Bug#761815: installation adds entries for USB media to /etc/fstab which confuse udisks
Hi,
Gaudenz Steinlin <gaudenz@debian.org> writes:
> Just to give some context: This bug is about adding entries for USB mass
> storage devices to /etc/fstab on installation.
>
> Olliver Schinagl <oliver@schinagl.nl> writes:
>> I just got bitten by this bug myself.
>>
>> As a long time gentoo + ubuntu user, I was baffled after getting the
>> solution to this problem. I have worked through several different kind
>> of fstab files, but this was a serious wtf. Why wasn't removable storage
>> working for me? I just couldn't figure it out, everything 'looked' normal.
>>
>> I'd increase the severity of this report, as it is far far from
>> obvious.
>
> I just had a look at the relevant code in partman-target
> finish.d/fstab_removable_media_entries. As far as I understand it (no
> testing done) these entries are added if a USB device is currently
> plugged in. The code is from 2004 (commit
> af81206d02f8d668dab382e5ec8483ccbc90a506) when this probably made sense.
>
> Does it make any sense anymore to keep this code? IMO the fstab entries
> should at least not be added when udisks is installed. I attached a
> patch (not yet tested) which does this.
My personal opinion is that the right thing is to not add entries to
/etc/fstab for removable devices at all (where "removable" means that
the device itself can be removed, not just devices with removable
media): I think there is no guarantee that the entry added to /etc/fstab
actually matches the right device later. Plus the problems with udisks.
> My patch currently only prohibits adding of USB device entries. Should
> this be extended to floppies and CD-ROMs? What about kfreebsd and hurd?
I'm not sure about CD-ROM/floppies or other devices with removable
media. I also don't know about kFreeBSD or Hurd.
> IMO this should be fixed before the release as it causes unexpected and
> inconsistent behavior.
Agreed. I've personally at least encountered 3 people having problems
with using USB media under desktop environments (KDE or GNOME) due to
these entries in /etc/fstab.
Ansgar
Reply to: