From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Thu Nov 17 21:14:50 2016 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 03A21C46247 for ; Thu, 17 Nov 2016 21:14:50 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from brandon.wandersee@gmail.com) Received: from mail-it0-f65.google.com (mail-it0-f65.google.com [209.85.214.65]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (Client CN "smtp.gmail.com", Issuer "Google Internet Authority G2" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id C2CB31AAC for ; Thu, 17 Nov 2016 21:14:49 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from brandon.wandersee@gmail.com) Received: by mail-it0-f65.google.com with SMTP id b123so17953739itb.2 for ; Thu, 17 Nov 2016 13:14:49 -0800 (PST) X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20130820; h=x-gm-message-state:references:user-agent:from:to:cc:subject :in-reply-to:date:message-id:mime-version; bh=F+LX+xfua7apoaeyuj3WLy8zGtHIIXN5fehJWmqtQiA=; b=Bhdh0pDLoSqUMNf+TOZe3XfajWzrskcJH0x+2ZP8ulv/DKilCacqWU0K14NRjJ4RZP QYWI/aVN/nqdQLhNwg2AQ3t62Drso10m77T0cAUeXo/fxnI5xNEuktLilvxcFyDC+56J F2gb4MxLwXDF9G5LvO5UXYaU/yJVXonmG99J0vHvlPKGJ7kkhAHuZGlOuFdaBdMlYjin 2oiV4axKo5LIMn6XQZAg/s3HIpXQu/pZKJUN2ReoBJwnXgRslWiHbLV8gM0AWmPMZ5Y/ p5lMfMJRdHGlxpE6sP5fPwZmeGEStov/Liq9cylkzK63obuMx+lFtHnUSIcyDQ8+4rqo 48fQ== X-Gm-Message-State: ABUngvetTP7padQ51IfNfLiBrQrgAJFA5neyNuAxHES+0r3I4Iow9vpRsj5/9T8ZAK7kgg== X-Received: by 10.36.192.84 with SMTP id u81mr5100542itf.51.1479416376878; Thu, 17 Nov 2016 12:59:36 -0800 (PST) Received: from WorkBox.homestead.org (174-30-201-142.mpls.qwest.net. [174.30.201.142]) by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id l3sm5740053iti.3.2016.11.17.12.59.35 (version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128); Thu, 17 Nov 2016 12:59:35 -0800 (PST) Received: from localhost (WorkBox.homestead.org [local]) by WorkBox.homestead.org (OpenSMTPD) with ESMTPA id ea0884f5; Thu, 17 Nov 2016 14:59:36 -0600 (CST) References: <07218d20-34a5-171b-f6a8-de3c271733cc@columbus.rr.com> <575baf45-b23d-163f-79b0-213a6ba51c91@columbus.rr.com> User-agent: mu4e 0.9.16; emacs 25.1.1 From: Brandon J. Wandersee To: Baho Utot Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Ok How do I boot this monster? In-reply-to: <575baf45-b23d-163f-79b0-213a6ba51c91@columbus.rr.com> Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 14:59:36 -0600 Message-ID: <86eg29x1on.fsf@WorkBox.homestead.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 21:14:50 -0000 Baho Utot writes: > On 11/17/16 14:19, Warren Block wrote: >> On Thu, 17 Nov 2016, Baho Utot wrote: >> >>> Can this also boot the raidz? >> >> No, boot0 is MBR-only. The easiest way I see to do this is to install >> gptzfsboot bootcode to the ZFS drives and choose one of them from the >> BIOS boot menu. Grub can multi-boot GPT also, although it needs a >> small partition of its own. > > I think the bsdinstall puts that code onto the zfs drives already or am > I miss informed? I believe it should in its unadulterated state. But then you hacked the installer, introducing a new variable. > Would creating the raidz on MBR partitions be an answer? It would be *an* answer, but I'm not sure I would consider it *the* answer. It would basically place an expiration date on your new install, since it would depend on older hardware to keep functioning. A more recent motherboard would not be able to read the drives without legacy BIOS support, so you might not be able to just transplant the disks into a new machine when the time came. I would recommend just using gpart(8) to install the correct bootcode (/boot/gptzfsboot) as Warren suggested. The trouble, though, is that---unless I'm mistaken---that bootcode requires a dedicated partition. Configuring the system to boot would require 128k partitions to be created at the start of each disk to hold the bootcode, and that would mean either manually partitioning the drives (which is the typical way of installing to a custom ZFS setup) or writing more code into your custom bsdinstall. -- :: Brandon J. Wandersee :: brandon.wandersee@gmail.com :: -------------------------------------------------- :: 'The best design is as little design as possible.' :: --- Dieter Rams ----------------------------------