RAID array not detected - new HP ML150G6 Server

exactiv · 07-10-2009, 06:15 AM

THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN SOLVED

Hi there,

First off, here's the setup:

HP ML150 G6 Server
2x 250Gb SATA Drives in RAID 1+0
HP Smart Array B110i
CentOS 5.3

Problem: CentOS installer doesn't detect the SATA RAID array.

Description:
When I boot using the CentOS 5.3 CD it detects two drives, rather than the RAID array. According to the HP website the ML150-G6 is compatible with RHEL 5 (upon which CentOS is based).

I'm pretty new to Linux. In the past, when installing Windows based operating systems, you are presented with an option to use an additional storage driver.

My question: is it possible to use an additional storage driver when installing CentOS 5.3? and... if so, how?

Any help appreciated.

-ex

business_kid · 07-12-2009, 03:08 PM

Nobody seems to be saying much so I will have a go.

I presume you have root. Try this command
dmesg |less

and you can see what happened this boot. The general place for logs is
/var/log/messages and you can read that with less or suchlike. Also try

lspci -v |less

and post the bit about the raid controller. Try typing
'hp raid b110i' into google, and look at what comes up. On the first page is driver source code and a HP pdf about the thing. You really don't need to ask us

When something is not recognized, it's usually wrong/no driver or kernel module

aquarius2002 · 07-12-2009, 10:05 PM

Hello everybody.
The recently set up this same server and was faced with the same problem. Solved it this way:
In order to install correctly initialize an array you need to download from HP website "Driver diskette for HP Smart Array B110i SATA RAID Controller (AMD64/EM64T) for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (AMD64/EM64T)", if it is not done, the Installer sees 4 disks instead of two RAID1.

Next you need write the image to a USB flash disk:

dd if=hpahcisr-1.2.1-3.rhel5.x86_64.dd.gz of=/dev/sdb (change to your device)

Booting from the installation DVD or USB flash (on my server there was no DVD-ROM), run the installer with the parameter
boot: linux dd

After loading the kernel the installer will ask whether you have driverdisk and asked to indicate which drive. After the final boot the installation she began to see my RAID1 partitions:

Vendor: HP Model: LOGICAL VOLUME Rev: 0.00

Then install the system.

Read hpahcisr-1.2.1-3.rhel5.x86_64.dd.gz.txt and do what they recommend:

Once the OS is installed but before clicking the reboot button do the following.
Failure to do so will cause the system to panic and not boot.
1. press CTRL+ALT+F2
2. cp -a /tmp/ramfs/DD-0 /mnt/sysimage/tmp
3. chroot /mnt/sysimage
4. cd /tmp/DD-0
5. sh ./fix_driver_order
6. cd /
7. press CTRL+ALT+F6 and click reboot

This is a working system in dmesg:

hpahcisr0: Waiting for Init to complete....
scsi0 : hpahcisr
hpahcisr0: Controller found[type=12]
hpahcisr0: Disk found[type=0]
hpahcisr0: Disk found[type=0]
hpahcisr0: Device changes detected.
Vendor: HP Model: B110i Rev: 1.15
Type: RAID ANSI SCSI revision: 00
Vendor: HP Model: LOGICAL VOLUME Rev: 0.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
SCSI device sda: 488327805 512-byte hdwr sectors (250024 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 6b 00 00 08
SCSI device sda: drive cache: none
SCSI device sda: 488327805 512-byte hdwr sectors (250024 MB)
sda: Write Protect is off
sda: Mode Sense: 6b 00 00 08
SCSI device sda: drive cache: none
sda: sda1 sda2 sda3 sda4
sd 0:0:1:0: Attached scsi disk sda
Vendor: HP Model: LOGICAL VOLUME Rev: 0.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
SCSI device sdb: 1465083632 512-byte hdwr sectors (750123 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 6b 00 00 08
SCSI device sdb: drive cache: none
SCSI device sdb: 1465083632 512-byte hdwr sectors (750123 MB)
sdb: Write Protect is off
sdb: Mode Sense: 6b 00 00 08
SCSI device sdb: drive cache: none
sdb: sdb1 sdb2 sdb3
sd 0:0:2:0: Attached scsi disk sdb
hpahcisr0: init completed.

Good luck

exactiv · 07-13-2009, 04:30 AM

Thanks business kid, but my problem is as described by aquarius2002. I can't get it to work for a fresh install.

@ aquarius2002 - thanks for that. I'll try that and let you know how I get on :-)

exactiv · 07-13-2009, 11:08 AM

@aquarius2002

I've followed your instructions, but I'm running into trouble when I select the flash-drive with the drivers. It gives me a list of files, but selecting any of them tells me: Failed to load driver disk from file

I've attached the selection screen as an image.

Any ideas?

aquarius2002 · 07-13-2009, 09:43 PM

You write image to device
dd if=hpahcisr-1.2.1-3.rhel5.x86_64.dd.gz of=/dev/sdb
or on partition
dd if=hpahcisr-1.2.1-3.rhel5.x86_64.dd.gz of=/dev/sdb1?

You need to write to the device and not on the partition.

exactiv · 07-14-2009, 04:24 AM

Thanks. I was writing to the partition. Changed it to /dev/sdb and it worked perfectly.

exactiv · 07-14-2009, 05:46 AM

Ok, the system installed perfectly. I followed your instructions before I hit reboot. However, once I remove the flash drive from the USB port, GRUB just hangs, and the system doesn't boot.

I presume there is a path to the driver that needs to be modified, but I have no idea where to look.

Any ideas?

exactiv · 07-14-2009, 06:48 AM

Ok, got it sorted. I needed to edit a two files in the /boot/grub directory

device.map & grub.conf

device.map was as follows:

Code:

# this device map was generated by anaconda
(hd1)   /dev/sda
(hd0)   /dev/sdb

I changed it to:

Code:

# this device map was generated by anaconda
(hd0)   /dev/sda
(hd1)   /dev/sdb

I then made two modifications to grub.conf
Old:

Code:

splashimage=(hd1,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
            
            root (hd1,0)

New:

Code:

splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
            
            root (hd0,0)

Thanks for your help. Really appreciate it.

aquarius2002 · 07-14-2009, 10:09 PM

Now you can download the HP System Management Homepage (hpsmh-3.0.1-73.x86_64.rpm) and HP Array Configuration Utility (ACU) (cpqacuxe-8.28-13.0.noarch.rpm) monitor and manage an array of remotely

ge2000 · 08-22-2009, 05:24 AM

As a newbie I followed the above procedure with great success on a ML330 with B110i and CentOS.

Everything worked fine until I did a yum update of the system. After the updat the system sees only the individual devices and the logical volumes are lost again.

Does anyone has an idea how to overcome this problem?

Thanks,
Ge

AeKhuban · 08-26-2009, 02:09 AM

HP Smart Array P410 controller w/ 256mb cache RAID Controller
(RAID 0/1/1+0/5/5+0)
According to program maker, Devian do not support G6 built in RAID

Is that procedure can be apply on a Devian OS using the server stated above? Thanks

TB0ne · 08-27-2009, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AeKhuban

HP Smart Array P410 controller w/ 256mb cache RAID Controller
(RAID 0/1/1+0/5/5+0)
According to program maker, Devian do not support G6 built in RAID

Is that procedure can be apply on a Devian OS using the server stated above? Thanks

It's DEBIAN, not Devian....and chances are, it will. Try it.

Also, please don't post the same question twice, in different forums, and especially don't hijack someone elses thread.

AeKhuban · 08-28-2009, 02:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TB0ne

It's DEBIAN, not Devian....and chances are, it will. Try it.

Also, please don't post the same question twice, in different forums, and especially don't hijack someone elses thread.

Thanks for your reply. It helps a lot

snike555 · 11-13-2009, 10:22 AM

Hi,
I have DL160 G6 with HP Smart Array B110i
i create RAID 1+0 (4x160 Gb SATA HDD) through raid controller utility

when installation must began to see my RAID1+0 partition?

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquarius2002

After loading the kernel the installer will ask whether you have driverdisk and asked to indicate which drive.

Ok, i insert floppy, choose sda (USB FDD), then she said that no device found and show me 3 buttons:
"Choose manualy", "Continue", "Choose another driverdisk"

If i select driver manualy "Update HP ...Raid... (hpahcisr)"
and back to installation, to step when i must select device to install OS, there is no device found

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquarius2002

Then install the system.

where?

Please, help