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Re: mount message unclear



On Fri, Jun 14, 2002 at 12:31:25AM +0200, Florian Weps wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 13, 2002 at 01:22:07PM +0800, Dan Jacobson wrote:
> > mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda1,
> >        or too many mounted file systems

> > Can't this message be refined a little?  Is there really no way to
> > tell the user a slightly more informative answer?

> No. Basically, mount asks the kernel to mount something, and the kernel
> says "didn't work". So mount, being helpful, gives you a list of things
> that could have gone wrong.

> So mount *is* trying to be informative. I suspect you would not have
> bothered to post if mount had simply answered answered "failed".

That's because "mount failed: reason unknown" would be the truth,
whereas the current error message is merely speculation on the part of
mount.  Misinformation is much worse than no information, and insofar as
the list of possibilities mount offers is not comprehensive, it is
misinformation.

Steve Langasek
postmodern programmer

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