Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 11:05:12 -0500 (CDT) From: "Viren Patel" <virenp@mail.utexas.edu> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: multiple slices and invalid partition table problem Message-ID: <2457.146.6.135.25.1158077112.squirrel@mail.cm.utexas.edu>
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Hello. I am trying to install 6.1 on a Dell 2950 with a Dell PERC 5/i (LSI Logic) SAS RAID controller. The controller is supported by the mfi driver. The system has six 300GB drives configured in a RAID 5 array for a total of 1.5TB. I would like to setup jails on this system with each jail in its own partition. To maximize the number of jails I am trying to slice the RAID volume into 4 slices and 7 partitions per slice. This is when problems start cropping up. In the first instance I keep getting warning messages about CHS geometry being incorrect and sysinstall defaults to what it thinks are the correct values. Unfortunately Dell BIOS or the controller BIOS does not report any CHS values. Is there a way to get the correct values from the controller? But going with the sysinstall values, if I allocate the entire volume (1 slice) I can install the OS and it boots fine. If however I create two or more slices, the OS does install but upon reboot produces an "Invalid partition table" error. Here is an odd thing - I created two RAID volumes, one 300GB RAID 1 mirror and another 900GB RAID 5 array. When installing FreeBSD it sees the two volumes as mfid0 and mfid1, however it reports the 300GB size for both volumes. In this configuration the CHS errors are not reported for mfid0 but still come up for mfid1. Also any partitions I create in mfid0 are also shown for mfid1 and I still get the "Invalid partition table" error upon reboot. I have tried this on two identical systems with the same results. Any ideas? TIA for any assistance in resolving this puzzling issue. Viren Patel Chemistry & Biochemistry University of Texas at Austin
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