Problem with Serial ATA RAID (aka "fake RAID" or "BIOS RAID")
Hello list, I've tried a client standalone installation via a USB stick (created from the FAI ISO large image) using the "Simple" profile from the examples. During the installation some errors were reported (see files attached). The problem is the following: my system has 2 HDDs that I've put into a single RAID1 array (mirroring) prior to the installation using the capabilities provided by Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST), which is a sort of SATA/fake/BIOS RAID. After the installation, the system doesn't boot, i.e. GRUB is not executed. My feeling is that I have to modify my USB stick by (i) adding the mdadm package and (ii) updating the script that configures GRUB. Do you have any sort of experience with that kind of setup? In general, is it better to avoid Intel RST in place of a pure software RAID using mdadm? Thank you in advance for any suggestion and best regards, Giorgio B. fai.log Description: Binary data error.log Description: Binary data shell.log Description: Binary data
Re: Problem with Serial ATA RAID (aka "fake RAID" or "BIOS RAID")
I would try to avoid RST, and just use software raid. In your shell.log you have this line: ERROR: Found Software RAID, but the mdadm package was not installed You need the mdadm package installed, if you use software raid. Try again with the package mdadm added, but I guess the fake raid is the cause of your problem. -- regards Thomas
R: Problem with Serial ATA RAID (aka "fake RAID" or "BIOS RAID")
Hi Thomas, thank you for your reply! > I would try to avoid RST, and just use software raid. > In your shell.log you have this line: > > ERROR: Found Software RAID, but the mdadm package was not installed > > You need the mdadm package installed, if you use software raid. > > Try again with the package mdadm added, but I guess the fake raid is the cause > of your problem. I've tried with the package mdadm added. The error in log files disappeared, but the RAID1 array was damaged (it was marked as degraded, since the first disk was expelled from the array itself). So I've made another try (by re-installing from scratch without the mdadm package). After the installation, I've followed the procedure in [1] and it worked. It basically states to use debian-installer to boot a rescue system with "dmraid=true" kernel parameter (experimental! [2]), which is used to re-configure and re-install the GRUB bootloader on the fake RAID volume. Probably you're right to just use software RAID: it seems to be more flexible, easier to use and better supported. Kind regards, Giorgio B. [1] https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/SataRaid [2] https://www.debian.org/releases/jessie/amd64/ch05s03.html.en#installer-args
