[lug] Musical Device IDs?

[David Morris]

Ok, this is driving me crazy.

I have a system running Debian Etch (testing) with the
2.6.18 kernel.  AMD64 architecture.  In this system I have
an SATA controller with 1 (boot) hard disk, a SCSI
controller with 2 hard disks and an external CompactFlash
USB drive.  All very standard stuff.

The problem arises when I boot the system.  The three
controllers (SATA, SCSI, and USB) play musical chairs with
their device IDs.  Here is my "nominal" mapping:

/dev/sda    SATA hard disk (boot disk)
/dev/sdb    SCSI hard disk #1
/dev/sdc    SCSI hard disk #2
/dev/sdd    USB CompactFlash Drive

When the system boots up, the SATA hard drive may end up
being sda, sdb, sdc, *or* sdd.  Sometimes it decides to mess
with my mind and make me reboot the system a dozen times
before the SATA hard drive lands on /dev/sda.

Any ideas on how to put a stop to this insanity before I
strangle the system?

--David