Very Computer

One thing I liked with the Slackware setup (that Debian doesn't do)
was for a dual-boot box it gives you prompts to setup your lilo.conf
such that with a dual boot, LILO would stop so that I could type "lin"
or "dos" (or whatever I choose to call them) to go to either OS at
bootup time.

After installing Debian I copied the old  lilo.conf  file from my
Slack system to /etc (over the one Debian had made) and executed
/sbin/lilo and rebooted. It worked fine.

However, I also copied the old (Slack) fstab file to Debian.  With
this  I had (Slack) Linux automatically mount the Dos partition  to
the tree as /dos.  It didn't work in Debian.   What's up?   Here it
is:

/dev/hda3       swap        swap        defaults   0   0
/dev/hda2       /        ext2        defaults   1   1
/dev/hda1      /dos       vfat     defaults  1    0
none             /proc    proc        defaults   0   0

For comparison, here's the one that Debian produced:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system>   <mount point>     <type>    <options> <dump>    <pass>
/dev/hda2       /       ext2    defaults,errors=remount-ro   0      1
/dev/hda3               none            swap    sw          0       0
proc                /proc           proc    defaults    0       0

What do I need to tweak?

    /dev/hda1      /dos       vfat     defaults  1    0

to /etc/fstab in Debian, and make sure that the mount point /dos exists
and that you've got the vfat module compiled into your Debian kernel.

Hope that helps.

- hoeteck

Quote:>> I've been messing with Slackware, it's good, but decided to try Debian
>> For comparison, here's the one that Debian produced:

>> /dev/hda2       /       ext2    defaults,errors=remount-ro   0      1
>> /dev/hda3               none            swap    sw          0       0
>> proc                /proc           proc    defaults    0       0

>Just add

>    /dev/hda1      /dos       vfat     defaults  1    0

>to /etc/fstab in Debian, and make sure that the mount point /dos exists
>and that you've got the vfat module compiled into your Debian kernel.

mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /dos

so vfat does come with the default kernel.

I tried:

/dev/hda1      /dos       vfat     defaults  1    0
/dev/hda2       /       ext2    defaults,errors=remount-ro   0     1
/dev/hda3               none            swap    sw          0       0
proc                /proc           proc    defaults    0       0

as well as:

/dev/hda2       /       ext2    defaults,errors=remount-ro   0     1
/dev/hda3               none            swap    sw          0       0
/dev/hda1      /dos       vfat     defaults  1    0
proc                /proc           proc    defaults    0       0

Any suggestions anyone?  Does the order in which the partitions are
listed in fstab metter?  Does the tab spacing affect things?

Also notice that the old Slack fstab had for the swap:
 /dev/hda3       swap        swap        defaults   0   0

whereas Debian has
/dev/hda3               none            swap    sw          0       0

Does that "none" make a difference?  Thanks.

Quote:> Also notice that the old Slack fstab had for the swap:
>  /dev/hda3       swap        swap        defaults   0   0

> whereas Debian has
> /dev/hda3               none            swap    sw          0       0

> Does that "none" make a difference?  Thanks.

       The proc file system is  not  associated  with  a  special
       device,  and  when mounting it, an arbitrary keyword, such
       as proc can be used instead  of  a  device  specification.
       (The  customary  choice  none is less fortunate: the error
       message `none busy' from umount can be confusing.)

So I think the same holds for your swap device.

Bye,
Rene

Quote:

>Check out /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit: that's where the actual mounting is
>done (at least, on my system (RedHat)). See if the -a option (i.e.,
>auto-mount the devices listed in /etc/fstab) is given
>to mount.

Debian does have a file   /etc/rcS.d/S35mountall.sh   which includes
the lines:

#Mount local filesystems in /etc/fstab
[ "$VERBOSE != no ] && echo "Mounting local file systems..."
mount -avt nonfs,noproc

Is this the file?  It seems to have an -a switch.   What to do?

  /dev/hda1    /dos  vfat     defaults     1 0
to
  /dev/hda1    /dos  vfat     defaults,auto     1 0

(although, according to 'man mount', defaults includes auto)

Otherwise, just add

  mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /dos

to /etc/rcS.d/S35mountall.sh

Both options seem somewhat unsatisfactory to me, but hey, they might
work... :-)

Good luck,
Rene

Rene

Quote:>Hmmm... this is silly. You might try changing (in fstab)

>  /dev/hda1    /dos  vfat     defaults     1 0
>to
>  /dev/hda1    /dos  vfat     defaults,auto     1 0

>(although, according to 'man mount', defaults includes auto)

>Otherwise, just add

>  mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /dos

>to /etc/rcS.d/S35mountall.sh

>Both options seem somewhat unsatisfactory to me, but hey, they might
>work... :-)

--
- Thandor, of Donuts Inc:
Through emulation of Homer Simpson we shall attain perfection.

Linux: Everybody's talking about the GNU kid in town. :)

Quote:>Hmm, that really shouldn't be necessary. If you can mount vfat after the
>system has booted, but not during boot time, it suggests that you have vfat
>configured as a module and are trying to mount the drive before the vfat
>module is loaded. Under debian, simply add a line with "auto" on it in the
>file /etc/modules. That may very well fix the problem.

#auto

which you just have to remove the # and reboot and it worked.
(Slackware doesn't have /etc/modules)

A clue could be found during the bootup sequence when it says
"mounting local file system" followed by "fs vfat not supported by
kernel" which implied that it was a module.

But here was another thing I discovered, and while I'm in the
misc/setup ng, I'd like to know:  How come in the Debian version of vi
the Delete key changes the captalization of a character whereas the
Slackware version of vi just plain deletes?    I copied over my
.xinitrc file which I was using in Slackware, but that didn't work.

 Also, to write-quit in Slack vi you use :wq!  but in Debian it's just
:wq   (that took some getting used to)

I had to use Debian's ae editor because I couldn't delete that #
comment with vi.   ...and what's with ae's key commands?   You only
need to do ctrl-q to quit but you have to use ctrl-xs to save and ctrl
xc to exit.  Why not just ctrl s to save and ctrl c to exit? Why the
extra "x" key?

I have nothing but praise for the volunteers who have put all the
GNU/Linux stuff together, but as I have found (read this thread)
perhaps a bit more standards agreement among the distributions might
be needed.    Otherwise, Thanks again!