Re: How do I keep testing current-amd64 witout so much trouble?

[Sverre Froyen <sverre%viewmark.com@localhost>]

On Tuesday 23 December 2008, Steven M. Bellovin wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:09:17 -0800 (PST)
>
> Paul Goyette <paul%whooppee.com@localhost> wrote:
> > On Tue, 23 Dec 2008, Hisashi T Fujinaka wrote:
> > >> True.  But in the original request, he was reverting to 5.99.4
> > >> backup copy, so both the "stable" 5.99.4 and "test" 5.99.5 modules
> > >> would be able to peacefully coexist.
> > >
> > > That means I just also keep the 5.99.4 kernel, and not the 5.99.5
> > > kernel that had booted previously.
> > >
> > > It also assumes that userland hasn't changed so much that the old
> > > kernel still works, which isn't the case all the time. For that
> > > reason, I reinstall most everything from the 5.99.4 kernel.
> > >
> > :)
> >
> > It's also why I first test anything on a machine that has no other
> > purpose other than testing.  :)  Yeah, it's a pain if things get so
> > messed up that you have to reinstall, but at least the rest of my
> > "production" work doesn't suffer.
> >
> > Oh, one more thing I do - whenever I adopt a "stable" release, I burn
> > a CD with the iso images (including source sets).  If I ever have to
> > re-install, it's fairly trivial.
> >
> > And of course, I have nightly backups of all machines, including the
> > sacriical lamb, on off-line storage (OK, so I'm stuck in the 80s and
> > still do my backups to tape!).
>
> What I do on machines I need -- and I sometimes have to run -current
> because my hardware is new -- is download and build -current, then
> monitor traffic for a few days to see if that day's build appears
> basically functional. "The leading edge is the bleeding edge"...

When I was bitten by the "amd64 -current crashs at boot" problem (I did not 
pay attention to the initial reports because of the subject line -- I am using 
i386), both my netbsd and onetbsd kernels started failing the minute I 
installed userland (including the new kernel modules).  I was lucky to find an 
old 5.99.4 kernel that I could use to rebuild and reinstall the ffs module.  I 
have now invested $20 in a USB stick that contains a working bootable 5.99.5 
system and that I can use to fix any future mishaps.

Regards,
Sverre