problems with automatically created /dev nodes

tdennist · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 145

My problem is this. I have a USB Flash drive, and I have an iPod. Both work just dandily. However, due to Gentoo's fancy create-the-device-node-as-it's-needed feature, when I plug my iPod in first, it's /dev/sda. When I plug the USB drive in first, IT is /dev/sda. Whichever is plugged in second is /dev/sdb. This creates problems for me and my /etc/fstab file. I can't create a solid "/mnt/ipod" entry or a solid "/mnt/usbmem" entry, because which device node they are depends on the order I plug them in.

Is there a way to assign each device a specific device node? Thanks!

edit: sorry, here's my uname -a:

davidmanning · n00b Joined: 09 Oct 2005 Posts: 10

Isn't that exactly what fstab-sync does? It creates mounts under /media in response HAL events. Do you have hal installed?

tdennist · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 145

I haven't even heard of hal. Let's get some elaboration, woo!
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davidmanning · n00b Joined: 09 Oct 2005 Posts: 10

okie dokie. Here are some howto's that will take you down the right path:

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_USB_Mass_Storage_Device

If you're using Gnome:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_gnome-volume-manager

or KDE:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_D-BUS,_HAL,_KDE_media:/

Here's where to start reading up on the joys of udev:

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/udev-guide.xml

I should mention that I still haven't gotten gnome-volume-manager to work exactly the way I want it to... although fstab-sync has no problem finding and mounting my CD-ROM drive (which is already mentioned in fstab) it doesn't seem to be all about mounting my USB stick automatically...