NAME¶
hotswap - register and unregister hotswappable IDE hardware
SYNOPSIS¶
hotswap [ -c | --ide-controller
N] [-h | --help] [-n | --nocheck]
[-v | --verbose] [-V | --version] [
ACTION]
DESCRIPTION¶
hotswap allows you to register and unregister hotswappable IDE devices, for
example notebook computer modules, with the Linux kernel.
It has been developed on and for a Dell Latitude C600, but does not rely on any
specific properties of that machine.
By default, the command line utility guides you through the hotswapping process
interactively. It is also possible to specify an
ACTION, for example
unregistering the current device, rescanning the IDE bus, &c. This feature
is primarily intended for use with scripts and GUI frontends such as
xhotswap(1).
By using an XML configuration file, system administrators can specify arbitrary
shell scripts to be run before and after registering and unregistering
devices. This is particularly helpful for automatic configuration of CD-RW
drives, which require SCSI emulation and bypass normal access via the IDE
subsystem. By default, the configuration file is located at
/etc/hotswaprc; its syntax is described in
hotswaprc(5).
OPTIONS¶
The program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options
starting with two dashes (`-').
- -c, --ide-controller N
- Use IDE controller N.
- -h, --help
- Print a brief help text and exit successfully.
- -n, --nocheck
- Do not perform sanity checks before attempting an action.
Use with care, as this option may cause some steps to fail silently.
- -v, --verbose
- Print more information.
- -V ,--version
- Print version information and exit successfully.
ACTIONS¶
Besides the above options, the program allows you to specify one of the
following actions on the command line:
- probe-ide
- Detect the currently configured IDE device.
- mounted-ide
- Detect whether a file system on the currently configured
IDE device is mounted.
- unregister-ide
- Unregister the currently configured IDE device.
- rescan-ide
- Scan the IDE bus for a new device. If a device has been
found, register it with the kernel.
If no
ACTION is specified, interactive mode is entered. In this mode the
program guides you through the hotswapping process as appropriate for the
current configuration.
NOTES¶
There is generally no need to manage floppy disk devices. The FDC is always
present and configured. Floppy disk drives do not connect to the IDE
controller, even if they come in the same modules as IDE devices and use the
same connector.
The Linux kernel requires hotswappable devices to be the only device connected
to their IDE controller.
The
mounted-ide action assumes file systems have been mounted as
/dev/hdc. If this is not the case (i.e., you've used a symbolic link
such as
/dev/cdrom) the command will not work.
FILES¶
- /etc/hotswaprc
- The default location for the XML configuration file.
REPORT BUGS¶
Report bugs to t.stadelmann1@physics.ox.ac.uk.
AUTHOR¶
Written by Tim Stadelmann.
This manual page is based on an earlier version kindly contributed by Wouter
Verhelst.
SEE ALSO¶
xhotswap(1),
hdparm(8),
hotswaprc(5).
COPYRIGHT¶
Copyright (c) 2002-2003 Wouter Verhelst, Tim Stadelmann.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the
terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Version 2 or any later version
published by the Free Software Foundation.