On Thu, Apr 10, 2003 at 11:38:32PM -0500, Val wrote:
> I am fairly new to Linux, so my question might be easy, I hope...
It's probably NOT so easy. But I can help with some fundamental errors
you've made.
> I am having trouble setting up RAID1 (mirror) on the 2.4.21-pre7
> kernel (that is the latest, I believe)
It is the latest I see. BTW many of us in the Linux world like to use
console-based mail readers, and we appreciate it when people use word
wrap in their mail. Thanks.
> I have installed working kernel on /dev/hda.
> I have compiled a new kernel with these options:
Config options look okay to me, but consider that I failed to get my
FastTrack TX2000 working ... ;)
> I installed the new kernel and rebooted. Here are the related parts of
> startup messages
Did you read the ATA-RAID HOWTO by Murty? Did you determine your append
line and pass it to the boot loader? I do not think you configured your
boot loader. (More below.)
> I compiled the pdcraid driver as a module on purpose for easier
> troubleshooting.
That's fine if you're booting off of some other controller, which you
seem to be.
> When I try to do: "modprobe pdcraid", I get this on the screen:
> /lib/modules/2.4.20/kernel/drivers/ide/pdcraid.o: init_module: No such device
^^^^^^
There it says what kernel version you're using. You think you're using
2.4.21-pre7, but in fact you're still using your distro's stock kernel,
2.4.20. You need to configure your boot loader.
(When you do in fact boot the custom kernel you may find other errors in
your configuration. It takes some learning and practice to master the
process of kernel configuration. I still mess some of them up. :)
> Does anyone have an idea on what I can try to get this working? What
> is involved in finding the array? (i.e. exactly what does it look for?)
The append line might help.
> Does anyone have a similar setup working?
I gave up on it and persuaded my project to buy a 3ware Escalade 7000.
It works beautifully and with no special setup. I installed Slackware 9
using the raid.s kernel, then compiled a custom kernel for it.
Promise cards are junk. Maybe they're okay as vanilla IDE controllers,
but they are *not* hardware RAID. They are not-so-cleverly-disguised
software RAID. Read Samuel Flory's posts in the list archive (one just
yesterday?) as to why you should consider using the Linux software RAID
driver (md) instead.
I'm afraid you're getting a very bad introduction to Linux through the
Promise card. I've found in general that Windows will tolerate junky
hardware much better than Linux will. (And you pay for that with lower
reliability.)
If you can afford a little more money, I'd highly recommend 3ware. Good
luck.
Rob - /dev/rob0
