Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[David F.]

Loading V3.3.2 Aug 2014 on an asus z9pa-u8 mobo, with the controller
in LSI RAID mode and configured using  RAID 1 via the BIOS, will break
the RAID.  (no longer configured as RAID).  All it takes is starting
mdadm which seems to work for that session but on reboot the RAID is
gone.  The z9pa-u8 uses the C602 intel chipset.

Customer reported same on what they called an Intel ESRT2 which
appears to use the same line C600 based chipset.  Not sure if in LSI
mode, but presume so.  That controller allows you to pick LSI mode,
Intel RAID mode, or just non RAID normal controller mode.

Unfortunately, mine is a production server so I can't do much testing
(even trying to load it will probably break it).  Not sure if you can
get your hands on one to test.   Loading using DMRAID worked okay
which is how I got around it.

Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[John Stoffel]

David> Loading V3.3.2 Aug 2014 on an asus z9pa-u8 mobo, with the
David> controller in LSI RAID mode and configured using RAID 1 via the
David> BIOS, will break the RAID.  (no longer configured as RAID).
David> All it takes is starting mdadm which seems to work for that
David> session but on reboot the RAID is gone.  The z9pa-u8 uses the
David> C602 intel chipset.

Which version of Linux kernel and disto are you using?  

David> Customer reported same on what they called an Intel ESRT2 which
David> appears to use the same line C600 based chipset.  Not sure if
David> in LSI mode, but presume so.  That controller allows you to
David> pick LSI mode, Intel RAID mode, or just non RAID normal
David> controller mode.

David> Unfortunately, mine is a production server so I can't do much testing
David> (even trying to load it will probably break it).  Not sure if you can
David> get your hands on one to test.   Loading using DMRAID worked okay
David> which is how I got around it.

Can you please give us the exact steps you took, and the output at
each step?  Also, which version of mdadm are you running which does
NOT break things?  That would be good to know.

The output of 'cat /proc/mdstat', 'mdadm --detail /dev/md*' and 'mdadm
-E /dev/sd?e' for each device in the various raid arrays.

If you start then stop the new mdadm, do you see differences when you
then use the old, working mdadm to examine the various devices?  

Basically, we need lots more information here to help.

John

Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[David F.]

Okay, and to confirm, this is happening on other C600 based systems.
Boot to Linux with MDADM raid support and the raid is gone after
reboot.

On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 14:13:05 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I built a new system, installed new drives (no partitioning, just raw
>> new drives), configured RAID 1, boot to linux, created reports
>> attached.  Rebooted and the system doesn't see any configured raid
>> drives (just the two raw drives).
>
> Thanks.  I might take a look, but I would greatly prefer it if you kept the
> linux-raid list on the Cc.....
>
> NeilBrown
>

Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[David F.]

If you need access to the system, a network kvm is available - or if
you have a C600 based system, you should see the same problem there.

On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 1:07 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> Okay, and to confirm, this is happening on other C600 based systems.
> Boot to Linux with MDADM raid support and the raid is gone after
> reboot.
>
> On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
>> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 14:13:05 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I built a new system, installed new drives (no partitioning, just raw
>>> new drives), configured RAID 1, boot to linux, created reports
>>> attached.  Rebooted and the system doesn't see any configured raid
>>> drives (just the two raw drives).
>>
>> Thanks.  I might take a look, but I would greatly prefer it if you kept the
>> linux-raid list on the Cc.....
>>
>> NeilBrown
>>

Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[David F.]

any progress or more information needed on this?

On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 10:39 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you need access to the system, a network kvm is available - or if
> you have a C600 based system, you should see the same problem there.
>
> On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 1:07 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Okay, and to confirm, this is happening on other C600 based systems.
>> Boot to Linux with MDADM raid support and the raid is gone after
>> reboot.
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
>>> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 14:13:05 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hello,
>>>>
>>>> I built a new system, installed new drives (no partitioning, just raw
>>>> new drives), configured RAID 1, boot to linux, created reports
>>>> attached.  Rebooted and the system doesn't see any configured raid
>>>> drives (just the two raw drives).
>>>
>>> Thanks.  I might take a look, but I would greatly prefer it if you kept the
>>> linux-raid list on the Cc.....
>>>
>>> NeilBrown
>>>

Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[NeilBrown]

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On Mon, 11 May 2015 09:31:26 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:

> any progress or more information needed on this?
> 
> On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 10:39 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> > If you need access to the system, a network kvm is available - or if
> > you have a C600 based system, you should see the same problem there.
> >
> > On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 1:07 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Okay, and to confirm, this is happening on other C600 based systems.
> >> Boot to Linux with MDADM raid support and the raid is gone after
> >> reboot.
> >>
> >> On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
> >>> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 14:13:05 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Hello,
> >>>>
> >>>> I built a new system, installed new drives (no partitioning, just raw
> >>>> new drives), configured RAID 1, boot to linux, created reports
> >>>> attached.  Rebooted and the system doesn't see any configured raid
> >>>> drives (just the two raw drives).
> >>>
> >>> Thanks.  I might take a look, but I would greatly prefer it if you kept the
> >>> linux-raid list on the Cc.....
> >>>
> >>> NeilBrown
> >>>

I must confess that I haven't even looked at it.
But I just saw and email on linux-raid from Martin Wilck:

 Subject: [PATCH] DDF: _write_super_to_disk: fix anchor header type

which very likely fixes your problem.  I've applied it and pushed out to
   git://neil.brown.name/mdadm/

NeilBrown

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Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[David F.]

Thanks.

1) The update did fix the broken RAID.  I can reboot and the RAID
mirror still exists after reboots.

2) I do want to report that on the first test, the reboot was clean.
On the second reboot there was a warning message about the BIOS
detecting "Inconsistent Timestamps" on one of the drives and something
about which CONFIG the BIOS would use.  I didn't have time to get it
all jotted down.  Whatever it used was still okay since the RAID
mirror was still there after that message.


On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 5:35 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
> On Mon, 11 May 2015 09:31:26 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> any progress or more information needed on this?
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 10:39 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > If you need access to the system, a network kvm is available - or if
>> > you have a C600 based system, you should see the same problem there.
>> >
>> > On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 1:07 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> Okay, and to confirm, this is happening on other C600 based systems.
>> >> Boot to Linux with MDADM raid support and the raid is gone after
>> >> reboot.
>> >>
>> >> On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
>> >>> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 14:13:05 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> Hello,
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I built a new system, installed new drives (no partitioning, just raw
>> >>>> new drives), configured RAID 1, boot to linux, created reports
>> >>>> attached.  Rebooted and the system doesn't see any configured raid
>> >>>> drives (just the two raw drives).
>> >>>
>> >>> Thanks.  I might take a look, but I would greatly prefer it if you kept the
>> >>> linux-raid list on the Cc.....
>> >>>
>> >>> NeilBrown
>> >>>
>
> I must confess that I haven't even looked at it.
> But I just saw and email on linux-raid from Martin Wilck:
>
>  Subject: [PATCH] DDF: _write_super_to_disk: fix anchor header type
>
> which very likely fixes your problem.  I've applied it and pushed out to
>    git://neil.brown.name/mdadm/
>
> NeilBrown

Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[David F.]

Do you think the latest version at
http://git.neil.brown.name/?p=mdadm.git;a=summary is stable enough to
use?   It definitely fixes the major issue (losing the raid config)
from the prior version.

On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 7:26 AM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks.
>
> 1) The update did fix the broken RAID.  I can reboot and the RAID
> mirror still exists after reboots.
>
> 2) I do want to report that on the first test, the reboot was clean.
> On the second reboot there was a warning message about the BIOS
> detecting "Inconsistent Timestamps" on one of the drives and something
> about which CONFIG the BIOS would use.  I didn't have time to get it
> all jotted down.  Whatever it used was still okay since the RAID
> mirror was still there after that message.
>
>
> On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 5:35 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
>> On Mon, 11 May 2015 09:31:26 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> any progress or more information needed on this?
>>>
>>> On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 10:39 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > If you need access to the system, a network kvm is available - or if
>>> > you have a C600 based system, you should see the same problem there.
>>> >
>>> > On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 1:07 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >> Okay, and to confirm, this is happening on other C600 based systems.
>>> >> Boot to Linux with MDADM raid support and the raid is gone after
>>> >> reboot.
>>> >>
>>> >> On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
>>> >>> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 14:13:05 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>>> Hello,
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> I built a new system, installed new drives (no partitioning, just raw
>>> >>>> new drives), configured RAID 1, boot to linux, created reports
>>> >>>> attached.  Rebooted and the system doesn't see any configured raid
>>> >>>> drives (just the two raw drives).
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Thanks.  I might take a look, but I would greatly prefer it if you kept the
>>> >>> linux-raid list on the Cc.....
>>> >>>
>>> >>> NeilBrown
>>> >>>
>>
>> I must confess that I haven't even looked at it.
>> But I just saw and email on linux-raid from Martin Wilck:
>>
>>  Subject: [PATCH] DDF: _write_super_to_disk: fix anchor header type
>>
>> which very likely fixes your problem.  I've applied it and pushed out to
>>    git://neil.brown.name/mdadm/
>>
>> NeilBrown

Re: Breaks LSI RAID on C600 chipset

[NeilBrown]

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On Mon, 18 May 2015 10:58:19 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:

> Do you think the latest version at
> http://git.neil.brown.name/?p=mdadm.git;a=summary is stable enough to
> use?   It definitely fixes the major issue (losing the raid config)
> from the prior version.

It should be OK.  I'll probably make a 3.3.3 in a little while to make it
official.

NeilBrown



> 
> On Wed, May 13, 2015 at 7:26 AM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Thanks.
> >
> > 1) The update did fix the broken RAID.  I can reboot and the RAID
> > mirror still exists after reboots.
> >
> > 2) I do want to report that on the first test, the reboot was clean.
> > On the second reboot there was a warning message about the BIOS
> > detecting "Inconsistent Timestamps" on one of the drives and something
> > about which CONFIG the BIOS would use.  I didn't have time to get it
> > all jotted down.  Whatever it used was still okay since the RAID
> > mirror was still there after that message.
> >
> >
> > On Tue, May 12, 2015 at 5:35 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
> >> On Mon, 11 May 2015 09:31:26 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> any progress or more information needed on this?
> >>>
> >>> On Mon, Apr 20, 2015 at 10:39 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> > If you need access to the system, a network kvm is available - or if
> >>> > you have a C600 based system, you should see the same problem there.
> >>> >
> >>> > On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 1:07 PM, David F. <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> >> Okay, and to confirm, this is happening on other C600 based systems.
> >>> >> Boot to Linux with MDADM raid support and the raid is gone after
> >>> >> reboot.
> >>> >>
> >>> >> On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 5:50 PM, NeilBrown <neilb@suse.de> wrote:
> >>> >>> On Thu, 9 Apr 2015 14:13:05 -0700 "David F." <df7729@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>>> Hello,
> >>> >>>>
> >>> >>>> I built a new system, installed new drives (no partitioning, just raw
> >>> >>>> new drives), configured RAID 1, boot to linux, created reports
> >>> >>>> attached.  Rebooted and the system doesn't see any configured raid
> >>> >>>> drives (just the two raw drives).
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> Thanks.  I might take a look, but I would greatly prefer it if you kept the
> >>> >>> linux-raid list on the Cc.....
> >>> >>>
> >>> >>> NeilBrown
> >>> >>>
> >>
> >> I must confess that I haven't even looked at it.
> >> But I just saw and email on linux-raid from Martin Wilck:
> >>
> >>  Subject: [PATCH] DDF: _write_super_to_disk: fix anchor header type
> >>
> >> which very likely fixes your problem.  I've applied it and pushed out to
> >>    git://neil.brown.name/mdadm/
> >>
> >> NeilBrown


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