Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 15:39:31 -0800 From: Mike Smith <msmith@freebsd.org> To: Peter Gradwell <peter@gradwell.com> Cc: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org, hirez@bratcave.org, cliff@onsea.com Subject: Re: Mylex DAC960 Driver "online/offline" Message-ID: <200012022339.eB2NdWF21371@mass.osd.bsdi.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 01 Dec 2000 21:32:54 GMT." <5.0.0.25.0.20001201212649.03798548@pop3.gradwell.net>
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>
> Hi,
>
> I have a Mylex acceleraid 250 card in a FreeBSD 4.1 machine and
> when it boots it tells me that:
>
> ======
> DAC960 BIOS Version 4.10-41 (Feb 02, 1999)
> Mylex Corporation
>
> DAC960PTL1 Firmware Version 4.07-0-29
> DAC960 PCI Address: F4102000 Bus=0 Dev/Slot=13 Function=1 IRQ=11
> DAC960 Memory = 8 MB (EDO/ECC)
> WARNING: 1 system drive offline
> WARNING: Dead SCSI device (Channel:Target) :
> 0:3
> Press <ALT-M> for BIOS options
> <DAC960 8 GB Disk BIOS is enabled>
> Press <ALT-R> for RAID Configuration options
> 2 system drives installed
> Press any key to continue
> ======
>
> - the off line disk is in a RAID 1 disk array is a RAID 1 disk array. The
> kernel then boots from this RAID 1 disk array.
If the system drive is offline, you shouldn't really actually be able to
boot from it at all. Of course, a single dead disk in a mirror shouldn't
cause it to be marked "offline", just "degraded". I think the Mylex
firmware is very confused here.
> However, when FSCKing the / partition, (/dev/mlxd0s1a) it fails,
> because it thinks that mlxd0 is off line. I then get a fairly continuous
> stream of messages to the console saying:
>
> ======
> mlxd0: drive online
> mlxd0: drive offline
> ======
>
> I have contacted Mylex Tech Support and they say that this is a message
> given out by the kernel, and more properly, the FreeBSD driver in the kernel.
That's correct. The controller is, however, I think to blame here; it
can't make up its mind whether the drive is offline or not, and it keeps
telling the driver conflicting things.
> Does anyone know why the kernel driver is reporting this. It doesn't seem
> sensible that the controller should be marking a drive off line and then online
> again, in a loop, ad infinitum. Mylex Tech Support agree.
>
> What does this message really mean?
It means that the controller is telling us that the drive is offline.
Then that it's online. Then that it's offline again.
You don't say what the time intervals between these messages are; you can
get the 'drive offline' message from either the status poll (once per
second) or if an I/O operation is sent to a drive that the controller
reports as offline. The 'drive online' message only comes from the
status poll though.
Can you describe your configuration? I can try to reproduce the
situation here and see if it's not possible that there's a bug in the
driver confusing the status between your two drives. I have to say,
though, that the fact that the controller thinks that one of your system
drives is offline when you claim it's a mirror is a bit troubling.
Regards,
Mike
--
... every activity meets with opposition, everyone who acts has his
rivals and unfortunately opponents also. But not because people want
to be opponents, rather because the tasks and relationships force
people to take different points of view. [Dr. Fritz Todt]
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