[conspire] RAID array trouble

[Rick Moen]

----- Forwarded message from Goran Dimovksi <goran at eracks.com> -----

From: Goran Dimovksi <goran at eracks.com>
To: rick at linuxmafia.com
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 10:50:54 -0700
X-Mailer: Evolution 2.2.2 (2.2.2-5) 
Subject: Installation

Hi there,
 
I heed some help with installing  Debian on one of my servers.
The configuration is:
mobo-Tyan s2882 (Dual Opteron)
3Ware 4port SATA Raid controler 8506 s.
2 SATA HD.conected to the RAID controler card.
CPU is AMD Opteron 2.2Ghz 248
memory -1GB Ecc-Reg
Dual Intel network card 10/100

that is the configuration that i hava and i'm tying to install 
Debian amd64-testing, or any version of debian. 
It boots up i do the RAID ONE, then boot up from CD-ROM for installing,
and i do the automatic partitioning and when it starts to 'installing
the Base System' it Freezes on (Network Configuring...1%).
And i cant not continue from that point.

I did try to install Debian netinst -stable versin and testing or
Binary.
On thous OS shows error msg. 'no Paritioning'
but haw can i do the partitioning when i can not get to that pint of
installation in the firs place.

I'm trying desperatly to install Debian but there is something that i
don't know or not aware of.
I did install Fedora Core 4 with no problems what so ever.
So i was thinking i should be able to Install Debian too.
The 3ware does support Linux- Debian -Fedora.... no problem.

Can you please help me i realy do not know what to do with it
but i want to have Debian on it.

Thank you for your time. 
i do appreciate hour help .

Regards,
  G

----- End forwarded message -----
----- Forwarded message from Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com> -----

Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 15:07:29 -0700
From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
To: Goran Dimovksi <goran at eracks.com>
Subject: Re: Installation

Quoting Goran Dimovksi (goran at eracks.com):

> I heed some help with installing  Debian on one of my servers.
> The configuration is:
> mobo-Tyan s2882 (Dual Opteron)

Small world.  I used to work for a firm that manufactured Linux servers
using those.  Not a big problem, I would think.  

If memory serves, there are two Broadcom NICs and an Intel Ethernet
Express Pro/100 NIC built into that motherboard.

> 3Ware 4port SATA Raid controler 8506 s.
> 2 SATA HD.conected to the RAID controler card.

Excellent Linux support for 3ware controllers, as you perhaps know.  

> CPU is AMD Opteron 2.2Ghz 248
> memory -1GB Ecc-Reg
> Dual Intel network card 10/100

You need _additional_ ethernet ports?  Unless they've changed something
drastically, the Tyan S2882 provides three of them, unaided.  Warning:
The Broadcom ports are a little flaky -- because Broadcom is a little
flaky -- and may tend to suffer congestion under heavy computing load,
e.g., in computational clusters.  But they're more-or-less OK.

> that is the configuration that i hava and i'm tying to install 
> Debian amd64-testing, or any version of debian. 
> It boots up i do the RAID ONE....

Huh?  I have no real experience with 3Ware cards, but I do know that
they're genuine hardware RAID.  Therefore, you should do your RAID setup
(regardless of level) in the 3ware setup, not in your operating system.
Your operating system will see the entire array (in this case, your pair
of drives attached to the 8506) as a single block device, which you
would _then_ partition in your OS installer.

> and i do the automatic partitioning and when it starts to 'installing
> the Base System' it Freezes on (Network Configuring...1%).
> And i cant not continue from that point.

Just off the top of my head, what stands out is the fact that you were
trying to do RAID inside the OS installer, i.e., probably using Linux's 
"md" (multiple device) driver for software RAID.  Which, by itself,
should work, albeit failing to take advantage of the 3ware card's
strengths as a real hardware RAID card.  But I'm speculating that the
3ware array's hardware-level setup is somehow misconfigured, so in your
shoes I would revisit that matter first.

In any event, CABAL would be glad to assist you in figuring this out and
fixing it, at any of our twice-monthly gatherings.  The next such one
will be a week from this Saturday, October 22, at my wife's and my house
in West Menlo Park.

Our sister group SVLUG (http://www.svlug.org/) is scheduled to hold an
installfest sooner, in Mountain View, this Satuday, October 15.  Their
regular location for a while has been a Google building:  Unfortunately,
they're currently going through a last-minute scramble to find a
replacement for the Google employee who until just recently had been
"sponsoring" their presence.  If interested in entertaining, you should
probably double-check the main SVLUG mailing list,
http://lists.svlug.org/archives/svlug/ , to see if there's any news
about whether the event will happen or not.


----- End forwarded message -----