From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Jan 20 17:58:27 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0EC7D16A417 for ; Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:58:27 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from erikt@midgard.homeip.net) Received: from ch-smtp02.sth.basefarm.net (ch-smtp02.sth.basefarm.net [80.76.149.213]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 971F413C455 for ; Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:58:26 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from erikt@midgard.homeip.net) Received: from c83-253-25-183.bredband.comhem.se ([83.253.25.183]:60045 helo=falcon.midgard.homeip.net) by ch-smtp02.sth.basefarm.net with esmtp (Exim 4.68) (envelope-from ) id 1JGeR5-0003dl-89 for freebsd-stable@freebsd.org; Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:58:25 +0100 Received: (qmail 43525 invoked from network); 20 Jan 2008 18:58:19 +0100 Received: from owl.midgard.homeip.net (10.1.5.7) by falcon.midgard.homeip.net with ESMTP; 20 Jan 2008 18:58:19 +0100 Received: (qmail 53088 invoked by uid 1001); 20 Jan 2008 18:58:19 +0100 Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 18:58:19 +0100 From: Erik Trulsson To: David Wood Message-ID: <20080120175819.GA52965@owl.midgard.homeip.net> Mail-Followup-To: David Wood , Aldas Nabazas , ambrisko@freebsd.org, scottl@freebsd.org, freebsd-stable@freebsd.org References: <9c1614e00801200608k49195944mf241b7b0aa6a48@mail.gmail.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.17 (2007-11-01) X-Originating-IP: 83.253.25.183 X-Scan-Result: No virus found in message 1JGeR5-0003dl-89. X-Scan-Signature: ch-smtp02.sth.basefarm.net 1JGeR5-0003dl-89 bd33b93124793f1ee13daee88adea91d Cc: ambrisko@freebsd.org, Aldas Nabazas , scottl@freebsd.org, freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dell Perc 6 disk geometry problem with RAID5 (both 6.3 final and 7.0 RC1) X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:58:27 -0000 On Sun, Jan 20, 2008 at 04:48:56PM +0000, David Wood wrote: > [ambrisko@ and scottl@ added to CCs] > > Hi there, > > In message <9c1614e00801200608k49195944mf241b7b0aa6a48@mail.gmail.com>, > Aldas Nabazas writes >> We bought a new Dell PowerEdge 2950III with Perc 6/i and have the disk >> geometry problem using 6.3 final or 7.0 RC1. Seems that we are not alone at >> least one guy has similar problem reported earlier: >> http://unix.derkeiler.com/Mailing-Lists/FreeBSD/questions/2008-01/msg00506.html >> >> I was reading the mailing list and found that some of the people are happily >> using this hardware with the latest FreeBSD: >> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2008-January/039675.html >> >> I just wonder what the status of mfi driver? Maybe it's not fully tested or >> there will be some important fixes before 7.0 final? We are going to try >> different RAID combinations but it definitely not working using 6x146GB as >> RAID5. I do not know if the mfi(4) driver has any problems with large disks, but it is however well known that fdisk(8) and bsdlabel(8) (the tools normally used to partition disks) have problems with volumes larger than 2TB. If you want to use volumes larger than 2TB then gpt(8) is the recommended way to partition the disks. It is however doubtful if the BIOS in your system will allow you to boot from a gpt(8) parttioned volume which is best solved with having a separate - smaller - boot volume where the OS itself is installed. > > This is extremely disappointing to read, as I was relatively close to > buying a Poweredge 2950 III with PERC 6/i. However, it's no good to me if > mfi(4) has issues with large virtual disks; the tentative disk > configuration is 2x146GB as RAID 1 and 4x750GB (or 1TB) as RAID 5. > > > Looking at CVSweb: > http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/cvsweb.cgi/src/sys/dev/mfi/ > > the updates for the 1078 chip which powers the PERC 6 series were > contributed by LSI, so you would have hoped things were right. There is a > disclaimer on the code, but you would also hope that someone in the know is > testing it, especially as my impression has always been that the FreeBSD > community is favourably disposed towards LSI storage controllers and that > LSI and their vendors try to help the FreeBSD developers. > > >> Maybe someone could share the RAID combinations they successfully are >> running on? > > I haven't been keeping a very close eye on the problem as I don't currently > have any hardware - but is the issue simply one of virtual disk size - > there's a cut-off size after which things don't work properly? > > You could try pulling disks from your server (or removing them from the > virtual disk) one by one until things start to work. To save a lot of pain > you could create a virtual disk containing one disk as RAID 0 (a single > disk) and install the OS on it, leaving the other five disks to play with. > > > I do hope that someone is in a position to investigate this quickly - even > if it's too late to get the fix in 7.0-RELEASE now. There's nothing that I > can see as relevant that's waiting for MFC, anyway. > > Of course, it's worth checking whether you've got the latest firmware on > the PERC 6/i - the latest version from Dell appears to be 6.0.1-0080. > > > If this doesn't get fixed soon, I'm either going to have to go to another > hardware vendor that uses a different RAID controller (HP is a possibility > - though we're an all Dell shop) or - sniff - leave FreeBSD in favour of a > Linux distribution. I realise that FreeBSD is a volunteer project, and that > users can't have any specific expectations - this is not a threat, as I > like FreeBSD and want to remain in the community, but I would need a new > server to work properly! > > > Looking at CVSweb, it seems that ambrisko@ and scottl@ are the two people > most closely associated with the mfi code - I've added them into the CCs. > My apologies if that was unwelcome. > -- Erik Trulsson ertr1013@student.uu.se