Bug 3072
| Summary: | ATAPI Zip drive doesn't work properly | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Product: | IO/Storage | Reporter: | David Flater (purl) |
| Component: | IDE | Assignee: | io_ide (io_ide) |
| Status: | REJECTED INSUFFICIENT_DATA | ||
| Severity: | normal | CC: | bp, bunk, dave, devzero, htejun, protasnb |
| Priority: | P2 | ||
| Hardware: | i386 | ||
| OS: | Linux | ||
| Kernel Version: | 2.6.7 et seq. - 2.6.21.5-smp | Subsystem: | |
| Regression: | Yes | Bisected commit-id: | |
Happy one year bug anniversary! I am now running kernel.org kernel version 2.6.12.2 on a completely different machine within a clean install of Slackware 10.1 and the bug reproduces same as always. ide-floppy driver 0.99.newide hdc: No disk in drive hdc: 98304kB, 32/64/96 CHS, 4096 kBps, 512 sector size, 2941 rpm Linux version 2.6.12.2 (dave@yellowbeard) (gcc version 3.3.4) #1 SMP Sat Jul 9 17:42:32 EDT 2005 bash-3.00# mke2fs -m 0 /dev/hdc4 mke2fs 1.35 (28-Feb-2004) mke2fs: No such device or address while trying to determine filesystem size Syslog says: Jul 17 19:52:35 yellowbeard kernel: hdc: 98304kB, 196608 blocks, 512 sector size If I repeat the mke2fs command without ejecting the disk, it works on the second try. This problem does not occur with the 2.4.x kernel series. Thank you. Is this issue still present in kernel 2.6.17? Happy two year bug anniversary. As of now I can't even mount a disk on the first try. I'm a little vague on what happened to the kernel between 2.4 and 2.6 and whether it's all udev's fault, but my problems are certainly consistent with the (WILL_NOT_FIX) regression discussed in the udev thread archived at http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/engine?do=post_view_flat;post=407950;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;list=linux FWIW I am still not running udevd. bash-3.1$ cat /proc/version Linux version 2.6.17.4 (root@yellowbeard) (gcc version 3.4.6) #2 SMP PREEMPT Thu Aug 3 21:25:34 EDT 2006 bash-3.1$ dmesg | fgrep ZIP hdc: IOMEGA ZIP 100 ATAPI, ATAPI FLOPPY drive hdd: IOMEGA ZIP 250 ATAPI, ATAPI FLOPPY drive bash-3.1$ ls -al /dev/hdd brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 64 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd bash-3.1$ ls -al /dev/hdd? brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 65 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 66 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd2 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 67 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd3 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 68 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd4 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 69 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd5 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 70 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd6 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 71 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd7 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 72 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd8 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 73 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd9 [ put disk in hdd, wait for drive to spin up and for light to stop blinking ] bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdd4 /mnt mount: /dev/hdd4 is not a valid block device Syslog: Aug 17 19:39:51 yellowbeard kernel: hdd: The disk reports a capacity of 250640384 bytes, but the drive only handles 250609664 Aug 17 19:39:51 yellowbeard kernel: hdd: 244766kB, 489532 blocks, 512 sector size bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdd4 /mnt Syslog: Aug 17 19:41:48 yellowbeard kernel: hdd: The disk reports a capacity of 250640384 bytes, but the drive only handles 250609664 Aug 17 19:41:49 yellowbeard kernel: hdd: hdd4 bash-3.1# ls -al /mnt total 109816 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 16384 1969-12-31 19:00 . drwxr-xr-x 21 root root 4096 2006-08-03 20:56 .. -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 112427692 2006-07-11 20:43 xp_backup.tar.gz OK, is this a three year bug now? Is the bug still there with recent kernels? Thanks. It's still there. Now running Slackware 12.0 "huge smp" kernel and udev. bash-3.1$ cat /proc/version Linux version 2.6.21.5-smp (root@midas) (gcc version 4.1.2) #2 SMP Tue Jun 19 14:58:11 CDT 2007 bash-3.1$ ps -ef | fgrep udev root 1114 1 0 17:47 ? 00:00:00 /sbin/udevd --daemon bash-3.1$ udevd --version 111 bash-3.1$ dmesg | fgrep ZIP hdc: IOMEGA ZIP 250 ATAPI, ATAPI FLOPPY drive bash-3.1$ ls -al /dev/hdc* brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 0 2007-09-04 13:47 /dev/hdc [Insert a vfat Zip disk, wait 10 seconds] bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdc4 /mnt mount: special device /dev/hdc4 does not exist bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdc4 /mnt mount: special device /dev/hdc4 does not exist [Hmmm...] bash-3.1# dd if=/dev/hdc of=/dev/null bs=512 count=1 1+0 records in 1+0 records out 512 bytes (512 B) copied, 0.00567736 s, 90.2 kB/s > Sep 4 17:54:09 yellowbeard kernel: hdc: 244766kB, 489532 blocks, 512 sector > size > Sep 4 17:54:09 yellowbeard kernel: hdc: The disk reports a capacity of > 250640384 bytes, but the drive only handles 250609664 > Sep 4 17:54:10 yellowbeard kernel: hdc: hdc4 bash-3.1# ls -al /dev/hdc* brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 0 2007-09-04 13:47 /dev/hdc brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 4 2007-09-04 17:54 /dev/hdc4 bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdc4 /mnt [Success] [Unmount, eject disk] bash-3.1# ls -al /dev/hdc* brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 0 2007-09-04 13:47 /dev/hdc brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 4 2007-09-04 17:56 /dev/hdc4 bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdc4 /mnt mount: /dev/hdc4: can't read superblock > Sep 4 17:58:48 yellowbeard kernel: hdc: No disk in drive [Insert a vfat Zip disk, wait 10 seconds] bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdc4 /mnt [Success] [Unmount, change disks] bash-3.1# fdisk /dev/hdc [... edit partition table ...] Command (m for help): p Disk /dev/hdc: 100 MB, 100663296 bytes 64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 96 cylinders Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/hdc1 1 50 51184 83 Linux /dev/hdc2 51 96 47104 83 Linux Command (m for help): w The partition table has been altered! Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table. Syncing disks. bash-3.1# ls -al /dev/hdc* brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 0 2007-09-04 18:05 /dev/hdc brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 1 2007-09-04 18:05 /dev/hdc1 brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 2 2007-09-04 18:05 /dev/hdc2 bash-3.1# mke2fs /dev/hdc1 [Success] [Eject disk] [Insert original vfat disk] bash-3.1# ls -al /dev/hdc* brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 0 2007-09-04 18:05 /dev/hdc brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 1 2007-09-04 18:07 /dev/hdc1 brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 2 2007-09-04 18:07 /dev/hdc2 bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdc4 /mnt mount: special device /dev/hdc4 does not exist bash-3.1# dd if=/dev/hdc of=/dev/null bs=512 count=1 1+0 records in 1+0 records out 512 bytes (512 B) copied, 0.0055659 s, 92.0 kB/s bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/hdc4 /mnt [Success] bash-3.1# ls -al /dev/hdc* brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 0 2007-09-04 18:05 /dev/hdc brw-rw---- 1 root plugdev 22, 4 2007-09-04 18:09 /dev/hdc4 This bug will have to be submitted to linux-ide I guess. Is this still a problem with recent kernels? Yes.... Reconfirmed with 2.6.24.2 mainline. With 2.6.24.3 I determined that if the "stable" IDE drivers under ATA/ATAPI/MFM/RLL support are disabled, the Zip drive works great with the "experimental" PATA drivers in libata. This is probably what needs to be used anyway, I think the bug is resolved with new drivers working. Not the case here, reopening the bug. David, would you please test 2.6.25 to see whether the bug persists. See, since .24 a lot of stuff got removed from the driver and before we do any debugging I'd like to know the bug is still there :). Thanks. I guess that we should close this bug for now. |
[1.] One line summary of the problem: ATAPI Zip drive doesn't work properly [2.] Full description of the problem/report: bash-2.05b# mke2fs -m 0 /dev/hdd4 mke2fs 1.35 (28-Feb-2004) mke2fs: No such device or address while trying to determine filesystem size Log messages: Jul 15 10:19:47 pad kernel: hdd: 98304kB, 196608 blocks, 512 sector size [3.] Keywords (i.e., modules, networking, kernel): kernel, ide-floppy, devfs [4.] Kernel version (from /proc/version): Linux version 2.6.7 (root@tree) (gcc version 3.3.4) #1 Wed Jun 16 16:23:03 PDT 2004 [5.] Output of Oops.. message (if applicable) with symbolic information resolved (see Documentation/oops-tracing.txt) N/A [6.] A small shell script or example program which triggers the problem (if possible) # Assume Iomega Zip 100 ATAPI on /dev/hdd mke2fs -m 0 /dev/hdd4 [7.] Environment Slackware 10.0 with 2.6.7 kernel installed per instructions in testing/packages/linux-2.6.7 Jul 15 10:18:13 pad kernel: hdd: IOMEGA ZIP 100 ATAPI, ATAPI FLOPPY drive Jul 15 10:18:13 pad kernel: ide-floppy driver 0.99.newide No Udev. [7.1.] Software (add the output of the ver_linux script here) Linux pad 2.6.7 #1 Wed Jun 16 16:23:03 PDT 2004 i686 unknown unknown GNU/Linux Gnu C 3.3.4 Gnu make 3.80 binutils 2.15.90.0.3 util-linux 2.12a mount 2.12a module-init-tools 3.0 e2fsprogs 1.35 Linux C Library 2.3.2 Dynamic linker (ldd) 2.3.2 Linux C++ Library 5.0.6 Procps 3.2.1 Net-tools 1.60 Kbd 1.12 Sh-utils 5.2.1 Modules Loaded isofs zlib_inflate nls_utf8 nls_cp437 vfat fat aes cryptoloop loop ipv6 snd_pcm_oss snd_mixer_oss lp parport ipt_LOG ipt_limit ipt_state ip_conntrack iptable_filter ip_tables ohci_hcd ehci_hcd intel_agp uhci_hcd snd_ymfpci snd_ac97_codec snd_pcm snd_opl3_lib snd_timer snd_hwdep snd_page_alloc gameport snd_mpu401_uart snd_rawmidi snd_seq_device snd soundcore 3c59x evdev agpgart psmouse reiserfs [7.2.] Processor information (from /proc/cpuinfo): processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 7 model name : Pentium III (Katmai) stepping : 2 cpu MHz : 449.022 cache size : 512 KB fdiv_bug : no hlt_bug : no f00f_bug : no coma_bug : no fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 2 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse bogomips : 886.78 [7.3.] Module information (from /proc/modules): nls_utf8 1792 0 - Live 0xd8a61000 nls_cp437 5632 0 - Live 0xd8a68000 vfat 10880 0 - Live 0xd8a64000 fat 38336 1 vfat, Live 0xd8a6b000 aes 32704 1 - Live 0xd8a2f000 cryptoloop 3200 1 - Live 0xd8a0f000 loop 11912 3 cryptoloop, Live 0xd8a14000 ipv6 212064 8 - Live 0xd8a84000 snd_pcm_oss 49704 0 - Live 0xd8a39000 snd_mixer_oss 17408 1 snd_pcm_oss, Live 0xd8a23000 lp 9388 0 - Live 0xd8989000 parport 32456 1 lp, Live 0xd8a1a000 ipt_LOG 6016 1 - Live 0xd898d000 ipt_limit 2048 1 - Live 0xd89ed000 ipt_state 1792 1 - Live 0xd8996000 ip_conntrack 28168 1 ipt_state, Live 0xd8a07000 iptable_filter 2432 1 - Live 0xd8948000 ip_tables 15488 4 ipt_LOG,ipt_limit,ipt_state,iptable_filter, Live 0xd89f8000 ohci_hcd 18436 0 - Live 0xd89e7000 ehci_hcd 27012 0 - Live 0xd89f0000 intel_agp 16540 1 - Live 0xd8990000 uhci_hcd 27920 0 - Live 0xd89ce000 snd_ymfpci 57028 0 - Live 0xd89bf000 snd_ac97_codec 64644 1 snd_ymfpci, Live 0xd89ae000 snd_pcm 80904 2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_ymfpci, Live 0xd8999000 snd_opl3_lib 9216 1 snd_ymfpci, Live 0xd8963000 snd_timer 21764 3 snd_ymfpci,snd_pcm,snd_opl3_lib, Live 0xd8979000 snd_hwdep 8196 1 snd_opl3_lib, Live 0xd894c000 snd_page_alloc 10888 2 snd_ymfpci,snd_pcm, Live 0xd881e000 gameport 3712 1 snd_ymfpci, Live 0xd8946000 snd_mpu401_uart 6912 1 snd_ymfpci, Live 0xd8831000 snd_rawmidi 21028 1 snd_mpu401_uart, Live 0xd895c000 snd_seq_device 7304 2 snd_opl3_lib,snd_rawmidi, Live 0xd882e000 snd 48484 11 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_ymfpci,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_opl3_lib,snd_timer,snd_hwdep,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device, Live 0xd896c000 soundcore 6752 1 snd, Live 0xd882b000 3c59x 35112 0 - Live 0xd8952000 evdev 7168 0 - Live 0xd8822000 agpgart 26920 1 intel_agp, Live 0xd8834000 psmouse 17544 0 - Live 0xd8825000 reiserfs 218576 2 - Live 0xd883c000 [7.4.] Loaded driver and hardware information (/proc/ioports, /proc/iomem) 0000-001f : dma1 0020-0021 : pic1 0040-005f : timer 0060-006f : keyboard 0070-0077 : rtc 0080-008f : dma page reg 00a0-00a1 : pic2 00c0-00df : dma2 00f0-00ff : fpu 0170-0177 : ide1 01f0-01f7 : ide0 0376-0376 : ide1 03c0-03df : vga+ 03f6-03f6 : ide0 03f8-03ff : serial 0cf8-0cff : PCI conf1 1000-107f : 0000:00:0d.0 1000-107f : 0000:00:0d.0 1080-109f : 0000:00:07.2 1080-109f : uhci_hcd 10a0-10af : 0000:00:07.1 10a0-10a7 : ide0 10a8-10af : ide1 7000-701f : 0000:00:07.3 8000-803f : 0000:00:07.3 00000000-0009f7ff : System RAM 0009f800-0009ffff : reserved 000a0000-000bffff : Video RAM area 000c0000-000c87ff : Video ROM 000c8800-000c8fff : Adapter ROM 000e4000-000effff : Adapter ROM 000f0000-000fffff : System ROM 00100000-040fd7ff : System RAM 00100000-002b72eb : Kernel code 002b72ec-003895ff : Kernel data 040fd800-040ff7ff : ACPI Tables 040ff800-040ffbff : ACPI Non-volatile Storage 040ffc00-17ffffff : System RAM f4000000-f4007fff : 0000:00:0c.0 f4000000-f4007fff : YMFPCI f4008000-f400807f : 0000:00:0d.0 f5000000-f5ffffff : PCI Bus #01 f5000000-f5ffffff : 0000:01:00.0 f8000000-fbffffff : 0000:00:00.0 fc000000-fcffffff : PCI Bus #01 fc000000-fcffffff : 0000:01:00.0 fff80000-ffffffff : reserved [7.5.] PCI information ('lspci -vvv' as root) 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03) Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort+ >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 64 Region 0: Memory at f8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M] Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 1.0 Status: RQ=32 Iso- ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA+ ITACoh- GART64- HTrans- 64bit- FW- AGP3- Rate=x1,x2 Command: RQ=1 ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA- AGP- GART64- 64bit- FW- Rate=<none> 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle+ MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66Mhz+ UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 128 Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=64 I/O behind bridge: 0000f000-00000fff Memory behind bridge: f5000000-f5ffffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: fc000000-fcffffff BridgeCtl: Parity- SERR- NoISA+ VGA+ MAbort- >Reset- FastB2B+ 00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02) Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle+ MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 0 00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master]) Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 64 Region 4: I/O ports at 10a0 [size=16] 00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI]) Control: I/O+ Mem- BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 64 Interrupt: pin D routed to IRQ 9 Region 4: I/O ports at 1080 [size=32] 00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02) Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- Status: Cap- 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Interrupt: pin ? routed to IRQ 9 00:0c.0 Multimedia audio controller: Yamaha Corporation YMF-724F [DS-1 Audio Controller] (rev 03) Subsystem: Intel Corp.: Unknown device 5345 Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR+ Latency: 64 (1250ns min, 6250ns max) Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 9 Region 0: Memory at f4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32K] Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 1 Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-) Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME- 00:0d.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905B 100BaseTX [Cyclone] (rev 34) Subsystem: 3Com Corporation 3C905B Fast Etherlink XL 10/100 Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV+ VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR+ FastB2B- Status: Cap+ 66Mhz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 80 (2500ns min, 2500ns max), cache line size 08 Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11 Region 0: I/O ports at 1000 [size=128] Region 1: Memory at f4008000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128] Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=128K] Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 1 Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1+,D2+,D3hot+,D3cold+) Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME- 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV4 [RIVA TNT] (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [VGA]) Subsystem: Diamond Multimedia Systems: Unknown device 5802 Control: I/O+ Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- Status: Cap+ 66Mhz+ UDF- FastB2B+ ParErr- DEVSEL=medium >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- Latency: 64 (1250ns min, 250ns max) Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 11 Region 0: Memory at f5000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M] Region 1: Memory at fc000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=16M] Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled] [size=64K] Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 1 Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-) Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME- Capabilities: [44] AGP version 1.0 Status: RQ=16 Iso- ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA+ ITACoh- GART64- HTrans- 64bit- FW- AGP3- Rate=x1,x2 Command: RQ=1 ArqSz=0 Cal=0 SBA- AGP- GART64- 64bit- FW- Rate=<none> [7.6.] SCSI information (from /proc/scsi/scsi) N/A Attached devices: [7.7.] Other information that might be relevant to the problem (please look in /proc and include all information that you think to be relevant): Originally I was running Udev 026 with kernel 2.6.7, but then I was not even able to mount /dev/hdd4 unless I tried to access /dev/hdd first. Seems to be a known problem with Udev since at least January. Uninstalling Udev made the mount problem go away but I still couldn't mke2fs. As far as I can tell, the device files in /dev are correct, even though /dev/hdd4 was destroyed and re-created by Udev. bash-2.05b# ls -al /dev/hdd /dev/hdd[1-4] brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 64 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 65 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd1 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 66 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd2 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 67 2002-06-09 15:27 /dev/hdd3 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 22, 68 2004-07-14 16:54 /dev/hdd4 [X.] Other notes, patches, fixes, workarounds: Workaround: revert to kernel 2.4.26. Thank you