Re: getting a linux boot loader (preferably grub) installed on an intel imsm raid

["K. Posern" <quickhelp@gmail.com>]

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Hi Dave,

Thanks for your answer!

So it seems I might have found somebody to fight through this RAID/grub 
jungle? :)


/// about my hardware ///

What I have (and can offer as a test-platform): Sony VAIO notebook where
CTRL+I during startup brings me to
	Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology - Option ROM - 9.5.0.1037
At the moment I have 1 RAID-0 on all 4 SATA drives.
I think this version (Sony limited?) only supports RAID-0 and maybe 1.

mdadm --examine on the container /dev/md127 gives me:
	Magic : Intel Raid ISM Cfg Sig
	Version : 1.2.01
	Faimily : ba0a95b0
	Generation : 0000025c

lspci shows me:
	00:1f.2 RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 82801 SATA RAID 
Controller (rev. 05)


/// about Fedora (13) ////

My core goal was more to explore and document the MANUAL setup of 
grub/grub2 (for people compiling from source or using Gentoo).
Basically to document the knowledge needed to do-it-yourself in order to 
save people like me some precious time in collecting all the bits and 
pieces themselves.
For the several distributions out there: I would have probably just 
linked to their own HowTos once we get information that it works (like I 
got this information for Ubuntu for example).

I personally use Gentoo --> no fancy GUI/install-scripts, but everything 
manual :)

As I said: Ubuntu has a device-mapper based binary package of grub2 that 
seems to install itsself in a way that allows to boot from an Intel OROM 
RAID (fakeraid). But that doesn't help me with Gentoo.

But I am really stuck alone, so I am willing to throw a Fedora on my 
machine if in exchange I would get the grub commands to make grub boot 
my intel RAID-0 :)

 > Just FYI Intel is moving forward with MDRAID.
Nice :)

Do you happen to know if mdadm just integrated (parts of) the dmraid code?
Because that's one of the many /rumors/ I picked up ;)
(and that I would like to put to an end ;)

Let me know.

Thanks!

Knuth

---

On 19/08/10 13:49, Jiang, Dave wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: linux-raid-owner@vger.kernel.org [mailto:linux-raid-
>> owner@vger.kernel.org] On Behalf Of K. Posern
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 9:56 PM
>> To: linux-raid@vger.kernel.org
>> Subject: getting a linux boot loader (preferably grub) installed on an
>> intel imsm raid
>>
>> 	b) based on mdadm-imsm. Just there seems really /no/
>> documentation out
>> there on how to do it (or I successfully managed to google around it
>> since days now ;).
>
> There is a section in regards to external metadata
> https://raid.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/RAID_setup#External_Metadata
>
> But I guess I need to update with additional information on how to install to it.
>
> Do you have Intel MSM Option ROM on your system? If so, then you create a RAID volume in the RAID optionROM and then when you do a install say for example Fedora 12, you specifiy you have "advanced storage device" (I think?) and you will see the RAID volume available for installation. I had issues with Fedora 13. There is a bug that causes crash when you attempt to install to an IMSM volume. And yes you install to the volume. The container can have 2 different RAID volumes.
>
>> P.S.: I would be still interested to hear how the two solutions that
>> support an intel BIOS-supported (mdadm-imsm>=v3 and dmraid>=v1) raid
>> compare to each other in terms of: speed (throughput), load/overhead
>> (cpu/ram), stability, features.
>
> Just FYI Intel is moving forward with MDRAID.



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