppy without using a bootloader, and mount it's
> > root filesystem from an NFS server. In this scenario, it would be
> > impossible to boot the machine with the root on another device,
> > without modifying the boot disk, so a fallback to root on a floppy was
> > useful.
> >
> > However, the in-kernel bootloader was removed in 2.6, so there is now
> > no reason why an alternate root couldn't simply be specified at the
> > boot prompt.
>
> hmm, sorry, obviously forgot to mention that the
> patch is for 2.4.x ...
Ah, OK, sorry, I only quickly glanced at the patch, I didn't have chance to test it.
> > If the NFS server is not accessible because of a temporary problem,
> > (too much network traffic, or it's rebooting for example), it makes
> > sense to try again after 60 seconds.
> >
> > Not trying the floppy should become the _default_ action.
>
> this is something _I_ would prefer _too_, but on the
> other hand there is tradition, and stable, and ... ;)
I totally agree, we shouldn't change this in 2.4, because 2.4-based
distributions may rely on the existing behavior.
John.
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jul 23 2003 - 22:00:49 EST