Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2000 12:35:58 +0200 From: Gerhard Sittig <Gerhard.Sittig@gmx.net> To: current@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: /boot partition? Message-ID: <20001014123558.K25237@speedy.gsinet> In-Reply-To: <14823.18636.646339.740562@guru.mired.org>; from mwm@mired.org on Fri, Oct 13, 2000 at 12:39:24PM -0500 References: <14822.65148.853175.915459@guru.mired.org> <20001013111125.A318@peorth.iteration.net> <39E735BD.8BDA697C@FreeBSD.org> <14823.18636.646339.740562@guru.mired.org>
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On Fri, Oct 13, 2000 at 12:39 -0500, Mike Meyer wrote:
>
> [ ... separate /boot partition ... ]
>
> Since you implied a question...
>
> This is a standard setup for Linux, so Linux people dealing with
> problems with the root file system try and make it work in -stable
> (with no luck). The best example would be to make /boot one file
> system so you can get vinum loaded and running, then have everything
> else on a vinum disk. This minimizes the set of things you don't have
> on vinum.
Since you bring the Linux analogy in ...
There's a mechanism used by some Linux distros (strictly
speaking: available to all Linux users, but rarely used by
default) to have a ramdisk with the kernel and essential drivers.
This ramdisk can be handled by many boot managers and the effect
is that
- you don't need all the drivers you need for booting in the
kernel itself -- they can be modules, too
- you can have all your fses in software raid configuration and
yet survive the boot stage, since the boot kernel won't have a
need to touch and handle the raid configuration
But I feel that a separate /boot partition will never work when
you can't reach the / fs -- where are you going to mount the
/boot fs? The idea is always that you have to bring in
everything you need to get over the initial steps. Without vinum
drivers and setup tools you cannot access vinum volumes. And
when the tools live on a vinum volume themselves, you're trapped.
That's when you need a separate "selfcontained" mechanism -- like
a mfs or ramdisk thing.
BTW: One of the most commonly seen failures is to compile a new
kernel and not updating the ramdisk needed for booting ...
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