LinuxQuestions.org - libata device labelling and upgrading to 13.1

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libata device labelling and upgrading to 13.1

I have a machine with 4 IDE and 4 SATA devices, which I boot using grub.

While I was running Slack 12.2 on this machine, I compiled a series of increasingly customized 2.6.27.7 kernels in order to support various devices pursuant to Mythtv.

Not too long ago, I upgraded this 12.2 machine in stages to 13.0, except that I installed the source from the kernel 2.6.33.4 in the source package from 13.1, (for better hardware support). I compiled this using my old customized .config from 2.6.27.7. This new 2.6.33.4 has been working seemingly perfectly, but evidently does not incorporate the changeover to the new libata naming conventions.

My question is, are there likely gotchas waiting for me if I upgrade the rest of Slack from 13.0 to 13.1 underneath this currently installed custom 2.6.33.4 kernel? I assume that the old IDE naming convention will persist so long as I continue to use my older customized .config and do not use the generic Slackware 13.1 (and future generic Slackware kernels). At least until such kernel versions appear where the older support is no longer deprecated, but removed? Am I letting myself in for trouble by using my old .config from 2.6.27.7 rather than starting fresh?

Do other parts of Slack 13.1 than the kernel itself require the use of the new libata naming conventions? Or may I simply start a piece-by-piece upgrade to Slack 13.1 under this custom kernel?

Thanks.

If you use the new udev you might be in for a surprise. See this thread (gentoo, not slack).

The Slackware Linux Project (officially) wants you to use their generic
kernel if you're going to write them and ask for support. Otherwise, use
whichever kernel you prefer. The changing of device names will probably
occur if you use a Slackware distro kernel, but should not at this time
if you use your own custom kernel. For instance, one server here has a
custom 2.6.34.1 and still uses support for the IDE drives as hda:

Code:

mingdao@paul:~$ uname -a

Linux paul 2.6.34.1 #1 Sun Aug 1 10:52:49 CST 2010 i686 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux



mingdao@paul:~$ zgrep 'PIIX' /proc/config.gz 

CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX=y

CONFIG_ATA_PIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_MPIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_OLDPIIX=y

CONFIG_I2C_PIIX4=y



mingdao@paul:~$ /sbin/lspci -k | grep IDE

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DB (ICH4) IDE Controller (rev 02)

        Kernel driver in use: PIIX_IDE



mingdao@paul:~$ ls -l /dev/root

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 2010-08-03 17:04 /dev/root -> hda2

It has to do with the support Slackware has left out of their kernels:

Code:

mingdao@silas64:~$ grep 'PIIX' /boot/config-generic-2.6.33.4 

CONFIG_ATA_PIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_MPIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_OLDPIIX=y

CONFIG_I2C_PIIX4=m



mingdao@silas64:~$ grep 'CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX' /boot/config-generic-2.6.33.4

mingdao@silas64:~$

You just don't have that choice with a Slackware kernel; the support is still
in the Linux kernel if you want to use it, though. My benchmarks are better
with PIIX_IDE; so until the deprecated driver is removed from the Linux kernel
source, I'm using it.

And afaict, that is the libata driver my comp is using.

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00 (Post 4053447)

If you use the new udev you might be in for a surprise. See this thread (gentoo, not slack).

Thanks, the udev thread described exactly the 'gotcha' I was concerned about.

To the extent that I end up upgrading in stages, package-by-package, to 13.1 underneath my current kernel, I believe I'll leave udev alone for a while. All my data and home directories are on other physical drives than the root drive anyway, but I think I'll postpone a possible few hours/days of sorting out grub booting and device assignment confusion until I have a bit less to do.

Then I suppose I'll begin working on a kernel .config that's more contemporary than the one I used from 2.6.27.7 to compile my current kernel.

All the best!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Hill (Post 4053503)

Code:

mingdao@paul:~$ uname -a

Linux paul 2.6.34.1 #1 Sun Aug 1 10:52:49 CST 2010 i686 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux



mingdao@paul:~$ zgrep 'PIIX' /proc/config.gz 

CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX=y

CONFIG_ATA_PIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_MPIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_OLDPIIX=y

CONFIG_I2C_PIIX4=y



mingdao@paul:~$ /sbin/lspci -k | grep IDE

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DB (ICH4) IDE Controller (rev 02)

        Kernel driver in use: PIIX_IDE



mingdao@paul:~$ ls -l /dev/root

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 2010-08-03 17:04 /dev/root -> hda2

It has to do with the support Slackware has left out of their kernels:

Code:

mingdao@silas64:~$ grep 'PIIX' /boot/config-generic-2.6.33.4 

CONFIG_ATA_PIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_MPIIX=y

CONFIG_PATA_OLDPIIX=y

CONFIG_I2C_PIIX4=m



mingdao@silas64:~$ grep 'CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PIIX' /boot/config-generic-2.6.33.4

mingdao@silas64:~$

Thanks for showing the affected lines from your kernel .config. Now I know what to watch for in future kernel releases if I need to move to one but happen to still be reliant on the older deprecated driver for PATA support.

Best regards.

Just to round off this thread:

All packages on my target machine have now been upgraded to 13.1 underneath the custom 2.6.33.4 kernel I was running earlier, except for udev (and mysql 5.1.46, which appears to break mythtv 0.21). No issues and no renaming of IDE/SATA devices after reboot.

At some later point, when I have a little weekend time to spare playing device-node roulette, I'll go the final yard and upgrade udev. Until then, everything's good.

Thanks all.