lkml.org 
[lkml]   [2008]   [Sep]   [3]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
Date
From
SubjectRe: regarding major number of block extended devt
Tejun Heo wrote:
> Then, we're between the rock and hard place then as there also is a
> lot of code which assumes certain layout of sd or hd minor numbers.
> Keeping only the major numbers doesn't really resolve any problem. It
> may be able to mask a few but that can be more harmful than helpful.
>
> So, if a program expects certain major numbers, it won't be able to
> access the partitions which have overflowed to the extended area. If
> a program uses udev or sys hierarchy to walk through devices, it will
> be able to use them all. Isn't that much better than overflowing into
> the same major and hope that everything would work out okay?

Oh dear...

I just realized that you're talking about *partitions*, not *devices*.
There is a metric boatload of code out there that assumes you can take a
device number, mask off some number of bits, and reach the parent
device. They will generally do that without checking if they are right
or not.

As such, you're liable to suffer corruption of unrelated devices.

In that sense, yes, a separate major will help somewhat.

-hpa



\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2008-09-03 19:01    [W:0.076 / U:2.232 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site