> I'm trying to use p9p's vbackup(8) on a linux powerpc system. > > # vbackup -m /boot /dev/hda3 > vbackup: ffsopen: bad magic 0x53ef wanted 0xef53 > > Linux statfs(2) says 0xef53 is a linux ext2 partition type. There > is an ext3 partition at /dev/hda3, so vbackup (its call to fsysopen()) > is expecting the right fs type, but seems to be getting the endian > obverse of that value. > > (The kernel is debian's stock 2.6.18-5-powerpc. P9p is dated 11/08 > from http://swtch.com/plan9port/.) > > Anyone else attempting to doubly edify linux in this fashion > and seeing likewise?
I have never tried to run the ext2 reading code on a little-endian machine. I don't know what changes and what doesn't. I would have expected that everything was in native byte order, so that the "load disk contents into memory and interpret" strategy would have worked just fine. It's possible that the superblock magic code is really two bytes and not a short, and that if you change SUPERMAGIC in src/libdiskfs/ext2.h then everything else will just work. But it's also possible that you'll have to fiddle with other fields. Please let me know what you find out. Thanks. Russ
