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/dev-state /dev and path_to_inst

To: devfs@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: /dev-state /dev and path_to_inst
From: Craig Armour <craig.armour@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 15:31:05 +1000
Organization: Sun Microsystems
Sender: owner-devfs@xxxxxxxxxxx
Hi,

for the reason of "this is a really good thing to have", my laptop is
completely devfs'd 

I've been running it devfs'd now for a few months and have a few changes
I'd like to see/impliment but won't bother if they would fall on deaf
ears

problem:
* /dev-state is a cludgy way of keep file permsions consistent
* my laptop has 2 cdroms which are replaceable with a floppy drive (
internal ).  devfsd will number the drives in the order they are probed
each time.  This becomes a hassle when you go to mount
/dev/cdroms/cdrom1 

you might say that I would be biased in my solution to the above, but
has the idea of a path_to_inst been explored?

a possible layout could be for example 

### FUll Device Path ################# Mode ############ device type 
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/disc , 400 , hd 
/dev/scsi/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/cd , 400 , cdrom

etc... 

each time the system boots with a new device, if the device isn't in the
path_to_inst, it gets appended.   /dev tree can then be created based on
the path_to_inst and not the probe order for each boot.  In this case,
the cdrom listed will always be listed as cdrom0 as it is the first
cdrom in the path_to_inst, even if an ide cdrom is added later.

I believe that is a much better solution then the current /dev-state
method.

I realise I could probably do something similar through devfsd.conf
etc... but I believe this should be a core devfs thing.  If no-one is
interested and/or willing to test such things, then I may not go to much
further than "it's just an idea".   But if there is some interest, I
would be willing to put the time in to produce some code to do the
above.  The devfsd code seems very easy to read and I don't think it
would be too hard to impliment such changes

... it's just an idea though

Cheers
Craig
--
Craig Armour                    Craig.Armour@xxxxxxxxxxx
Enterprise Systems Administrator  Phone: +61 2 9844 7292
Installation Consulting Services     828 Pacific Highway
Sun Microsytems Australia                Gordon NSW 2072

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