Bug#278496: Comments on RAID in partman
Package: installation-reports
Debian-installer-version: Daily Build from 2004 Oct 21
uname -a: Has been updated to 2.4.27-1-686-smp (was possibly
2.4.27-1-686)
Date: 2004 Oct 21 through 23
Method: Net-Install using sarge-i386-netinstall.iso
Machine: VA Linux 2230
Processor: Dual PIII 800mhz
Memory: 2 GB
Root Device: SCSI disks in RAID array, more on this below...
Root Size/partition table:
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 30 240943+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 31 4466 35632170 fd Linux raid
autodetect
/dev/sdb1 1 30 240943+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/sdb2 31 4466 35632170 fd Linux raid
autodetect
/dev/sdc1 1 30 240943+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/sdc2 31 4466 35632170 fd Linux raid
autodetect
These are configured as a RAID5 array, in the following layout.
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/md0 67G 24G 40G 38% /
tmpfs 885M 0 885M 0% /dev/shm
/dev/sda1 221M 15M 194M 8% /boot
The /boot partition on /dev/sda1 is the important part.
(Yes, I know the allocation is sub-par.)
Output of lspci and lspci -n:
conflict:/home/gray# lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440GX - 82443GX Host bridge
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 440GX - 82443GX AGP bridge
0000:00:0c.0 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AIC-7896U2/7897U2
0000:00:0c.1 SCSI storage controller: Adaptec AIC-7896U2/7897U2
0000:00:0e.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82557/8/9 [Ethernet Pro
100] (rev 08)
0000:00:12.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
0000:00:12.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
0000:00:12.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev
01)
0000:00:12.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
0000:00:14.0 VGA compatible controller: Cirrus Logic GD 5480 (rev 23)
0000:01:0f.0 PCI bridge: Digital Equipment Corporation DECchip 21150
(rev 06)
conflict:/home/gray# lspci -n
0000:00:00.0 0600: 8086:71a0
0000:00:01.0 0604: 8086:71a1
0000:00:0c.0 0100: 9005:005f
0000:00:0c.1 0100: 9005:005f
0000:00:0e.0 0200: 8086:1229 (rev 08)
0000:00:12.0 0601: 8086:7110 (rev 02)
0000:00:12.1 0101: 8086:7111 (rev 01)
0000:00:12.2 0c03: 8086:7112 (rev 01)
0000:00:12.3 0680: 8086:7113 (rev 02)
0000:00:14.0 0300: 1013:00bc (rev 23)
0000:01:0f.0 0604: 1011:0023 (rev 06)
Base System Installation Checklist:
[O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
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: [E]
Create file systems: [O]
Mount partitions: [O]
Install base system: [O]
Install boot loader: [O]
Reboot: [O]
Comments/Problems:
Overall the installtion of the box using the daily build was not a
problem. I used the daily build to try out the RAID support recently
added to partman. Everything worked absolutely great after I figured
out one small catch with /boot partition. It appears that when using
software RAID it is necessary to have the /boot part on at least one
partition outside of the array so that grub or lilo can be installed.
Without knowing this I went through a number of trial and error
configurations until I had the array set up correctly. Initially I
mistakenly tried to make the RAID array bootable using the interface.
This failed on all partition attempts. It occurred to me that a boot
block on the RAID didn't make sense, so it may be wise to remove the
ability to flag the /dev/md devices as bootable. As a result the /boot
partition was necessary. I would recommend adding a dialog that the
/boot partition is necessary for root raid installations. This will
help other new users of the RAID installation tools to avoid these
mistakes.
Thanks,
--
Matthew P. McGuire <gray AT shadowglade.net> 1024D/E21C0E88
CB82 7859 26B2 95E3 1328 5198 D57A D072 E21C 0E88
When choice matters, choose Debian.
Reply to: