Usb device naming not matching the system naming

[dino99]

My bad experience with the netboot mini.iso installation (Bionic 2018-04-25)

Hardware config:

oem@cc64:~$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 111.8G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 16G 0 part
├─sda2 8:2 0 10.3G 0 part [SWAP]
├─sda3 8:3 0 71.8G 0 part
└─sda4 8:4 0 13.7G 0 part /
sdb 8:16 0 931.5G 0 disk
├─sdb1 8:17 0 30G 0 part
├─sdb2 8:18 0 29.4G 0 part
├─sdb3 8:19 0 29.5G 0 part
├─sdb4 8:20 0 1K 0 part
├─sdb5 8:21 0 10.1G 0 part
└─sdb6 8:22 0 832.5G 0 part

What happen when i plug an usb stick:

 oem@cc64:~$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 111.8G 0 disk
├─sda1 8:1 0 16G 0 part
├─sda2 8:2 0 10.3G 0 part [SWAP]
├─sda3 8:3 0 71.8G 0 part
└─sda4 8:4 0 13.7G 0 part /
sdb 8:16 0 931.5G 0 disk
├─sdb1 8:17 0 30G 0 part
├─sdb2 8:18 0 29.4G 0 part
├─sdb3 8:19 0 29.5G 0 part
├─sdb4 8:20 0 1K 0 part
├─sdb5 8:21 0 10.1G 0 part
└─sdb6 8:22 0 832.5G 0 part
sdc 8:32 1 7.5G 0 disk
└─sdc1 8:33 1 7.5G 0 part /media/oem/MULTISYSTEM

So logically the system add the newest plugged device at the end of the existing devices list.

***********

Now what happen when choosing a 'manual' partitioning:
- the usb stick where the mini.iso is on becomes the first device listed (aka /dev/sda)
- so the permanent devices are reordered and named /dev/sdb & /dev/sdc

==> this does not match with the system logic, nor app like gparted; its confusing.

***********

That is disturbing and possibly the source of other problem (crappy design). Does not remember if that was also displayed like this prior Artful.
But Artful have introduced a swap file use instead of a swap partition; and here is where the installation becomes crazy:

- choosing manual partitioning goes well until the final validation: the listed operations does not match the choices made:
a) i have repeated several times my choices: / on /dev/sdc1 (sdb1 renamed), swap on /dev/sdc5 and /home on /dev/sdc6
b) but the proposed list is: / is ok, swap is not the one chosen but the first one found into the list (/dev/sdb2, aka sda2 renamed) and /home is simply ignored.

Looks like the choice previously made to now use a swap file (since Artful) have broken the 'manual' partitioning script. The result is a borked grub menu, a /etc/fstab needing a manual tweak, and at the end X cant even start (log pointing to a 'invoke.rc.d gdm3 start' that fails).

That it, fully unusable. Please do a sane design matching the system one first.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.10
Package: ubiquity (not installed)
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.15.0-20.21-generic 4.15.17
Uname: Linux 4.15.0-20-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu7
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: GNOME
Date: Sat May 5 08:45:16 2018
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=(loop)/linux -- quiet
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm-256color
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: ubiquity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

The device name assigned to each disk is the first one available at the time it is detected. The detection order at boot time is undefined and so can happen in any order, or even different orders from one boot to the next. It is therefore normal and expected behavior for the usb stick you boot from to become /dev/sda.

You hint at some problems beyond that, but we need a better description of those.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for ubiquity (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]