Just had occasion to look at my /etc/mtab and the partition names had
changed from /dev/sda* to /dev/sdb*. My /etc/fstab still shows /dev/sda*.
This *may* have happened when I recently used gparted to create 3 new
partitions (which I have yet to install anything on).What happened and
can I rename back to /dev/sda* or do I live with it and edit /etc/fstab?
The UUID's match those in fstab.

The danger, of course, is that if anything happened that would force me
to reboot, such as a power outage, I'd be screwed....I think.

Any pointers *greatly* appreciated!


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"If you think you're getting free lunch,
check the price of the beer"

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On Tue, Jul 01, 2008 at 12:11:52PM -0700, Robert Holtzman wrote:
> Just had occasion to look at my /etc/mtab and the partition names had
> changed from /dev/sda* to /dev/sdb*. My /etc/fstab still shows /dev/sda*.
> This *may* have happened when I recently used gparted to create 3 new
> partitions (which I have yet to install anything on).

No, that's not related.

> What happened and
> can I rename back to /dev/sda* or do I live with it and edit /etc/fstab?

Don't worry, the naming depends on timing issues (which device was
detected first during boot). For this reason Ubuntu sets up /etc/fstab
to use UUIDs and not device names.

> The UUID's match those in fstab.

That's good. I'm sure the /dev/sda* names are left in the comments only
(lines starting with a '#' character), otherwise your system wouldn't
have booted.

> The danger, of course, is that if anything happened that would force me
> to reboot, such as a power outage, I'd be screwed....I think.

No.

> Any pointers *greatly* appreciated!

I'm sure there's a page on ubuntu.com explaining all this... probably
this one: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingUUID

Marius Gedminas
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Robert Holtzman wrote:
> Just had occasion to look at my /etc/mtab and the partition names had
> changed from /dev/sda* to /dev/sdb*. My /etc/fstab still shows /dev/sda*.
> This *may* have happened when I recently used gparted to create 3 new
> partitions (which I have yet to install anything on).What happened and
> can I rename back to /dev/sda* or do I live with it and edit /etc/fstab?
> The UUID's match those in fstab.
>
> The danger, of course, is that if anything happened that would force me
> to reboot, such as a power outage, I'd be screwed....I think.
>
> Any pointers *greatly* appreciated!
>
>
>
So long as all your kernel and other things have UUID= address you
will not have any problems. But if you add partitions you do screw up
your system. It might be the partition you are booting from changes.
Then grub will get confused and fail. So make sure the proper partition
address like (hd1,4) or whatever is accurate needs to be changed on
menu.lst asap.


Karl


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On Tue, 1 Jul 2008, Marius Gedminas wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 01, 2008 at 12:11:52PM -0700, Robert Holtzman wrote:
>> Just had occasion to look at my /etc/mtab and the partition names had
>> changed from /dev/sda* to /dev/sdb*. My /etc/fstab still shows /dev/sda*.
>> This *may* have happened when I recently used gparted to create 3 new
>> partitions (which I have yet to install anything on).
>
> No, that's not related.

I didn,t think so.

>> What happened and
>> can I rename back to /dev/sda* or do I live with it and edit /etc/fstab?
>
> Don't worry, the naming depends on timing issues (which device was
> detected first during boot). For this reason Ubuntu sets up /etc/fstab
> to use UUIDs and not device names.

I'm not worried, just annoyed. Hence the question about recovering.

>> The UUID's match those in fstab.
>
> That's good. I'm sure the /dev/sda* names are left in the comments only
> (lines starting with a '#' character), otherwise your system wouldn't
> have booted.

I haven't had occasion to reboot since I noticed the problem.

>> The danger, of course, is that if anything happened that would force me
>> to reboot, such as a power outage, I'd be screwed....I think.
>
> No.
>
>> Any pointers *greatly* appreciated!
>
> I'm sure there's a page on ubuntu.com explaining all this... probably
> this one: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingUUID

Doesn't address re identifying partitions.

The central question is: is there a way to change the partition
designations back to /dev/sda*?

BTW sda* files don't exist in /dev anymore.

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To enjoy life take big bites. Moderation is for monks.
Lazarus Long

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Robert Holtzman wrote:
> The central question is: is there a way to change the partition
> designations back to /dev/sda*?

No, I don't think so. The device name is given by the kernel at the time
the device is found. Maybe the device will be sda after you reboot, but
you never know if you have several devices with sd* device names.

> BTW sda* files don't exist in /dev anymore.

Right now you don't have a device sda*, so there is no device file for it.
These device files are made by the kernel when the device is found and
deleted by the kernel if the device is removed. There is nothing to worry
about as long as you use UUIDs in /boot/grub/menu.lst and /etc/fstab.


Nils

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On Wed, 2 Jul 2008, Nils Kassube wrote:

> Robert Holtzman wrote:
>> The central question is: is there a way to change the partition
>> designations back to /dev/sda*?
>
> No, I don't think so. The device name is given by the kernel at the time
> the device is found. Maybe the device will be sda after you reboot, but
> you never know if you have several devices with sd* device names.

You were right. The designations changed back to /dev/sda* after a reboot.
Am I one confused lad? You bet I am.

Thanks for the reply.

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"The best argument against democracy is a five
minute conversation with the average voter."
Winston Churchill


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