Bug#435469: linux-source-2.6.22: udev: common user action causes undecipherable hang

[gambarimasu+reportbug@gmail.com]

Package: linux-source-2.6.22
Version: 2.6.22-1
Severity: normal
File: linux-source-2.6.22


summary: you can't boot from a naive mirror anymore.  i have a
solution below.

a user who copies to a root partition with rsync (at least with
--one-file-system) will most likely expect it to boot.  instead it
hangs with "unable to create an initial virtual console".  this can
lead to users throwing the computer out a window, or doing unnecessary
debugging.  ahem.

the suboptimal workaround is to special-case /dev/.static/dev .  this
is not obvious to people who don't know about udev.

so for the sake of this common operation by likely many users, instead
of hanging, i think that the kernel should boot.  at least the
following solution allows this:

	1.  udev put .static on the actual disk so that rsync copies it.
	2.  on boot, if /dev is unpopulated and unbootable, the kernel
	    looks for .static, and fixes things.

if this is unworkable, the kernel should check for an unpopulated /dev
and tell the user about it.

in general, imho the kernel can be improved in many ways like this to
help the user.

thanks.

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 4.0
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell:  /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.22myver-6-badinstall
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C (charmap=ANSI_X3.4-1968)

Versions of packages linux-source-2.6.22 depends on:
ii  binutils                      2.17-3     The GNU assembler, linker and bina
ii  bzip2                         1.0.3-6    high-quality block-sorting file co

Versions of packages linux-source-2.6.22 recommends:
ii  gcc                         4:4.1.1-15   The GNU C compiler
ii  libc6-dev [libc-dev]        2.3.6.ds1-13 GNU C Library: Development Librari
ii  make                        3.81-2       The GNU version of the "make" util

-- no debconf information