/ramdisk/home vs. /mnt/hda3/home directories
Forum: HD Install
Topic: /ramdisk/home vs. /mnt/hda3/home directories
started by: jhsu
Posted by jhsu on July 09 2007,03:04
I know that the first home directory is on RAM while the second is on my hard drive. I noticed that the contents of the dsl directory on the RAM get updated more frequently than the contents of the dsl directory on the hard drive. Why is this? Shouldn't both home directories have the same contents?
Posted by mikshaw on July 09 2007,03:49
Is this a situation where you're setting a persistent home directory with the boot option "home=hda3"? If so, there should be no difference or delay, since /mnt/hda3/home/dsl is mounted to /home/dsl (which i believe is a link to /ramdisk/home/dsl).It might be an issue with your file manager not updating its display.
Posted by jhsu on July 16 2007,01:03
I used AddUsers to add <username> some time ago. There is a /ramdisk/home/<username> directory, but there is NO /mnt/hda3/home/<username> directory. Why? And why does /home point to /ramdisk/home instead of /mnt/hda3/home? And why are there two home directories? I want my home directory to be on my hard drive, not RAM. Having two different home directories is confusing.
Posted by jhsu on July 16 2007,01:15
My current cheatcodes:title DSL
kernel /boot/linux24 root=/dev/hda1 quiet vga=normal noacpi noapm nodma noscsi frugal home=hda3 opt=hda3 restore=hda3 root=hda3
initrd /boot/minirt24.gz
What do I need to change?
Posted by mikshaw on July 16 2007,01:16
There are two home directories because you are using the boot option "home=hda3" but have added a new user. Although you didn't answer that question, it seems that's the only answer. A persistent home in DSL is NOT a persistent /home directory. It is a persistent /home/dsl directory. Any users you add to the system will still be in /ramdisk/home.The persistent home is targeted toward a frugal installation, which in turn is targeted toward a single-user system. It is assumed (or so I assume) that if you are adding users then you probably have a traditional harddrive install. A frugal DSL isn't really equipped to handle extra users.
Posted by jhsu on July 16 2007,01:33
I'm using a frugal installation, not a traditional hard drive installation. I realize now that I should have made that clearer.
Posted by jhsu on July 16 2007,01:46
OK, I see now that the /ramdisk/home/dsl and /mnt/hda3/home/dsl directories are mirrors of each other - anything I do in one of these two directories automatically translates into a duplicate change in the other directory. What made this possible? Is it the home=hda3 cheat code, the restore=hda3 cheat code, or something else?Is there a way to make /ramdisk/home/<username> and /mnt/hda3/home/<username> also behave as mirrors of each other?
Posted by roberts on July 16 2007,02:05
| Quote (jhsu @ July 15 2007,18:33) |
| I'm using a frugal installation, not a traditional hard drive installation. I realize now that I should have made that clearer. |
You are NOT using a frugal. You are using a hybrid.
A frugal installation operates the same as a live CD. A frugal operates like the live CD in that it does not anchor any user files to the hard drive during normal operation.
A hybrid, is frugal plus the option of specifying a persistent /home and/or a persistent /opt. These additionaly options are not required and are not normally used. They are made available for those wishing such feature. For some having anchored directories is fine.
Please keep these terms clear as it can get confusing.
I see you have a backup/restore on the same drive/partition. If this device should fail you lose both. When using the optional persistent home the backup should idealy be on a different drive.
The 'mirror' as you put it, is really a 'bind'. The bind, binds together the ramdisk default with the anchored directory. There would be no need for an additional bind as there are no further home directories defaulting to the ramdisk. As the live CD/frugal is not multiuser.
Tyring to shoe horn multiusers into a hybrid will still present many challenges as the extension library is made for user dsl.
Posted by jhsu on July 16 2007,02:46
What is the difference between the backup and restore cheat codes? I see now that if I use both functions, they should be on different drives or at least different partitions.I see now that frugal/hybrid installations are not compatible with multiuser format and instead should be thought of as having user dsl.
Posted by roberts on July 16 2007,02:59
There is no backup boot option. The restore boot option specifies where your backup is located.
Posted by jpeters on July 16 2007,03:15
| Quote (jhsu @ July 15 2007,22:46) |
| What is the difference between the backup and restore cheat codes? I see now that if I use both functions, they should be on different drives or at least different partitions. |
I think Robert was saying that the backup should be someplace different than what it's backing up, which kind of makes sense
(backup to /restore from : same location)
Posted by mikshaw on July 16 2007,03:56
If you're already using a persistent home, there is little reason to also include files from /home/dsl in the backup unless you are concerned about a failure of your home device. If you just use backup to save changes to /opt, then I think having the backup file on the same partition as home is perfectly ok.| Quote |
| Is there a way to make /ramdisk/home/<username> and /mnt/hda3/home/<username> also behave as mirrors of each other? |