New RAID1 machine "No bootable media"

New RAID1 machine "No bootable media"

[Mark Knecht]

Hi,
   I brought up new hardware yesterday for my first RAID install. I
followed this Gentoo page describing a software RAID1/LVM install:

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86+raid+lvm2-quickinstall.xml

   Note that I followed this page verbatim, even if it wasn't what I
wanted, with exceptions:

a) My RAID1 is 3 drives instead of 2
b) I'm AMD64 Gentoo based.
c) I used grub-static

  I did this install mostly just to get a first-hand feel for how to
do a RAID install and to try out some of the mdadm commands for real.
My intention was to blow away the install if I didn't like it and do
it again for real once I started to get a clearer picture about how
things worked. For instance, this set of instructions used RAID1 on
the /boot directory which I wasn't sure about.

   NOTE: THIS INSTALL PUTS EVERYTHING ON RAID1. (/, /boot, everything)
I didn't start out thinking I wanted to do that.

   So, the first problem is that on the reboot to see if the install
worked the Intel BIOS reports 'no bootable media found'. I am very
unclear how any system boots software RAID1 before software is loaded,
assuming I understand the Gentoo instructions. The instructions I used
to install grub where

root (hd0,0)
setup (hd0)
root (hd1,0)
setup (hd1)
root (hd2,0)
setup (hd2)

but the system finds nothing to boot from. to me this sounds like BIOS
so looking around I'm currently set up for compatibility but would
think that switching to AHCI support would be a better long term
solution. Any chance this setting is the root cause?

   I can boot from CD and assemble the /boot RAID

livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
unused devices: <none>
livecd ~ # mdadm --assemble /dev/md1 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1
mdadm: /dev/md1 has been started with 3 drives.
livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
md1 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdc1[2] sdb1[1]
      112320 blocks [3/3] [UUU]

unused devices: <none>
livecd ~ # mdadm --misc --stop /dev/md1
mdadm: stopped /dev/md1
livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
unused devices: <none>
livecd ~ #


Everything I expect to see on /boot seems to be there when using ls.

   Note that one possible clue - when the Intel BIOS screen first
comes up I see some hex digits flashing around in the lower right.
I've not seen this before on other machines and I beleive the
motherboard (DX58SO) does support some sort of RAID in hardware so
maybe there's confusion there? I've not selected RAID in BIOS but
possible it's trying to be too clever?

   Let me know what other info might be needed. I have concerns about
this install and will likely blow it away today and do a new one but I
figured maybe there's an opportunity to learn here before I do that.

Cheers,
Mark

Re: New RAID1 machine "No bootable media"

[Mark Knecht]

Sorry for top-posting.

If it matters these are 4K sector drives. WD10EARS. Seems like I've
seen some threads about boot loaders, etc., not that I understood
them. I have booted these drives in non-RAID machines though.

- Mark

On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 8:12 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>   I brought up new hardware yesterday for my first RAID install. I
> followed this Gentoo page describing a software RAID1/LVM install:
>
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86+raid+lvm2-quickinstall.xml
>
>   Note that I followed this page verbatim, even if it wasn't what I
> wanted, with exceptions:
>
> a) My RAID1 is 3 drives instead of 2
> b) I'm AMD64 Gentoo based.
> c) I used grub-static
>
>  I did this install mostly just to get a first-hand feel for how to
> do a RAID install and to try out some of the mdadm commands for real.
> My intention was to blow away the install if I didn't like it and do
> it again for real once I started to get a clearer picture about how
> things worked. For instance, this set of instructions used RAID1 on
> the /boot directory which I wasn't sure about.
>
>   NOTE: THIS INSTALL PUTS EVERYTHING ON RAID1. (/, /boot, everything)
> I didn't start out thinking I wanted to do that.
>
>   So, the first problem is that on the reboot to see if the install
> worked the Intel BIOS reports 'no bootable media found'. I am very
> unclear how any system boots software RAID1 before software is loaded,
> assuming I understand the Gentoo instructions. The instructions I used
> to install grub where
>
> root (hd0,0)
> setup (hd0)
> root (hd1,0)
> setup (hd1)
> root (hd2,0)
> setup (hd2)
>
> but the system finds nothing to boot from. to me this sounds like BIOS
> so looking around I'm currently set up for compatibility but would
> think that switching to AHCI support would be a better long term
> solution. Any chance this setting is the root cause?
>
>   I can boot from CD and assemble the /boot RAID
>
> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
> unused devices: <none>
> livecd ~ # mdadm --assemble /dev/md1 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1
> mdadm: /dev/md1 has been started with 3 drives.
> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
> md1 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdc1[2] sdb1[1]
>      112320 blocks [3/3] [UUU]
>
> unused devices: <none>
> livecd ~ # mdadm --misc --stop /dev/md1
> mdadm: stopped /dev/md1
> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
> unused devices: <none>
> livecd ~ #
>
>
> Everything I expect to see on /boot seems to be there when using ls.
>
>   Note that one possible clue - when the Intel BIOS screen first
> comes up I see some hex digits flashing around in the lower right.
> I've not seen this before on other machines and I beleive the
> motherboard (DX58SO) does support some sort of RAID in hardware so
> maybe there's confusion there? I've not selected RAID in BIOS but
> possible it's trying to be too clever?
>
>   Let me know what other info might be needed. I have concerns about
> this install and will likely blow it away today and do a new one but I
> figured maybe there's an opportunity to learn here before I do that.
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
>
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html

Re: New RAID1 machine "No bootable media"

[Simon Matthews]

Did you mark the partition as a bootable partition (using fdisk or
cfdisk, etc)? I encountered this problem very recently. It seems to
afflict 945G chipsets and it would not be unreasonable to think that
other Intel chipsets could have the same issue. Another example of
this:
http://www.vyatta.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1976

Can you boot off a livecd such as systemrescuecd and then use that to
boot off the hard drive (using the "disk1" boot option)?

Simon

On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 8:12 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>   I brought up new hardware yesterday for my first RAID install. I
> followed this Gentoo page describing a software RAID1/LVM install:
>
> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86+raid+lvm2-quickinstall.xml
>
>   Note that I followed this page verbatim, even if it wasn't what I
> wanted, with exceptions:
>
> a) My RAID1 is 3 drives instead of 2
> b) I'm AMD64 Gentoo based.
> c) I used grub-static
>
>  I did this install mostly just to get a first-hand feel for how to
> do a RAID install and to try out some of the mdadm commands for real.
> My intention was to blow away the install if I didn't like it and do
> it again for real once I started to get a clearer picture about how
> things worked. For instance, this set of instructions used RAID1 on
> the /boot directory which I wasn't sure about.
>
>   NOTE: THIS INSTALL PUTS EVERYTHING ON RAID1. (/, /boot, everything)
> I didn't start out thinking I wanted to do that.
>
>   So, the first problem is that on the reboot to see if the install
> worked the Intel BIOS reports 'no bootable media found'. I am very
> unclear how any system boots software RAID1 before software is loaded,
> assuming I understand the Gentoo instructions. The instructions I used
> to install grub where
>
> root (hd0,0)
> setup (hd0)
> root (hd1,0)
> setup (hd1)
> root (hd2,0)
> setup (hd2)
>
> but the system finds nothing to boot from. to me this sounds like BIOS
> so looking around I'm currently set up for compatibility but would
> think that switching to AHCI support would be a better long term
> solution. Any chance this setting is the root cause?
>
>   I can boot from CD and assemble the /boot RAID
>
> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
> unused devices: <none>
> livecd ~ # mdadm --assemble /dev/md1 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1
> mdadm: /dev/md1 has been started with 3 drives.
> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
> md1 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdc1[2] sdb1[1]
>      112320 blocks [3/3] [UUU]
>
> unused devices: <none>
> livecd ~ # mdadm --misc --stop /dev/md1
> mdadm: stopped /dev/md1
> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
> unused devices: <none>
> livecd ~ #
>
>
> Everything I expect to see on /boot seems to be there when using ls.
>
>   Note that one possible clue - when the Intel BIOS screen first
> comes up I see some hex digits flashing around in the lower right.
> I've not seen this before on other machines and I beleive the
> motherboard (DX58SO) does support some sort of RAID in hardware so
> maybe there's confusion there? I've not selected RAID in BIOS but
> possible it's trying to be too clever?
>
>   Let me know what other info might be needed. I have concerns about
> this install and will likely blow it away today and do a new one but I
> figured maybe there's an opportunity to learn here before I do that.
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
> --
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html

Re: New RAID1 machine "No bootable media"

[Mark Knecht]

Yeah, same thing here. This is the first machine I've owned in years
that actually required that.

Basically it failed to boot as RAID so I blew the install away, did it
as non-RAID and had the same problem. Guess that might be it and tried
it non-RAID and it worked.

I haven't gone back to a RAID install yet due to issues in my other
thread. Until I solve those I think I'll stick with the current
install.

Thanks,
Mark

On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 7:29 PM, Simon Matthews
<simon.d.matthews@gmail.com> wrote:
> Did you mark the partition as a bootable partition (using fdisk or
> cfdisk, etc)? I encountered this problem very recently. It seems to
> afflict 945G chipsets and it would not be unreasonable to think that
> other Intel chipsets could have the same issue. Another example of
> this:
> http://www.vyatta.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1976
>
> Can you boot off a livecd such as systemrescuecd and then use that to
> boot off the hard drive (using the "disk1" boot option)?
>
> Simon
>
> On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 8:12 AM, Mark Knecht <markknecht@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>   I brought up new hardware yesterday for my first RAID install. I
>> followed this Gentoo page describing a software RAID1/LVM install:
>>
>> http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/gentoo-x86+raid+lvm2-quickinstall.xml
>>
>>   Note that I followed this page verbatim, even if it wasn't what I
>> wanted, with exceptions:
>>
>> a) My RAID1 is 3 drives instead of 2
>> b) I'm AMD64 Gentoo based.
>> c) I used grub-static
>>
>>  I did this install mostly just to get a first-hand feel for how to
>> do a RAID install and to try out some of the mdadm commands for real.
>> My intention was to blow away the install if I didn't like it and do
>> it again for real once I started to get a clearer picture about how
>> things worked. For instance, this set of instructions used RAID1 on
>> the /boot directory which I wasn't sure about.
>>
>>   NOTE: THIS INSTALL PUTS EVERYTHING ON RAID1. (/, /boot, everything)
>> I didn't start out thinking I wanted to do that.
>>
>>   So, the first problem is that on the reboot to see if the install
>> worked the Intel BIOS reports 'no bootable media found'. I am very
>> unclear how any system boots software RAID1 before software is loaded,
>> assuming I understand the Gentoo instructions. The instructions I used
>> to install grub where
>>
>> root (hd0,0)
>> setup (hd0)
>> root (hd1,0)
>> setup (hd1)
>> root (hd2,0)
>> setup (hd2)
>>
>> but the system finds nothing to boot from. to me this sounds like BIOS
>> so looking around I'm currently set up for compatibility but would
>> think that switching to AHCI support would be a better long term
>> solution. Any chance this setting is the root cause?
>>
>>   I can boot from CD and assemble the /boot RAID
>>
>> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
>> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
>> unused devices: <none>
>> livecd ~ # mdadm --assemble /dev/md1 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1
>> mdadm: /dev/md1 has been started with 3 drives.
>> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
>> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
>> md1 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdc1[2] sdb1[1]
>>      112320 blocks [3/3] [UUU]
>>
>> unused devices: <none>
>> livecd ~ # mdadm --misc --stop /dev/md1
>> mdadm: stopped /dev/md1
>> livecd ~ # cat /proc/mdstat
>> Personalities : [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
>> unused devices: <none>
>> livecd ~ #
>>
>>
>> Everything I expect to see on /boot seems to be there when using ls.
>>
>>   Note that one possible clue - when the Intel BIOS screen first
>> comes up I see some hex digits flashing around in the lower right.
>> I've not seen this before on other machines and I beleive the
>> motherboard (DX58SO) does support some sort of RAID in hardware so
>> maybe there's confusion there? I've not selected RAID in BIOS but
>> possible it's trying to be too clever?
>>
>>   Let me know what other info might be needed. I have concerns about
>> this install and will likely blow it away today and do a new one but I
>> figured maybe there's an opportunity to learn here before I do that.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Mark
>> --
>> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
>> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
>> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
>>
>
--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-raid" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html