patch-2.4.18 linux/Documentation/filesystems/devfs/README

• Lines: 149
• Date: Mon Jan 21 20:27:04 2002
• Orig file: linux.orig/Documentation/filesystems/devfs/README
• Orig date: Mon Feb 18 20:18:39 2002

diff -Naur -X /home/marcelo/lib/dontdiff linux.orig/Documentation/filesystems/devfs/README linux/Documentation/filesystems/devfs/README
@@ -3,7 +3,16 @@
 
 Linux Devfs (Device File System) FAQ
 Richard Gooch
-13-DEC-2001
+20-JAN-2002
+
+
+Document languages:
+
+
+
+
+
+
 
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@@ -68,6 +77,8 @@
 Alternatives to devfs
 What I don't like about devfs
 How to report bugs
+Strange kernel messages
+Compilation problems with devfsd
 
 
 Other resources
@@ -836,8 +847,8 @@
 will now work as before.
 
 Hopefully for most people devfs will have enough support so that they
-can mount devfs directly over /dev without loosing most functionality
-(i.e. loosing access to various devices). As of 22-JAN-1998 (devfs
+can mount devfs directly over /dev without losing most functionality
+(i.e. losing access to various devices). As of 22-JAN-1998 (devfs
 patch version 10) I am now running this way. All the devices I have
 are available in devfs, so I don't lose anything.
 
@@ -1475,6 +1486,8 @@
 Alternatives to devfs
 What I don't like about devfs
 How to report bugs
+Strange kernel messages
+Compilation problems with devfsd
 
 
 
@@ -1675,7 +1688,7 @@
 minor limitation
 
 
-simplying increasing the device number size is insufficient. Apart
+simply increasing the device number size is insufficient. Apart
 from causing a lot of pain, it doesn't solve the management issues
 of a /dev with thousands or more device nodes
 
@@ -1790,6 +1803,65 @@
 
 http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html.
 
+
+Strange kernel messages
+
+You may see devfs-related messages in your kernel logs. Below are some
+messages and what they mean (and what you should do about them, if
+anything).
+
+
+
+devfs_register(fred): could not append to parent, err: -17
+
+You need to check what the error code means, but usually 17 means
+EEXIST. This means that a driver attempted to create an entry
+fred in a directory, but there already was an entry with that
+name. This is often caused by flawed boot scripts which untar a bunch
+of inodes into /dev, as a way to restore permissions. This
+message is harmless, as the device nodes will still
+provide access to the driver (unless you use the devfs=only
+boot option, which is only for dedicated souls:-). If you want to get
+rid of these annoying messages, upgrade to devfsd-v1.3.20 and use the
+recommended RESTORE directive to restore permissions.
+
+
+devfs_mk_dir(bill): using old entry in dir: c1808724 ""
+
+This is similar to the message above, except that a driver attempted
+to create a directory named bill, and the parent directory
+has an entry with the same name. In this case, to ensure that drivers
+continue to work properly, the old entry is re-used and given to the
+driver. In 2.5 kernels, the driver is given a NULL entry, and thus,
+under rare circumstances, may not create the require device nodes.
+The solution is the same as above.
+
+
+
+
+
+Compilation problems with devfsd
+
+Usually, you can compile devfsd just by typing in
+make in the source directory, followed by a make
+install (as root). Sometimes, you may have problems, particularly
+on broken configurations.
+
+
+
+error messages relating to DEVFSD_NOTIFY_DELETE
+
+This happened because you have an ancient set of kernel headers
+installed in /usr/include/linux or /usr/src/linux.
+Install kernel 2.4.10 or later. You may need to pass the
+KERNEL_DIR variable to make (if you did not install
+the new kernel sources as /usr/src/linux), or you may copy
+the devfs_fs.h file in the kernel source tree into
+/usr/include/linux.
+
+
+
+
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
@@ -1844,9 +1916,25 @@
 
 
 
+The document master (in English) by rgooch@atnf.csiro.au is
+available at
+
+http://www.atnf.csiro.au/~rgooch/linux/docs/devfs.html
+
+
+
 A Korean translation by viatoris@nownuri.net is available at
 
-http://home.nownuri.net/~viatoris/devfs/devfs.html 
+http://home.nownuri.net/~viatoris/devfs/devfs.html
+
+A newer version is under construcation at
+
+http://viatoris.new21.org/devfs/devfs.html
 
 
 
+
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Most flags courtesy of ITA's 
+Flags of All Countries
+used with permission.