will not boot X/GDM with RAID, but will with single drive
 

ok Linux Guru's, here's a toughie for ya.

i have a custom pc (the only way) with 2x 500Gb WD SATA2 HDD's in a hardware RAID1 array. i had installed RHEL4.5 and got it set up for what i want (havent deployed it yet, want to in the next few days), but then realised that the RAID hadn't sync'd. so i went into my RAID menu and set it to rebuild overnight. when i came back to it, and tried to boot, i got an error (or 200), mainly saying that it couldnt load the X server etc etc. so i had a look around on LQ and the net, but no solutions. i tried unplugging one of the HDD's and booted, and VOILA! it booted just fine. then when i connected the other disk back up, it went back to the "unable to load the X server..." error. i really need the RAID array to work!


hardward details if it helps:
MB: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3
Video: GV-RX105512P8-RH
Netgear PCI Gigabit Ethernet Card (onboard didnt seem to work)
2Gb Kingston DDR2 667
Core 2 Duo 4400
Lite-On LH20A1P



also, my install doesnt see my CD drive. probably a drivers thing. anyone help?

I would say that your issue is with your controller, or how the raid is setup. The raid 1 mirror is handled through your hardware. To me it sounds like you may have the drives switched around. before you plug in the other drive, I suggest to create an image of the drive, and then recheck your raid setup, and make sure you know which drive mirrors what. You can try to switch the drives and then plug both in and boot. Again I suggest to image the drive first unless you do not mind losing everything. In other words, to me, it sounds like since the raid has not completed the mirror and when you plug in the other drive your booting off of an incomplete OS.