fake raid doesn't boot on its own, grub??

santana · 06-24-2009, 02:27 PM

Hi,
setting up my fake raid and installing ubuntu, on an intel mobo that has "matrix raid" support.

Issue, I get a bios error that "no bootable devices were found". I do have the raid selected in the bios, and before I did this XP was installed and running on the raid.

After the error, I went to boot from the ubuntu CD, and the option "boot from fist hard disk" actually works, grub loads and then ubuntu as normal, off from the raid.

Hopefully, you can help me figure out how to fixup so that the bios finds grub without the live cd?

Here is more info:

Code:

burlen@lian:~$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/mapper/isw_bhahffdbbc_raid

Disk /dev/mapper/isw_bhahffdbbc_raid: 1500.3 GB, 1500315648000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 182402 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x1f111f10

                          Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/mapper/isw_bhahffdbbc_raid1   *           1       31871   256003776    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/mapper/isw_bhahffdbbc_raid2           31872       35761    31246425   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/mapper/isw_bhahffdbbc_raid3   *       35762      182402  1177893832+  83  Linux

and

Code:

title           Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
root            (hd0,2)
kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=/dev/mapper/isw_bhahffdbbc_raid3 ro quiet splash
initrd          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title           Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
root            (hd0,2)
kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-11-generic root=/dev/mapper/isw_bhahffdbbc_raid3 ro  single
initrd          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-11-generic

title           Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
root            (hd0,2)
kernel          /boot/memtest86+.bin

title           Windows-XP-Pro
rootnoverify    (hd0,2)
makeactive
chainloader + 1

mostlyharmless · 06-24-2009, 02:36 PM

You need to make sure that "dmraid" is run in your initrd. I don't think that the generic initrd.img includes that, necessarily. Make sure you follow the directions here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FakeRaidHowto
See in particular item 10.

santana · 06-24-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostlyharmless

You need to make sure that "dmraid" is run in your initrd.

My only question in regard to your solution is why is the grub menu not coming up? If as you say I botched step 10 (entirely possible BTW) why am I getting a bios error not a grub or kernel error?

If the problem was as you say wouldn't I at least get a grub prompt? I should be able to boot XP?

Thanks, for helping me understand! I'll redo step 10, and see if that doesn't fix.

Quakeboy02 · 06-24-2009, 04:08 PM

Have you tried, in the RAID BIOS, making only the Linux partition bootable? You also need to set the PC BIOS to actually boot from the array.

santana · 06-24-2009, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quakeboy02

Have you tried, in the RAID BIOS, making only the Linux partition bootable? You also need to set the PC BIOS to actually boot from the array.

Thanks man, before I did the ubuntu install I was booting XP on the raid, and have the bios configured as per intel docs. I am confident on that end.

I'm pretty much convinced it's an issue with how I installed grub, which I did by the howto link above.

I rarely have had to deal with grub, and never on a fake raid. Just worried that I will hose things beyond repair, the last thing I want to do is waste time installing XP again!

mostlyharmless · 06-24-2009, 06:32 PM

I was looking over your information again. I guess I missed that it was specifically a *bios* error message, so you are right, grub must not be configured right.

I'm a little unclear about what level raid you've implemented and how many disks you have. That might be relevent.

You could try booting the CD again, boot into the live system and reinstall grub using the directions starting at (l.) Don't copy grub back on again, just use the grub on the CD to install onto the raid array using the files it finds on the raid array. Don't upgrade-grub or remake menu.lst. Sometimes the drive mapping isn't right when you're running grub from the installed system.