Re: [gentoo-user] Re: mount: "special device /dev/hdc does not exist". What does this mean?

[Mick]

On Saturday 19 July 2008, Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
> Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> >> The default in new kernels is to only use /dev/sd*.
> >
> > I'm totally confused.  Doesn't "sd*" mean "SCSI disk drive"?  When I was
> > installing Gentoo from the CD, I had to mount my main hard drive as
> > /dev/sdb5.  When I built my own kernel, it needed /dev/hdh5.
> >
> > This seems crazy.  Is it documented anywhere in Gentoo?
>
> Not sure.  But if you have /dev/hd* instead of /dev/sd*, it means you
> configured your kernel with the legacy IDE drivers instead of the new
> (P)ATA drivers.  The new drivers use /dev/sd* (for IDE/PATA/SATA and
> SCSI alike; there's no difference anymore.)
>
> The CD/DVD-ROM can show up as /dev/sd* even with the old legacy drivers
> if you have enable "SCSI Emulation" for it.
>
> In any event, try to build a new kernel using the new drivers.  The old
> legacy driver you're using will probably get declared "deprecated" at
> some point (if it didn't happen already).
>
> To enable the new drivers, first disable the legacy drivers.  ("Device
> Drivers" section):
>
>      < > ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support  --->
>
> Now enable the new drivers:
>
>     <*> Serial ATA (prod) and Parallel ATA (experimental) drivers  --->
>
> Enter that section and pick your chipset.  Don't enable the:
>
>     < >   Generic ATA support
>
> unless you can't find a native driver for your chipset (I doubt you have
> some extremely rare/exotic mainboard ;)

What would be the recommended way of upgrading from the /dev/hd to /dev/sd 
then?  I have held back doing this because I didn't have the time to mess 
about with it.  If I were to configure a new kernel without legacy ATA 
drivers, how would I know what my devices will be seen as in advance, so that 
I can change my /etc/fstab before I reboot?
-- 
Regards,
Mick