Passphrase prompt for encrypted filesystem continually scrolls on boot

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 2

Situation

Unable to mount an encrypted riser file system (on IDE device) on server boot, because the passphrase prompt scrolls too quickly. If you are able to wait, the scrolling eventually stops, and the passphrase can then be entered. Because the passphrase prompt is longer than 80 characters, and we use an 80 column console (vga=normal), we end up with a new passphrase line every 2 seconds.

Resolution

This has been reported to SUSE Engineering in bug 547407. When a permanent fix becomes available, this TID will be updated with the solution.

There are two workarounds that can be used.
1. Modify /etc/crypttab to use the original device name /dev/hdX instead of /dev/disk/by-.../. It should look something like this:

cr_hda1 /dev/hda1 none none hda1 reiserfs

2. Use the framebugger console instead of the VGA console. Edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and replace "vga=normal" with "vga=0x317"

Disclaimer

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