[SOLVED] LVM & RAID (1.2 metadata) + SYSLINUX

filam · 2011-09-09 02:14:00

I am currently trying to setup a RAID5 array with Arch Linux while revising the ArchWiki RAID article.

After going through the steps outlined in the article I rebooted my machine and was left with a blinking cursor even though the Installer stated that Syslinux was installed successfully. I tried to assemble the three arrays but received the following errors:

mdadm: cannot open device /dev/sd[abc][123]: Device or resource busy
mdadm: /dev/sd[abc][123] has no superblock - assembly aborted

With that in mind I'm not sure if I made a mistake building the arrays or installing the boot loader.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

2011-09-08 22:26: The same errors also appear when I try to create a new array from the partitions. Rebooting doesn't help the situation.

2011-09-08 22:50: Do I need to follow these steps in the Syslinux wiki article if I'm using the installer? Does Syslinux handle 1.0, but not 1.2 (see: GRUB and GRUB2)? Could it be that I didn't allow the arrays to sync properly (although I thought I did), before rebooting? Goodnight!

2010-09-09 16:28: Solved! See last post.

Last edited by filam (2011-09-09 20:33:08)

gour · 2011-09-09 07:16:03

filam wrote:

After going through the steps outlined in the article I rebooted my machine and was left with a blinking cursor even though the Installer stated that Syslinux was installed successfully. I tried to assemble the three arrays but received the following errors:

First of all, let me say that I had problem when installing Arch on single GPT disk - syslinux was not properly installed and I was not able to boot afterwards.

2011-09-08 22:26: The same errors also appear when I try to create a new array from the partitions. Rebooting doesn't help the situation.

I'd try to be sure there are no leftovers from previous attempts.

2011-09-08 22:50: Do I need to follow these steps in the Syslinux wiki article if I'm using the installer?

As I wrote above, installer was not being able to handle install to GPT disk. Try with MBR and then convert to GPT.

Does Syslinux handle 1.0, but not 1.2 (see: GRUB and GRUB2)?

Here is the reply I got on syslinux mailing list:

The current version of Syslinux requires 1.0 metadata rather than 1.2.

and I can confirm that it works with

--metadata=1.0

passed to mdadm.

Could it be that I didn't allow the arrays to sync properly (although I thought I did), before rebooting? Goodnight!

Nope. I finished my install and the none of the array were synced...they finished syncing after I rebooted and happily using my OS.

filam · 2011-09-09 14:50:49

Thank you for the thorough explanation gour. Unfortunately, mdadm refuses to access the drives because the "Device or resource is busy". This post hits that it could be the onboard RAID controller. I'll have to check that out...

2011-09-09 11:35: I thought I'd zero each drive and start over, but shortly after starting to dd /dev/sda I realized that would take forever and shouldn't be necessary. After creating new partitions I tried to create a new array and received the following error:

mdadm: super1.x cannot open /dev/sdb3: Device or resource busy
mdadm: /dev/sdb3 is not suitable for this array.

/proc/mdstat

Personalities : [raid1] [rad6] [raid5] [raid4]
md127 : inactive sdb3[1](S) sdc3[3](S)
    1949121935 blocks super 1.2

I was able to create arrays using /dev/sd[abc][12]. Then remove the md127, which appeared magically and create a new one.

2011-09-09 12:15: After installing everything again including Syslinux through the installer without MBR I checked if bit 2 of the attributes for the /boot partition is set and I then tried:

# dd bs=440 conv=notrunc count=1 if=/usr/lib/syslinux/gptmbr.bin of=/dev/sda

Both worked, and I am still booting to a blinking cursor. I even tried booting each device individually.

Last edited by filam (2011-09-09 16:57:13)

filam · 2011-09-09 16:59:35

gour wrote:

As I wrote above, installer was not being able to handle install to GPT disk. Try with MBR and then convert to GPT.

You mean create each partition with fdisk instead of gdisk? Then install Syslinux using the installer (making sure to select yes when prompted about the MBR). And then how would you convert that to GPT? If you could explain this in detail I'd really appreciate it.

gour · 2011-09-09 19:49:05

filam wrote:

You mean create each partition with fdisk instead of gdisk? Then install Syslinux using the installer (making sure to select yes when prompted about the MBR). And then how would you convert that to GPT? If you could explain this in detail I'd really appreciate it.

Yes, selecting yes when prompted in the installer. I was preparing my disk with gparted from systemrescueCD and then converting to GPT with the help of gdisk.

filam · 2011-09-09 20:26:39

gour wrote:

filam wrote:
You mean create each partition with fdisk instead of gdisk? Then install Syslinux using the installer (making sure to select yes when prompted about the MBR). And then how would you convert that to GPT? If you could explain this in detail I'd really appreciate it.
Yes, selecting yes when prompted in the installer. I was preparing my disk with gparted from systemrescueCD and then converting to GPT with the help of gdisk.

I just ran sgdisk -g on each partition (i.e. /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, /dev/sda3), amongst other things, and rebooted thinking I would need to partition again and start the installer all over again. Then, to my astonishment, I was looking as Syslinux instead of that evil blinking cursor! Could it be that GPT wasn't properly configured (since sgdisk -g converts MBR to GPT)? But I had opened each partition with gdisk and it stated that everything was properly setup!

Either way, I'll mark this as solved. And attempt to fix the Wiki article accordingly, even if I'm not exactly sure how it booted.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-09-09 02:14:00

[SOLVED] LVM & RAID (1.2 metadata) + SYSLINUX

#2 2011-09-09 07:16:03

Re: [SOLVED] LVM & RAID (1.2 metadata) + SYSLINUX

#3 2011-09-09 14:50:49

Re: [SOLVED] LVM & RAID (1.2 metadata) + SYSLINUX

#4 2011-09-09 16:59:35

Re: [SOLVED] LVM & RAID (1.2 metadata) + SYSLINUX

#5 2011-09-09 19:49:05

Re: [SOLVED] LVM & RAID (1.2 metadata) + SYSLINUX

#6 2011-09-09 20:26:39

Re: [SOLVED] LVM & RAID (1.2 metadata) + SYSLINUX

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