with etch, /etc/fstab root not needed?

[Larry Evans <cppljevans@suddenlink.net>]

I commented out the lines specifying where my root filesystem
was located in fstab:

  # <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
  proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
  #/dev/hdb3       /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 
      1
  /dev/hdb9       none            swap    sw              0       0
  #/dev/hdc        /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto     0       0
  #/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto  0       0
  /dev/hdd8       /mnt/hdd8       ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 
      1

then rebooted, and it worked (although there was a long pause
during, I think, hal or something with a similar name, in the
boot messages. So what's actually needed in /etc/fstab?  Since
the root file system is specified in /boot/grub/menu.lst, I guessing
somehow etch got it from there and consequently didn't need /etc/fstab
to find the root filesystem.  Is that right?

I'm also getting entries in my computer icon on my desktop like:

  3.1 GB Volume
  3.1 GB Volume(2)
  4.9 GB Volume
  9.8 GB Volume
  home
  home(2):home

Whenever I click on the Volume's, I get:

  Unable to mount selected volume

what causes these entries in my computer icon.  Would
anything disastrous happen if I just deleted them.

With both the home entries, I see something after
double-clicking.  I expect the home(2) is from the
/dev/hdd8 entry in fstab, but I'm not sure.

TIA.

-regards,
Larry