ABS Tech Note: AWS30 /etc/fstab corruption (11/94)


This technical note provides a workaround to the /etc/fstab file corruption problem.

Overview
--------
1) After a fresh install of A/UX 3.1 (from the full installer CD, not the
Upgrade), /etc/fstab is an AppleDouble file, typed 'TEXT', creator
'iAUX' (the A/UX Installer's signature). Since the creator is not
'A/UX' or 'tefi' and the Finder cannot find the Installer application,
the icon for /etc/fstab is the unknown (grey) text document. The system
behaves correctly as long as /etc/fstab remains an AppleDouble file....

2) If /etc/fstab is then edited and saved with TeachText, TextEditor, or
any other Macintosh application, the A/UX file manager will convert it
to AppleSingle format, which is not understood by fsck. This occurs
because the "TBTRANSLATEUXONLY" environment variable is set (the
default), and 'iAUX' is not a creator for which the file manager
handles TEXT files specially (these are 'DOS ', 'tefi' (TextEditor) and
'A/UX').

The problem is not with TextEditor, but with the A/UX file manager's
handling of the TEXT file type and creator. This behavior was
introduced in A/UX 3.1.

Workaround
----------
1) Open /etc/fstab with TextEditor (don't use TeachText!).

2) Select and copy the contents of /etc/fstab into the cut-and-paste
buffer (Command-C).

3) Open a new TextEditor document (Command-N) with a unique name (not
fstab!); be sure that the "Save Text Only" button is set in the dialog
box (this is the default).

4) Paste the contents of /etc/fstab into the new document.

5) Save the new document and quit TextEditor.

6) From the Finder, drag /etc/fstab to the Trash and empty the Trash.

7) Rename the new document to /etc/fstab.

It won't work to just do a "Save As..."; TextEditor will preserve the incorrect file creator. The installer of the patch from A/UX 3.1 to A/UX 3.1.1 will also correct this problem if it hasn't already been corrected.


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Published Date: Feb 19, 2012