Wrong Major or Minor Number?

[aph3x]

i just updated my SuSE box to 2.4.0, now when i try to mount the floppy, i get an error:


root =P mount /dev/fd0
mount: /dev/fd0 has wrong major or minor number
root =P


yes, i have tried different floppies... anyone know what the hell this means?

[nopun]

Major/minor numbers are those numbers you see when you do a long listing on device files (where you would normally see file sizes). The major number specifies the type of device (so the kernel can apply the correct device driver), the minor number identifies the specific device from a group of identical devices (ie that share the same major number).
I doubt that /dev/fd0 has somehow become corrupted, so I am wondering if you have upgraded all the other software packages as specified in the kernel documentation? (such as e2fsprogs, binutils, modutils etc) If I remember correctly, the required packages and version numbers can be found in linux/Documentation/modules.txt in the kernel source tree.

[aph3x]

okay, i admit it... im lost :p

i checked the /usr/src/linux/Documentation and couldnt find anything pertaining to my problem. i fllowed the README file exactly and for some reason this is not working... i also noticed that when i tried insmod /usr/src/linux-2.4.0/drivers/block/floppy.o it gave me an error saying couldnt find the kernel version the module was compiled for :mad:

getting frustrated... i only upgraded for the use of iptables, and here i am not being able to mount the fscking floppy...

linux: a love/hate relationship...

[nopun]

insmod is part of the modutils suite of programs - you need to install a version of modutils (among others) that is compatible with the new kernel.
There is a text file supplied with the kernel package that details these necessary packages - I thought it was called modules.txt (ie on your system /usr/src/linux-2.4.0/Documentation/modules.txt) - or at least something similar.
When you find it, read it. It gives minimum version numbers required for various packages + urls to get them (pretty handy huh?).
You can either get the sources from the urls provided and compile them yourself or find suitable packaged binaries for your distro (is it yast or something for suse?)
Hope that helps - I'm sorry if I've got that filename wrong, if you can't find it, do a search for the string "modutils" - ie:

cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.0/Documentation
grep -ri modutils *

Edit: ok I'm at my box now, I can stop talking rubbish (why have I got modules on the brain?). The file to read is /usr/src/linux-2.4.0/Documentation/Changes

[ 28 February 2001: Message edited by: nopun ]