Date: Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:35:23 -0500 From: "Mike." <the.lists@mgm51.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: 9.1 won't install - GEOM/GRAID issues Message-ID: <201301081035230755.00879FD9@sentry.24cl.com> In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1301080745360.39477@wonkity.com> References: <201301012202040487.028FC6F3@sentry.24cl.com> <20130102143853.754647c0@fabiankeil.de> <201301021035130285.00194F38@sentry.24cl.com> <kc1m2a$gbh$1@ger.gmane.org> <50E46A27.9000202@a1poweruser.com> <201301080933240940.004EE13B@sentry.24cl.com> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1301080745360.39477@wonkity.com>
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On 1/8/2013 at 7:51 AM Warren Block wrote: |On Tue, 8 Jan 2013, Mike. wrote: | |> On 1/2/2013 at 12:11 PM Fbsd8 wrote: |> |> I tried to run the dd commands... |> |> Using the LiveFS disc for FreeBSD 9.1, I got some manner of permission |> error, indicating that something would not let the dd commands execute. |> Using the LiveFS disc for FreeBSD 8.3, the dd commands completely |> successfully. |> |> After zero-ing out the sectors, I tried to install FreeBSD 9.1, and I |> continued to get the RAID problems trying to mount root. |> |> So I punted that drive, and used another drive. FreeBSD 9.1 installed |> without an issue, and it is running fine as I type this. |> |> So there is something about that other disk drive (something that is |> not in the last two sectors or the first sector) that the 9.1 install |> has issues with. | |RAID metadata could be larger than the last two blocks. Even a leftover |GPT backup table is 34 blocks by default. If the drive is still |attached to the controller that put the metadata there, it may hide |those blocks from the user. The RAID BIOS menus or graid(8) may be |needed to clear the metadata in that case. Or move the drive to another |controller that will not recognize the old metadata. ============= I was also thinking that the RAID meta could be larger than the last two blocks, but I didn't want to start arbitrarily overwriting blocks with zeroes. With the goal of moving along with the install, I preferred to use a different drive. I do not think the drive was ever attached to a RAID controller as part of a RAID array. As I mentioned earlier, there is a Promise RAID controller in the box. That controller was not set up as a RAID controller, but as a vanilla SATA controller. And, after checking inside the box, the drive in question was not plugged into the RAID controller, but a vanilla SATA port on the motherboard. It may be possible that the RAID controller nonetheless did have the opportunity to put its "mark" on the drive at some point in the distant past. I cannot rule that out completely. It just would have been nice if the FreeBSD install offered a better way to recover from the problem. I plan to do a full wipe of the old drive using dd to completely clear it out.
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