[RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

kozaki · 2006-11-13 14:03:38

Me & a friend are building a local serveur on Arch (32-bit) for ~10 PCs in our association (half of them allready having AL Wink )
This server will basically have 2 main fonctions :
- NFS/YP server for a few PCs we've built under Arch for young people here
- backing up a few PCs we're using for the association.

Machine is HP with a PIV 1.7GHz, 512Mb SDRAM for now, & a single HDD IDE controller.
We got two UDMA 160GB HDD (Hitachi ) as we planned right from the start to improve on data security (& speed when possible).

I've set up partition as following :
- hda1 & hdb1, 100 Mb both, raid-1 for /boot
- hda2 & hdb2, 2 Gb both, raid-1 for swap
- hda3 & hdb3, 10 Gb both, raid-1 for /
- hda4 & hdb4, 150 Gb both, raid-1 + LVM2

Now I'm setting up Arch 0.7.2-20061104 (latest ISO from tpowa Smile ) , & everything went allright up to the point I wanna install the bootloader (might be the 10th time I set up AL this year)
To do so I'm following "Install Grub on the Primary Hard Drive (and save the RAID config)" (wich I may edit if I succeed this raid setup) with a look on "Reinstalling GRUB" both on the wiki.

1st I'm not 100% sure about mkinitcpio.conf config when it comes to raid; I've added 'raid' to HOOKS + a line just like on "Configuring mkinitpcio" :
Code:
md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3

Edited grub/menu.lst, installed the kernel... but I want to chroot in order to install Grub I can't mount /dev :
Code:
# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
keeps complaining about wrong fs type.
I chrooted anyway and launched grub :
grub> root (hd0,<TAB>
Error 21: Selected disk does not exist

I'm purely stuck here with no idea about what went wrong
If someone has spare time & knowledge, it'd be very nice indeed (our schedule says we begin to play with the network services 2morrow

EDIT : corrected the mkinitpcio.conf "md=2" line.

kozaki · 2006-11-13 18:11:34

About install gub, I got it thanks to warnaud :
/dev/mdN was unexistent until I launched

# makedevs

Thereafter grub found the disk :

# grub
grub> root (hd0,0)
grub> setup (hd0)
grub> quit

"save the RAID config" was allready done at this point.

Guess I misconfigured something in mkinitcpio.conf / menu.lst, 'cause when I boot it says :

:: Running Hook [raid]
...
:: Running Hook [filesystems]
:: Loading root filesystem module...-e
Attempting to create root device '/dev/md2'
ERROR: Failed to parse bloc device name for '/dev/md2'
unknown
ERROR: root fs cannot be detected.
...
Kernel panic...

mkinitcpio misconfiguration maybe.
From wiki :

First add the raid hook to the HOOKS list in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

OK :

HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide raid filesystems"

Add some Kernel Parameters is less clear, or it maybe after reading "Installing_with_Software_RAID_or_LVM" that says to list the devices in the ROOT array ?

Kernel Parameters: Specify all your md arrays with md= parameter: (only adding the raid array you're booting from is enough)
add the following to the kernel line in grub/menu.lst:
Example: md=0,/dev/sda3,/dev/sda4 md=1,/dev/hda1,/dev/hdb1
working example: kernel /vmlinuz26beyond root=/dev/md0 ro md=0,/dev/sda1,/dev/sdb1

So should one list its / or its /boot array ?

kozaki · 2006-11-13 18:50:18

Editing mkinitpcio.conf with both /boot & / devices + adding those devices to grub/menu.lst made it

mkinitcpio.conf

md=0,/dev/hda1,/dev/hdb1 md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3

menu.lst

kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/md2 ro md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3

Also slightly formated the wiki so that raid Kernel Parameters part looks clearer.

osigen · 2006-11-15 06:30:46

Solved? How?
My new installation always fails to install grub!
I use the same iso, and the same wiki instructions ...
I am too close to finish my new great systems :-(
I just want to install grub without all the above error messages (same on my installation)

I need only a succesful grub instalaltion and my system should start :-)

Anyone RAID specialist to help?

kozaki · 2006-11-15 09:37:37

Did you try makedevs ?
Here how I succeeded to install grub on my raid-1 system :

mount /dev/hdxY /mnt
chroot /mnt /bin/bash
mount -t sysfs none /sys
mount -t proc none /proc
makedevs
mount -a

Then vi /boot/grub/menu.lst :
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/md2 ro md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3
Then launched grub as quoted in the wiki

umount /proc
umount /sys
Control + D
reboot

osigen · 2006-11-15 13:25:18

I tried your way :-)
Still my RAID system is not functional. It generates kernel panic at boot, error message about FS, but the problem is bigger due to itsn't recognize system processor!!!

Anyway my system is linux compatible, it runs ArchLinux 0.7.2 on a single hard disk, with NO errors at all.

By the way your instructions confusing me:

kozaki wrote:

Did you try makedevs ?
mount /dev/hdxY /mnt
chroot /mnt /bin/bash
mount -t sysfs none /sys
mount -t proc none /proc
makedevs
mount -a

Wiki instructions has already suggest me a few mount(s)

kozaki wrote:

Then vi /boot/grub/menu.lst :
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/md2 ro md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3
Then launched grub as quoted in the wiki

md2 ???
md2 is swap according Installing with Software RAID or LVM

Wiki instructions remains incomplete, arch (one of the best) community keeps me confusing with RAID and my system has two hard disks only for decoration!! (not functional RAID == no hard disks usage)

If anyone has a working raid0/1/5 system and he/she prepared it using ArchLinux 7.2 (20061104) please give my ego back :-)

kozaki · 2006-11-15 15:49:53

> By the way your instructions confusing me
# mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev never worked in this machine, but this alternative method from warnaud worked fine, and allowed me to install grub on /dev/md0 (/boot).
BTW did you suceed in installing grub ?

> md2 is swap according Installing with Software RAID or LVM
Well I suppose I don't have to follow every letter from a howto, do I ?
Here's my partition's config :
I've set up partition as following :
- hda1 & hdb1, 100 Mb both, raid-1 --> /dev/md0 (/boot) ext2
- hda2 & hdb2, 2 Gb both, raid-1 --> /dev/md1 (swap)
- hda3 & hdb3, 10 Gb both, raid-1 --> /dev/md2 (/) ext3 w/ dir_index
- hda4 & hdb4, 150 Gb both, raid-1 + LVM2 --> /dev/md3 (3 logical volumes or partitions for data, all ext3 w/ dir_index)

3 more questions about your config :
- what is your partitions scheme ?
- did you (re)installed the kernel after configuring mkinitpcio.conf ?
- what FS did you choose for /boot & / + how does your fstab look like ?

osigen · 2006-11-15 16:22:32

All hard disks (3) are SATA II attached on Intel ICH8R controller. I set BIOS in compatible and/or IDE mode. Sure, I have deactivate MATRIX RAID (ICH8R) on board. It isn't Linux compatible. So I try software RAID....

I try to setup RAID 1 on two hard disks for testing. If everything runs smoothly, I will move to RAID 5 on all hard disks (3)

This system is a new one and will be my home workstation for next five years :-)

>> what is your partitions scheme ?
sda1 & sdb1 boot raid auto detect 100 MB , raid-1 --> /dev/md1 (/boot)
sda2 & sdb2 raid auto detect 2000 MB , raid-1 --> /dev/md2 (swap)
sda3 & sdb3 raid auto detect 20000 MB , raid-1 --> /dev/md0 (/)
sda4 & sdb4 raid auto detect 138000 MB , raid-1 --> /dev/md3 (LVM)

>> did you (re)installed the kernel after configuring mkinitpcio.conf ?
Yes, it generates kernel with a complain about FS. It may misunderstand DVD (/dev/hde)

>> what FS did you choose for /boot & / + how does your fstab look like ?
ReiserFS for /boot and /
My fstab is exactly the same as wiki refers! My system partition and md creation/activation are build similar to wiki.

kozaki · 2006-11-15 18:29:22

osigen post your grub entries for both kernel26 & fallback.

your sata2 HDDs & controler are well recognized with this ISO right ? I had to put a sata2 HDD on a sata1 controler to get it work. Now kernel-2.6.18 may support it, as there have been some strong changelog regarding drives & SATA in this release

osigen · 2006-11-15 18:57:28

>> osigen post your grub entries for both kernel26 & fallback.

title Arch Linux
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/md0 ro md=0,/dev/sda3,/dev/sdb3

There is no fallback entry

>> your sata2 HDDs & controler are well recognized with this ISO right ?
Yes, I have already install an Archlinux 0.7.2 (iso 5/10/06) on one SATA2 hard disk, and Archlinux seems to be stable (about a month test) and fast on this single drive :-)
Kernel 2.6.18 solved a lot of problems. DVD recognition, sky2 (on board Marvell ethernet) 965 chipset are supported.

jochen · 2006-11-16 10:38:45

Hi,

I'd say that there is missing a line like:

initrd /kernel26.img

kozaki · 2006-11-16 12:20:56

osigen > didn't you add this line in menu.lst ?
jochen is right. Unless you compiled the kernel with every modules your hardware needs, you cannot boot without the kernel image.

Here's my /boot/grub/menul.lst

# (0) Arch Linux default kernel
title  Arch Linux  [/boot/vmlinuz]
root   (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/md2 ro md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3 vga=791
initrd /kernel26.img

# (1) Arch Linux fbsplash verbose mode
title  Arch Linux fbsplash verbose mode
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26 root=/dev/md2 md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3 vga=0x318 splash=verbose,theme:darch console=tty1
initrd /kernel26.img

# (2) Arch Linux YouPi (emission + compiled)
title ArchlinuxEmission-YOUPI-01
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz26emission-YOUPI-01 root=/dev/md2 ro md=2,/dev/hda3,/dev/hdb3 vga=791 splash=silent,theme:darch console=tty1
initrd /fbsplash-darch-1024x768

Last initrd is only for fbsplash (which do not work yet anyway )

osigen · 2006-11-16 18:01:00

kozaki and jochen :-) I add the initrd /kernel26.img line ...
More precisely, I re-installed everything from scratch.
Grub, kernel and base goodies are all installed.
RAID hook is added in mkinitcpio.conf and kernel is regenerated.

After boot, I got ...

Kinit : Cannot open root device md0(9,0)
Kinit: Init not found!
Kernel panic - not syncing: Attempted to kill init!

I know if I skip this error, I should have a functional raid :-)

Any idea folks?

jochen · 2006-11-16 19:43:29

Are you sure, that md0 is your root device? I'm able to reproduce this error message by specifying my swap-device as root-device at the kernel line in menu.lst.

kozaki · 2006-11-16 20:51:24

jochen > that's interesting !

osigen > I think i know how you fell :x
I'd find it usefull if you can post every part of your mkinitcpio.conf / menu.lst / rc.conf that are raid's related so that we have a clear view of the whole

Note that on the machine I configured raid-1 on, hdparm -T on our 2 IDE HDDs with udma5 controler are all arround 70 Mb/sec (when my single Sata2 Hitachi on a much newer mobo never went further than 44 Mb/sec)

osigen · 2006-11-17 13:03:47

May I wait mdadm to finish sync before reboot a fresh installation?

jochen > Yes md0 is the root device. Error is solved once by using

rootfstype=reiserfs

Then I got a complain about device-mapper and swap couldn't be activated :-) Terrible things.. or my big installation mistakes :-)

kozaki > mkinitcpio.conf / menu.lst / rc.conf are the same as wiki instructions. I have checked every line in configuration files twice :-)
(this was my third raid1 installation try - I was more careful)

Running hdparm -T /dev/sda I get 1334.80 MB / sec
By the way a better bench is sysbench (sourceforge project)

I give up... for today! I will give a try tomorrow :-)

================================================
kozaki > Please edit wiki ...
Instead of

mdadm -D --scan >>/etc/mdadm.conf

add the right

mdadm -D --scan >>/mnt/etc/mdadm.conf

================================================

kozaki · 2006-11-17 15:04:01

Yes one need to wait mdadm to finish sync before creating and mounting the filesystems.
On my machine this took a while, well over 30' for the biggest array (150 Gb).
From the wiki:

At this point, you should have working RAID partitions. When you create the RAID partitions, they need to sync themselves so the contents of all three physical partitions are the same on all three drives. The hard drives lights will come on as they try to sync up. You can monitor the progress by typing:
# cat /proc/mdstat

In the wiki I see mdadm -D --scan >>/etc/mdadm.conf only when installing Grub. Since this is done in a chrooted system, the file is /etc/mdadm.conf (without /mnt).

$ yaourt -Ss sysbench

aur/sysbench 0.4.3-1
Benchmark tool for evaluating OS parameters that are important for a system running a database under intensive load.

Thank you osigen for that info

Arch Linux

#1 2006-11-13 14:03:38

[RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#2 2006-11-13 18:11:34

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#3 2006-11-13 18:50:18

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#4 2006-11-15 06:30:46

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#5 2006-11-15 09:37:37

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#6 2006-11-15 13:25:18

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#7 2006-11-15 15:49:53

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#8 2006-11-15 16:22:32

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#9 2006-11-15 18:29:22

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#10 2006-11-15 18:57:28

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#11 2006-11-16 10:38:45

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#12 2006-11-16 12:20:56

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#13 2006-11-16 18:01:00

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#14 2006-11-16 19:43:29

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#15 2006-11-16 20:51:24

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#16 2006-11-17 13:03:47

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

#17 2006-11-17 15:04:01

Re: [RAID Install] Can't install Grub - SOLVED

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