Should I just edit the fstab and change sda1 to sdb1?

-Thanks,
-Joe

I edited the fstab and changed sda1 to sdb1. It seems stable for now. However, when booting, during the startup script, I'm warned that sdb1 is not a valid block device. I'm not sure if that indicate4s that there is stil a problem.

Thank you for your kind help,
-Joe

Are you running a 2.6 series kernel?

hello rkelson,

No, 2.4 default install everything all 3gbs Slackware 10.2

-Joe

With a 2.6 kernel and udev you can implement a persistent name. But that would mean upgrading to 11.0. Is that an option?

I think I might be afraid to. I tried numerous Linux's (see http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...20#post2455320)

I had a mechanical problem with my eMachine W3502 and I traded up to this W3503. I initially tried XandrosOS3 Deluxe (kernel 2.6.something). It went on, but refused finish instaloing (error: 2000). My system more or less works well enough for now. I think I'd like to wait for one or two more versions of the 2.6 kernel (or maybe wait for 2.8) to come out before upgrading to make sure my mobo (D101GCC, also used by the w3502) and other hardware are supported so I don't have to worry about damaging them.

I've also been loosely following the posts re 11 and there seem to still be some issues.

-Joe

I've upgraded from 10.2 to 11.0 without any problems. Personally I think it's worth it.

My biggest concern is with hardware issues. I tried so many Linux' with the following hw that I'm a little gun-shy. I have a fairly decent Linux system now with just a few little problems that I cannot resolve. I might wait until I at least see 11.1 or 11.2 before upgrading.

This model of eMachine is new, and VERY cheap. I think it's going to become quite popular because of the price. So, I'm confident that if I'm patient, I'll be able to be sure that there will be Linux versions that will work with my hw. In fact, I visited Intel's web-site a few weeks ago and they did offer special drivers for Mandriva (the only distro I saw listed there. But, I felt uncomfoprtable trying to install and then install the drivers.). Even with Windows, I need a special FAT32 driver partition for this to work correctly.

http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/gc/gc_drive.htm

Thanks,
-Joe



Intel em64t

Intel mobo d101gcc

ATI "Radeon" Xpress 200

If anything, Slackware 11 offers better hardware support than 10.2. Especially with a 2.6 series kernel & udev.

The only thing which didn't work right out of the box for me was my wireless NIC, but that is because the drivers for it (Madwifi) aren't part of the Linux kernel. Everything else worked without any problems. Sound, USB, SATA, video, printer, scanner, dvd rom, dvd writer, LS-240, on-board sensors... It's all too easy these days.

The stock 2.6 kernels even include Highmem support, so there was no real reason for me to compile a custom kernel. Of course, I did anyway, but only to remove support for the stuff I don't have...

Thanks for the info.

I'm thinking about it.

-Joe

I'm having the same problem on Trustix 3, kernel 2.6.14.4-1tr, with all the options installed. Options include autofs, rawdevices, automount (amd), etc.

When running the following command I receive the same error (mount: /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device):

/bin/mount -t ext3 /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb

HOWEVER, when I unplug my external USB hard drive and plug it into the 2nd USB port, running the same command mounts it and everything works just fine. That is, until I reboot. When I reboot, I have to do the same thing to get it to read, by switching it to the original USB port. It's like musical chairs on a reboot. Obviously this will not work since it's a server that needs to be able to run backups to the USB drive after potential remote reboots.

It seems as if the system sees USB connectivity on whatever USB port the device is attached to on bootup, doesn't know what to do with it, then locks port availability.

My resolution was to turn on autofs, rawdevices, and automount at startup. If the packages aren't installed, perhaps they can be. I'm not sure which one of these packages resolved the issue, but I can now mount it with a shell script at boot. Not sure if this helps in a non-2.6 kernel.