Re: NFS bug (Linux 2.0.33 to HP): device files major num==0!
Ben Woodard (bwoodard@cisco.com)
Sat, 03 Jan 1998 21:02:54 -0800
> Dear Linux Kernel readers,
>
> I'm wondering if someone can help me with a problem: I'm trying to
> use NFSROOT to store all my Linux files on an HP/UX machine. But there
> seems to be a bug in either the HP/UX NFS server, or the Linux NFS
> client.
>
> The bug is that the major number of any character or block device
> which is stored on the HP box, is shown as "0" on the Linux box.
>
> The symptoms of this is that on booting, the kernel can't open
> /dev/tty1, and I get the message "Unable to open initial console".
>
> I have attached a transcript which shows this problem, using the tty*
> char device files as an example.
>
> I would appreciate ideas from anyone who could tell me how to go
> about finding:
>
> i) Whether the problem is on the HP/UX side or the Linux side, and
> ii) How to get some diagnostic information which shows this.
>
> Many thanks,
>
> Mitch.
I wonder if the problem might be outside of the NFS code because I am
having a similar problem with 2.0.33. I was going around to all my
machines on Friday and upgrading the kernels and I ran into a snag
that I was planning to track down after the weekend. I got the same
"Unable to open inital console" message but I wasn't using NFS to boot
or anything. The funny thing is that the problem happened with one
machine but not another. I figured that I had built the kernel wrong
and was going to track it down that way. However, the previous message
might indicate that there is a bug in the 2.0.33 kernel. I will track
it down that way come Monday.
-ben