Topic: RAID Issue

[soup]

Not sure if this is a bug, potential bug, or what. I think it's something i'm doing wrong.

I'm trying to install SME 7.2 on a RAID-1 configuration, using the on-board Promise Fastrack IDE 386 controller on my Asus P4P800-E deluxe mobo.

This mobo also has on-board SATA raid but it is disabled through the BIOS. I am able to setup my array without a problem.

When I try to install SME, no array is detected. When I try to manually select the Promise IDE driver provided in the approved device list, it just initiates the Anaconda (sp?) setup and then tells me its safe to restart. So I do but it still does not find any device. When I try to install the drivers that I pulled from the mobo driver disc, it does the same thing. Tells me its safe to restart but nothing is changed.

There is no Redhat or linux driver on the Asus website for this controller. I do not see it listed on promise.com neither.

I ended up disabling the RAID and installed SME on a single drive, but i'd like to configure a mirror setup if possible.

I would appreciated any help.... Thanks

[raem]

soup

I think there has always been problems with Promise stuff.

Your best approach would be to disable all the hardware RAID stuff & connect the two drives to normal SATA ports.
Configure software RAID1 in sme server during install and it should all just work, quite well too, performance will be better than all cheap RAID cards and equal to more expensive RAID cards.

[soup]

Well these are IDE Ultra interface drives, not SATA. Can I do the same with these or should I pick up a pair of SATA drives?

Thanks for your help.

[raem]

soup

IDE is supported, just connect two "exactly identical sized drives" and select software RAID1 during sme server install.

[p-jones]

soup

Are you CERTAIN your mobo BIOS is setup correctly. That particular MOBO is a complex and tricky board to setup. I went down this road with a Windows PC a couple of months ago. Check the documentation carefully. One pair on that board cannot be booted from but without finding the documentation, I forget which pair.

Rays comments re Promise Raid surprise me. My experiences with Promise RAID,  PATA & SATA, have all been good, They are/were used extensively by DELL - be that good, bad or otherwise and present to SME as a single drive. They beat the hell out of Silicon Image and VIA RAID and  are able to do a rebuild in the background

[Reinhold]

soup,

trying to install SME 7.2 on a RAID-1 configuration, using the on-board Promise Fastrack IDE 386 controller on my Asus P4P800-E deluxe mobo.
This mobo also has on-board SATA raid but it is disabled through the BIOS. I am able to setup my array without a problem.

This sounds confusing/conflicting to me: How do you disable [onboard] Raid and still set up your/any array ? 

When I try to install SME, no array is detected. When I try to manually select the Promise IDE driver provided in the approved device list, it just initiates the Anaconda (sp?) setup and then tells me its safe to restart. So I do but it still does not find any device. When I try to install the drivers that I pulled from the mobo driver disc, it does the same thing. Tells me its safe to restart but nothing is changed.

* If you set up a HARDWARE RAID this will be seen by SME as a SINGLE HDD  (some exceptions apply).
Redundancy is then handeled by the RAID ARRAY CONTROLLER internally.
Note: Promise does built good controllers but their ata-Raid is/has been almost always "fakeraid".

* SME RAID1 is SOFTRAID... http://wiki.contribs.org/Raid ... iow you need two devices found by the kernel via their normal (s) ATA drivers  and those will be "combined" as Software RAID aka the MD driver in the Linux kernel.
...unfortunately your Promise chip (20378) had a problem in that it's pATA part (only 1 pATA channel by the way) wasn't supported by the Linux kernel (around end 2004). I never heard that this was fixed so you might want to check by yourself (-> RHEL / Centos 4.0 isssue).

- If you have the option USE the remaining 2 sATA channels on your 20378.
- Even better: Use any two of the ports on your Mobo's  INTEL ICH5R South Bridge ... those enjoy perfekt Linux support.
note: ICH5R has 2 x UltraDMA 100/66/33 _and_ -2 x Serial ATA

Regards
Reinhold