From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jan 13 15:36:31 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 35315106564A for ; Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:36:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jerrymc@gizmo.acns.msu.edu) Received: from gizmo.acns.msu.edu (gizmo.acns.msu.edu [35.8.1.43]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id CB5498FC18 for ; Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:36:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jerrymc@gizmo.acns.msu.edu) Received: from gizmo.acns.msu.edu (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by gizmo.acns.msu.edu (8.13.6/8.13.6) with ESMTP id n0DFa3LH023225; Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:36:03 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from jerrymc@gizmo.acns.msu.edu) Received: (from jerrymc@localhost) by gizmo.acns.msu.edu (8.13.6/8.13.6/Submit) id n0DFa3u5023224; Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:36:03 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from jerrymc) Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:36:03 -0500 From: Jerry McAllister To: Tim Judd Message-ID: <20090113153603.GA23181@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> References: <9F57CF00DDE541E69F500E26B652DDED@GRANTPC> <20090107205826.GA93439@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> <496C3032.9060003@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <496C3032.9060003@gmail.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.2i Cc: Jerry McAllister , Grant Peel , FreeBSD Questions List Subject: Re: Replace SCSI Drive X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:36:31 -0000 On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 11:09:54PM -0700, Tim Judd wrote: > > > Not to be presumptious, or rude, but I've read the first part of this > thread (a bit late, yes) and I'm just confused. > > If you're going to go so far as to prep the drive at home, before > driving to the NOC, with a unrunnable OS on a labeled disk, it seems silly. > > I propose: > Do a typical install of FreeBSD 6.4/7.1 on this disk. Let it be as > full as to boot an operating system (but maybe skip out on the > networking blah blah setups). > Bring this (verified) bootable disk to the NOC, install it as da0 > Move the old, 73GB failing disk to da1 > Boot the Dell, maybe running in single-user mode > You've got a pristine format (or pristine enough) to restore the > filesystems on top of it. > Rebooting with da0 again to see if your network settings, startup, > apps, etc etc etc all start as appropriate. > > Only if this method fails, do you use the Fixit CD and "fix it" This is good, especially if he wants to upgrade to the next version of FreeBSD at the same time. But IIRC the problem is not that the OS currently on the disk does not work, but that there are some problems with the disk itself - but that it is still readable. It is more about replacing the disk with another presumed more reliable than the current one. So, in that case, it is much easier to take the few minutes to build the disk slice & partitions and then just do the dump/restores than to build everything new and then hand pick the things he wants to save from the old disk. But, if an upgrade is done at the same time - probably a good idea actually - then that hand picking will be done anyway, so might as well do it as you say. I took it straight from his original question rather than from the notion of doing an upgrade along the way. ////jerry > Am I crazy to think this is the more logical, more straightforward way > to perform this migration? If Grant has already done the job, more > power to him, but I just found it a little confusing that one would > label a drive, format it, and possibly spend more time with the slower > CD-ROM based Fixit than running off a nice, new 10k/15k RPM drive to > drive everything. > > If my method above is failing a point, I'd be more than happy to hear > your statements and correct my procedures for it. My method above has > only one tricky part, is to restore the 'a' partition from olddrive to > newdrive. -- and that is probably a piece of cake. > > > Grant, good luck (if you haven't done it yet). > > --Tim