nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos) (05/19/89)
We have a Sun 4/280 server running 4.0 -- we would like to be able to swap on two partitions on two disks connected to the server, but don't seem to be able to do so. Does any one know if there is a way to do this in 4.0 ? In a previous article to Sun-Spots I BELIEVE someone said that # config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy0b and swap on xy3b # would work, but when I tried the above config file I got the same kernel as I got with the following: # config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy3b # Also, does anyone know if the naming of the kernel matters at all. i.e. what does using the line: # ident GENERIC # do to you if the rest of the kernel is not really GENERIC? Thank you, George Nassiopoulos nassio@cfa.harvard.edu (Internet) nassio@cfa (BITNET) [[ The config line we use is: "config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy0b and xy1b" Note that it does not say "and swap on". --wnl ]]
nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos) (05/24/89)
> [[ The config line we use is: > "config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy0b and xy1b" > Note that it does not say "and swap on". --wnl ]] When I try: config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy0b and xy3b I get: config: line 77: syntax error line 77 is the config line. what am i doing wrong? I've tried all kinds of variations of this config line. George Nassiopoulos nassio@cfa.harvard.edu
whiteley@nadc.arpa (D. Whiteley) (05/25/89)
I'm responding with a question in response to this letter: >Date: Thu, 18 May 89 16:51:43 edt >From: nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos) >Subject: sun 4.0 multiple swap partitions > >We have a Sun 4/280 server running 4.0 -- we would like to be able to swap >on two partitions on two disks connected to the server, but don't seem to >be able to do so. I also have a Sun3/280 that I would like to have swap on two partitions. When I installed this machine I tried numerous combinations of the config line in the kernel file. I either got a syntax error from /etc/config for that line, or a kernel that only swaps on one partition. I thought maybe I hadn't tried what wnl suggested. But I got a syntax error from /etc/config when I did try it just now. Is this perhaps a difference between SunOS 4.0 and SunOS 4.0.1? Is it possible to put a line in the /etc/fstab file for a second swap partition? Or is that only for swap partitions for clients? Thanks, Denice whiteley@nadc.arpa
alan%prism@gatech.edu (Alan M. Brown) (06/01/89)
In article <8905190032.AA05736@rice.edu>, nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos) writes: > We have a Sun 4/280 server running 4.0 -- we would like to be able to swap > on two partitions on two disks connected to the server, but don't seem to > be able to do so. [more detail removed - AMB] After fighting with unknowledgable Sun employees and some experimentation, I've found that the config program's handling of the "config vmunix..." specification is different between Sun OS 3.5 and 4.0. Note that at 3.5 and 4.0, TFM states that to specify two swap partitions, use a config line similar to "config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy0b and xy1b" At 3.5 this works great, while at 4.0 an error message is produced by /usr/etc/config. Solution for 4.0: Simply specify your first (any) partition in the config line similar to "config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy0b" then place in your /etc/fstab an entry for each partition to be swapped upon. For example, /dev/xy0b /swap swap rw 0 0 /dev/xy1f /swap swap rw 0 0 Now issue the "swapon -a" command. You should be able to verify the results with the "pstat -s" command. > Also, does anyone know if the naming of the kernel matters > at all. i.e. what does using the line: > # > ident GENERIC > # > do to you if the rest of the kernel is not really GENERIC? The naming of the kernel is entirely for your convenience. We use the names to specify different versions of the kernel, e.g., hostname.1, hostname.2. The only impact that I'm aware of is that your motd that appears at login includes a header which specifies the kernel name (RADAR.4 in this example), a build number (9), and a build date (...May 19...). login: alan Password: Last login: Thu Jun 1 09:51:09 from ... SunOS Release 4.0.1 (RADAR.4) #9: Fri May 19 16:47:05 EDT 1989 Alan M. Brown Systems Support Specialist Office of Computing Services telephone: (404) 894-4660 Georgia Institute of Technology Internet: alan@prism.gatech.edu Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0275 uucp: ...!{allegra,amd,hplabs,ut-ngp}!gatech!prism!alan
davecb@nexus.yorku.ca (David Collier-Brown) (06/06/89)
In article <3456@kalliope.rice.edu> nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos) writes: | X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 8, Issue 4, message 6 of 13 | When I try: | config vmunix root on xy0a swap on xy0b and xy3b | | I get: | config: line 77: syntax error | | line 77 is the config line. what am i doing wrong? I've tried all kinds | of variations of this config line. We just got bit by the same thing, and went to "root on xy0a swap on xy0b swap on xy3b" after reading the syntax reference. It appears to have changed (:-)). dave
ekrell@ulysses.att.com (Eduardo Krell) (06/14/89)
In article <3502@kalliope.rice.edu> you write: >Is it possible to put a line in the /etc/fstab file for a second swap >partition? Or is that only for swap partitions for clients? You need an entry in /etc/fstab for all extra swap partitions. Otherwise, "swapon -a" (being run from /etc/rc) won't find them. Use something like: /dev/xd1b swap swap sw 0 0 I don't understand why people are having problems with the kernel config file. All I have is config vmunix swap generic and we've never had any problems (even when we added the 2nd disk where the extra swap partition is). Eduardo Krell AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ UUCP: {att,decvax,ucbvax}!ulysses!ekrell Internet: ekrell@ulysses.att.com
itwaf@gatech.edu (Bill Fulton [Sys Admin]) (06/20/89)
In article <3641@kalliope.rice.edu> alan%prism@gatech.edu (Alan M. Brown)writes: >In article <8905190032.AA05736@rice.edu>, nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu >(George Nassiopoulos) writes: [...] >> Also, does anyone know if the naming of the kernel matters >> at all. i.e. what does using the line: >> ident GENERIC >> do to you if the rest of the kernel is not really GENERIC? >The naming of the kernel is entirely for your convenience. We use the It's my understanding that the 'GERNERIC' designation (which can be used either with the 'ident' line or as one of the 'option' lines) is a flag that 'gives the kernal more latitude' when it comes up. For example, I think that you can only specifiy the '-a' boot option when the kernal is 'generic' (otherwise, the '-a' is ignored, and you are not allowed to specify the root device). Also, I think the the keyword 'generic' can be used in the 'config' line only when GENERIC has been specified (that's what it seems to say in the manual) That is; config vmunix swap generic can be specified, and seems to allow more flexibility when booting. In fact, the only way I can figure out to get a diskless workstation to boot from a server is to use kernal which has the 'GENERIC' option specified. I have, for example, reconfiged a smaller kernal for the diskless workstations (no sd support, etc), but I seem to have to enable the GENERIC option, and use 'swap generic' in the config line. Which brings up a question ... Is there a way to explicitly declare that a workstation should use the nd server for the root and/or swap partition? I tried config vmunix root on nd0 swap on sd0b It started to boot, but failed somewhere around rc.boot, with the message rootmount: can't mount root If I used a generic kernel with both root and swap on sd0, and used the -a boot option, to specify nd0 as the root device, it apparantly also used nd0 as the swap device, despite the kernal config. I was going to try playing around with /etc/fstab as an alternate approach, but, after playing with kernal reconfigs for a few hours, I was fuzzed out; I gave up and implemented a work-around. This foolishness started when, last week, I tried to get a normally diskless client to use a loaner SCSI disk for the swap device only (NOT the root device - due to a dedicated root structure which I didn't want to recreate on the SCSI disk). Anybody else tried this? Bill Fulton