MAKEDEV does not make hard disk devices in Unix Cross Install

[jerryrw]

I am using the install documentation in appendix D.4 of the install guide on the 7.04 Beta DVD. After running debootstrap to install the base system from the DVD, there are very few devices in /dev. Specifically there are no hard disk devices hdX, sdX so the fstab/mount procedure that follows fails.

Changing to the dev directory prior to the chroot and running MAKEDEV generic fixes the issue.

I do not know if this is a documentation error or a debootstrap config error.

Since I have broken this install three times "tweaking" it, I took very detailed notes on the procedure to cross install from another active Linux distro. I have re-writen the doc to show the work arround but do not know where to post it to.

As I dont know how to link this to another bug report yet, I am also posting a separate bug on the "default" english locale not being installed by debootstrap either.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Documentation bug, I think. Something like 'mount --bind /dev /PATH/TO/TARGET/SYSTEM/dev' is usually best.

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

Yea, MAKEDEV is now obsolete and /dev should be basically empty. At boot time /dev is mounted as a tmpfs and populated with dev nods by udev for the hardware actually installed as it is detected. If you want to chroot into a hard disk from the livecd to manipulate it, you want to bind mount the /dev on the hard disk to your real /dev as Colin said... docs should be updated.

[Guery Eve (eveguery)]

Comment installer les paquets manquants pour MP3, Podcaster, et lire DVD

[Guery Eve (eveguery)]

How to install(settle) the missing packages for MP3, Podcaster, and DVD lira

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Please don't take over unrelated bug reports and turn them into questions. Ask your question separately! Reopening this bug.

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

I'm going to go ahead and close this bug since it is about 7.04, which is no longer supported. If current documentation still refers to MAKEDEV, please reopen this bug.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

Please don't close bugs just because they refer to a version of Ubuntu that's no longer supported. I'm reopening it on principle.

The current documentation refers to MAKEDEV, which was in fact part of the original reporter's request; this was added in hardy:

revno: 389.1.2447
committer: fjp
timestamp: Sun 2007-10-21 13:22:07 +0000
message:
  Updates to appendix on chroot installs:
  - add disclaimer: the appendix only covers the basic steps needed to install a system
  - add a section with some basic instructions about creating device files
  - add an 'initrd=' line to the example lilo.conf

  Thanks to Igor Stirbu for noting the issue with missing device files and grub installation.

I think this is actually probably adequate to close the bug. I know that often bind-mounting is more suitable, but it's not absolutely necessary and running MAKEDEV is sufficient to get something basic going with minimal fuss. Phillip, perhaps the point about recommending mount --bind should be a separate bug, and this one should be closed, but as Fix Released rather than as Invalid?

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

Hrm... actually yea, the installation guide still says to use makedev, which is wrong.