[Peeweelinux] edit fstab doesn't 'stick'

[jim barchuk]

Hi Mark!

> > This has got to be some system design philosophical thing that I don't
> > understand. Pwl has no idea what devices the target system has.
>
> True, but Pwl *does* know how your target file system is configured, and
> the various mount points.  It knows what devices your target has
> (/dev/fd0, /dev/ram, etc), the file system in question (ext2, FAT, etc),
> and where the various directories are mounted (/, /home, etc).

Yes, of the local/pwl filesystem, but not, in my case, of the hardware of
the intended final system it'll run on.

> For power users, this feature can be disabled:  After some poking around
> in the Embedded_Build/scripts directory, it looks like there is a script
> called "pwl_defaults" that you could run, and turn off the option
> ("Modify System Boot Files") that causes fstab to be created.

I'll look into that, tnx! The docs are a little thin and there's 500k
worth of ~/scripts in there. :)

> > I think I'm misunderstanding what 'target' means. I'm making a boot
> > floppy for a box that has several hds.  For me the floppy is a
> > transition/boot device. Pwl is unclear at several points what target
> > means for it.
>
> Here's the philosophical part - to me, "target" implies an embedded
> system -- and not a floppy that boots Linux on a system with multiple
> hard drives.  This isn't to say the PWL is inapproriate for your
> particular application; just keep in mind that embedded systems
> <usually> don't include large hard drives.

I meant it on a simpler level. Try looking at it from a pwl-noobee's POV.
Main Menu has Configure Target and Load File into Target options. Now the
casual observer might think there's 'a' target.' But Confugre Target
Hardware has options for 'floppy target / Floppy Device' and 'ide flash
target (or HD) / Target Device / Boot Device on Target System.' -Very-
unclear what each actually intends. By a little trial and error I figured
out that the Load File Into Target -will- use the 'floppy target' setting.
Grepping through 500k worth of scripts I could probably figure out a lot
more but all the user really wants to do is 'make it do what I need it to
do.'

> In fact, I would argue that PWL does in fact "know" about the target
> system -- it knows it has a boot (target) device, and some RAM.  The
> biggest problem I've seen thus far was touched on earlier in this list
> -- how to configure a flash target with multiple partitions.

I've got the full archives and will look further for that.

> >From your initial posts, I recall that you are trying to install Redhat
> >via the LAN.
> Wouldn't it be easier to use one of the various Redhat boot floppy images designed for
> that purpose?  These images will probably have kernels that know all about hard drives,
> network cards, and ext2/fat16 partitions.

I *seriously* distrust RH installations and won't risk it on drives that I
intend to keep files. 7.2 -couldn't- recognise a very standard symbios
53c875 /dev/sdb as a formatted and partitioned ext2 device. There were
several bugzillas and ng posts. They offered a new boot/install floppy
with zero positive effect. That, plus the way a 'server' install will grab
every drive in the box makes me a little nervous. No, I don't intend a
server install but once there are serious unfixed bugs all bets are off
from my POV. Haven't checked in a couple of months, maybe the have a new
boot image.

> Disclaimer: I realize that the "easiest" way isn't necessarily the most
> *fun* or *educational* way ;-).

LOL! Yes, this is meant to be as much educational as functional. I know
plenty about higher level operational stuff but not the real guts of the
system. Pwl has been a real eye opener.

> > Related to fstab, what do I need to include to read fat16 and
> > extended? Pwl fdisk -identifies- a partition but mount says it can't
> > deal with them.
>
> You'll need to have fat16 and ext2 support either compiled into the
> kernel, or included as modules. If you're using the standard pwl kernel,
> you'll need to include the corresponding modules under
> "kernel-basic-2.2.17".

Well gee I THOUGHT it ought to turn up in fat, vfat, or msdos, but
nooooooo, rgrep -ir fat16 FINALLY found it in doc.o. Nope, that ain't
right either. Finally found reference at google that I need to mount fat16
as vfat. Seems to work, can ftp files out and such.

Things are cranking along fine now, thanks for the clues.

Have a :) day!

jb

-- 
jim barchuk
jb@jbarchuk.com