Re: [gentoo-user] Kernel does not boot after adding a new SATA drive

[gevisz]

2016-09-07 21:46 GMT+03:00 Rich Freeman :
> On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 2:25 PM, gevisz  wrote:
>>
>> What you have just said implies that I had not had a problem
>> booting the system after adding a new drive had I used initramfs
>> correctly. Well, I do agree that, after loading the initramfs, the system
>> may find the kernel to load with the help of initramfs that understands
>> UUID. However, how the GRUB could find the initramfs in the first place,
>> if it could not find the kerner allocated in the same directory as the
>> initramfs itself?
>
> grub-mkconfig simply searches for a configurable list of filename
> specifications which your initramfs didn't match.  Since /boot could
> contain all sorts of files, with all sorts of naming conventions, it
> obviously would be very difficult to accomodate any possible naming
> convention.  We apparently do have it set up to search the filenames
> generated by the initramfs tools we actually use, so as long as you
> don't go renaming them you're probably fine.
>
> At boot time grub doesn't search for anything.  It simply reads the
> config file and does what it tells it.
>
>>
>> Moreover, in the GRUB menu entry provided above, the initramfs loads
>> already after the kernel. So, using the initramfs should be irrelevant to
>> the question of finding the kernel to load by GRUB.
>>
>
> Grub is loading the kernel in your case.  The kernel just isn't
> mounting the root filesystem since there is no initramfs to tell it
> how to do that.  Grub has nothing to do with mounting root at boot
> time.
>
> Grub also loads the initramfs before it ever executes the kernel.  The
> kernel doesn't know how to load an initramfs from disk.  It expects it
> to be in RAM when it runs.
>
> The initramfs loaded by grub is just a cpio image that is copied into
> RAM, and I believe the address gets passed as a kernel command line
> argument (one you don't even see in grub, it appends it at runtime).
> The kernel creates a ramfs, extracts the cpio image into the ramfs,
> and executes init inside of it.  At that point the kernel is
> essentially done with booting the system, the initramfs can mount and
> pivot to a new root, or the whole system could just run off of an
> initramfs until it shuts down.  This is why the kernel developers have
> shunned kernel mounting logic/etc in favor of the initramfs; it moves
> more of the logic into userspace where it is easier to
> change/maintain/etc, and doesn't have to necessarily run with kernel
> privs either.  Heck, your initramfs could go out on the network, pull
> in another kernel image and initramfs, and kexec that (which I think
> is basically the design of coreboot which is a linux-based
> bootloader).
> --
> Rich
>

Yes, with initramfs, system boots even if I remove a (non-boot :) disk
or add another one. I reply a bit later because needed some time to
check all the possible situations. Thank you for the help!

Now the problem solved indeed.

[gentoo-user] New install, a few problems (or not?)

[waltdnes]

  64-bit no-multilib install on a relatively new Dell Inspiron...

1) X works OK, but installing x11-drivers/xf86-video-intel finishes off
with the message...

***
WARN: postinst
This driver requires KMS support in your kernel
  Device Drivers --->
Graphics support --->
  Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support)  --->
  <*>   Intel 830M, 845G, 852GM, 855GM, 865G (i915 driver)  --->
  i915 driver
  [*]   Enable modesetting on intel by default
***

  Note that make.conf contains...
VIDEO_CARDS="intel i965"
...and X loads the i965 driver, and runs OK.  Why is i915 even mentioned?


2) "uname -a" gives the following output...

[i3][root][~] uname -a
Linux i3 4.4.6-gentoo #4 SMP Wed Sep 7 17:12:27 Local time zone must be 
set--see zic m x86_64 Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU N3700 @ 1.60GHz GenuineIntel 
GNU/Linux


...but I've already run...

[i3][root][~] emerge --config sys-libs/timezone-data

Configuring pkg...

 * Updating /etc/localtime with /usr/share/zoneinfo/Canada/Eastern

3) The new machine is not co-operating with my hardware KVM switch.  If
I select the machine while it's booting up, it works fine.  But if I
switch away and come back, the VGA video does not work.  I've confirmed
that the keyboard part of KVM still works...
* boot up with new machine selected
* log in as root in text console mode
* switch away
* switch back, and there's no video
* but if I blindly type "poweroff", it shuts down, so keyboard works

  Ugly hack...  The new machine has VGA and HDMI ports.  My monitor has
VGA (which the KVM switch uses) and HDMI (and DVI and Displayport?).  I
can add one more cable to the "rat's nest" under the table.  But
switching between machines will also require toggling the monitor as
well as the KVM.

4) media-libs/x265 took 68 minutes to build on a relatively new 4-core
Intel Silvermont with 8 gigs of RAM, and X was not running!  Time output

real68m48.122s
user87m52.139s
sys 0m25.027s

  It got stuck at a few times building "deblock"...

[ 98%] Building CXX object common/CMakeFiles/common.dir/deblock.cpp.o cd 
/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/x265-1.8-r3/work/x265_11047/source-abi_x86_64.amd64-main10/common
 && /usr/bin/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-g++  -DEXPORT_C_API=0 -DHAVE_INT_TYPES_H=1 
-DHIGH_BIT_DEPTH=1 -DX265_ARCH_X86=1 -DX265_DEPTH=10 -DX265_NS=x265_10bit 
-DX86_64=1 -D__STDC_LIMIT_MACROS=1 
-I/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/x265-1.8-r3/work/x265_11047/source/.  
-I/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/x265-1.8-r3/work/x265_11047/source/common 
-I/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/x265-1.8-r3/work/x265_11047/source/encoder 
-I/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/x265-1.8-r3/work/x265_11047/source-abi_x86_64.amd64-main10
 -DNDEBUG -O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe 
-fno-unwind-tables -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables -fPIC-Wall -Wextra 
-Wshadow -fPIC -Wno-array-bounds -ffast-math -mstackrealign -fno-exceptions -o 
CMakeFiles/common.dir/deblock.cpp.o -c 
/var/tmp/portage/media-libs/x265-1.8-r3/work/x265_11047/source/common/deblock.cpp

  When I say "stuck", I mean that "top" shows yasm pegging one core at 100%

  PID USER  PR  NIVIRTRESSHR S  %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
 3520 portage   20   0  178920 171848   2032 R 100.0  2.1  24:48.70 yasm
 3749 waltdnes  20   0   21808   2824   2340 R   0.7  0.0   0:03.54 top
1 root  20   04188   1564   1460 S   0.0  0.0   0:00.37 init
2 root  20   0   0  0  0 S   0.0  0.0   0:00.00 kthreadd


-- 
Walter Dnes 
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] Is it still advisable to partition a big hard drive?

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

Am 08.09.2016 um 00:47 schrieb Alan McKinnon:
> On 08/09/2016 00:12, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
>> Am 07.09.2016 um 08:18 schrieb Alan McKinnon:
>>> On 07/09/2016 01:57, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
 Am 01.09.2016 um 11:01 schrieb Alan McKinnon:
> On 01/09/2016 09:18, gevisz wrote:
>> 2016-09-01 9:13 GMT+03:00 Alan McKinnon :
>>> On 01/09/2016 08:04, gevisz wrote:
> [snip]
>
>>> it will take about 5 seconds to partition it.
>>> And a few more to mkfs it.
>> Just to partition - may be, but I very much doubt
>> that it will take seconds to create a full-fledged
>> ext4 file system on these 5TB via USB2 connention.
> Do it. Tell me how long it tool.
>
> Discussing it without doing it and offering someone else's opinion
> is a
> 100% worthless activity
>
>> Even more: my aquiantance from the Window world
>> that recomended me this disc scared me that it may
>> take days...
> Mickey Mouse told me it takes microseconds. So what?
>
> Do it. Tell me how long it took.
>
 Is it still advisable to partition a big hard drive
 into smaller logical ones and why?
>>> The only reason to partition a drive is to get 2 or more
>>> smaller ones that differ somehow (size, inode ratio, mount
>>> options, etc)
>>>
>>> Go with no partition table by all means, but if you one day find
>>> you
>>> need one, you will have to copy all your data off, repartition,
>>> and copy
>>> your data back. If you are certain that will not happen (eg you
>>> will
>>> rather buy a second drive) then by all means dispense with
>>> partitions.
>>>
>>> They are after all nothing more than a Microsoft invention from
>>> the 80s
>>> so people could install UCSD Pascal next to MS-DOS
>> I definitely will not need more than one mount point for this
>> hard drive
>> but I do remember some arguments that partitioning a large hard
>> drive
>> into smaller logical ones gives me more safety in case a file system
>> suddenly will get corrupted because in this case I will loose my
>> data
>> only on one of the logical partitions and not on the whole drive.
>>
>> Is this argument still valid nowadays?
> That is the most stupid dumbass argument I've heard in weeks.
> It doesn't even deserve a response.
>
> Who the fuck is promoting this shit?
>
>
 people who had to deal with corrupted filesystems in the past?


>>> The way to deal with the problem of fs corruption is to have reliable
>>> tested backups.
>>>
>>> The wrong way to deal with the problem of fs corruption is to get into
>>> cargo-cult manoeuvrers thinking that lots of little bits making a whole
>>> is going to solve the problem.
>>>
>>> Especially when the part of the disk statistically most at risk is the
>>> valuable data itself. OS code can be rebuilt easily, without backups
>>> data can't.
>>>
>>
>> the bigger the drive, the greater the chance of fs corruption. Just by
>> statistics. Better one minor partition is lost than everything.
>
> What are the statistical chances of that one minor partition being the
> one that gets corrupted? Statistically the odds are very small.
>
> Think about it, if the minor partition is say 5% of the disk and if
> all other things are exactly equal, the odds are 1 in 20.
>
> Apart from inherent defects in the drive itself, the sectors that are
> more prone to failing are those that are read the most and to a larger
> extent those that are written the most.
>
> What is read the most? OS and Data
> What is written the most? Data
> What has by far the greatest likelihood of suffering fs corruption? Data

and that is why spreading data over several partitions is not a bad idea.

Re: [gentoo-user] Wastebin or trash?

[Mick]

On Thursday 08 Sep 2016 09:07:50 Peter Humphrey wrote:

> Sorry gents, but this has nothing to do with IMAP: the phenomenon is purely
> internal to KMail. Besides, I only have POP3 accounts (which I suppose I
> could have said before but it didn't seem significant).

Ahh!  POP3 is just a bucket of messages.  It does not have a concept of 
mailboxes/folders (not on the server anyway).  Local folders and messages 
being dropped into them is a manual exercise by the user, or achieved by 
client filters.  None of this is duplicated on the server.

When you download a message and mark it for deletion, it is not not deleted 
until the server enters the UPDATE stage, when the client quits.  The POP3 
server does not move the deleted message anywhere, in another mailbox and it 
will not mirror any moves of messages into local folders on the client.


> Alan is closest: it's a matter of string contents somewhere in the KMail
> code. I just don't know whereabouts - nor do I want to fiddle around in the
> guts of the program, which is quite fragile enough already. One thing is
> being defined twice, or else it's defined once and only called in one of the
> two places where it should be, the other being hard coded.
> 
> I've noticed both "trash" and "Wastebin" being used at different times over
> the last year, which hints at instability of program design and development
> management systems.

Interestingly, my "Local Folders" contains a "trash" folder.  I don't use 
local folders (all my accounts are IMAP4) so I haven't paid attention to this 
trash folder, or its name.  I recall though that sometimes deleted messages 
end up there, if the IMAP account is offline when I happened to delete the 
message.  From my failing memory I can attest this local folder has been 
always called "trash", but I could well be mistaken.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Wastebin or trash?

[Peter Humphrey]

On Wednesday 07 Sep 2016 20:28:27 Mick wrote:
> On Wednesday 07 Sep 2016 20:51:51 Alan McKinnon wrote:
> > On 07/09/2016 19:53, Simon Thelen wrote:
> > > On 16-09-07 at 18:41, Mick wrote:
> > >> On Thursday 08 Sep 2016 00:47:13 Andrew Lowe wrote:
> > >>> On 07/09/16 23:45, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> >  Hello list,
> >  
> >  As I said in the "emerge @system" thread, I've built a fresh ~amd64
> >  system
> >  on this i7 box. I also created a new user directory for myself,
> >  copying
> >  in
> >  only .bash*, .gkrellm2 and .mozilla.
> >  
> >  After spending a good long time setting up KDE and friends just the
> >  way
> >  I
> >  like them, the one remaining task was to set up KMail and import my
> >  1000-or- so messages. That worked all right, with just the one same
> >  exception as before: KMail's recycle bin is call "trash" in the
> >  folder
> >  list, but the right-click menu on it offers to "empty wastebin".
> >  
> >  I'm sure I have all my linguas, l10ns i18ns and everything set up
> >  right,
> >  so
> >  I think I'm just seeing an intermediate stage in KMail development.
> >  
> >  Is anyone else seeing this?
> >  
> > >>> I'm reading this whilst sitting in Perth, Australia so both 
should
> 
> read
> 
> > >>> "Rubbish Bin" or possibly "Wheelie Bin"  ;)
> > >> 
> > >> One IMAP4 account of mine shows 'Bin' and another shows 'Trash'.  As
> > >> I
> > >> understand it you need to configure the locale on the mail server.
> > > 
> > > IMAP itself does not have a concept of "Trash", the creation of such a
> > > mailbox is the prerogative of the client (unless the server itself
> > > feels
> > > that the imap client doesn't know what it's doing and moves deleted
> > > emails into a different mailbox; not that I've ever seen a mail server
> > > do that), therefore changing the locale on the mail server won't help
> > > and it is indeed something on the client that needs to be changed.
> 
> Yes, you're right. The IMAP4 protocol uses tags to signify deleted
> messages, which until they are expunged stay on the server.
> 
> Most mail clients typically move messages flagged as deleted into a
> bin/trash/deleted IMAP4 mailbox (i.e. the representation of a mail client
> folder) if configured to do so.  The name of the mailbox is down to the
> user, if created manually, or down to the presets of the mail client GUI.
>  If a webmail or desktop mail client is used, then the language settings
> (on the webmail server or local PC) come into play.
> 
> One of my accounts has GB settings, hence the 'bin' folder.  The other
> appears to have US settings, hence the 'trash' folder.
> 
> > Or maybe wastebin in "empty wastebin" is a simple common noun whereas
> > the folder called "Trash" is a proper noun.
> > 
> > KDE widgets in my experience often have oddities like this.
> > 
> > If it's something like that, you may have to find the file containing
> > display strings and change it there
> 
> This may be a bit drastic.  In my experience changing locale on the local
> client, or the remote webmail server if one exists sorts this out.
> 
> Using local Vs server-side subscriptions on Kmail may affect the outcome
> between different clients.

Sorry gents, but this has nothing to do with IMAP: the phenomenon is purely 
internal to KMail. Besides, I only have POP3 accounts (which I suppose I 
could have said before but it didn't seem significant).

Alan is closest: it's a matter of string contents somewhere in the KMail 
code. I just don't know whereabouts - nor do I want to fiddle around in the 
guts of the program, which is quite fragile enough already. One thing is 
being defined twice, or else it's defined once and only called in one of the 
two places where it should be, the other being hard coded.

I've noticed both "trash" and "Wastebin" being used at different times over 
the last year, which hints at instability of program design and development 
management systems.

-- 
Rgds
Peter