2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[Norbert Preining]

Hi!

I have the following problem:

kernel 2.4.12, md and raid1 compiled into the kernel.
/dev/hdb old linux installation
/dev/md0 -> /dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1 new installation

When I boot my old installation the md device is automatically configured
by the kernel and I can mount it (reiserfs) without any problems.

When I try to boot the new installation with the same kernel the md device
is initialized, but the kernel cannot mount the root device. I get msgs
about FAT problems and about mounting root as msdos.

Here some config files:
lilo.conf:
image = /boot/lx-2.4.12
	root = /dev/hdb1
	label = old
image = /boot/lx-2.4.12
	root = /dev/md0
	label = new
	optional

Thanks a lot for any information

Best wishes

Norbert

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Norbert Preining <preining@logic.at> 
University of Technology Vienna, Austria            gpg DSA: 0x09C5B094
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Re: 2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[Jeffrey W. Baker]

On Thu, 18 Oct 2001, Norbert Preining wrote:

> Hi!
>
> I have the following problem:
>
> kernel 2.4.12, md and raid1 compiled into the kernel.
> /dev/hdb old linux installation
> /dev/md0 -> /dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1 new installation
>
> When I boot my old installation the md device is automatically configured
> by the kernel and I can mount it (reiserfs) without any problems.
>
> When I try to boot the new installation with the same kernel the md device
> is initialized, but the kernel cannot mount the root device. I get msgs
> about FAT problems and about mounting root as msdos.
>
> Here some config files:
> lilo.conf:
> image = /boot/lx-2.4.12
> 	root = /dev/hdb1
> 	label = old
> image = /boot/lx-2.4.12
> 	root = /dev/md0
> 	label = new
> 	optional

To use a md as root, you need to add a kernel command line:

md0=1,/dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1

Put that in the append= line of lilo.conf or type it at the lilo command
prompt.

See also Documentation/md.txt in the Linux source tree.

-jwb

Re: 2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[Bill Davidsen]

"Jeffrey W. Baker" wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 18 Oct 2001, Norbert Preining wrote:
> 
> > Hi!
> >
> > I have the following problem:
> >
> > kernel 2.4.12, md and raid1 compiled into the kernel.
> > /dev/hdb old linux installation
> > /dev/md0 -> /dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1 new installation
> >
> > When I boot my old installation the md device is automatically configured
> > by the kernel and I can mount it (reiserfs) without any problems.
> >
> > When I try to boot the new installation with the same kernel the md device
> > is initialized, but the kernel cannot mount the root device. I get msgs
> > about FAT problems and about mounting root as msdos.
> >
> > Here some config files:
> > lilo.conf:
> > image = /boot/lx-2.4.12
> >       root = /dev/hdb1
> >       label = old
> > image = /boot/lx-2.4.12
> >       root = /dev/md0
> >       label = new
> >       optional
> 
> To use a md as root, you need to add a kernel command line:
> 
> md0=1,/dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1
> 
> Put that in the append= line of lilo.conf or type it at the lilo command
> prompt.
> 
> See also Documentation/md.txt in the Linux source tree.

The line you provide doesn't look anything like the two forms in the
md.txt you mention. Or rather it looks like a blending, but neither of
them is md0= in form. I have to look at the code to see which is
correct, possibly yours, since the 
  append = "md=0,/dev/sda1,/dev/sdb1"
line doesn't seem to work :-(

The md.txt says the persistent superblock form is:
  md=<md device no.>,dev0,dev1,...,devn
which doesn't seem to work for me.

-- 
bill davidsen (davidsen@prodigy.com)
  Prodigy Internet Server Group
  Project Leader, USENET news
  914-448-1241

Re: 2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[Neil Brown]

On Tuesday October 23, davidsen@prodigy.com wrote:
> 
> The line you provide doesn't look anything like the two forms in the
> md.txt you mention. Or rather it looks like a blending, but neither of
> them is md0= in form. I have to look at the code to see which is
> correct, possibly yours, since the 
>   append = "md=0,/dev/sda1,/dev/sdb1"
> line doesn't seem to work :-(

Odd ... I use lines just like that. e.g.:
   append="md=0,/dev/hda1,/dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1"

and it works just fine.  What do you get in the way of error messages?

NeilBrown

Re: 2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[bill davidsen]

In article <15319.38517.663820.504760@notabene.cse.unsw.edu.au>,
Neil Brown <neilb@cse.unsw.edu.au> wrote:
| On Tuesday October 23, davidsen@prodigy.com wrote:
| > 
| > The line you provide doesn't look anything like the two forms in the
| > md.txt you mention. Or rather it looks like a blending, but neither of
| > them is md0= in form. I have to look at the code to see which is
| > correct, possibly yours, since the 
| >   append = "md=0,/dev/sda1,/dev/sdb1"
| > line doesn't seem to work :-(
| 
| Odd ... I use lines just like that. e.g.:
|    append="md=0,/dev/hda1,/dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1"
| 
| and it works just fine.  What do you get in the way of error messages?

None - the system simply exits the BIOS, reads the first drive once and
cold boots. The drive is okay, I can read both copies of the mirror end
to end without error after booting from floppy. Lilo claims it writes to
the md0 device, but boot fails.

-- 
bill davidsen <davidsen@tmr.com>
  His first management concern is not solving the problem, but covering
his ass. If he lived in the middle ages he'd wear his codpiece backward.

Re: 2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[Ookhoi]

> In article <15319.38517.663820.504760@notabene.cse.unsw.edu.au>,
> Neil Brown <neilb@cse.unsw.edu.au> wrote:
> | On Tuesday October 23, davidsen@prodigy.com wrote:
> | > 
> | > The line you provide doesn't look anything like the two forms in the
> | > md.txt you mention. Or rather it looks like a blending, but neither of
> | > them is md0= in form. I have to look at the code to see which is
> | > correct, possibly yours, since the 
> | >   append = "md=0,/dev/sda1,/dev/sdb1"
> | > line doesn't seem to work :-(
> | 
> | Odd ... I use lines just like that. e.g.:
> |    append="md=0,/dev/hda1,/dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1"
> | 
> | and it works just fine.  What do you get in the way of error messages?
> 
> None - the system simply exits the BIOS, reads the first drive once and
> cold boots. The drive is okay, I can read both copies of the mirror end
> to end without error after booting from floppy. Lilo claims it writes to
> the md0 device, but boot fails.

I always let lilo write to the first and the second disk itself, and I
do not use any kernel parameters for sw raid. Is writing to the disks
instead of writing to /dev/md0 the wrong way? It works for me.

	Ookhoi

Re: 2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[Bill Davidsen]

On Thu, 25 Oct 2001, Ookhoi wrote:

> > In article <15319.38517.663820.504760@notabene.cse.unsw.edu.au>,
> > Neil Brown <neilb@cse.unsw.edu.au> wrote:
> > | On Tuesday October 23, davidsen@prodigy.com wrote:

> > | Odd ... I use lines just like that. e.g.:
> > |    append="md=0,/dev/hda1,/dev/hde1,/dev/hdg1"
> > | 
> > | and it works just fine.  What do you get in the way of error messages?
> > 
> > None - the system simply exits the BIOS, reads the first drive once and
> > cold boots. The drive is okay, I can read both copies of the mirror end
> > to end without error after booting from floppy. Lilo claims it writes to
> > the md0 device, but boot fails.
> 
> I always let lilo write to the first and the second disk itself, and I
> do not use any kernel parameters for sw raid. Is writing to the disks
> instead of writing to /dev/md0 the wrong way? It works for me.

Tried that as well, with -b, still doesn't like to boot. It may well be
the system, which is seriously strange in config. I have some other
systems I'd love to install RAID, but the Redhat (mandated by management)
install won't do RAID unless graphical install. Unless that's fixed/added
in 7.2 which I haven't tried. These systems don't do graphical...

-- 
bill davidsen <davidsen@tmr.com>
  CTO, TMR Associates, Inc
Doing interesting things with little computers since 1979.

Re: 2.4.12 cannot find root device on raid

[Francois Romieu]

Norbert Preining <preining@logic.at> :
[...]
> When I try to boot the new installation with the same kernel the md device
> is initialized, but the kernel cannot mount the root device. I get msgs
> about FAT problems and about mounting root as msdos.

$ less ChangeLog 
[pre1]
 - Al Viro: fix partition handling sanity check.

Can you reproduce it with >= 2.4.13-pre1 ?

We've got the same kind of lilo.conf (no md=... option) and it works
here for vanilla to 2.4.10 and -ac to 2.4.12-ac3 (no vanilla 2.4.12 tested
in a raid setup, surprise !). I would test 2.4.13-prex before modifying 
lilo.conf.

-- 
Ueimor