Re: debian install error

[Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au>]

On Wed, 5 Mar 1997, Solomani wrote:

> When i first initialise two brand new 4.5 gig IBM HD i get this error
> 
> badblocks: cant resolve symbol 'llseek'
> writing inode tables: 256/265mkfs.ext2 cant resolve symbol 'llseek'
> 
> ideas?
> 
> suggestions?
> 
> solutions?

hmmm. that's an old problem...haven't seen it for a while. you must be
running on an old kernel and/or old libc - what versions are you running? 

anyway, the reason for the problem is that until fairly recently (6 months
or less - i can't remember exactly) the kernel was limited to approx 2gb
filesystems. This limit is gone now. 

try upgrading your system - at least the kernel, libc5, e2fsprogs and any
other packages which these may be dependant upon. 


if you really don't want to do this, then you can still format the disks
with multiple <2gb partitions. 



I just saw the subject line again - if you're in the middle of installing
debian for the first time (how old is the floppy/CD set you're installing
from? - where did you get it from?), then you have a few choices:

1.  download the latest install disks from ftp.debian.org (or a mirror
    near you) and use them to install with.  they will  be at least
    kernel 2.0.27, so should be able to format large disks.

2.  partition ONE of your drives so that /, /usr, /home, /var, /tmp
    etc are on separate partitions and take less than 2gb each. install
    debian onto this setup. when you have debian installed, then upgrade
    the kernel etc as mentioned above, and when you've rebooted with a
    newer kernel you should be able to format the second 4.5GB drive as
    a single partition.



craig

(there's more than one way to do just about anything :-)