From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Jan 2 16:44:12 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8D66FF70 for ; Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:44:12 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd-questions@m.gmane.org) Received: from plane.gmane.org (plane.gmane.org [80.91.229.3]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2EB7D16E2 for ; Wed, 2 Jan 2013 16:44:11 +0000 (UTC) Received: from list by plane.gmane.org with local (Exim 4.69) (envelope-from ) id 1TqQsP-00084W-OA for freebsd-questions@freebsd.org; Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:09:09 +0100 Received: from pool-173-79-84-117.washdc.fios.verizon.net ([173.79.84.117]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:09:09 +0100 Received: from nightrecon by pool-173-79-84-117.washdc.fios.verizon.net with local (Gmexim 0.1 (Debian)) id 1AlnuQ-0007hv-00 for ; Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:09:09 +0100 X-Injected-Via-Gmane: http://gmane.org/ To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org From: Michael Powell Subject: Re: 9.1 won't install - GEOM/GRAID issues Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:08:44 -0500 Lines: 31 Message-ID: References: <201301012202040487.028FC6F3@sentry.24cl.com> <20130102143853.754647c0@fabiankeil.de> <201301021035130285.00194F38@sentry.24cl.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org X-Gmane-NNTP-Posting-Host: pool-173-79-84-117.washdc.fios.verizon.net X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list Reply-To: nightrecon@hotmail.com List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:44:12 -0000 Mike. wrote: [snip] > > Thanks for the reply. The disk in question has never been used for > RAID, so if there is RAID metadata on the disk, I do not know how it > got there. The disk is (I believe --- it's been a while since I have > been inside that box) on a Promise SATA RAID controller, but RAID is > not used and has never been used (I have a 3Ware controller for RAID on > that box). > > When things settle down, I'll try to figure out how to sanitize the > disk and try to install 9.1 again. > If somehow some RAID controller ever wrote out metadata to the disk it will be the last sector or two at the very end. Sometimes some GPT partitioning schemes corrupt this too. If some alien form of GPT partitioning or some form of RAID has written anything to this area it will throw an error when GEOM 'tastes' the disk. You can zero both these areas with dd if=/dev/zero plus disk plus some arithmetic. Another way, and I do sometimes when I go to reuse a disk that's been used for a while, is to use the mfr's diagnostic utility. I know the WD diag utility has an option to write 0's to the entire drive. Sometimes I do this and then run the extended diags just to get a 'feel good' factor on the media. Trouble with this is the larger the disk gets the longer it takes. I just like media scans on old disks before I recycle them to a new project. -Mike