Member Avatar for jeisma

Hi!

Ive downloaded Mdk 10 from linuxiso and intend to install in a hw with this config.

1 x 3.0GHz Xeon/1MB Cache, 800MHz FSB
1 x 1GB DDR2 400MHz (2X512MB), Single Ranked DIMMs
2 x 36GB 15K RPM U320 SCSI (RAID 0+1)

Im a newbie. Any gotchas, or traps, tricks to look out to?


Thanks!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by barnamos

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A few practical clarifications and concrete steps for your Mandrake 10 rig — based on the hardware you posted and the replies from and .

First, check the RAID terminology: two 36 GB disks cannot form a true nested RAID0+1 (that topology needs multiple drives); with only two disks you should use RAID1 (mirror) for redundancy or RAID0 for speed (no redundancy). If the array label came from a firmware/BIOS “RAID”, verify whether it’s a true hardware RAID or a BIOS/fake-RAID — that changes whether you should use the controller or Linux software RAID. See the nested-RAID explanation. (en.wikipedia.org)
Nested RAID levels

Boot and /boot gotchas to avoid pain later: the safest approach is a small /boot on a mirrored device (RAID1) or a plain partition the installer and your bootloader can read. Some bootloaders and metadata formats are picky (older loaders need metadata 0.90 or 1.0); make sure your initramfs knows how to assemble the MD arrays and install the bootloader to both disks’ MBRs so the box can boot if one disk dies. See the software-RAID/boot notes. (wiki.archlinux.org.cn)
Installing with Software RAID or LVM (ArchWiki mirror)

Quick, repeatable checklist (do these from a rescue/live environment before the final install): create mirrored partitions, build the arrays with mdadm, save the config, regenerate initramfs, and install GRUB to both disks. Example commands (adapt to your distro’s initramfs tool):

mdadm --create /dev/md0 -l 1 -n 2 /dev/sda1 /dev/sdb1
mdadm --detail --scan >> /etc/mdadm.conf
# regenerate initramfs (mkinitrd / mkinitramfs / dracut — distro-specific)
# install bootloader to both disks:
grub-install /dev/sda
grub-install /dev/sdb

Consult the mdadm manual for options and metadata discussion. (man7.org)
mdadm manual (mdadm(8))

Final checks and cautions: confirm your Ultra320 controller and driver are recognized (use lspci -k and dmesg) before committing — if the controller aggregates disks into one virtual device the OS sees hardware RAID; otherwise software RAID (mdadm) is usually simpler to maintain. Always keep an independent backup: RAID helps availability, it is not a substitute for backups. (man7.org)
lspci (pciutils) — show kernel driver in use

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for barnamos

you've got plenty of resources for the job! I've got manny running on an iMac, a compaq laptop, a few dell boxes, and some home built machines. Lately I've been letting Linux Raid do the raid rather than a controller, seems fine.

Run with the defaults first, its a pain tweaking your monitor resolution and losing XWindows!

commented: Great post! +5
Member Avatar for alc6379

Good advice, Barnamos!

I say, throw it in and see what happens! The worst that could happen (assuming you've backed your data up) is that you'd run into a problem, and have to ask us another question...

Member Avatar for barnamos

Only thing that's a bit wierd in your post is the reference to A:/. Are you trying to dual boot the machine? "Linux" and "A drive" aren't usually "together". Did you partition the drives?

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