Subject: Re: Hung Reboot
To: None <current-users@NetBSD.ORG>
From: Wolfgang Rupprecht <wolfgang@wsrcc.com>
List: current-users
Date: 09/03/1997 08:12:06
greywolf@starwolf.starwolf.com (Missing - presumed fed.) writes:

>  * # installboot /usr/mdec/biosboot.sym /dev/rsd0a
>  * installboot: open raw partition RW: Device busy
>  * 
>  * Should I be in single user mode to do this?  The system seems to run fine
>  * (so far) with 1.0A bootstrapping codes.
> 
> Most emphatically, yes, you should do this in single-user mode.
> Doing it in multi-user mode can hose your bootblocks in a VERY
> bad way.

The interaction between installboot and the secure mode is a major
pain in the butt.  Whenever I install a newer version of current, I'll
snapshot the running root and /usr via a newfs, installboot, tar |
tar, and finally a cd /usr/src , make build.  This has te advantage of
building a snapshot with a current filesystem and new bootblocks on
the snapshot disk partitions.  With the "secure" mode, one can't do
this while I'm running multiuser any more.

Would it be possible for installboot to temporarily unmount the disk
partition so that it could write to the raw partition "securely"?  I'm
somewhat reluctant to turn secure off in my config file.

-wolfgang