[NBLUG/talk] Device node problems

[Lincoln Peters]

Well, I got the replacement for the hard disk that failed.  However, I seem to 
have run into a new problem, though this one is definitely user error and I'm 
sure is fixable.

For security reasons, I ran the "shred" utility on the failed hard disk before 
swapping it out.  However, instead of using the appropriate command:

# shred -fvxz /dev/hde

I accidentally typed in:

# shred -fuvxz /dev/hde

As a result, when shred finished erasing the hard disk, it deleted the hard 
disk's node in the /dev directory!  Interestingly enough, all of the nodes 
associated with its partitions also disappeared!

So, after I installed the new hard disk, I tried using the MAKEDEV script to 
recreate the nodes:

# cd /dev ; ./MAKEDEV hde

This restored the "hde" node, but not the nodes for partitions ("hde1", 
"hde2", and "hde3").  So I checked the numbers on the nodes for the other 
disks, and found this:

# cd /dev ; ls -lh hd*
brw-rw----  1 root disk   3, 0 2005-10-15 17:24 hda
brw-rw----  1 root disk   3, 1 2005-10-15 17:24 hda1
brw-rw----  1 root disk   3, 2 2005-10-15 17:24 hda2
brw-rw----  1 root disk   3, 3 2005-10-15 17:24 hda3
brw-rw----  1 root cdrom 22, 0 2005-10-15 17:24 hdc
brw-rw----  1 root disk  33, 0 2005-10-15 17:24 hde
brw-rw----  1 root disk  34, 0 2005-10-15 17:24 hdg
brw-rw----  1 root disk  34, 1 2005-10-15 17:24 hdg1
brw-rw----  1 root disk  34, 2 2005-10-15 17:24 hdg2
brw-rw----  1 root cdrom 56, 0 2005-10-15 17:24 hdi
brw-rw----  1 root cdrom 57, 0 2005-10-15 17:24 hdk

Based on this pattern, I created new device nodes for the partitions with 
major number 33 and minor numbers 1-3:

# mknod hde1 b 33 1
# mknod hde2 b 33 2
# mknod hde2 b 33 3

However, any time I try to access any of the partitions, I get an error that 
looks like:

cannot open /dev/hde1: No such device or address


So what the heck am I doing wrong???

-- 
Lincoln Peters
<sampln at sbcglobal.net>

Wait for that wisest of all counselors, Time.
		-- Pericles

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