Bug#262779: Installer bug report
Package: installation-reports
Debian-installer-version: 2004-07-29 current from
http://cdimage.debian.org/pub/cdimage-testing/daily/i386/
uname -a: Linux enoch.gear.dyndns.org 2.6.7-1-386 #1 Thu Jul 8 05:08:04
EDT 2004 i686 unknown
Date: 2004-07-30 19:30 AEST
Method: How did you install? From CD
What did you boot off? From netboot CD
If network install, from where? ftp.premium.planetmirror.com
Proxied? No
Machine: Gigabyte GA-7N400Pro m/b
Processor: Athlon XP 2400+
Memory: 512 Mb DDR
Root Device: SATA
hde: WDC WD2000JD-00GBB0, ATA DISK drive
hdg: WDC WD2000JD-00GBB0, ATA DISK drive
Root Size/partition table:
hde: hde1 1 Gb Linux RAID autodetect
hde2 4 Gb Linux RAID autodetect
hde3 195 Gb Linux RAID autodetect
hdg: Same as hde
Output of lspci:
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (different
version?) (rev c1)
0000:00:00.1 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 1
(rev c1)
0000:00:00.2 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 4
(rev c1)
0000:00:00.3 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 3
(rev c1)
0000:00:00.4 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 2
(rev c1)
0000:00:00.5 RAM memory: nVidia Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 5
(rev c1)
0000:00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 ISA Bridge (rev a4)
0000:00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation nForce2 SMBus (MCP) (rev a2)
0000:00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller
(rev a4)
0000:00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller
(rev a4)
0000:00:02.2 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2 USB Controller
(rev a4)
0000:00:05.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce
MultiMedia audio [Via VT82C686B] (rev a2)
0000:00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: nVidia Corporation nForce2
AC97 Audio Controler (MCP) (rev a1)
0000:00:08.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 External PCI Bridge
(rev a3)
0000:00:09.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation nForce2 IDE (rev a2)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation nForce2 AGP (rev c1)
0000:01:07.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AIC-7861 (rev 01)
0000:01:08.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
0000:01:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
0000:01:0c.0 RAID bus controller: Integrated Technology Express, Inc.
IT/ITE8212 Dual channel ATA RAID controller (PCI version seems to be
IT8212, embedded seems (rev 10)
0000:03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV18
[GeForce4 MX 440 AGP 8x] (rev a2)
Base System Installation Checklist:
Initial boot worked: [O]
Configure network HW: [O]
Config network: [O]
Detect CD: [O]
Load installer modules: [O]
Detect hard drives: [O]
Partition hard drives: [O]
Create file systems: [O]
Mount partitions: [E]
Install base system: [O]
Install boot loader: [E]
Reboot: [O]
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
Comments/Problems:
(Please read the following criticism as constructive, not flaming.)
When mounting the partitions, it gave me a warning that /boot and / are
not supported on software RAID. I proceeded anyway, and it didn't
install GRUB or LILO correctly, and won't boot.
RED HAT HAVE SUPPORTED THIS SINCE RED HAT 7.3, including LVM since 8.0!
Fedora Core 2 installs perfectly on this system.
Please do something about this - it is a serious problem. Low end
servers nearly always come with two ATA or SATA drives (i've bought 6 of
them from Dell & Acer in the past year at work). A two-drive setup with
RAID 1 mirroring is *essential* to support for any production server.
This has saved me so many times when drives have failed - without RAID
1, the system will crash and need to be restored from backup, whereas
with it, people don't even notice a drive has failed.
(BTW, please don't suggest hardware RAID as a solution to this. The
above system is a home workstation for which i need to be able to swap
drives to other systems if a motherboard or power supply fails. Linux
software RAID is the most effective way to achieve mirroring portably
across a wide range of hardware.)
I really want to convert to Debian - i am convinced of its value in the
package management area, and i strongly agree with its social contract,
but these sort of limitations are show-stoppers.
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