Hi Adrian,
Perhaps /dev/fd0 should register itself with the correct minor number instead.That might be difficult, as you could put in disks with a different kind of geometry.
Ah... now I understand what the effect of the different minor number is.
With your patch independently verified, could you send your patch upstream? Gregor can then add his "Tested-by:" on the patch if you remember to CC him ;-).
I'd like to test the patch, but... how can I build a custom kernel like the one you've provided before? Or did you already integrate the patch into a packaged Debian kernel? Regards, Gregor