Bug#406112: Installer rescue mode lacks md devices
Package: installation-reports
Boot method: CD
Image version: RC1 netinst (current as of 2006-01-06)
Date: 2001-01-06
Processor: Intel Pentium 4
RAM: 1 GB
Disks: Two ATA IDE disks
Summary: Debian installer does not let you activate
md devices in rescue mode.
I tried to use the Debian installer to rescue an Etch system
without working grub boot loader, but the rescue system did
only list the partitions on the physical disks; it did not
consider the grouping of partitions to md devices, and
it did not have md devices available in its /dev
for manual mounting.
See the thread of the following mail for details:
http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2007/01/msg00220.html
Somebody pointed out that you can apparently go into the
RAID setup tool and immediately finish to get md devices,
but that is not obvious to the regular user.
******
General remarks on rescue system:
While the regular Debian installer has come a long way
(thanks a lot, all folks working on it), its effectivity
as a rescue tool still leaves a lot to be desired.
I want to point out that d-i, or a specific rescue disk,
is of great value since an effective rescue system should
be as close to the real system as possible (device naming
and availability, modules behavior, /proc,/sys,/dev/...).
However, the current d-i as a rescue system is too limited:
without mounting the final installation volumes,
too few utilities are available and too few operations
are possible.
What's more, the point in the installation process where
the partitions are possibly affected is not clear to the
user: how much of the initial configuration happens purely
in the installer (ramdisk mode), and how much needs the
disks?
For me, an improved rescue functionality would have been
very beneficial in many past situations.
--
Claus Fischer <claus.fischer@clausfischer.com>
http://www.clausfischer.com/
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