Hello,

I am running Novell Suse Linux 10.2 as a server. Had to replace motherboard. Still able to use all existing components... ie, cpu, ram etc.

If it helps:
Old Motherboard: http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/122-M2-NF59.pdf
New Motherboard: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=A770DE%2b

Now when server boots, I get past the initial boot menu and as info is scrolling by on screen, it hangs on "waiting for device /dev/evms/lvm2/system/sys_linux to appear....." then fails out to bash.

In Rescue Mode, I run lvscan and all items show up. No errors or anything. I don't appear to have lost any data. It just won't mount.

My fear is that there are some hardware changes between the old and new motherboard. But I kind of expected Linux to figure that out and still work.

So, it looks like my /boot partition is working. It's just not finding the LVM partitions.

How Do I Fix This??? Please note that I am somewhat familiar with Linux but by no means an expert.

Thank you..

(Note: I apologize if this is posted in the wrong place. If there is a better forum, please move it there or let me know where to post. Thank you)

FineArt

In Rescue Mode, I can run pvs, vgchange -ay (and they activate), lvdisplay and I can mount the lvm volumes manually and access them. All my data appears to be there without errors.

I have tried mounting them in Rescue Mode and doing the mkinitrd -f evms and all. Those commands work without error. But once I reboot, I'm back to the same ole problem again.

Any ideas???

Thank you so much!

FineArt

evms ??? ugh - I thought that had shrivelled up and died.
Looks like that's your problem - evms needs to activate the volumes prior to LVM doing its bit. If you can do it from the recovery console suggests a timing issue (as in LVM is being kicked into action before evms has completed).
I'd be guessing your new board has a driver that you need to wait on - so it's not built in the kernel and isn't loaded by your initrd. Can't be your disk controller else the root wouldn't mount on the pivot_root. No idea what it might be.

Yes, EVMS. It was a requirement for use of Novell's NSS. It's been working great!.... till now. The drive i'm using is SATA. However, I backup to an IDE drive of the same size. I was able to boot the IDE drive in a 4 year old system, (not my new one) and it worked. However, all my data drives are TB SATA as well. Nearly 6TB worth. And those drives are too large to be reconized on that old a system. Road block after road block after road block!!! ARG!!!!!

But after finding out that I can still boot the stuff, I know its a hardware thing now. And naturally, the new replacement board I ordered has NO Linux support. My bad. Didn't think to look. It's Linux. It runs on anything! lol And, it actually does. Just won't boot my EVMS partitions. I believe I need a board that has an nForce chipset with 6-SATA connections, DDR2-800 RAM and an Athlon CPU. This board I got does all that.....just not Linux. If you come across something with an older nForce chipset, PLEASE let me know!

At least I haven't LOST any data. Just can't get too it. So I still have a chance to save this.

Thanks for your response. I hope I get thru this! About 3 years of data lost otherwise..... UGH!

FineArt

Shouldn't be a big deal - just add the driver to your initrd (before the evms activate). No good tossing away (hopefully) perfectly good hardware.
Might also be an opportune time to upgrade to something like SLES 11.

I would be fairly confident you data is o.k. - but your backups (!!!) will obviate any concern there.

Oh, I would love to upgrade. Just a lot of work to do. But my system getting outdated and when problems like this on arise, I am so screwed... This new board uses the Northbridge: AMD 770 & Southbridge: AMD SB710 Disk Controllers. I don't think there is a Linux Driver around for them. If you find one, send it on or tell me where it is. Would be great to get this board to work for me.

On a good note, I found an old motherboard at work that is currently working. Only has 4 SATA ports. I need 6. And, it has no IDE connections. But I am running with a couple drives disconnected. I am also copying the major drives to a USB Expansion drive. 3TB. Problem is Novell compresses their data. So my 1.5TB may take well over 2TB on the Expansion drive. At least I can now enjoy Christmas! Woohoo!

I would like to ask if you know of a SATA controller card that is Linux approved.... and costs in the less than $50 range? It's just a personal server... not a business system. And if it had an IDE port on it as well, that'd be awesome.

Thanks again for all your help. You have a Merry Christmas my friend! I'll keep an eye out for ya in case you write.

FineArt

Looks like current kernels support it (as in more current than yours - you may be all the way back at 2.6.18 or so). Old kernels can't support future hardware - even back-porting can only help so much.
Dunno about a driver - maybe loading achi will suffice. Have a look at this thread from a while back.

Grab a current liveCD - will soon prove (current) support or not.

Hey,

Thot I'd post one more reply as an update. I have been able to recover all my data. Woohoo!! I am now considering other OS options for a file server. Currently messing with Server 2003. But I still prefer a Linux solution. I have been considering Ubuntu Server.

Have a question tho. This may sound stupid but is it possible to build an Linux server yet have it store files in an MSDOS/WINDOWS format, (vfat?), so that should the OS ever get hosed, I can stick the data drives in a PC and still access my data? Would it be compatible? Would it be that simple? Is there a drawback(s) to this?

Thanks for your help syg00!

You got trapped by a "vendor lock-in" - which is probably the thing most people are trying to escape by steering clear of M$oft.
So, not likely I'll recommend that.
As you discovered, what's important is your data - properly backed up, how you access it on a day to day basis is largely immaterial. LVM(2) was designed based on (always) adding more storage. Not reducing, or recovering (simply) from device failures.
Lots of (large) places use it in production and never even think about it. Can be easily moved to another system if you have a liveCD with LVM included - not sure about Ubuntu server, but would not be hard to add.
Personally I like the concept of btrfs (ZFS too) - include all the multi-device support in the filesystem rather than in a separate device manger and block device layer as with dm and LVM2 (in your case add yet another bock device layer again with evms).
Properly planned Linux should handle it fine.

Just want a good Linux file server for my Windows boxes to access.

I don't wanna go thru all this again. Tho it was a dead motherboard problem, not Linux, that caused all the trouble. The Linux issue came about when I tried to place the drive in a similar system. Wouldn't start the EVMS partition, which contained the Linux system. (EVMS was required to use Novell NSS.)

I don't mind dealing with failures or problems... that's the nature of the beast. I just want to have confidence that I can recover from them without loss of data. If I can just throw the drives into another system, config fstab and a few other tweaks and get my data back online, that'd be a real relief. Is there a Linux filesystem that maintains its "configurations" on the actual data drive, allowing you to place the drive in any Linux box and it find itself? You mentioned btrfs and ZFS. Can you talk about them a little more? I will look them up myself too. What's the advantages to them?

I have a couple small systems that I want to use to test different scenarios. I've even been messing around with FreeNAS. Runs from a 500M thumbdrive. Leaves all internal ports available for storage drives. Gonna try building a small FreeNAS system, copy data to a drive, then place drive and thumbdrive in a different system and see what happens.

Everything is just SO TIME CONSUMING!! My patience is about shot. So many options..... so little patience! lol May just leave the darn drives in my Windows box and be done with it all! lol

I truly appreciate your input. Please continue to pass along your thots and recommendations. I'm still learning Linux and I just don't know how to do a lot of things that I take for granted in Windows.

Have a great and safe New Years! (I'll be here trying to get this mess completed... haha)