# Installing Gentoo on PROMISE FastTrak built-in RAID

## Helena

This guide is experimental - use at your own risk

Version 0.2, date: 2004-03-13

A lot of computers have a motherboard with an inexpensive built-in RAID controller from PROMISE Technology. Although performance seems to be better with dedicated PCI-card controllers, they are still useful. For example many ASUS motherboards use these controllers. As they do work under Windows, because the MoBo supplier includes a driver, many people (like me) also want to implement Gentoo Linux on these systems. However, this is not self-explanatory.

This mini-guide is not meant to be a theoretical contribution to Linux and RAID, but just a simple guide to at least get it working.

Assumptions

a) You are prepared to install Gentoo Linux with a 2.4 series kernel (unfortunately this guide does not apply to 2.6 kernels)

b) You have a 2004.0 LiveCD

c) You have attached one or more hard disks to the motherboard's built-in PROMISE controller (PDC202{68|69|70|71|75|76|77}), which has been enabled and the array has been initialized from the controller's BIOS.

d) You know how to install Gentoo Linux or you have access to the latest installation documentation (I'll be referring to the latter)

Installation now consists of the following steps:

1. Prepare a GRUB boot disk

2. Install Gentoo, by booting from the Gentoo 2004.0 LiveCD

3. Modify all references to hard disks to accommodate a special naming scheme

4. Reboot, and use the GRUB floppy to boot the system

5. Install GRUB to the Gentoo installation

6. Reboot without the GRUB boot floppy, and boot into your new installation

Each of these steps will be detailed next.

1. Prepare a GRUB boot disk

There are several ways to do this. You need this disk at the end of the installation, because it's the only way to install GRUB. I used the following procedure. From another Gentoo installation with GRUB prepare an empty floppy disk and type 

```
mke2fs /dev/fd0

mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy

mkdir /mnt/floppy/boot

mkdir /mnt/floppy/boot/grub

cp /boot/grub/stage1 /mnt/floppy/boot/grub

cp /boot/grub/stage2 /mnt/floppy/boot/grub

umount /mnt/floppy

grub

> root (fd0)

> setup (fd0)

> quit

```

Again, you can also do this at the end of the installation itself, but the file locations for the GRUB stage files will have to be modified accordingly

2. Install Gentoo, by booting from the Gentoo 2004.0 LiveCD

First you have to instruct the LiveCD to load the relevant kernel modules. At the first prompt, type

```
gentoo doataraid
```

(you may add other options as necessary). Note that your RAID setup will be addressed as:

```
/dev/ataraid/disc0
```

If you want to create, delete or modify partitions, add "/disc" to address the whole disk:

```
cfdisk /dev/ataraid/disc0/disc
```

When addressing a specific partition, you must instead add "/partx". For example, if your / partition is on partition #9, mount it now with

```
mount /dev/ataraid/disc0/part9 /mnt/gentoo
```

The same applies of course to the swap and /boot-partition. When you have mounted and initialized all necessary partitons you can of course now use the standard /mnt/gentoo/xxx naming scheme.

Now proceed through the installation.When it comes to configuring the kernel, you have to choose a 2.4-based kernel, e.g. gentoo-sources. Select the Promise FastTrak options in make menuconfig, and compile the kernel. Do not use genkernel for an automatic compilation!

3. Modify all references to hard disks to accommodate a special naming scheme

Whenever the manual mentions the hard disk in the format /dev/hdx you now have to replace that reference with the abovementioned /dev/ataraid/disc0/partx scheme. Most importantly, this applies to /etc/fstab of course. An example:

```
/dev/ataraid/disc0/part7   /boot      ext3      noatime      1 2
```

Furthermore, you already have to prepare the /boot-partition with the necessary GRUB configuration files. Again, an example, with boot on partition #8 and root on #9:

```
title=Gentoo latest compile (2.4 kernel)

root (hd0,7)

kernel /bzImage root=/dev/ataraid/disc0/part9 vga=0x31A
```

4. Reboot, and use the GRUB floppy to boot the system

Insert the floppy disk and type

```
reboot
```

(refer to installation guide ch. 11 for details). After rebooting, make sure that your BIOS accepts booting from a floppy!

5. Install GRUB to the Gentoo installation

From the GRUB prompt, type

```
> root (hd0,x)

> setup (hd0,y)

> quit
```

where x and y depend on the installation setup you've chosen. Remember that the GRUB numbering is differnet from the standard, so choose carefully!

6. Reboot without the GRUB boot floppy, and boot into your new installation

Voila! The system should now be operational.

Notes:

1. This guide has only been tested with a RAID-0 (striping array). Other posts suggest that a RAID-1 (mirroring array) will not work. I haven't tried it though

2. Suggestions, comments and errors in the guide are welcomeLast edited by Helena on Fri May 28, 2004 8:06 pm; edited 3 times in total

----------

## bruor

this guide is great but when i tell grub that root is the partition which is root  i.e. 

/dev/ataraid/disc0/part1

or (hd1,0)

cause there is a disk on the standard ide controller 

it detects teh right fs type,    but  when i say 

setup (hd1)   cause i want grub to start off the raid array,   it cant fine the files,  

i have also tried installing grub to (hd1,6)  which is where / is   but it still says it cant find the grub.conf  or any of the other files... 

if you have a fix for this please post it ,   i really dont want to goto lilo

does it make a difference if i am presently booted off of that drive on the standard ide channel instead of a grub floppy

----------

## cyrillic

 *bruor wrote:*   

> does it make a difference if i am presently booted off of that drive on the standard ide channel instead of a grub floppy

 

Yes it makes a difference.

Set your BIOS so RAID is ahead of IDE0 in the boot order, then boot from a GRUB floppy.  This will allow GRUB to see the array as (hd0), and you will be able to install the bootloader correctly.

----------

## pjp

Moved from Installing Gentoo.

----------

## cosmic665

I'm currently having problems with my Promise PDC20262 chipset.   I can't seem to get any gentoo install CD to see the raid1/fasttrack66 setup.   I even tried formatting and installing gentoo on a single HD then duplicating it with the fasttrack software and that didn't work!  So my question is how do I get raid 1 working with software raid (/dev/md or evms)?  Humm....  I've tried a lotta different permutations over the weekend and it seemed that every thing would get hosed the minute I rebooted the machine.  This really SUCKS!   FreeBSD saw the raid array under the /dev/ar device...   Now I kinda wish I never ditched my FreeBSD setup!  oh well, gentoo is better (sorta)  :Razz: 

-Cosmic-665

----------

## thj

I've followed your guide, but when I'm booting, im getting this error:

md: Autodetecting RAID arrays

md: autorun ...

md: ... autorun DONE.

VFS: Cannot open root device "ataraid/disc0/part5" or unknown-block(0,0)

Please append a correct "root=" boot option

Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)

The root= path is correct.

----------

## ph317

Yeah the notbeing able to mount root part hit me a long time ago too, which is where my experiences diverge from the guide above.  In my case, using "root=/dev/ataraid/disc0/part1" on the kernel commandline in grub.conf never worked, because apparently the kernel doesn't know that naming convention.  The universal workaround for such problems is that the kernel always understands straight up major and minor numbers.  So whatever your root device is, check the major/minor, encode them in hex as a pair of 8-bit numbers, and concat them into the root= line.  Here's an example:

<find root partition>

[root@somehost]# grep -w / /etc/fstab

/dev/ataraid/disc0/part1  /  ext3  noatime  0 0

<look up major/minor of that partition>

[root@somehost]# ls -lL /dev/ataraid/disc0/part1

brw-------    1 root     root  114,  1 Dec 31  1969 /dev/ataraid/disc0/part1

<the major is 114, the minor is 1, in the output above.... Use "bc" to convert to hex if you can't do it in your head>

[root@somehost]# bc

obase=16

114

72

1

1

<So 114,1 in decimal becomes 72,1 in hex>

Now convert that to the format that root= expects, which is "root=MMmm" where MM is a two-digit hex number for the major, and mm is a two-digit hex number for the minor.  Therefore, in our case above, the correct root= entry in grub.conf is "root=7201"

----------

## Passe-Poil

Does this work with kernel 2.6 ?? All my attempts with it failed with my PDC20276 onboard controller.

----------

## ph317

Another tip that might be useful here where lots of new ataraid gentoo users might be looking:  If you're using ataraid, you can forget about trying out kernel 2.6 for the foreseeable future.  The various ataraid drivers were dropped from the kernel in 2.6.x in favor of a more elegant and universal userspace-based approach that uses the kernel device-mapper, which nobody ever bothered to implement.  Until someone does, ataraid = no 2.6 for you.

There's already a kernel bug filed for it (it's been open for over a year now.... since back in 2.5.x when it was noticed that ataraid was ganked), and there's been some traffic on the linux-raid mailing lists where some people are obviously working towards an elegant solution with udev/sysfs and userspace tools - but it just isn't there yet.

----------

## Helena

 *ph317 wrote:*   

> Another tip that might be useful here where lots of new ataraid gentoo users might be looking:  If you're using ataraid, you can forget about trying out kernel 2.6 for the foreseeable future.  The various ataraid drivers were dropped from the kernel in 2.6.x in favor of a more elegant and universal userspace-based approach that uses the kernel device-mapper, which nobody ever bothered to implement.  Until someone does, ataraid = no 2.6 for you.
> 
> There's already a kernel bug filed for it (it's been open for over a year now.... since back in 2.5.x when it was noticed that ataraid was ganked), and there's been some traffic on the linux-raid mailing lists where some people are obviously working towards an elegant solution with udev/sysfs and userspace tools - but it just isn't there yet.

 True, that's why I said it doesn't apply to 2.6 kernels. Didn't want to repeat all the backgound info...

----------

## Helena

 *Passe-Poil wrote:*   

> Does this work with kernel 2.6 ?? All my attempts with it failed with my PDC20276 onboard controller.

 No it doesn't. See above.

----------

## Helena

 *ph317 wrote:*   

> Yeah the notbeing able to mount root part hit me a long time ago too, which is where my experiences diverge from the guide above.  In my case, using "root=/dev/ataraid/disc0/part1" on the kernel commandline in grub.conf never worked, because apparently the kernel doesn't know that naming convention.  

 Why doesn't it work? If you have compiled in the Promise drivers it should. What does for example

```
ls -l /dev/a*
```

say ?

----------

## Helena

 *cosmic665 wrote:*   

> I'm currently having problems with my Promise PDC20262 chipset.   I can't seem to get any gentoo install CD to see the raid1/fasttrack66 setup.   I even tried formatting and installing gentoo on a single HD then duplicating it with the fasttrack software and that didn't work!  So my question is how do I get raid 1 working with software raid (/dev/md or evms)?  Humm....  I've tried a lotta different permutations over the weekend and it seemed that every thing would get hosed the minute I rebooted the machine.  This really SUCKS!   FreeBSD saw the raid array under the /dev/ar device...   Now I kinda wish I never ditched my FreeBSD setup!  oh well, gentoo is better (sorta) 
> 
> -Cosmic-665

 Too bad it doesn't work for you. I think the chipset should work, beacuse it's listed in the kernel options. Could you specify exactly which of the relevant options you've selected in the kernel? If necessary, paste (part of) /usr/src/linux/.config...

----------

## thj

So, if I've understanded this correctly, I can't use 2.6.x with my promise controller..?

----------

## Helena

 *ether wrote:*   

> So, if I've understanded this correctly, I can't use 2.6.x with my promise controller..?

 Well it depends. It may very well be possible to create a RAID array on your system, but NOT via the PROMISE controller. If Gentoo is the only O/S on your system this would not be a problem, maybe performance wouldn't even be impacted. You would then have to disable the PROMISE controller, which of course means you might lose all data on both HD's!

In that case let Linux create a new RAID array on the 2 HD's that will have been recognized as 2 separate IDE HD's. How to exactly do that is another story. This may also be the only possibility to create a RAID array with 2 S-ATA disks.

However if you want to dual-boot with Windows this is not possible.

----------

## thj

I need to dualboot.. damn :)

----------

## Vyeperman

Ok for some reason when I boot off the 2004.0 LiveCD (Pentium4 if that makes a difference)

For some reason it doesn't even detect any of my hd's I have the mirror array set up bios. There both 125 gig hd's and this has worked on redhat and FreeBSD. I loaded knoppix and it detected my hd's. I did do gentoo doataraid like the tutorial said to. Help would be appreciated.

I have a Promise* Technology PDC20267 ATA/100 IDE RAID controller

----------

## Helena

 *Vyeperman wrote:*   

> Ok for some reason when I boot off the 2004.0 LiveCD (Pentium4 if that makes a difference)
> 
> For some reason it doesn't even detect any of my hd's I have the mirror array set up bios. There both 125 gig hd's and this has worked on redhat and FreeBSD. I loaded knoppix and it detected my hd's. I did do gentoo doataraid like the tutorial said to. Help would be appreciated.
> 
> I have a Promise* Technology PDC20267 ATA/100 IDE RAID controller

 If you have a mirrored setup that would mean a RAID-1 array, right? I dont understand why, but as I said it seems not to work (I haven't tested it myself).

----------

## klausjulius

hi together,

I would like to follow this guide but

when i'm booting with Live CD 2004 Pentium 4 i get the message

Please append a correct "root=" boot option

Kernel panic: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown block(8,2)

when i'm booting with Live CD 2004 universal i can not see any 

/dev/ataraid directory

I have an Asus P4C800-E Deluxe Board with 2 SATA Maxtor Harddisks

on Raid0 on Promise Controller and currently Windows XP installed on it.

Do I have the wrong Live CD? Or what can I Do

Thanks for help

Klaus

----------

## carlivar

Why even use the Promise RAID controller?  Just use the md RAID built-in to the kernel.

I did some research on this, and there's no benefit to using proprietary IDE RAID.  There is NO performance benefit because it's still just software RAID, just with a proprietary interface.  So actually it's worse -- same performance but proprietary and more difficult to get working.

Carl

----------

## Helena

 *carlivar wrote:*   

> Why even use the Promise RAID controller?  Just use the md RAID built-in to the kernel.
> 
> I did some research on this, and there's no benefit to using proprietary IDE RAID.  There is NO performance benefit because it's still just software RAID, just with a proprietary interface.  So actually it's worse -- same performance but proprietary and more difficult to get working.
> 
> Carl

 Well I can agree with that, if Linux is the only O/S on that particular system. However, many people want to dual-boot with Windows. While both Windows and Linux offer built-in RAID they are of course incompatible. So using a driver is the only method AFAIK to get dual-booting on such as system.

----------

## Helena

 *klausjulius wrote:*   

> hi together,
> 
> I would like to follow this guide but
> 
> when i'm booting with Live CD 2004 Pentium 4 i get the message
> ...

 I'm sorry but the guide assumes you're using IDE/ATAPI disks; serial-ATA RAID unfortunately is not possible under Linux yet AFAIK. Of course it can be done if you remove Windows from your system but then using quite a different scheme...

----------

## Vyeperman

 *carlivar wrote:*   

> Why even use the Promise RAID controller?  Just use the md RAID built-in to the kernel.
> 
> I did some research on this, and there's no benefit to using proprietary IDE RAID.  There is NO performance benefit because it's still just software RAID, just with a proprietary interface.  So actually it's worse -- same performance but proprietary and more difficult to get working.
> 
> Carl

 

Really?!?

How would I go about doing this??!.. I thought there was no hope... /me excited.

----------

## cyrillic

This thread is a nice guide for setting things up.

Software RAID 0 HOW-TO

----------

## Vyeperman

umm I want raid1 like stated above  :Wink: 

Can raid1 be done with the kernel?

----------

## cyrillic

OK, try this one :

How to do a gentoo install on a software RAID

----------

## Vyeperman

...been there tried that.... No good. No one knows about it either so it's a pain getting any support like in #gentoo no one knows anything about raid so I have no help! Why does it gotta be so hard?!? FreeBSD was easy.... infact it auto detected it and everything!... LiveCD doesn't even detect my hard drives I haft to use knoppix. This is really frustrating I wish someone could help me! I would hate going back to freebsd but if I can't get working I might haft to :-/

----------

## bruor

i figured that anyone in  this thread might be interested in this little tidbit of info....   from a previous post of mine 

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> i have noticed when recently fighting wiht an asus a7v333 MB that trying to install gentoo on this board when using raid0 is a pain.
> 
> i tried every gentoo cd i could get my hands on, i even tried a knoppix disc to try to see if i could pick the drivers up, but everytime i booted up the machine it would detect the controller, but detect it as disabled in the bios and then it would proceed to not show any hard drives to the system,
> ...

 

----------

## Helena

 *bruor wrote:*   

> i figured that anyone in  this thread might be interested in this little tidbit of info....   from a previous post of mine 
> 
>  *Quote:*   
> 
> i have noticed when recently fighting wiht an asus a7v333 MB that trying to install gentoo on this board when using raid0 is a pain.
> ...

 not sure what you mean exactly... I have installed all of this on an ASUS A7V333 with RAID0!

----------

## bruor

as did i but with some effort, 

in the gentoo sources kernel 2.4.22  and   2.6.3-gentoo-r1 

once the kernel driver is enabled for the pdc 20276 family  another option becomes available,   in the 2.4.22 kernel it is called  

Special FastTrak Feature (NEW)    

in the 2.6 series kernel it is called 

Enable controller even if disabled by BIOS (NEW) 

it was this feature being enabled that solved my problem.   just figured i would post in this thread in case anyone else has problems locating their /dev/ataraid devices and also maybe get errors like  device does not exist etc...   

as this was a major pain to work around,  not knowing the problem i am hoping that there is a way to get it included in the kernel used on the livecd for future gentoo editions. 

just as a side note,  the controller worked fine with windows,  and for redhat 7.3 the company actually made a driver that also worked,  but since redhat < gentoo for a poweruser   we needed something better.   after installing linux  with the modified kernel,  windows still works like a charm,   im thinking it could be a different revision board or perhaps a different bios version or some other specific hardware causes teh stock linux driver to detect the controller disabled by the bios even though there is no such option.

----------

## tntgentoo

I have a Seagate SATA drive attached to a Promise SATA RAID on my MSI Kt4 Ultra MB.  The drive is not using RAID - it's just a single drive.

The partition is NTFS - I just want mount the drive under Gentoo so that I can play my MP3 files from the drive while in Gentoo.

BTW, I dual boot with a Trios device, so I do have Windows XP and Gentoo in the same system (sort of).

Thanks!

----------

## cyrillic

 *tntgentoo wrote:*   

> I just want mount the drive under Gentoo so that I can play my MP3 files from the drive while in Gentoo. 

 

As long as you include support for the controller and the filesystem in your kernel, you should be all set.

```
Device Drivers  --->

   SCSI device support  --->

      <*>   SCSI disk support

      SCSI low-level drivers  --->

         [*] Serial ATA (SATA) support

         <*>   Promise SATA support

File systems  --->

   DOS/FAT/NT Filesystems  --->

      <*> NTFS file system support 
```

----------

## tntgentoo

Thanks alot - this did work fine - so I am able to mount mt NTFS partition on my SATA drive...

----------

## Matrix7

For those who have experienced problems with large discs (>137Gb) on Promise controllers, this, from 

http://www.promise.com/support/download/download2_eng.asp?productId=15&category=bios&os=0

might be of interest:

 *Quote:*   

> Supports 48-bit LBA for drives larger than 137 GB. Must also use Windows driver version 2.00.0.25 (or above) or Linux driver v1.2.0.14 (or above).
> 
> NOTE: This BIOS will not work with an existing operating system (OS) installation. If you are going to upgrade your FastTrak100 BIOS to version 2.00.24, you must also do a new reinstall of the OS. We are currently investigating this issue.

 

Since I'm only running Gentoo on my box, I'm binning the Promise ATARAID driver approach and switching to Linux software RAID.

Pain, no?

----------

## lunarg

I followed the guide. GRUB installed correctly, but I get this error upon booting:

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> VFS: Cannot open root device "7206" or 72:06
> 
> Please append a correct "root=" boot option
> ...

 

With the 2004.0 livecd, I've no problems mounting /dev/ataraid/disc0/part6 (which is my root).

I'm using gentoo-sources-2.4.25-r2 and have the Promise ATARAID support enabled, and compiled in the kernel.

My grub.conf reads:

```

default 0

timeout 30

splashimage=(hd0,2)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

title=Gentoo Linux 2004.0

root (hd0,2)

kernel /vmlinuz-2.4.25-r2 root=7206 video=vesafb:ywrap,mtrr vga=791

initrd /initrd-1024x768

title=Windows XP

rootnoverify (hd0,0)

chainloader +1

```

EDIT: I have a 2 80GB HDs on a on-board Promise Fasttrak133 controller. Windows boots fine.

----------

## cyrillic

 *lunarg wrote:*   

> I'm using gentoo-sources-2.4.25-r2 and have the Promise ATARAID support enabled, and compiled in the kernel. 

 

Make sure you have all 3 of these compiled-in :

Your root filesystem

Promise chipset support

Promise RAID support

If any of these are missing, then you will get that kernel panic.

----------

## lunarg

Solved it.

Reconfigured my kernel from scratch, and dropped the root= parameter in grub.conf did the trick.

EDIT: probably indeed something missing. It works now, thanks.

----------

## Helena

 *lunarg wrote:*   

>  dropped the root= parameter in grub.conf did the trick.
> 
> 

 Out of curiosity: what do you mean by that? Please explain...

----------

## sr71pav

I think there's a numbering error with your guide, but maybe I'm wrong.

You initially set root as:

 *Quote:*   

> When addressing a specific partition, you must instead add "/partx". For example, if your / partition is on partition #9, mount it now with
> 
> Code:
> 
> mount /dev/ataraid/disc0/part9 /mnt/gentoo
> ...

 

But then in the grub setup you have:

 *Quote:*   

> kernel /bzImage root=/dev/ataraid/disc0/part8 vga=0x31A

 

Shouldn't that be part9 in grub.conf?  I have no experience with RAID, so I'm guessing a bit.  I am planning on doing a RAID setup in the next week (just waiting to get the controller) so I just wanted to make sure I was understanding correctly.

----------

## Helena

 *sr71pav wrote:*   

> I think there's a numbering error with your guide, but maybe I'm wrong.
> 
> You initially set root as:
> 
>  *Quote:*   When addressing a specific partition, you must instead add "/partx". For example, if your / partition is on partition #9, mount it now with
> ...

 It's not exactly an error, both are just examples... Maybe I should have used the same partition # in the example, I have changed it now.

----------

## rockthesmurf

I have been struggling a lot with the above board, I have asked various times in the #gentoo channel, plus read through the various raid linux documents and even emailed Asus directly (manufacturer of the motherboard).

I have noticed a few people on this thread have mentioned they have got this motherboards raid controller working sucessfullly in gentoo. Currently, I have 2x80gig harddrives in a raid0 array on this raid controller, this makes a 160gb array, which I have then split into 3 paritions and is used to store a windows installation and various data files. What I want to be able to do, is mount these paritions in linux and access the data stored on them. I have tried just about everything I can think of, but so far I have been unsucessful.

I am running a 2.6 kernel, could anyone confirm whether or not what I want to do is even possible, and if it is possible, I would extremely grateful if they could let me know how.

I thank you very much for your time and help in this matter,

Steven Craft

----------

## sr71pav

I just wanted to make sure I was missing something fundamental.  I look forward to trying this out next week.

----------

## Helena

 *rockthesmurf wrote:*   

> I have been struggling a lot with the above board, I have asked various times in the #gentoo channel, plus read through the various raid linux documents and even emailed Asus directly (manufacturer of the motherboard).
> 
> I have noticed a few people on this thread have mentioned they have got this motherboards raid controller working sucessfullly in gentoo. Currently, I have 2x80gig harddrives in a raid0 array on this raid controller, this makes a 160gb array, which I have then split into 3 paritions and is used to store a windows installation and various data files. What I want to be able to do, is mount these paritions in linux and access the data stored on them. I have tried just about everything I can think of, but so far I have been unsucessful.
> 
> I am running a 2.6 kernel, could anyone confirm whether or not what I want to do is even possible, and if it is possible, I would extremely grateful if they could let me know how.
> ...

 Well as you can see in this thread and others it is perfectly possible with a 2.4 kernel and AFAIK impossible with a 2.6 kernel, at this moment. It may change in the future, but I have no idea when and how.

----------

## rockthesmurf

Oh, the impression I got from Bruor's post was that with the 2.6 kernel it is possible if you enable the:

Enable controller even if disabled by BIOS (NEW) 

Option in the kernel, (which I have done). But it doesn't work for me, so it looks like you are right.

Thank you anyway,

Steven Craft

----------

## Dalcius

I have been using 2.6 (mm-sources) with a Promise RAID controller (FastTrak100 TX2) and have some example .config files and other info if someone would like some help.

I, however, have recently installed two 200GB drives as a 400GB RAID 0 array (  :Twisted Evil:  ) but am having problems booting a new kernel (fresh install).  Using my old 2.6 kernel .config when building the new install, 2.6.7 (or thereabouts) from mm-sources didn't work right: the PDC driver wouldn't detect the disk (but would print its $.02 at bootup).  After building 2.6.7-r4 (mm-sources) it's detecting my drives now, but the kernel doesn't want to mount my root partition.

If anyone has had experience with a recent 2.6.x kernel and RAID (speficially promise raid) please give me a buzz.  If anyone thinks I could help with their problem, let me know as well.

Cheers

----------

## cspos

 *Helena wrote:*   

> When it comes to configuring the kernel, you have to choose a 2.4-based kernel, e.g. gentoo-sources. Select the Promise FastTrak options in make menuconfig, and compile the kernel.

 

What and where, exactly, are these options? There a quite a few, including a section (that I can't recall the name of off hand) that has to do with enabling RAID types. The large nuber of options threw me off, and I get a kernel panic at boot.

----------

## Helena

 *cspos wrote:*   

>  *Helena wrote:*   When it comes to configuring the kernel, you have to choose a 2.4-based kernel, e.g. gentoo-sources. Select the Promise FastTrak options in make menuconfig, and compile the kernel. 
> 
> What and where, exactly, are these options? There a quite a few, including a section (that I can't recall the name of off hand) that has to do with enabling RAID types. The large nuber of options threw me off, and I get a kernel panic at boot.

 OK when specifying kernel parameters with

```
make menuconfig
```

first enter the submenu called

```
Multi-device support (RAID and LVM)  --->
```

Here you'll find 

```
[*] Multiple devices driver support (RAID and LVM)

<*>  RAID support

< >   Linear (append) mode

<*>  RAID-0 (striping) mode

<*>  RAID-1 (mirroring) mode

< >   RAID-4/RAID-5 mode

< >   Multipath I/O support

< >   Logical volume manager (LVM) support                                                

< >   Device-mapper support

```

but only after enabling the first option! You may select only 1 of the RAID-0 and RAID-1 options but selecting both doesn't hurt. Then return to the main menu and select

```
ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL support  --->                                                          
```

In this submenu select the PROMISE options. After enabling the first option you'll see

```
<*> ATA/IDE/MFM/RLL support                                                  

IDE, ATA and ATAPI Block devices  --->                                           
```

Enter the submenu. Toward the end, you'll find

```
< >     PROMISE PDC202{46|62|65|67} support                                                   

<*>     PROMISE PDC202{68|69|70|71|75|76|77} support

[*]     Special FastTrak Feature
```

as well as, a little further down

```
<*> Support for IDE Raid controllers (EXPERIMENTAL)                                              

<*>    Support Promise software RAID (Fasttrak(tm)) (EXPERIMENTAL)
```

This is my configuration (PDC20276 chipset); if you have a different chipset, you may have to modify it slightly.

----------

## epicentre

i am installing gentoo for the first time with a promise 20276 raid daul booting with winxp. i have followed the gentoo install handbook and the steps for the raid in this thread with no problems until i reach the GRUB config. the problem is that GRUB is not recognising any of the filesystems. 

```

grub> root (hd0,

  Possible partitions are: 

    Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7

    Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83

    Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x82

    Partition num: 4, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7

    ...

    Partition num: 9, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x7

```

i have created a GRUB boot disk and I am trying to install GRUB from there. 

i have a  few NTFS partitions already as winxp was installed first.  

"Partition num: 1" or /dev/ataraid/disc0/part2 is formated as ext3. could that be a problem? should have i formatted with ext2?

Did i miss a step somewhere?  i think i might have forgotten to "prepare the /boot-partition with the necessary GRUB configuration files"

I have played around with RH for a few months and I am at ease with the *nix environment but please explain as simply as possible. i did a search of the gentoo forums(which are great) for help but couldn't find an exact solution... sorry if it was there and i just didn't see it.  

i did a stage3 install and compiled the kernel just as Helena wrote in the previous post.

thanks for your time and help.

----------

## Helena

 *epicentre wrote:*   

> the problem is that GRUB is not recognising any of the filesystems. 
> 
> ```
> 
> grub> root (hd0,
> ...

 Well since the partition type are listed correctly (0x7 = NTFS, 0x83=ext3, etc.) I suspect that something went wrong with creating the GRUB boot disk. I cannot tell what caused this; which GRUB version do you have? 0.93? Normally it should recognize the filesystem, but you may want to try if all else fails just to continue from here and enter

```
setup (hd0,
```

using the partition you want.

It should have nothing to do with ext2 or ext3, basically they are the same AFAIK. Nor should the GRUB configuration files be a problem, you can add them later.

----------

## h0mer`-

does the command "doataraid" still work in the current 2004.2 release?

cause when i boot this release and type this command i get an error message.

----------

## Helena

 *h0mer`- wrote:*   

> does the command "doataraid" still work in the current 2004.2 release?
> 
> cause when i boot this release and type this command i get an error message.

 Yes, the kernel option "doataraid" still is available. I did a quick check using the 2004.2 x86 Universal Install LiveCD, entering

```
gentoo acpi=on doataraid
```

at the boot prompt and it worked as it should. What error message are you referring to?

----------

