On 6/24/2012 4:31 AM, Per Jessen wrote:
Istvan Gabor wrote:
Hello:
I started to install openSUSE 12.1 from a gnome live CD. The installation started as usual but when I tied to make the partitions and set mount points (in expert partitioning mode as I usually do) I could not change one of the swap mounting. The following message was shown when I tried to edit the given partition:
"Device /dev/sda5 cannot be modified because it contains activated swap that is needed to run the installation."
I had to abort installation as I don't want the installer to touch that hard disk at all.
You could switch to a console and turn off the swap space there. ("swapoff /dev/sda5").
I find it very strange that the installer tries to modify any part of any disks without the permission of the user.
1. How can I prevent using that swap by the installer?
There is a kernel argument: "addswap" - it might be possible to set it such that no swap is automatically activated.
2. I find this behavior a serious fault of the installer.
I guess the only real issue is if a system had been suspended to that swap-partition. Otherwise I don't see a problem. Perhaps the installer ought to check to see if swap-space contains a suspended system before it tries to use it.
Not good enough. The installer can not know what somethings value and/or purpose is just by looking at it. It doesn't matter even if there are perfectly identifiable structures in a suspend image and in regular swap to tell them apart. It MUST ask before modifying ANYTHING, or else it's a bad product to be avoided. Suppose I have a compromised, or merely buggy, system and I power it off ungracefully. I then boot up the install media, either to install on some other partition or to use directly as a live media, either way my whole purpose of shutting off the power was to prevent the hacker/virus/rootkit/etc from getting a chance to clean up after itself, or to catch some other process in mid-act, I _need_ that swap image untouched. I want to read/copy/analyze it using the install media or the new system installed to some other partition. But forget the example. Coming up with an example problem just leads to the false idea that you can call the example contrived and therefore unlikely and therefore unimportant or invalid. An example problem isn't necessary. All that's necessary is the knowledge that if you didn't write a given byte yourself, or receive express, explicit, permission to write it, then it's not "yours" and you can't touch it. -- bkw -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org