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Date:      Tue, 18 Mar 2003 13:48:20 +0000
From:      Ryan Merrick <sandshrimp@attbi.com>
To:        Darren Gamble <Darren.Gamble@sjrb.ca>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: FreeBSD install fails on a DAC960 RAID array
Message-ID:  <3E7723A4.4090603@attbi.com>
References:  <F2AC1E62AC3CBB49BB518BEA341532220DD003@shawmail02>

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Darren Gamble wrote:

>Good day,
>
>I posted a question last week on my inability to get FreeBSD installed on a
>machine with a Mylex DAC960PTL1 RAID array.  I had originally attributed the
>problem to a bug mentioned on the 5.0 release errata page which describes my
>condition, but after further testing I am not so sure anymore.
>
>The machine in question is a NEC, dual 733MZ P3 with a Mylex DAC960 RAID
>controller.  I'm performing the install via floppy/FTP.  Immediately prior
>to the installation, the machine was running Red Hat Linux 7.2 , occupying
>the entire disk array, and functioning great.  That installation has since
>been deleted, as I've attempted to install FreeBSD using the entire disk
>array.
>
>The installation proceeds fine, but the machine hangs upon reboot at the
>boot manager prompt.  If I try again and install the default boot loader
>instead of the boot manager, I get "Missing Operating System".
>
>I've so far tried 5.0-RELEASE, 4.8-RC2 and 4.7-RELEASE (using their
>respective installation floppies) with identical results.
>
>These symptoms match exactly installation FAQ entries 3.21 and 3.22 .
>However, the former suggests to resolve a conflict between two operating
>systems conflicting over disk geometry, and I only have FreeBSD installed,
>using the entire disk array.  The latter FAQ suggests the problem is with
>the BIOS not detecting the disk properly.  However, I am really not sure
>what I need to do here, since I know the BIOS/controller are able to work
>with large partition sizes due to the previous success with Red Hat.  The
>only difference, of course, is that the Linux installation had several
>partitions while FreeBSD uses the single partition with slices.
>
>Lastly, I am not even positive that FreeBSD supports booting from this
>drive.  The card initially identifies itself as a "DAC960PTL1" in the name,
>which doesn't exactly match any of the DAC960 cards listed on the hardware
>page.  FreeBSD is able to ID and work with the drive, etc. when the mlx
>driver module is loaded, so I would guess that this isn't a problem.
>
>I'm at a loss as to what I can do.  Sorry for making this message so large,
>but I wanted to be comprehensive.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>============================
>Darren Gamble
>Planner, Regional Services
>Shaw Cablesystems GP
>630 - 3rd Avenue SW
>Calgary, Alberta, Canada
>T2P 4L4
>(403) 781-4948
>
>
>To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
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>
>  
>
Hello,

It has been a while since I have seen a  DAC960, but this problem was 
solved by setting the partition size to 2GIGs instead of 8GIGs in the 
RAID BIOS.

-Ryan



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