dmraid fakeraid unequal volumes

wide_load · 12-30-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostlyharmless

Sorry, I don't know why fdisk shows an ntfs partition on sdd1 while ntfs-3g doesn't. Unless the partition isn't really an ntfs partition but you just used fdisk to change the type!

Maybe the ntfs-3g.org forum could help you; I've asked them a question directly with good results.

its a NTFS partition created before i moved to ubuntu with windows vista.

im pretty sure its not ntfs-3g related, i cant remember where but either dmraid or something else only sees the drive as 1.5TB.

also i am a he

mostlyharmless · 12-30-2009, 05:34 PM

Quote:

i cant remember where but either dmraid or something else only sees the drive as 1.5TB.

dmraid -r seems to recognize 2 TB worth of stripe in your array, based on:

Quote:

root@jacek-desktop:~# dmraid -r
/dev/sdd: nvidia, "nvidia_afeahbbe", linear, ok, 1953525166 sectors, data@ 0
/dev/sdc: nvidia, "nvidia_jbcaafci", linear, ok, 976773166 sectors, data@ 0
/dev/sdb: nvidia, "nvidia_afeahbbe", linear, ok, 976773166 sectors, data@ 0
/dev/sda: nvidia, "nvidia_afeahbbe", linear, ok, 976773166 sectors, data@ 0

Must have been something else. If you missing the partitions, you could run kpartx -a, but you already have them in /dev/mapper. Did you look at them with gparted?

When you tried to mount the disk, the mount point already existed, right? I mean in

Quote:

mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe1 /media/media

you already have a directory called /media/media?

wide_load · 12-30-2009, 06:43 PM

yeh the mount point exists, also in gparted it sees the disk as 1.81TiB but says that it cannot read the contents of the file system.

jschiwal · 12-31-2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostlyharmless

He/she did that, I think, see post #3

I had meant to also ask for "sudo file -s" when I started writing the post. The dm-* devices weren't included in the "fdisk -l" listing.

wide_load · 01-01-2010, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jschiwal

I had meant to also ask for "sudo file -s" when I started writing the post. The dm-* devices weren't included in the "fdisk -l" listing.

im not sure if this is actually what you were looking for...

all i was able to get from it was what GRUB stands for

Code:

root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/mapper/
control           nvidia_afeahbbe   nvidia_jbcaafci   nvidia_jbcaafci1  nvidia_jbcaafci5  
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/mapper/
control           nvidia_afeahbbe   nvidia_jbcaafci   nvidia_jbcaafci1  nvidia_jbcaafci5  
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe 
/dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe: x86 boot sector, Microsoft Windows XP MBR, Serial 0xb41a3d87; partition 1: ID=0x7, starthead 32, startsector 2048, 3906957757 sectors, code offset 0xc0
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci
/dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci: x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, stage2 address 0x2000, stage2 segment 0x200; partition 1: ID=0x83, active, starthead 1, startsector 63, 952991802 sectors; partition 2: ID=0x5, starthead 254, startsector 952991865, 23776200 sectors, code offset 0x48
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci1
/dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci1: Linux rev 1.0 ext4 filesystem data, UUID=72a05fe1-c8d3-4426-8380-2b77f9c17867 (needs journal recovery) (extents) (large files) (huge files)
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci15
/dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci15: ERROR: cannot open `/dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci15' (No such file or directory)
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci5
/dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci5: Linux/i386 swap file (new style), version 1 (4K pages), size 2972016 pages, no label, UUID=0786f2b2-31bd-4b05-b457-37be603aa92f
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/sd
sda  sdb  sdc  sdd  
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/sd
sda  sdb  sdc  sdd  
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/sda
/dev/sda: data
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb: data
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/sdc
/dev/sdc: x86 boot sector; GRand Unified Bootloader, stage1 version 0x3, stage2 address 0x2000, stage2 segment 0x200; partition 1: ID=0x83, active, starthead 1, startsector 63, 952991802 sectors; partition 2: ID=0x5, starthead 254, startsector 952991865, 23776200 sectors, code offset 0x48
root@jacek-desktop:~# file -s /dev/sdd
/dev/sdd: x86 boot sector, Microsoft Windows XP MBR, Serial 0xb41a3d87; partition 1: ID=0x7, starthead 32, startsector 2048, 3906957757 sectors, code offset 0xc0
root@jacek-desktop:~#

mostlyharmless · 01-01-2010, 07:33 PM

I guess I missed it before, but it looks like the wrong RAID partitions are active. You want /dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe and its partitions not /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci, if I understand your setup correctly. So maybe you need to run dmraid -an then dmraid -a nvidia_afeahbbe.

If that doesn't work you might have to try to erase the other metadata with the -E command; ie.
dmraid -E /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci, then dmraid -ay, possibly followed by kpartx to activate the partitions. I'd be worried about losing your data with the -E command however, as I'm not sure why you have two nvidia raids with one of them recognized as a linux ext4 partition. I though you said they were both Windows with an expansion of one of them.

wide_load · 01-02-2010, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostlyharmless

I guess I missed it before, but it looks like the wrong RAID partitions are active. You want /dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe and its partitions not /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci, if I understand your setup correctly. So maybe you need to run dmraid -an then dmraid -a nvidia_afeahbbe.

If that doesn't work you might have to try to erase the other metadata with the -E command; ie.
dmraid -E /dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci, then dmraid -ay, possibly followed by kpartx to activate the partitions. I'd be worried about losing your data with the -E command however, as I'm not sure why you have two nvidia raids with one of them recognized as a linux ext4 partition. I though you said they were both Windows with an expansion of one of them.

I thaught that was odd too

they look like my other drive to me, which is odd because its not even RAID enabled in the bios

but that's the only disk that has ever had a linux partition on it

Code:

root@jacek-desktop:~# dmraid -an
ERROR: dos: partition address past end of RAID device

Code:

root@jacek-desktop:~# dmraid -ay nvidia_afeahbbe
RAID set "nvidia_afeahbbe" was activated
ERROR: dos: partition address past end of RAID device

that's what I was getting right at the start.

top line of mount

Code:

root@jacek-desktop:~# mount
/dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)

looks like I better not erase that

also as it says it is activated i tried mounting...

Code:

root@jacek-desktop:~# mount -t ntfs /dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe /media/media
NTFS signature is missing.
Failed to mount '/dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe': Invalid argument
The device '/dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe' doesn't seem to have a valid NTFS.
Maybe the wrong device is used? Or the whole disk instead of a
partition (e.g. /dev/sda, not /dev/sda1)? Or the other way around

mostlyharmless · 01-04-2010, 09:25 AM

Quote:

/dev/mapper/nvidia_jbcaafci1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)

Well, exactly, but that's the root partition actually on device sdc; I'm not sure why it's a raid/dmraid device since there's on;y one disk and partition involved.

The other one

Quote:

mount -t ntfs /dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe /media/media

isn't going to work because there are no partitions recognized/activated on it. As the error message says, it doesn't want the whole disk. Have you tried kpartx to activate the partitions on it?
ie.

Quote:

kpartx -a /dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe

That works for gpt disks; I'm wondering whether the partitions setup by Windows 7 are also GPT. Was that Win 7 64 bit or 32 bit? (I know nothing about Win 7)

wide_load · 01-05-2010, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostlyharmless

Well, exactly, but that's the root partition actually on device sdc; I'm not sure why it's a raid/dmraid device since there's on;y one disk and partition involved.

The other one

isn't going to work because there are no partitions recognized/activated on it. As the error message says, it doesn't want the whole disk. Have you tried kpartx to activate the partitions on it?
ie.

That works for gpt disks; I'm wondering whether the partitions setup by Windows 7 are also GPT. Was that Win 7 64 bit or 32 bit? (I know nothing about Win 7)

i think we are making progress

after running kpartx it shows up under places but then i clickon it i get this n a popup windows

Code:

Error mounting: mount exited with exit code 13: ntfs_mst_post_read_fixup: magic: 0xc7ddf94c  size: 4096  usa_ofs: 25496  usa_count: 7270: Invalid argument
Actual VCN (0x9604840cb8e2c9ac) of index buffer is different from expected VCN (0x3).
Failed to mount '/dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe1': Input/output error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f parameter is very
important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the 'dmraid' documentation
for more details.

/dev/mapper/nvidia_afeahbbe1

will not mount btw same error as above

mostlyharmless · 01-05-2010, 09:25 PM

Might be that win 7's version of ntfs (ver 6) isn't supported properly by ntfs-3g; maybe that's why you got the chkdsk error. Or maybe it's kpartx. Once again, at this point you might ask the ntfs-3g forum.

wide_load · 01-06-2010, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostlyharmless

Might be that win 7's version of ntfs (ver 6) isn't supported properly by ntfs-3g; maybe that's why you got the chkdsk error. Or maybe it's kpartx. Once again, at this point you might ask the ntfs-3g forum.

I posted a message on their forum, but it wasn't approved

the partition was created using bootit ng, not win 7.

wide_load · 01-07-2010, 08:50 AM

just posting the link to the other forum topic, incase anyone has the same problem and finds this via google.

not fixed yet but i think we are getting there.

Code:

http://tuxera.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3222&p=8403

mostlyharmless · 01-07-2010, 09:53 AM

Quote:

the partition was created using bootit ng, not win 7

Hmm, I know nothing about bootit ng either. However I have read that volumes that are resized have problems being read/mounted by ntfs-3g; I think I saw another thread with someone who resized their volume under windows then couldn't mount it, then undid the resizing and it was ok again. There's a distinction between volumes that are "simple" and those that are not. I'm beginning to think that there's something very peculiar with your bootit ng created structure; perhaps that's why you've got the double Raid structure too.

But it looks like you're getting more competent help from Jean Pierre on the other forum; good luck

wide_load · 01-09-2010, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mostlyharmless

Hmm, I know nothing about bootit ng either. However I have read that volumes that are resized have problems being read/mounted by ntfs-3g; I think I saw another thread with someone who resized their volume under windows then couldn't mount it, then undid the resizing and it was ok again. There's a distinction between volumes that are "simple" and those that are not. I'm beginning to think that there's something very peculiar with your bootit ng created structure; perhaps that's why you've got the double Raid structure too.

But it looks like you're getting more competent help from Jean Pierre on the other forum; good luck

yeh, really helpful over there, and here !

seem to have hit a bit of a dead end.

I think I might have a play around with boot it and see what I can change.

Thank you for helping to those that did, even if we didn't get it 100% working defiantly made progress.

Erik_FL · 01-09-2010, 04:40 PM

I have a few general comments that might be helpful.

Whether you enable a RAID array or disks in the BIOS has no effect on the Linux kernel or DMRAID, since they look at the disks directly to determine partitions or metadata. The BIOS settings affect the ability to boot from a RAID array and the ability to use BIOS utilities to edit the metadata. If you have left over metadata on a hard disk, it's possible that the BIOS won't see that but dmraid might. The BIOS usually only supports one metadata format, and dmraid recognizes many. If you updated the BIOS firmware or moved drives from another computer there could be left over metadata.

I've found that Windows and Linux round partitions to different boundaries when creating the partition table. The "dmraid" software behaves badly when trying to locate Logical partitions inside an Extended partition if they do not appear contiguous (to Linux). In order to work around that problem on my two computers I've had to create the swap partition first in the Extended partition, and then delete and recreate the partition under Linux to make sure it uses all the available space that Linux sees. Otherwise I only see some (or none) of my Logical partitions inside my Extended partition. Whenever I use Windows partitioning utilities they seem to adjust the partition table and I have to again delete and recreate the swap partition under Linux. If you're having a lot of problems with "dmraid" I recommend using only Primary partitions and not using an Extended partition (to start with).

I am successfully using "dmraid" version 1.0.0.rc14 with a Promise FastTrack 374 and Intel ICH9 using RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 0 + 1. I have never tried JBOD arrays. Newer versions of "dmraid" would not detect the arrays on either of my two computers so I have stuck with version 1.0.0.rc14.

I had problems trying to use the long device names in "/dev/mapper" so I created some aliases of "/dev/sdrN" (replace N with partition number). I also had to create the root partition device name and the swap partition device name while not running "udev" so that the kernel init scripts could find them. I had to create a custom "initrd" with an edited "init" script to run "dmraid" during boot. Most of those issues probably don't affect you if you're not trying to boot from the RAID array.

You don't necessarily have to use "dmraid". It's only a configuration front end for the standard Linux device mapper driver. You can manually create the correct configuration for the device mapper and completely avoid using "dmraid". Creating the correct configuration is probably not trivial. I've never tried that so I can't really say.

Windows has two kinds of disk partitioning schemes, basic and dynamic. The "ntfs" driver and "ntfs-3g" driver do not support the more complicated "dynamic" disks of Windows. Those are created when you use software RAID in Windows, join disks together to form one volume, or in some cases resize partitions. Before you go too much further, make sure that you have only "basic" disks in the RAID volumes. You will have to look at that from Windows.

Dynamic disks are usually not used just due to having fake hardware hardware RAID, since that's all handled inside the device driver for the fake RAID controller. However it is possible to create a dynamic disk on a fake hardware RAID "hard disk" (volume) since it appears to be just a normal hard disk to Windows.

The Linux distro that I use is Slackware.