Promise ATA100 RAID boot disk?
Matt King
with a Promise ata100 RAID controller.
I downloaded the ft.o module from Promise, tried to insmod it (after
booting from an ata100 boot disk, which didn't recognize anything) but it
does not work. It comes up with Device Busy.
Tried several other versions of ft.o, including one that WORKED if I
forced it to load (was a pre-compiled file from Promise built with Redhat
6.2, kernel 2.2.16). But I'd rather have something that was built for my
kernel...
Which leads me to another question, is the ata100.i boot disk supposed to
recognize these controllers?
--
Matt King
Magnet Internet
http://www.magnetinternet.com
Jurgen Philippaerts
> Which leads me to another question, is the ata100.i boot disk supposed to
> recognize these controllers?
no idea, i don't have any ata100 hardware :)
grab the config from the kernels directory on your nearest slackware
mirror, then look what's in it.
if all else fails, you'll have to make a custom bootdisk. (which isn't
all that hard)
Jurgen.
Matt King
CDs for unsupported hardware...specifically for the promise raid...do you
still do that? I also tried compiling a kernel with promise fasttrak
support and the pdcxxx support in it, but when I cat bzImage >
/mnt/vmlinuz (floppy) and try to boot it, the boot disk works fine, but
the color.gz won't work (kernel panic, can't mount roof fs).
Jurgen Philippaerts
> I was looking on some earlier posts and you said you make slack bootable
> CDs for unsupported hardware...specifically for the promise raid...do you
> still do that? I also tried compiling a kernel with promise fasttrak
> support and the pdcxxx support in it, but when I cat bzImage >
> /mnt/vmlinuz (floppy) and try to boot it, the boot disk works fine, but
> the color.gz won't work (kernel panic, can't mount roof fs).
>>>Which leads me to another question, is the ata100.i boot disk supposed
> to> > recognize these controllers?
>
>>no idea, i don't have any ata100 hardware :)
>>
>>grab the config from the kernels directory on your nearest slackware
>>mirror, then look what's in it.
>>if all else fails, you'll have to make a custom bootdisk. (which isn't
>>all that hard)
the i once suggested to do that, but the poster never got back to me
with more details, so i never got round to make that.
if you can post a .config somewhere, or tell me what kernel options are
required for this type of controller, i can give it a shot. you'll have
to burn the cd yourself though :) and i can't promise that it'll work
for you the first time, since i can't test it myself.
also, i need to know what device your disks that connect to the
controller are recognized as (minor/major numbers) in case these are
weird, the slackware installer won'r recognize these :)
ps: try not to top-post.
Jurgen
--
Linux sparkie 2.4.17 #1 Tue Feb 19 22:30:57 CET 2002 sparc64 unknown
Matt King
> if you can post a .config somewhere, or tell me what kernel options are
> required for this type of controller, i can give it a shot. you'll have
> to burn the cd yourself though :) and i can't promise that it'll work
> for you the first time, since i can't test it myself.
Here's a quick .config file (named without a dot) that I did that has the
lines in there for the promise controller(s):
http://www.magnetinternet.com/config This is a config file from a 2.4.5
kernel... Even if I can get some help making the Slack boot disk with the
kernel that supports it...I would be SO happy...
> also, i need to know what device your disks that connect to the
> controller are recognized as (minor/major numbers) in case these are
> weird, the slackware installer won'r recognize these :)
I got it to work once, with /dev/sda being the drive that it saw. But
that was using the ft.o module... I would thing if it went IDE, since I
disables the onboard IDE on the motherboard, that it would see it as
/dev/hda??
> ps: try not to top-post.
hehe, I do that sometimes when I'm in a hurry. Sorry. ; )
Matt
Jurgen Philippaerts
> Here's a quick .config file (named without a dot) that I did that has the
> lines in there for the promise controller(s):
> http://www.magnetinternet.com/config This is a config file from a 2.4.5
> kernel... Even if I can get some help making the Slack boot disk with the
> kernel that supports it...I would be SO happy...
like i mailed you yesterday, the bootdisks are compressed minix
filesystems, you can uncompress them, mount loopback, and see for
yourself :)
the link i referred you to, but couldn't remember is the /kernels dir,
it contains some scripts to make bootdisks, if you want to. i never used
those though.
> I got it to work once, with /dev/sda being the drive that it saw. But
> that was using the ft.o module... I would thing if it went IDE, since I
> disables the onboard IDE on the motherboard, that it would see it as
> /dev/hda??
according to the documentation the device should be /dev/ataraid/c?d?
i made a new updated image, and put it online, more details available
at:
http://traumatized.org/slackware/minislack.html (you want the 20020220
image :)
i kind of modiefied your .config a little (removed scsi support and some
other things an install kernel doesn't really need. and it's a 2.4.17
kernel, since that's what i have on that machine :)
ps: tell me when it works, and when it doesn't work :)
good luck,
Jurgen.
--
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
feel free to send me copies/followups of usenet posts,
and i'll possibly feel free to ignore you.
Matt King
> ps: tell me when it works, and when it doesn't work :)
>
> good luck,
> Jurgen.
Jurgen,
You are my hero! It found the drives (well, one drive, I had to unplug
one to put a cd-rom on the system...it's a 1u rack w/out a cd-rom). I got
a power splitter so I can have both drives on to see if it detects the
array, because it just detected the drive at /dev/hde. But I'm hoping if
I have both drives on I'll be able to see the array at
/dev/ataraid/<whatever>. I'm going to try it tonight after work. If it
doesn't work at least I have a starting point with the CD you made me. As
for installation, after I do the install, and reboot, the new kernel will
not have support for the RAID controller correct? I have to boot from
your CD again, and put mount root=/dev/ataraid/<whatever> at the prompt to
boot with the kernel on the CD? Then compile a newer kernel with support?
THANK YOU!
Matt
Jurgen Philippaerts
> You are my hero! It found the drives (well, one drive, I had to unplug
> one to put a cd-rom on the system...it's a 1u rack w/out a cd-rom). I got
> a power splitter so I can have both drives on to see if it detects the
> array, because it just detected the drive at /dev/hde. But I'm hoping if
> I have both drives on I'll be able to see the array at
> /dev/ataraid/<whatever>. I'm going to try it tonight after work. If it
> doesn't work at least I have a starting point with the CD you made me. As
ouch.. no CD rom drive.
i'm not sure if a raid controller likes it when there's only one disk
connected to it.
guess mode on...
could it be that you have to go in your bios, or use some promise tool,
to setup your raid controller, in order to be used as a raid device,
instead of seeing the disks that are connected to it.
guess mode off...
try opening the case, and hooking up a cdrom temporary, just for the
installation, so you can have all the devices connected
> for installation, after I do the install, and reboot, the new kernel will
> not have support for the RAID controller correct? I have to boot from
> your CD again, and put mount root=/dev/ataraid/<whatever> at the prompt to
> boot with the kernel on the CD? Then compile a newer kernel with support?
right, almost forgot about that :)
basically, you can follow the pointers that i wrote for the compaq smart
array controller. but just don't pay attention to the compac specific
stuff :)
http://traumatized.org/slackware/minislack.cparray.html
what is important however, is the part after the *do not reboot yet*
that describes how you install the kernel from the CD, so you can boot
from your disk. in your case, it's the promise.i :)
> THANK YOU!
you're welcome.
Jurgen.
--
http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Linux sparkie 2.4.17 #1 Tue Feb 19 22:30:57 CET 2002 sparc64 unknown
9:40pm up 22:19, 7 users, load average: 0.15, 0.12, 0.23
Matt King
>
> what is important however, is the part after the *do not reboot yet*
> that describes how you install the kernel from the CD, so you can boot
> from your disk. in your case, it's the promise.i :)
>
Oh SO close...
I got it to boot and recognize the drives as an array...BUT, there are no
devices under /dev/ataraid. In fact there isn't a /dev/ataraid
directory...d'oh! Did I do something wrong?
I found the major for the device, it's 114, with minor I'm guessing
starting at 0. Here's a post that may help:
https://listman.redhat.com/pipermail/ataraid-list/2001-September/000119.html
Other than that...seemed to work okay. Found the drives at /dev/hde and
/dev/hdg also...
Matt
Jurgen Philippaerts
> > what is important however, is the part after the *do not reboot yet*
> > that describes how you install the kernel from the CD, so you can boot
> > from your disk. in your case, it's the promise.i :)
> Oh SO close...
> I got it to boot and recognize the drives as an array...BUT, there are no
> devices under /dev/ataraid. In fact there isn't a /dev/ataraid
> directory...d'oh! Did I do something wrong?
> I found the major for the device, it's 114, with minor I'm guessing
> starting at 0. Here's a post that may help:
>
> https://listman.redhat.com/pipermail/ataraid-list/2001-September/000119.html
>
> Other than that...seemed to work okay. Found the drives at /dev/hde and
> /dev/hdg also...
hmmm...
i can't find these devices on my box either. so slack's install doesn't
seem to create them. maybe i have to take a look at one of the ata
bootdisks :)
well, the post you referred to is all you need.
my best guess would be:
/dev/ataraid/d0 : block device with major 114, minor 16
/dev/ataraid/d0p0 : block device with major 114, minor 17
...
like i said, it's a GUESS :) experiment, i didn't find exact
information, but drivers/ide/ataraid.h seems to confirm this (if i
interpreted it correctly)
ps: did you setup your disks as a raid device ?
Matt King
On Thu, 21 Feb 2002 11:06:32 GMT, Jurgen Philippaerts proclaimed:
> hmmm...
> i can't find these devices on my box either. so slack's install doesn't
> seem to create them. maybe i have to take a look at one of the ata
> bootdisks :)
Maybe you have to create them by hand in the .iso image?
>
> well, the post you referred to is all you need.
> my best guess would be:
> /dev/ataraid/d0 : block device with major 114, minor 16
> /dev/ataraid/d0p0 : block device with major 114, minor 17
Tried it, didn't work.
> ...
>
> like i said, it's a GUESS :) experiment, i didn't find exact
> information, but drivers/ide/ataraid.h seems to confirm this (if i
> interpreted it correctly)
>
> ps: did you setup your disks as a raid device ?
Yep, it sees it as a functional mirror in dmesg. Then goes on with a
kinda cryptic line: ataraid/d0: ataraid/d0p1
Jurgen Philippaerts
> > i can't find these devices on my box either. so slack's install doesn't
> > seem to create them. maybe i have to take a look at one of the ata
> > bootdisks :)
> Maybe you have to create them by hand in the .iso image?
most likely. but before i start experimenting, i'd rather have you (or
anyone else) to get it working, and tell me what the exact devices are
:) instead of me guessing until i get it right.
> > well, the post you referred to is all you need.
> > my best guess would be:
> > /dev/ataraid/d0 : block device with major 114, minor 16
> > /dev/ataraid/d0p0 : block device with major 114, minor 17
> Tried it, didn't work.
ain't got the hardware, can't be of much more help here.
> Yep, it sees it as a functional mirror in dmesg. Then goes on with a
> kinda cryptic line: ataraid/d0: ataraid/d0p1
i'd love to see those lines :)
Matt King
> most likely. but before i start experimenting, i'd rather have you (or
> anyone else) to get it working, and tell me what the exact devices are
> :) instead of me guessing until i get it right.
> i'd love to see those lines :)
Jurgen,
I got a Redhat RPM for 7.2, it's called dev-3.2-5.i386.rpm (you can get it
at rpmfind.net). I did a rpm2tgz, then an explodepkg on it. It has the
whole ataraid directory in it. I suppose you could copy the contents into
your .iso? I also looked, d0 is major 114 minor 0, and d0p1 is major 114
minor 1. I will get the dmesg onto a disk and over to you later today. ; )
Thanks so much for your help, I hope this will help other Slackers with
this problem too!
Matt
Matt King
> most likely. but before i start experimenting, i'd rather have you (or
> anyone else) to get it working, and tell me what the exact devices are
> :) instead of me guessing until i get it right.
Alright, I added devices /dev/ataraid/d0, and d0p[1-8]. I got cfdisk to
recognize it and I wrote partitions to the devices. Now, when I go to
Slackware setup it says it can't find any Linux partitions. I poked
around and found the probe script. Lines for the promise card weren't in
it. I copied what you did for the compaq array card, modified it for the
promise, and I also added a line at the bottom along with all of the
others that checked what MAJOR number it was and ran the proper function
based on the number. Didn't work. I replaced the probe script with a few
lines that told it explicitly to just work for the promise:
$TMP=/var/log/setup/tmp
rm -f $TMP/<can't remember filename right now>
fdisk -l /dev/ataraid/d0p1 >> $TMP/<filename>
cat $TMP/<filename>
It worked, but then the Target selection was weird. Came up as 2 drives,
and the device names were wrong:
/dev/ataraid/d0p1p1
/dev/ataraid/d0p1p1
(Yes they were both the same). Even if I selected one and attempted the
install it would error out saying it can't write to the device (of course,
it doesn't exist).
So, I'm guessing also for the .iso file to update the /sbin/probe script
to accomodate the new ataraid devices would help. I would do it but I
can't seem to get it right.
Doug
Hello Gents,
I've been watching this thread for a while now, and I think I have some
info that might be helpful. I have a Promise TX2 raid which I am able to
use with Kernel 2.4.17 (I've seen some kernels have this broken).
I haven't tried to use it as a boot device though.
I found this script to create the devices when I was trying to enable it.
Downloaded it from somewhere?
#!/bin/sh
mkdir -p /dev/ataraid
cd /dev/ataraid
mknod d0 block 114 0
mknod d0p1 block 114 1
mknod d0p2 block 114 2
mknod d0p3 block 114 3
mknod d0p4 block 114 4
mknod d0p5 block 114 5
mknod d0p6 block 114 6
mknod d0p7 block 114 7
mknod d0p8 block 114 8
mknod d0p9 block 114 9
mknod d0p10 block 114 10
mknod d0p11 block 114 11
mknod d0p12 block 114 12
mknod d0p13 block 114 13
mknod d0p14 block 114 14
mknod d0p15 block 114 15
mknod d1 block 114 16
mknod d1p1 block 114 17
mknod d1p2 block 114 18
mknod d1p3 block 114 19
mknod d1p4 block 114 20
mknod d1p5 block 114 21
mknod d1p6 block 114 22
mknod d1p7 block 114 23
mknod d1p8 block 114 24
mknod d1p9 block 114 25
mknod d1p10 block 114 26
mknod d1p11 block 114 27
mknod d1p12 block 114 28
mknod d1p13 block 114 29
mknod d1p14 block 114 30
mknod d1p15 block 114 31
mknod d2 block 114 32
mknod d2p1 block 114 33
mknod d2p2 block 114 34
mknod d2p3 block 114 35
mknod d2p4 block 114 36
mknod d2p5 block 114 37
mknod d2p6 block 114 38
mknod d2p7 block 114 39
mknod d2p8 block 114 40
mknod d2p9 block 114 41
mknod d2p10 block 114 42
mknod d2p11 block 114 43
mknod d2p12 block 114 44
mknod d2p13 block 114 45
mknod d2p14 block 114 46
mknod d2p15 block 114 47
#end
As you can see the numbering is a little different than what you are
quessing.
Now here is my output of 'cat /proc/partitions'
major minor #blocks name
8 0 17921835 sda
8 1 4208998 sda1
8 2 1 sda2
8 5 13711446 sda5
114 0 40088097 ataraid/d0
114 1 3124611 ataraid/d0p1
114 2 1 ataraid/d0p2
114 3 1084387 ataraid/d0p3
114 5 15832026 ataraid/d0p5
114 16 78165297 ataraid/d1
114 17 4208998 ataraid/d1p1
114 18 1 ataraid/d1p2
114 21 4385713 ataraid/d1p5
114 22 10554673 ataraid/d1p6
114 23 14458468 ataraid/d1p7
114 24 44556246 ataraid/d1p8
34 0 39082680 hdg
33 0 39082680 hde
33 1 4208998 hde1
33 2 1 hde2
22 0 20044080 hdc
22 1 3124611 hdc1
22 2 1 hdc2
22 3 1084387 hdc3
22 5 15832026 hdc5
3 0 20010816 hda
3 1 2112516 hda1
3 2 1 hda2
3 5 3196903 hda5
3 6 2554303 hda6
3 7 3204936 hda7
3 8 8940141 hda8
3 64 20066251 hdb
3 65 4208998 hdb1
3 66 1 hdb2
3 69 15856123 hdb5
I used the output above to determine
which partitions they were, because
I know the sizes.
I have five partitions on this array...
1 primary = 4GB (d1p1)
1 extended, containing...
1 logical ~ 4GB (d1p5)
1 '' ~10GB (d1p6)
1 '' ~14GB (d1p7)
1 '' ~40GB (d1p8)
I simply mount them as /dev/ataraid/d1p5 ...
HTH,
Have fun,
Doug
Matt King
> HTH,
> Have fun,
> Doug
Ah, I got the dev numbering right. It's just a matter of getting the
Slackware install to recognize the devices as a valid install target.
This is one of the bad things of trying to use my ataraid as the boot
drive. ; )
Thanks for the input!!
Jurgen Philippaerts
> Hello Gents,
>
> I've been watching this thread for a while now, and I think I have some
> info that might be helpful. I have a Promise TX2 raid which I am able to
> use with Kernel 2.4.17 (I've seen some kernels have this broken).
> I haven't tried to use it as a boot device though.
> I found this script to create the devices when I was trying to enable it.
> Downloaded it from somewhere?
<snipped interresting stuff>
thanks Doug,
it looks like we've got something to work on now :) thanks for the
input. it's hard to just guess it right, if you don't have the hardware
to test it <g>
and if you're seeing posts from other people (not this group; referring
to google results) that give you wrong/misleading information.
Matt, i'll see what i can do to fix the probe script, and create the
devices on the boot media. if i get around to do this today that is. but
i'll probably find some time before the weekend is over.
Jurgen Philippaerts
> #!/bin/sh
> mkdir -p /dev/ataraid
> cd /dev/ataraid
> mknod d0 block 114 0
> mknod d0p1 block 114 1
<snip>
> mknod d2p14 block 114 46
> mknod d2p15 block 114 47
> #end
Doug,
you go from d0 to d2, does it mean, you can only have 3 raid devices ?
or was this just for your personal use? any idea how many there can be,
should i create more (can i?:)
Doug
> Doug wrote:
>
>> #!/bin/sh
>> mkdir -p /dev/ataraid
>> cd /dev/ataraid
>> mknod d0 block 114 0
>> mknod d0p1 block 114 1
> <snip>
>> mknod d2p14 block 114 46
>> mknod d2p15 block 114 47
>> #end
>
> Doug,
> you go from d0 to d2, does it mean, you can only have 3 raid devices ?
> or was this just for your personal use? any idea how many there can be,
> should i create more (can i?:)
>
>
> Jurgen.
Like I said, I got the script to make the devices from some
mailing list, and I cant find it now. Sorry.
But, you CAN have 4 disks (15 partitions max),
...So maybe number the remaining partitions as...
d3 = 48
d3p1-d3p15 = 49-63
Doug
Jurgen Philippaerts
> Matt, i'll see what i can do to fix the probe script, and create the
> devices on the boot media. if i get around to do this today that is. but
> i'll probably find some time before the weekend is over.
allright, with a bit delay :) but i put a new image up, i didn't quite
write any docs yet, but you know what to do.
i modified /sbin/probe to what i think will detect the devices.
also created /sbin/promise.sh to copy the ataraid devices.
http://traumatized.org/slackware/minislack.html
direct link: http://traumatized.org/slackware/test-20020225.iso
give it another try :)
Matt King
> give it another try :)
> Jurgen.
Alright...just one more roadblock and we might have it...it was SO close!
I followed the directions for the cparray and substituting refererences to
the cparray with promise stuff.
Anyway, I got the install done, and copied the devices over to
/mnt/dev/ataraid, modified lilo.conf to chang the boot parameter to
/dev/ataraid/d0, and also copied the promise kernel to /mnt/vmlinuz
Went to run lilo -r /mnt and got this error message:
Fatal: Sorry, don't know how to handle device 0x7201
So, if we can figure out this problem, I think it would boot and be good
to go. I did a google search, came across a few pages, but some were in
Estonian (I think), I couldn't find a translater for it. Another was
someone that had the same problem but didn't have an replies with an
answer.
Jurgen Philippaerts
> Went to run lilo -r /mnt and got this error message:
> Fatal: Sorry, don't know how to handle device 0x7201
>
> So, if we can figure out this problem, I think it would boot and be good
> to go. I did a google search, came across a few pages, but some were in
> Estonian (I think), I couldn't find a translater for it. Another was
> someone that had the same problem but didn't have an replies with an
> answer.
i'm not sure, but slackware 8 comes with LILO version 21.7-5.
and reading the Lilo changelog, i think these raid devices were added
afterwards.
before i build a new lilo package, see if you can get it booted up using
a bootdisk, then install the latest lilo on it, and see if that one
installs and works. (or if anyone may have any other suggestions...:)
Matt King
> i'm not sure, but slackware 8 comes with LILO version 21.7-5.
> and reading the Lilo changelog, i think these raid devices were added
> afterwards.
>
> before i build a new lilo package, see if you can get it booted up using
> a bootdisk, then install the latest lilo on it, and see if that one
> installs and works. (or if anyone may have any other suggestions...:)
>
>
> Jurgen.
Alright upgraded my system (Slack 8) to lilo 22.1 (from
linuxpackages.net). Copied the lilo binary to disk and tried to use it
instead of the lilo on your CD.
./lilo: /lib/libc.so.6: version 'GLIBC_2.1.3' not found (required by
./lilo)
Version of glibc on the CD is 2.1.1...so while you update lilo on your CD
you'll have to update that too : )
Matt
Jurgen Philippaerts
> Alright upgraded my system (Slack 8) to lilo 22.1 (from
> linuxpackages.net). Copied the lilo binary to disk and tried to use it
> instead of the lilo on your CD.
>
> ./lilo: /lib/libc.so.6: version 'GLIBC_2.1.3' not found (required by
> ./lilo)
>
> Version of glibc on the CD is 2.1.1...so while you update lilo on your CD
> you'll have to update that too : )
was this while booted into slack8, or booted from the CD ?
did lilo actually work while booted in slack8 ? since that one comes
with 2.2.3
i assume it would.
if so, it's can be fixed by not installing lilo, creating a bootdisk
during the installation, boot from that one in slack8, then get the
latest lilo, install it, and then you can throw away the bootdisk.