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Re: moving root (/) to new drive...



* Jeff Hahn (jeffh@gryphongardens.com) [030531 05:42]:
> I'm clearly missing a step here, any help would be appreciated...
> 
> copy drive to new partition, edit /etc/fstab.
> 
> Once I copy drive contents to a new partition, I am unable to get a clean
> boot using the new partition as root even when booting from the install cd
> in rescue mode.
> 
> Apparently there is somewhere else that the debian kernel keeps track of
> the root device...

Well, the kernel is actually linux (I assume), not debian.

Of course, the kernel does need to know when it boots where it can find
the root filesystem.  /etc/fstab is a file on that filesystem.  I think
you'll see the problem if you think about for a second.

When a kernel is compiled, the root device is stored within the kernel
itself.  This can be overridden at boot time using a "root=" kernel
parameter, for example "root=/dev/hda6".  This kernel parameter is the
usual way of doing things.  If you're using lilo, you might see
something like 'append="root=/dev/hda6 ro"' in your lilo.conf.  If
you're using grub, you'll see it on your kernel command line, something
like this, maybe: 

kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.4.20-1-686 ro root=/dev/hda6 devfs=mount

You can also change the value stored within your kernel to point to the
correct location using the rdev utility.  There's no great reason to do
that, though, since the root= parameter works just fine.  Conversely,
there's no good reason to have it set to the wrong value, either.  I
guess it depends on how anal you are; you may want those bits in your
kernel to be "correct", or you may want to not mess with a kernel that's
working.

> I have not had these types of problems using other distributions.

Such as?  I know that recent redhats use something like "root=LABEL=/"
to indicate that the root filesystem is the one labeled "/".  I can see
why a distributor might want to do that, but as an admin, I prefer to
just specify the partition precisely.  (What happens if no partition is
labeled?  If two are labeled "/"?  I know that there's exactly one
/dev/hda6.)  

> Any recommendations????

It's a safe bet that the advice in the other response in this thread is
applicable to you: fix your lilo.conf and re-run lilo.

good times,
Vineet
-- 
http://www.doorstop.net/
-- 
http://www.aclu.org/		It's all about Freedom.

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