[opensuse] openSUSE 11.1 - of grub,md/lvm root, and related headaches
I have had a system running fine since oss 10.1 (upgraded from there on to the current nightmare that is 11.1). Here is the system disk layout: Two 300 GB SATA hard drives - sda and sdba sda1 and sdb1 are 130 MG, them mirrored using md raid into /dev/md0. /dev/md0 has ext3 mounted as /boot. sda2 and sdb2 are 1 GB, then mirrored using md raid into /dev/md1. /dev/md1 is swap. sda3 and sdb3 are 274 GB, then mirrored using md raid into /dev/md2. /dev/md2 has lvm on it, with / being /dev/system/system. Grub installed in mbr of sda. This system has been running great. I upgraded in-place from 11.0 to 11.1, and everything was still fine. Then I built a custom kernel (as I have done with all other versions - the only thing I change is set the processor type). During the custom kernel install phase, make modules_install worked fine, but I noticed some weird device-mapper "no such file or device" error message during make install. I did not think much of it (probably a BIG mistake). Verified new vmlinuz and initrd were in place and /boot/grub/menu.lst looked kosher. Rebooted the system, and it went to pot. On reboot, the machine displays the word "GRUB" and just hangs there. Only thing I can do at that point is to reboot. Booted from 11.1 install disk, went into "repair installed system", no joy - this "repair installed system" did not see any md devices, nor any lvs. Booted from 11.1 install disk, went into rescue mode. I was able to mount all my partitions successfully, I was able to chroot to my original root, go into yast etc. I reinstalled grub to mbr of sda, no errors. I googled and found a fix for the device mapper errors during mkinitrd (it had to do with a bug in Tools.pm), re-made and installed the kernel etc. Rebooted the system, same behavior, it just hangs after printing GRUB. At this point, I have done about everything I can think of to revive it to no joy. Finally I made a grub boot CD, and have it use the kernel and initrd in place on the hard drives, and the system comes up fine. I am completely lost as to why grub will not boot from the HDD. I have tried reinstalled Grub to theMBR, as well as to the boot sector of the active parition (/dev/sda1) to no avail. During googling for solutions, I read bits and pieces about how oss 11.1 uses a different mechanism for mkinitrd, something about relying on device mapper etc. While I do not fully understand what the changes are, I hope someone on the list does and can readily see what could be ailing my system and suggest a way out. In the meantime, the system continues to run after booting from a CD. Thanks in advance for any help, -- --Moby They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Tuesday 2008 December 30 16:46:00 Moby wrote:
I have tried reinstalled Grub to theMBR,
For whatever brain-dead reason, grub might be trying to boot off of /dev/sdb; make sure grub is on the MBR of both disks that mirror /boot.
as well as to the boot sector of the active parition (/dev/sda1) to no avail.
That probably broke your mirror for when you can get past GRUB, good luck repairing that. -- Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. ,= ,-_-. =. bss@iguanasuicide.net ((_/)o o(\_)) ICQ: 514984 YM/AIM: DaTwinkDaddy `-'(. .)`-' http://iguanasuicide.net/ \_/
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
On Tuesday 2008 December 30 16:46:00 Moby wrote:
I have tried reinstalled Grub to theMBR,
For whatever brain-dead reason, grub might be trying to boot off of /dev/sdb; make sure grub is on the MBR of both disks that mirror /boot.
as well as to the boot sector of the active parition (/dev/sda1) to no avail.
That probably broke your mirror for when you can get past GRUB, good luck repairing that.
I did install Grub to MBR of both disks - no joy. Installing Grub to boot sector of /dev/sda1 and /dev/sdba did not break the mirror - the system is working fine, just that I have to boot off of a Grub boot CD instead of from the HDD. Thanks. -- --Moby They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. -- Pastor Martin Niemöller -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2008/12/31 12:39 (GMT-0600) Moby composed:
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
On Tuesday 2008 December 30 16:46:00 Moby wrote:
I have tried reinstalled Grub to theMBR,
For whatever brain-dead reason, grub might be trying to boot off of /dev/sdb; make sure grub is on the MBR of both disks that mirror /boot.
as well as to the boot sector of the active parition (/dev/sda1) to no avail.
That probably broke your mirror for when you can get past GRUB, good luck repairing that.
I did install Grub to MBR of both disks - no joy. Installing Grub to boot sector of /dev/sda1 and /dev/sdba did not break the mirror - the system is working fine, just that I have to boot off of a Grub boot CD instead of from the HDD.
Maybe there's just something wrong generally with Grub and RAID. I just filed a bug that only loosely resembles this thread: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=463033 Note I'm having success only using Grub pre-installed off sda1, and with standard MBR code. -- "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Felix Miata wrote:
On 2008/12/31 12:39 (GMT-0600) Moby composed:
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. wrote:
On Tuesday 2008 December 30 16:46:00 Moby wrote:
I have tried reinstalled Grub to theMBR,
For whatever brain-dead reason, grub might be trying to boot off of /dev/sdb; make sure grub is on the MBR of both disks that mirror /boot.
as well as to the boot sector of the active parition (/dev/sda1) to no avail.
That probably broke your mirror for when you can get past GRUB, good luck repairing that.
I did install Grub to MBR of both disks - no joy. Installing Grub to boot sector of /dev/sda1 and /dev/sdba did not break the mirror - the system is working fine, just that I have to boot off of a Grub boot CD instead of from the HDD.
Maybe there's just something wrong generally with Grub and RAID. I just filed a bug that only loosely resembles this thread: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=463033
Note I'm having success only using Grub pre-installed off sda1, and with standard MBR code.
Many thanks Felix. I shall look at the bug report. It does match my scenario in the sense that everything was working with "pre-installed Grub" (installed by some old ancient installation oss) in the MBR. Another observation is that in my case, if I manually go into Grub and execute commands to set the root, kernel, and initrd, everything works till I specify initrd - at which point Grub complains about "Inconsistent file system" and spews error 16. However, fsck shows everything clean and the machine boots fine using the same initrd when I use the bootable grub CD! -- --Moby They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. -- Pastor Martin Niemöller -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
hi, "zipping by" ... i caught 'grub', 'boot', 'raid' & OS11.1 . you might find a patch (here -> https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=461673) to "setup-md.conf" of use. note that although I'd filed it as a xen-related bug, the novell-folks point out that the problem is NOT jusst xen-specific ... hth. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
PGNet wrote:
hi,
"zipping by" ... i caught 'grub', 'boot', 'raid' & OS11.1 .
you might find a patch (here -> https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=461673) to "setup-md.conf" of use. note that although I'd filed it as a xen-related bug, the novell-folks point out that the problem is NOT jusst xen-specific ...
hth.
Many thanks PGNet, I shall definitely take a look at it. -- --Moby They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2008/12/31 15:55 (GMT-0600) Moby composed:
Another observation is that in my case, if I manually go into Grub and execute commands to set the root, kernel, and initrd, everything works till I specify initrd - at which point Grub complains about "Inconsistent file system" and spews error 16. However, fsck shows everything clean and the machine boots fine using the same initrd when I use the bootable grub CD!
You should look up the meaning of error 16. I think that's the one that issues when the ext2 or ext3 filesystem Grub is looking to for a kernel/initrd is one it doesn't understand. Recently (for 11.1) the default inode-size for mkfs.ext3 was changed from 128 to 256. Older Grubs don't understand anything but 128, while your 11.1 / is probably using 256. -- "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Felix Miata wrote:
On 2008/12/31 15:55 (GMT-0600) Moby composed:
Another observation is that in my case, if I manually go into Grub and execute commands to set the root, kernel, and initrd, everything works till I specify initrd - at which point Grub complains about "Inconsistent file system" and spews error 16. However, fsck shows everything clean and the machine boots fine using the same initrd when I use the bootable grub CD!
You should look up the meaning of error 16. I think that's the one that issues when the ext2 or ext3 filesystem Grub is looking to for a kernel/initrd is one it doesn't understand. Recently (for 11.1) the default inode-size for mkfs.ext3 was changed from 128 to 256. Older Grubs don't understand anything but 128, while your 11.1 / is probably using 256.
I saw some items about the inode-size different - but I ruled it out due to the following reasons: 1) The file system was created and existing prior to upgrading to 11.1 - I am not sure, but would think, that would leave the inode-size as is. 2) I re-installed Grub from the RPMs that come with 11.1, so in case the inode sizes were somehow increased as part of the upgrade, the newer grub would see it. Also, I looked at bug https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=461673 - that does not seem to be the issue in my case. Looking inside initrd, I have the one (just for the md that comprises the root) correct entry for md2. I applied the patch mentioned in the bug, and that made no difference in the initrd in my case. I do believe the error 16 on initrd in grub has a lot to do with this problem, I am just not sure which direction to proceed in. I am baffled that while grub executed on the running machine complains about the initrd, grub from the bootable CD works just fine using the very same initrd. Regards, -- --Moby They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On 2008/12/31 18:31 (GMT-0600) Moby composed:
1) The file system was created and existing prior to upgrading to 11.1 - I am not sure, but would think, that would leave the inode-size as is.
It would leave it in an upgrade install, but not with a fresh install with reformat.
2) I re-installed Grub from the RPMs that come with 11.1, so in case the inode sizes were somehow increased as part of the upgrade, the newer grub would see it.
I thought that you wrote earlier that your original Grub was having a problem with 11.1. -- "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Felix Miata wrote:
On 2008/12/31 18:31 (GMT-0600) Moby composed:
1) The file system was created and existing prior to upgrading to 11.1 - I am not sure, but would think, that would leave the inode-size as is.
It would leave it in an upgrade install, but not with a fresh install with reformat.
2) I re-installed Grub from the RPMs that come with 11.1, so in case the inode sizes were somehow increased as part of the upgrade, the newer grub would see it.
I thought that you wrote earlier that your original Grub was having a problem with 11.1.
Thanks for the reply Felix, the system was oss 11.0 with grub on it and working fine. It was upgraded to oss 11.1, and still worked fine. Then I made a custom kernel, installed it (done this many times with many different versions of oss), and on a reboot the problem surfaced. Regards, -- --Moby They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Moby wrote:
I have had a system running fine since oss 10.1 (upgraded from there on to the current nightmare that is 11.1).
Here is the system disk layout:
Two 300 GB SATA hard drives - sda and sdba sda1 and sdb1 are 130 MG, them mirrored using md raid into /dev/md0. /dev/md0 has ext3 mounted as /boot. sda2 and sdb2 are 1 GB, then mirrored using md raid into /dev/md1. /dev/md1 is swap. sda3 and sdb3 are 274 GB, then mirrored using md raid into /dev/md2. /dev/md2 has lvm on it, with / being /dev/system/system. Grub installed in mbr of sda.
This system has been running great. I upgraded in-place from 11.0 to 11.1, and everything was still fine. Then I built a custom kernel (as I have done with all other versions - the only thing I change is set the processor type). During the custom kernel install phase, make modules_install worked fine, but I noticed some weird device-mapper "no such file or device" error message during make install. I did not think much of it (probably a BIG mistake). Verified new vmlinuz and initrd were in place and /boot/grub/menu.lst looked kosher. Rebooted the system, and it went to pot.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=463451 JR -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Josef Reidinger wrote:
Moby wrote:
I have had a system running fine since oss 10.1 (upgraded from there on to the current nightmare that is 11.1).
Here is the system disk layout:
Two 300 GB SATA hard drives - sda and sdba sda1 and sdb1 are 130 MG, them mirrored using md raid into /dev/md0. /dev/md0 has ext3 mounted as /boot. sda2 and sdb2 are 1 GB, then mirrored using md raid into /dev/md1. /dev/md1 is swap. sda3 and sdb3 are 274 GB, then mirrored using md raid into /dev/md2. /dev/md2 has lvm on it, with / being /dev/system/system. Grub installed in mbr of sda.
This system has been running great. I upgraded in-place from 11.0 to 11.1, and everything was still fine. Then I built a custom kernel (as I have done with all other versions - the only thing I change is set the processor type). During the custom kernel install phase, make modules_install worked fine, but I noticed some weird device-mapper "no such file or device" error message during make install. I did not think much of it (probably a BIG mistake). Verified new vmlinuz and initrd were in place and /boot/grub/menu.lst looked kosher. Rebooted the system, and it went to pot.
https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=463451
JR
Thanks Josef, I had seen the issue mentioned in that bug and worked around it (there was a patch for Tools.pm in bootloader mentioned somewhere). However, having put a work around in place for this bug still does not do anything to help with the Grub issue. -- --Moby They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Benjamin Franklin -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (5)
-
Boyd Stephen Smith Jr. -
Felix Miata -
Josef Reidinger -
Moby -
PGNet