[vox-tech] udev - any good howtos? experience?

[Bill Kendrick]

I've got numerous USB-connected devices nowadays:

  * External hard drive enclosure
  * Compact Flash memory card reader
  * USB memory stick thumb pen flash drive key
  * Sharp Zaurus cradle
  * Digital Camera
  * Stelladaptor (connect Atari joystick to PC)

The top 3 are USB mass storage devices.  Unfortunately, which "/dev/sdX" device
they get appears to depend on how they're activated.  If I plug in the USB
memory stick thing before turning on the HDD enclosure, it comes out as
/dev/sda.  If I turn on the drive before plugging in the USB stick, it gets
/dev/sdb, instead.

Briefly Googling around, I discovered something I hadn't heard of before,
called "udev".  Apparently it allows devices to be assigned to specific
locations (somewhere in '/udev') based on the device's name.
(That way, icons on my desktop and/or mount points like /media/card0 and
/media/keychain0, would always point to the right place.)

I installed it via 'aptitdue' but didn't have time to get it working,
and had to reboot at some point.  I got a nice red warning message
during boot that 'udev' isn't supported with the older 2.6.x kernel I'm
using.

Oh well.  In the meantime, while I wait for Debian/etch to upgrade
(or if I decide to build my own kernel :^) ), is there a good HOWTO on
using udev that anyone can recommend?  I remember someone here (Jeff?)
mentioning they use it.  Is it working nicely for you? :)

Thanks,

-- 
-bill!
bill at newbreedsoftware.com
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/