Re: Bug#1004838: installation-reports: when booting in pure UEFI mode the kernel fails to assemble the RAID0 array
On Tue, Feb 01, 2022 at 10:36:56PM -0600, Charles Bailey wrote:
> Package: installation-reports
> Severity: important
> X-Debbugs-Cc: cebailey49@charter.net
>
> (Please provide enough information to help the Debian
> maintainers evaluate the report efficiently - e.g., by filling
> in the sections below.)
>
> Boot method: DVD
> Image version: https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/amd64/bt-hybrid/debian-live-11.0.0-amd64-lxde.iso.torrent
> Date: <Date and time of the install>
>
> Machine: home built with Intel DH77KC motherboard
> Partitions: <df -Tl will do; the raw partition table is preferred>
> Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
> udev devtmpfs 6055280 0 6055280 0% /dev
> tmpfs tmpfs 1215916 1200 1214716 1% /run
> /dev/md126p9 ext4 32765808 7855020 23216684 26% /
> tmpfs tmpfs 6079580 26612 6052968 1% /dev/shm
> tmpfs tmpfs 5120 4 5116 1% /run/lock
> /dev/md126p1 vfat 523248 119320 403928 23% /boot/efi
> tmpfs tmpfs 1215916 44 1215872 1% /run/user/1000
>
>
> Base System Installation Checklist:
> [O] = OK, [E] = Error (please elaborate below), [ ] = didn't try it
>
> Initial boot: [O]
> Detect network card: [O]
> Configure network: [O]
> Detect media: [O]
> Load installer modules: [O]
> Clock/timezone setup: [O]
> User/password setup: [O]
> Detect hard drives: [O]
> Partition hard drives: [O]
> Install base system: [O]
> Install tasks: [O]
> Install boot loader: [O]
> Overall install: [E]
>
> Comments/Problems:
> I installed Debian bullseye on my UEFI motherboard using a lxde live DVD.
> My system has two 500GB SATA drives configured in the BIOS as one 1TB RAID0
> array. This Intel motherboard has what is sometimes called "fake RAID" in
> the Linux world.
>
> I previously had Windows, Artix Linux and CentOS installed and running
> in separate partitions on the RAID0 array. All of these were booting in
> pure UEFI mode. I booted the Debian live DVD, also in UEFI mode, and went
> through the installation procedure. All seemed to go well until it came time
> to boot Debian. It would not boot. It sat there for a while, with the hard
> disk activity light flashing occasionally, and then displayed these messages
> on the screen:
> mdadm: error opening /dev/md?*: No such file or directory
> Gave up waiting for suspend/resume device
> Gave up waiting for root file system device. Common problems:
> - Boot args (cat /proc/cmdline)
> - Check rootdelay= (did the system wait long enough?)
> - Missing modules (cat /proc/modules; ls /dev)
> ALERT! UUID=6ae760b1-58a7-4b88-8373-5342d04deba2 does not exist. Dropping to a shell!
>
> BusyBox v1.30.1 (Debian 1:1.30.1-6+b3) built-in shell (ash)
> Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.
>
> (initramfs)
>
> After scratching my head for a while, trying to figure out what went wrong,
> I tried going into BIOS setup and selecting UEFI+Legacy mode. That worked.
> Debian booted right up.
>
>
> Why did the Debian DVD boot in pure UEFI mode but the installed kernel
> requires UEFI+Legacy? The installed kernel is apparently different from the
> DVD kernel. It appears that the installed kernel requires some legacy BIOS
> feature that the installation DVD did not.
>
> If I enter
> mdadm --examine --scan --verbose
>
> from the initramfs prompt I get this response:
>
> ARRAY metadata=imsm UUID=f46ce314:c874c458:5630027e:d4375317
> devices=/dev/sdb,/dev/sda
> ARRAY /dev/md/WD1TBRAID0 container=f46ce314:c874c458:5630027e:d4375317 member=0 UUID=58b9905f:2a773399:518dbd70:7b52bdc0
>
> But, if I enter
> mdadm --assemble --scan
> I get a null response.
>
> It seems that, when booting in pure UEFI mode, the kernel recognizes the
> RAID0 array but doesn't assemble it.
>
> So, I do have a workaround, by setting UEFI+Legacy in the BIOS, but the other
> operating systems installed on the same system don't require it and turning
> on the Legacy option causes the system to take longer to boot.
>
> I am hoping that someone knowledgable about the kernel can suggest some
> boot parameter I can add that will cause the kernal not to require some
> legacy function.
>
>
>
> -- Package-specific info:
>
Fake raid is a problem - and, to be honest, I'm surprised it ever worked at
all and that it worked for the other Linuxes. I'd have been tempted to set it
up from the outset using mdadm and not using any other driver.
I guess it does very much depend what signatures are on the disks and
how these are seen. I know I had similar problems with trying to set up
an HP Microserver using built in RAID and ended up making the four disks
JBOD and layering mdadm and LVM on top of them. There's always more than one
way to do it.
All the very best, as ever,
Andy Cater
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