Re: [gentoo-amd64] Re: grub and maximum kernel file size

[Branko Badrljica]

Duncan wrote:


> Did you try md-mod,start_dirty_degraded=1 (AFAIK this applies to
> RAID-4/5/6 only)?
>
>
No

> What about listing the appropriate component devices, as so:
> md=d1,/dev/sda1,/dev/sdb1,/dev/sdc1... ?
>
Yes. I had it by default. Without it never seemed to work.
With it, it worked _sometimes_.


Initramfs seem to be superior solution. With it there is more stuff I 
can do, like trying to rebuild array, fsck filesystems thoroughly etc.

In fact, this is what it does now. Amongst other things, it checks 
/etc/fstab, gets filesystem types for "/boot" and "/" and e2fscks them, 
if needed.

Being early adopter of ext4 I was many times in situation when boot-time 
e2fsck found some serious errors but demanded to be rerun on unmounted 
media to be able to finish. Without initramfs, only way to do this is 
through CD, but kernel there doesn't recognise disks on my Dell. Besides 
that it is tedious.

This way, machine can do it by itself in MacGyver style ;o)

> That's true, but my point is, by the time you setup all that complexity,
> you're almost setting up AND CONFIGURING a whole little mini-distribution
> inside your initramfs/initrd.
>
>
That thingie is _definitely_ very useful and I plan to make it permanent.

I had completed the script that does the packing in maybe two hours ( I 
don't remeber anymore ) and it needs maybe a few minutes to make initrd, 
copy it to /boot/initrd and old one to /boot/initrd_old.
Also, if I need one more package in the initrd ( say new version of gcc 
or python etc), it is only matter of adding package name in one line...

But I will do something much more compact in C. With maybe an option to 
do "DefCon 4" style boot from USB key toolshed.

I found USB keys to be useful for that role, when opened and with 
soldered "in-line" conenctor.  With it it becomes small dongle that is 
plugged directly into motherboard and so practically part of the machine.

Tha way, you get "Terminator style" sturdy machine that is capable of 
reboot no matter what just as motherboard, CPU and PSU stay functional. ;o)


> What I mean is that periodically, I snapshot/copy off my root (which
> includes everything that portage installs and its database so most of /
> usr and some of /var, all installed system binaries, scripts, and config)
> to an identically sized rootbak partition.  (In this case it's another
> partition on the mdp/RAID, thus the weakness implied above if it should
> not be bootable by any available kernel, even with the appropriate
> options.)  I can then continue updating the working root partition as I
> normally would.
>
Yeah, but what do you do if your raid becomes non-functional for some 
reason ?

I have four disks and two RAIDs. First is boot bartition RAID-1, which 
ebncompasess firs 1GB of each disk, second is RAID-5, which has the rest 
of the capacity.

All partitions are typed as "fd"- self-detect RAID. On boot it doesn't 
matter. BIOS and GRUB see first partitions as if they were ordinary 
partitions with ext2 that happen to have exactly the same content.

So, if one or more of the disks failed, I could boot with initrd from 
whatever disk is left...

While in initramfs, I check and assemble both arrays and exec 
"make-init" ( or whatever its name it is- that util in klibc- it is 
effectively thingie that erases everything in /rootfs, remounts new root 
to / and starts init )


> I won't be doing nVidia any time soon.  Not until they come around to
> properly cooperating with the FLOSS community.  YMMV and I know a lot of
> gamers especially value their games above their freedom.  That's not my
> life and not my systems and therefore not my call, but what I run here
> IS, and if I wanted to be stuck with proprietaryware, I'd have not
> bothered dumping a decade's worth of experience on MS to start over with
> Linux!
>
>
Well, at least every fresh version of their driver is available on 
Gentoo at the same instant it gets out.
Even without it, nvidia's own installer can figure things out.

Not so with Radeon. I needed 9.1 version of driver when latest in gentoo 
tree was 8.1.
I downloaded the thing and died wrestling with damn scripts halfway 
through.

I don't get what kind of machine did they write that thing for- it sure 
as hell wasn't anything like mine.
Also, when it comes to OpenGL performance, nVidia is still the king as I 
understand.

But for 2D stuff AMD seems to work fine. I managed to install ATI 
Catalyst controll center for GPU in my Foxconn A7DA-S ( chipset AMD 
790GX + SB750 - HD3300 inbuilt GPU with 128MB cache RAM) it seems very 
good, even on on-board GPU.

I have upgraded my dual setup to three-monitor setup ( 3x Samsung 204B, 
3x1600x1200) and have had to add elcheapo 9400 card to existing dual-DVI 
8800GT.

Do you know about AMD/ATI Linux drivers- do they do such kind of stuff 
without extra wizardry ?


> Plus, I can blame you and those like you for holding up progress on xorg
> and the desktop environments, among other things, since there's a
> continual drag placed on further progress due to the delay in support
> from the proprietaryware graphics vendors.  It's not my system and not my
> decision, and I know people have their reasons, but I also know the
> delays the popularity of the proprietaryware vendors means, and believe
> in calling it as I see it -- due to their popularity, they hold
> freedomware progress ransom to their whims.  Honestly speaking but
> nothing personal, if I had my way, freedomware would NOT hold up its
> progress for them, even if it meant they were stuck back with xfree86
> vintage X because that's all the proprietary folks decided to support.
>
>
Well, you can hardly blame me, since I have bought so much of AMD's 
stuff that there is part of me in Hector's house ;o)

Seriously, stop being a child.
Open stuff is fine, but at some point you are forced to show some effect 
and use the stuff that works, even if it isn't open.

That said, y next card might very well be from AMD, especially since 
they started opening the specs, but NOT if they continue to cherish us 
with crappy drivers.

And WRT to 3D drivers- as Alan Cox said, that stuff is not so trivial. 
It has been available to OS people for quite some time, but no one came 
up with drivers worth using.