From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with archive (Exim 4.43) id 1NNaHB-0000a9-Ch for mharc-grub-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:05:53 -0500 Received: from mailman by lists.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1NNaH9-0000Zk-5s for grub-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:05:51 -0500 Received: from exim by lists.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.43) id 1NNaH4-0000Xm-5f for grub-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:05:50 -0500 Received: from [199.232.76.173] (port=56659 helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1NNaH3-0000Xf-Q4 for grub-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:05:45 -0500 Received: from mail.gmx.net ([213.165.64.20]:50631) by monty-python.gnu.org with smtp (Exim 4.60) (envelope-from ) id 1NNaH3-0002jm-1H for grub-devel@gnu.org; Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:05:45 -0500 Received: (qmail 32464 invoked by uid 0); 23 Dec 2009 23:05:42 -0000 Received: from 84.137.54.214 by www043.gmx.net with HTTP; Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:05:41 +0100 (CET) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:05:42 +0100 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?=22Andr=E9_Heynatz=22?= In-Reply-To: <4B31095D.1030409@gmail.com> Message-ID: <20091223230542.287510@gmx.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 References: <20091222170208.19290@gmx.net> <4B31095D.1030409@gmail.com> To: The development of GNU GRUB X-Authenticated: #10011330 X-Flags: 0001 X-Mailer: WWW-Mail 6100 (Global Message Exchange) X-Priority: 3 X-Provags-ID: V01U2FsdGVkX1+soOsFqI6svIqmoCao9M/e7BCYlyZ6nr4LqDyphu gU+xhTjt85mbq3bnztcWgBIvVKaDeFy646tA== Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-GMX-UID: fpABfyU5X1V6Hvav9GFyNS5/SDc4NIyI X-FuHaFi: 0.5 X-detected-operating-system: by monty-python.gnu.org: GNU/Linux 2.6 (newer, 2) Subject: Re: How to install grub on fakeraid (raid 0) which spans 2 TB? X-BeenThere: grub-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: The development of GNU GRUB List-Id: The development of GNU GRUB List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:05:51 -0000 > André Heynatz wrote: > > I have bought two 1 TB harddisks and one 2 TB harddisk (backup). > > I want to use the 1 TB harddisks in a RAID 0 array (Intel ICH8R > Fakeraid). > > > > OS: Win XP SP3, Win 7, Ubuntu Linux 9.10 32 Bit > > > > My partition plan 1: > > > > P ntfs 300 GB Windows XP SP3 32 Bit > > P ntfs 300 GB Windows 7 32 Bit > > E > > L swap 2 GB Linux swap > > L ext4 250 GB Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (Karmic) 32 Bit > > L ntfs 1100 GB data (for data exchange and storage) > > L ext4 48 GB spare space for testing of new OSes > > I'd suggest: > > P ext2 100 MB /boot > P ntfs 300 GB Windows XP SP3 32 Bit > P ntfs 300 GB Windows 7 32 Bit > E > L swap 2 GB Linux swap > L ext4 250 GB Ubuntu Linux 9.10 (Karmic) 32 Bit > L ntfs 1100 GB data (for data exchange and storage) > L ext4 48 GB spare space for testing of new OSes > > There is no need for /boot to be on a raid or other 'special' partition > type. > > -- Bruce Hello Bruce, thanks for the suggestion. But in order to do this I would need to remove the perfectly working Windows XP and Windows 7 systems to do this which would be a pity. I feel that Linux just CAN do it with Fakeraid, only a tiny bit of work is needed for support. I managed to install Linux on Fakeraid three years ago, with a complicated procedure. It worked like a charm, until I needed more capacity. This time it is a little bit more difficult to get to a solution. I do not care if it is GRUB1 or GRUB2, it should work with both because we are at a turning point and cannot neglect the fact that we need a transition period. I assume that GRUB is to serve users well of course. My only explanation for the failure of GRUB1 the second time is that there is some overflow happening because of the huge sector counts. If a sector count is stored in a 32 Bit Integer (int), there may be a problem if the sector count exceeds 0x7fffffff, which is 1 TB. My first partition plan lets GRUB use a sector count below 0x80000000, my second partition plan lets the Linux system partition be at a sector address definitely above 0x7fffffff, which may overflow. In general, signedness should be cared about. But in this case it would be even better to use a 64 Bit sector address to accomodate for LBA48 (or LBA64?). Hard disk sizes can only increase, and I read about people using RAID-5 with 6 TB capacity and needing to go to GUID partition tables (GPT) because one partition is to be larger than 2 TB. Windows Vista and Windows 7 support this EFI feature. I am sure Linux does it too, at least Ubuntu Linux which I use has UIDs even in the GRUB1 configuration (probably patched). I return to partition plan 1 and create the whole partition table with Windows 7 which should be recent enough to handle the size of the disks. The newest Intel Matrix driver should work flawlessly. Afterwards I install Ubuntu Linux near the other system partitions which was my original plan. Especially Windows XP 32 Bit is unsupported in this area (by intent) so I should not depend on it to deal with a partition table. Firstable I try Ubuntu 10.04 GRUB2, then if it does not work I try Ubuntu 9.10 GRUB1 (most recent update). My old computer without RAID uses GRUB2, and it works flawlessly. Keep up the good work! There will always be special cases which need some attention. We get closer to a "just works" system which would attract many new users. It is not the design which sells systems, maybe later it is, but now it still is the lacking functionality or compatibility which drives users away. I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Greetings, André -- GRATIS für alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT! Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome01