freebsd stable - Sep 2010 - How to predict drive number change for 7.3->8.1 upgrade?

I just upgraded my desktop system from 7.3 to 8.1, and the main hard
drive, which was /dev/ad6 before is now /dev/ad10.  Consequently, the
initial boot failed when trying to mount the root file system from ad6.

The desktop system is now fixed, but I also have a rented server with
only a serial console, and I worry that the upgrade is going to leave me
with a dead machine.  Is there any way to predict how the drive number
changes?  (Why does it change at all?)  If so, what's the proper way to
tell the system the initial root device *before* rebooting?

-- 
Regards,
Mike

Am 16.09.2010 um 11:05 schrieb Michael Sperber:
> I just upgraded my desktop system from 7.3 to 8.1, and the main hard
> drive, which was /dev/ad6 before is now /dev/ad10.  Consequently, the
> initial boot failed when trying to mount the root file system from ad6.
> 
> The desktop system is now fixed, but I also have a rented server with
> only a serial console, and I worry that the upgrade is going to leave me
> with a dead machine.  Is there any way to predict how the drive number
> changes?  (Why does it change at all?)  If so, what's the proper way to
> tell the system the initial root device *before* rebooting?
If you have a serial console, you can always enter the root device at the
prompt, so you can recover there.

If you can figure out the new device name, you can simply change the fstab entry
for /; that's where loader picks up the root device that it hands to the
kernel.

Long-term, the best option is to label your filesystems or partitions, and use
the label entries in fstab instead of the device names.  I don't remember
what 7.3 offers in terms of labels, but glabel should be available.  Check
tunefs if it offers the -L volname option, that's even better.


Stefan

-- 
Stefan Bethke <stb@lassitu.de>   Fon +49 151 14070811

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 11:05:06AM +0200, Michael Sperber
wrote:
> I just upgraded my desktop system from 7.3 to 8.1, and the main hard
> drive, which was /dev/ad6 before is now /dev/ad10.  Consequently, the
> initial boot failed when trying to mount the root file system from ad6.
> 
> The desktop system is now fixed, but I also have a rented server with
> only a serial console, and I worry that the upgrade is going to leave me
> with a dead machine.  Is there any way to predict how the drive number
> changes?  (Why does it change at all?)  If so, what's the proper way to
> tell the system the initial root device *before* rebooting?
This has to do with ATA device naming schemes, and changes in the ATA
driver, in addition to capabilities of the chipset.  For example,
FreeBSD 7.x may have seen only 2 PATA or SATA ports on your system, but
with 8.x (and improved drivers) it may see 4, or possibly 2 of each (2
PATA, 2 SATA).  The device numbers shift/change as a result.  AFAIK,
there is no failsafe way to "predict" what the device numbers will be.

I've dealt with this "problem" many times, and this is how I do
it:

Print out or copy/paste the contents of /etc/fstab prior to upgrade.

If you have serial console on your remote server, then you have little
to worry about -- you know what drive name/model/size is associated with
ad6 on 7.x.

When you upgrade, boot the 8.x kernel and into single-user mode.  While
the kernel boots, you'll see the device names in the kernel output, and
will then be prompted for the root filesystem.  Enter the correct ufs
reference string with the correct device number.

After that, just mount the /usr, /tmp, and /var filesystems by hand
using the correct device number.  Once you have that, you should be able
to edit /etc/fstab and change the device numbers (you might have to do
mount -o rw -u / to make it read-writeable).  Reboot the machine and go
into single-user, and you should find that the root filesystem is
mounted + mount -a should work fine + everything work going forward.

If you find that the device numbers are changing "randomly" after
every
reboot, that's a separate problem and should be dealt with separately.

-- 
| Jeremy Chadwick                                   jdc@parodius.com |
| Parodius Networking                       http://www.parodius.com/ |
| UNIX Systems Administrator                  Mountain View, CA, USA |
| Making life hard for others since 1977.              PGP: 4BD6C0CB |

On Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Michael Sperber
<sperber@deinprogramm.de> wrote:
>
> I just upgraded my desktop system from 7.3 to 8.1, and the main hard
> drive, which was /dev/ad6 before is now /dev/ad10. ?Consequently, the
> initial boot failed when trying to mount the root file system from ad6.
>
doesn't 7.3 have ufs label?



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O< ascii ribbon campaign - stop html mail - www.asciiribbon.org

Michael Sperber wrote:
>
> I just upgraded my desktop system from 7.3 to 8.1, and the main hard
> drive, which was /dev/ad6 before is now /dev/ad10.  Consequently, the
> initial boot failed when trying to mount the root file system from ad6.
>
> The desktop system is now fixed, but I also have a rented server with
> only a serial console, and I worry that the upgrade is going to leave me
> with a dead machine.  Is there any way to predict how the drive number
> changes?  (Why does it change at all?)  If so, what's the proper way to
> tell the system the initial root device *before* rebooting?
>
you may try to label your slices/labels and mount /dev/label/root 
instead of /dev/adXsYa

see
man 8 glabel

-- 
SY, Marat

Michael Sperber <sperber@deinprogramm.de> wrote:
 > I just upgraded my desktop system from 7.3 to 8.1, and the main hard
 > drive, which was /dev/ad6 before is now /dev/ad10.  Consequently, the
 > initial boot failed when trying to mount the root file system from ad6.
 > 
 > The desktop system is now fixed, but I also have a rented server with
 > only a serial console, and I worry that the upgrade is going to leave me
 > with a dead machine.  Is there any way to predict how the drive number
 > changes?  (Why does it change at all?)  If so, what's the proper way
to
 > tell the system the initial root device *before* rebooting?

Remove "options ATA_STATIC_ID" from your kernel config
before building the new kernel and rebooting.  Then your
first disk will be ad0, no matter what controller and
channel it is connected to.  Be sure to update your
/etc/fstab file.

Best regards
   Oliver

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