P35 With SATA Raid

From openSUSE

After installing the Beta3 of OpenSuSE I was quite dissatisfied after I found out that the final release didn't support a SATA-Raid on a P35-Chipset(Note that we want to use the Intel System, not the jmicron Driver). My workaround in the mean-time was to keep the last Beta-Kernel installed(kernel-default-2.6.22.3-7.i586.rpm). Today I decided to update to the latest updated kernel(2.6.22.17) and figure out howto get it working. See also this bug: Bug 328388 - Intel ICH9R raid controller not supported on 10.3 since beta3, all dmraid arrays broken after boot (libata problem)

I assume you have somehow a OpenSuSE 10.3 System running(e.g by Installing from the Beta DVDs)

First you have to update to the new Kernel. I did it via YOU.

Then you have to check if the root entry in GRUBs menu.lst(/boot/grub/menu.lst) is right. Yast changed it to some value GRUB couldn't interpret (root(/dev/mapper/isw_dcaafchfbg_Raid11)).

Next we have to edit the command-line grub is using to start the Kernel:

My entry in menu.lst now looks like this:

title openSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.17-0.1
root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.22.17-0.1-default root=/dev/mapper/isw_dcaafchfbg_Raid15 vga=0x31a root_dm=1 root_dmraid=1 resume=/dev/mapper/isw_dcaafchfbg_Raid17 splash=silent showopts libata.ignore_hpa=0
initrd /initrd-2.6.22.17-0.1-default

the important parts are: root_dm=1 root_dmraid=1 ; this tells the kernel that the root-device is on a dmraid-partition

libata.ignore_hpa=0 this sets some flag in libata. The effect is that the kernel doesn't kill your Raid-Setup anymore(till you power off your PC) Don't forget to set the paths to your drives apropriate for your system.

Next we have to edit another file: /lib/mkinitrd/scripts/boot-dmraid.sh (Note, that I don't know the state, it was originally in)

you have to change the line that reads

/sbin/dmraid -a y -p

to

/sbin/dmraid -ay

After this we need to generate a new initrd image with the changed script, and some new parameters. So issue the command:

mkinitrd -f "md dm dmraid kpartx"

So, that's it now a reboot and maybe your System is booting from Raid! Good Luck!