am trying to install Debian Sarge on a Poweredge 2900. I have a 8 drives in a RAID 5 array. I chose Debian because I am familiar with Debian based distributions, and Debian Sarge seems to be the only non-proprietary linux distribution/version that people have been getting OMSA to work on. The standard Debian installer does not come with RAID support, or with support for the latest Broadcom ethernet drivers. Thus, I tried looking for Debian install images rolled with RAID support, etc.. The Dell Linux site seems to have a long list of broken links to these kinds of install images. I was very disappointed.

I am interested in any information/links about Debian install images that work with Poweredge servers (specifically 2900 series). Any success stories?

Also, Ubuntu (based on Debian of course) has a nicely rolled install image that detects most of my hardware. I would use Ubuntu, but it is based on the unstable version of Debian. The work done to get OMSA running in Debian is all done with Sarge. Might I be able to install Ubuntu and get OMSA working? Any success stories on this end of the spectrum?

My work so far:
----------------------
So far I have found a few promising install images from Kenshi Muto's site http://kmuto.jp/ under Backported d-i images archive. Browsing over the forums other links seem to point to this site. After trying several images, the 801 build's install came through fairly clean, but not without a few hiccups. [An incredibly long pause after formatting the 1.1TB /home partition.] However, I am still unable to boot into the system. I am getting an error with SCSI (of course).

My error on boot up.
--------------
....
drivers/usb/input/hid-core.c: v2.6:USB HID core driver
Vendor: Generic Model: Flash HS-COMBO Rev: 4.44
Type: Driect-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
sd 1:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disc sdc

"Then a very long pause..."

Done.
ALERT! /dev/sdc1 does not exist.. Dropping to a shell!
----------------

If anyone has an idea of my specific problem, that would be great. I thought Grub might be mapping the drive wrong, so I went in with Knoppix and tried to to experiment with some changes. No luck yet. Shouldn't I be dealing with a RAID device as opposed to sdc1 anyways?

Thanks for your time!

Am I going to have to compile my own kernel with specific modules?

There's a few good resources for Debian on Dell servers..

http://linux.dell.com/distributions.shtml

Install image with Dell driver support...
This has the kernel you need to get the install done.
http://wiki.osuosl.org/display/LNX/D...n+Dell+Servers


And of course Dells Linux Storage Web resource..
http://linux.dell.com/storage.shtml

Best of luck to ya !!

Sorry, I should be more clear about where I have been.

The Dell Linux site is full of broken links and deprecated material (when it comes to any distribution that isn't proprietary). I found it very disappointing, and did not point to a working Debian install image.

I have also been been to the other site you mention. The install image offered there is old, and doesn't work at all with newer hardware.

I have had some success with the Debian packaged by Kenshi. I get a bootable system. However, I am getting a superblock error on startup. I will post my results later this week.

Basically, the 801 install detects your first partition as sdc1 on the Poweredge 2900. However, during boot up the drive is marked as sda1. Thus after the install process is complete, but before you elect to reboot the computer, you simply open a shell and edit your grub menu to point to sda1. Pretty simple fix, but the superbock error that I am getting is disconcerting! I hope it is an easy fix as well.. will repost more when I have time!

Any thoughts on the superblock error thus far?

It looks like the boot kernel that you tracked down (quite exhaustively there, kudos) and the actual installed Sarge kernel are pretty far different. I'm guessing the RAID card that's home to this array is an LSI Megaraid? Is sdc the array?

Cheers,

Finegan

The array was detected by the installer as an sdc array. However it was installed as sda.

Yes this is an Dell Perc 5/i, which is an LSI megaraid!

Any suggestions on how to fix this?

Wow... Debian is on Grub right? I think you can get away with "o" for options then just add the kernel argument root=/dev/sdcX With X being whatever partition and it should, hopefully, work. I'm hoping they didn't set the root to something else in that initrd. I hate it when they do that. If they did... from that shell, ugh...

mkdir ilikelq
mount /dev/sdcX ilikelq
chroot ilikelq /bin/bash

That'll get you in the new Debian system with access to all its binaries, etc... so we can fix that initrd, albeit you'll be chrooted there so that minimal init from the initrd is actually running the show. Its probably busybox, which is cooler than hell, but initrd's still bug me.

Find the actual initrd. My guess, /boot, probably with a name like initrd.gz

gunzip initrd.gz
mount -o loop initrd /mnt
cd /mnt

Now, edit the file "init" or posibly its "sbin/init" and change wherever it declares root /dev/sdc to be /dev/sda.

Done?

cd /boot
umount /mnt
gzip initrd
exit
reboot

Annoying huh? Well, I'm hoping that a passed root=/dev/sdX argument to a kernel with an initrd will still get used... and 90% of that mess will be unecessary.

Cheers,

Finegan

Here is my dmesg: (I give my error when I run fsck below as well)

[HTML]
ge 0xca9-0xcab has been reserved
pnp: 00:08: ioport range 0xcad-0xcaf has been reserved
pnp: 00:09: ioport range 0xca8-0xca8 has been reserved
pnp: 00:09: ioport range 0xcac-0xcac has been reserved
PCI: Bridge: 0000:08:00.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: f4000000-f7ffffff
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:07:00.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: f4000000-f7ffffff
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:07:01.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: disabled.
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:06:00.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: f4000000-f7ffffff
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:06:00.3
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: disabled.
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:02.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: f2000000-f7ffffff
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:03.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: disabled.
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:04.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: disabled.
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:01:00.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: fc400000-fc5fffff
PREFETCH window: d8000000-d80fffff
PCI: Bridge: 0000:01:00.2
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: disabled.
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:05.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: fc300000-fc5fffff
PREFETCH window: d8000000-d80fffff
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:06.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: disabled.
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:07.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: disabled.
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:04:00.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: f8000000-fbffffff
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:1c.0
IO window: disabled.
MEM window: f8000000-fbffffff
PREFETCH window: disabled.
PCI: Bridge: 0000:00:1e.0
IO window: e000-efff
MEM window: fc100000-fc2fffff
PREFETCH window: d0000000-d7ffffff
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:02.0 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:06:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:06:00.0 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:07:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:07:00.0 to 64
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:08:00.0 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:07:01.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:07:01.0 to 64
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:06:00.3 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:03.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:03.0 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:04.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:04.0 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:05.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:05.0 to 64
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:01:00.0 to 64
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:01:00.2 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:06.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:06.0 to 64
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:07.0 to 64
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1c.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1c.0 to 64
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:04:00.0 to 64
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1e.0 to 64
audit: initializing netlink socket (disabled)
audit(1164737326.444:1): initialized
VFS: Disk quotas dquot_6.5.1
Dquot-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order 0, 4096 bytes)
Initializing Cryptographic API
io scheduler noop registered
io scheduler anticipatory registered (default)
io scheduler deadline registered
io scheduler cfq registered
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:02.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:02.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:02.0cie00]
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:02.0cie01]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:03.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:03.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:03.0cie00]
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:03.0cie01]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:04.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:04.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:04.0cie00]
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:04.0cie01]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:05.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:05.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:05.0cie00]
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:05.0cie01]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:06.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:06.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:06.0cie00]
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:06.0cie01]
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:07.0 to 64
pcie_portdrv_probe->Dev[25e7:8086] has invalid IRQ. Check vendor BIOS
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:07.0cie00]
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:07.0cie01]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1c.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1c.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:1c.0cie00]
Allocate Port Service[0000:00:1c.0cie03]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:06:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:06:00.0 to 64
Allocate Port Service[0000:06:00.0cie10]
Allocate Port Service[0000:06:00.0cie11]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:07:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:07:00.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:07:00.0cie20]
Allocate Port Service[0000:07:00.0cie21]
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:07:01.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:07:01.0 to 64
assign_interrupt_mode Found MSI capability
Allocate Port Service[0000:07:01.0cie20]
Allocate Port Service[0000:07:01.0cie21]
isapnp: Scanning for PnP cards...
isapnp: No Plug & Play device found
hpet_resources: 0xfed00000 is busy
PNP: No PS/2 controller found. Probing ports directly.
serio: i8042 AUX port at 0x60,0x64 irq 12
serio: i8042 KBD port at 0x60,0x64 irq 1
Serial: 8250/16550 driver $Revision: 1.90 $ 4 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
serial8250: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
serial8250: ttyS1 at I/O 0x2f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A
00:06: ttyS0 at I/O 0x3f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
00:07: ttyS1 at I/O 0x2f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A
RAMDISK driver initialized: 16 RAM disks of 8192K size 1024 blocksize
EISA: Probing bus 0 at eisa.0
EISA: Detected 0 cards.
NET: Registered protocol family 2
IP route cache hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
TCP established hash table entries: 262144 (order: 8, 1048576 bytes)
TCP bind hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
TCP: Hash tables configured (established 262144 bind 65536)
TCP reno registered
TCP bic registered
NET: Registered protocol family 1
NET: Registered protocol family 17
NET: Registered protocol family 8
NET: Registered protocol family 20
Using IPI Shortcut mode
ACPI wakeup devices:
PCI0
ACPI: (supports S0 S4 S5)
Freeing unused kernel memory: 232k freed
Broadcom NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Driver bnx2 v1.4.31 (January 19, 2006)
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:09:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
eth0: Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5708 1000Base-T (B1) PCI-X 64-bit 133MHz found at mem f4000000, IRQ 169, node addr 00188b38edac
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:05:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
eth1: Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5708 1000Base-T (B1) PCI-X 64-bit 133MHz found at mem f8000000, IRQ 169, node addr 00188b38edaa
SCSI subsystem initialized
megasas: 00.00.02.04 Fri Feb 03 14:31:44 PST 2006
megasas: 0x1028:0x0015:0x1028:0x1f03: bus 2:slot 14:func 0
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:02:0e.0[A] -> GSI 142 (level, low) -> IRQ 66
Uniform Multi-Platform E-IDE driver Revision: 7.00alpha2
ide: Assuming 33MHz system bus speed for PIO modes; override with idebus=xx
usbcore: registered new driver usbfs
usbcore: registered new driver hub
USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver v2.3
scsi0 : LSI Logic SAS based MegaRAID driver
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: ATA Model: WDC WD1600JS-75N Rev: 2E04
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: DP Model: BACKPLANE Rev: 1.00
Type: Enclosure ANSI SCSI revision: 05
Vendor: DELL Model: PERC 5/i Rev: 1.00
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1d.0[A] -> GSI 21 (level, low) -> IRQ 74
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1d.0 to 64
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: UHCI Host Controller
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.0: irq 74, io base 0x0000dce0
usb usb1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
SCSI device sda: 2179989504 512-byte hdwr sectors (1116155 MB)
sda: test WP failed, assume Write Enabled
sda: asking for cache data failed
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
SCSI device sda: 2179989504 512-byte hdwr sectors (1116155 MB)
sda: test WP failed, assume Write Enabled
sda: asking for cache data failed
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
sda: sda1 sda2 sda3
sd 0:2:0:0: Attached scsi disk sda
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1d.1[B] -> GSI 20 (level, low) -> IRQ 82
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1d.1 to 64
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: UHCI Host Controller
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.1: irq 82, io base 0x0000dcc0
usb usb2: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 2-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1d.2[C] -> GSI 21 (level, low) -> IRQ 74
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1d.2 to 64
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.2: UHCI Host Controller
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.2: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.2: irq 74, io base 0x0000dca0
usb usb3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 3-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1d.3[D] -> GSI 20 (level, low) -> IRQ 82
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1d.3 to 64
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.3: UHCI Host Controller
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.3: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
uhci_hcd 0000:00:1d.3: irq 82, io base 0x0000dc80
usb usb4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 4-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1d.7[A] -> GSI 21 (level, low) -> IRQ 74
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:00:1d.7 to 64
ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: EHCI Host Controller
ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: debug port 1
PCI: cache line size of 128 is not supported by device 0000:00:1d.7
ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 5
ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: irq 74, io mem 0xfc600000
ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00, driver 10 Dec 2004
usb usb5: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 5-0:1.0: 8 ports detected
ESB2: IDE controller at PCI slot 0000:00:1f.1
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:1f.1[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 169
ESB2: chipset revision 9
ESB2: not 100% native mode: will probe irqs later
ide0: BM-DMA at 0xfc00-0xfc07, BIOS settings: hdaMA, hdbio
Probing IDE interface ide0...
usb 5-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 2
usb 5-5: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 5-5:1.0: USB hub found
hub 5-5:1.0: 2 ports detected
hda: TSSTcorp CD-RW/DVD-ROM TS-H492C, ATAPI CD/DVD-ROM drive
usb 5-7: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 5-7: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 5-7:1.0: USB hub found
hub 5-7:1.0: 4 ports detected
usb 5-5.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
ide0 at 0x1f0-0x1f7,0x3f6 on irq 14
usb 5-5.1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
hub 5-5.1:1.0: USB hub found
hub 5-5.1:1.0: 4 ports detected
hda: ATAPI 48X DVD-ROM CD-R/RW drive, 1536kB Cache, UDMA(33)
Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.20
kjournald starting. Commit interval 5 seconds
EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with ordered data mode.
usb 5-5.1.1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
usb 5-5.1.1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usb 5-5.1.3: new low speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
usb 5-5.1.3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usb 5-5.1.4: new low speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 7
usb 5-5.1.4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
usbcore: registered new driver hiddev
input: Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse as /class/input/input0
input: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech USB-PS/2 Optical Mouse] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.1.3
input: Dell Dell USB Keyboard as /class/input/input1
input: USB HID v1.10 Keyboard [Dell Dell USB Keyboard] on usb-0000:00:1d.7-5.1.4
usbcore: registered new driver usbhid
drivers/usb/input/hid-core.c: v2.6:USB HID core driver
Real Time Clock Driver v1.12ac
pci_hotplug: PCI Hot Plug PCI Core version: 0.5
shpchp: Standard Hot Plug PCI Controller Driver version: 0.4
Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
scsi1 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
usb-storage: device found at 5
usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
ts: Compaq touchscreen protocol output
mice: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
hw_random hardware driver 1.0.0 loaded
floppy0: no floppy controllers found
EXT3 FS on sda1, internal journal
Vendor: Generic Model: Flash HS-CF Rev: 4.44
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sdb
Vendor: Generic Model: Flash HS-COMBO Rev: 4.44
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 00
sd 1:0:0:1: Attached scsi removable disk sdc
usb-storage: device scan complete
bnx2: eth1: using MSI
bnx2: eth1 NIC Link is Up, 1000 Mbps full duplex, receive & transmit flow control ON
NET: Registered protocol family 10
lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver
NET: Registered protocol family 5
eth1: no IPv6 routers present

[/HTML]

Here is the error I get when I run fsck

[HTML]
Password:
brcserver:/home/elliot# fsck
fsck 1.37 (21-Mar-2005)
e2fsck 1.37 (21-Mar-2005)
/dev/sdc1 is mounted.

WARNING!!! Running e2fsck on a mounted filesystem may cause
SEVERE filesystem damage.

Do you really want to continue (y/n)? yes

fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/sdc1

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

[/HTML]

Finegan, I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean!

In the previous post I stated that I have the system running. It boots into a usable linux system. Basically I did what you suggested. I edited the grub menu listing. I did this during the install process by opening a shell right before the installer asks you if you want to reboot. I changed /dev/sdc1 to /dev/sda1 etc...

This boots me to my system. However while I was booting I had to press CONTROL D, after it warned me about a problem with the superblock. The system runs fine, I just get an error. I wouldn't be so concerned, but this server needs to be reliable and I have to find out what kind of risk is involved with this type of superblock error, or fix the error.

I have three partitions; boot/root, swap and home. An interesting thing I noticed during setup is that after it finished formatting my terabyte home partition the installer pauses for over three minutes before continuing the install process. Is this just due to the lengthy process of formatting? But it DOES complete the install process normally. Did it acquire its superblock error then?

Here is the error on startup below:

[HTML]
checking all file systems...

fsck 1.37 (21-Mar-2005)
fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/sdc3
/dev/sdc3:
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2 filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2 filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck - b 8193 <device>

fsck failed. Please repair manually

CONTROL-D will exit from this shell and continue system startup.

Give root password for maintenance
(or type Control-D to continue):
[/HTML]

I press CONTROL-D and it spits out this:

[HTML]
Sertting kernel variables ...
... done.
Mounting local filesystems...
mount: special device /dev/sdc3 does not exist
Cleaning /tmp /var/run /var/lock.
Detecting hardware: Can't open file 'usr/share/discover/pci.lst' for reading!
Can't open file '/usr/share/discover/usb.lst' for reading!
Can't open file '/usr/share/discover/pcmcia.lst' for reading!
Can't open file '/usr/share/discover/pci-26.lst' for reading!
Can't open file '/usr/share/discover/usb-26.lst' for reading!
Can't open file '/usr/share/discover/pcmcia-26.lst' for reading!
ide_scsi
Skipping unavailable/built-in ide_scsi module.

.....(more boot stuff without errors)
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You said that you thought maybe the installed kernel and the boot kernel were different? Are you saying that the installers kernel is different than the one it installed? I'm not quite sure I understand what that means. It was my understanding that the booted kernel was the one and only used by the system, unless you were mounting a system from a boot disk.

You also said that I could mount the system (with knoppix or something I am guessing) and unzip the initrd under /boot. You said I could edit the unzipped file and replace root /dev/sdc1 with root /dev/sda1. The initrd file is a binary file, which means I would have to use a hex editor, right? It's a pretty long file, so I would have to replace the string instead of doing it manually, ouch.

Guess I just wanted to double check some stuff before I got my hands dirty with the initrd! Your sure that the string I want to replace is going to be root /dev/sdcx with /dev/sdax right?

Sorry, my knowledge is somewhat limited!

Thanks for your help thus far!

I believe Finegan was assuming that I still couldn't boot into my system.

I fixed the superblock error by editing my fstab under /etc/fstab and changing from /dev/sdc to /dev/sda etc. This was the final step in correcting the installer error.


Here is a summary of steps I took to get a working Debian system on the Dell Poweredge 2900.

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I visited the site listed below Click Here. This is site is by a guy who writes technical manuals for people in Japan. He rolled some Debian iso's that come with built in RAID support, etc.

I found that the 801 build was successful for me. (He has archives of install images linked to his site.)

During the install process there is a labeling problem. The installer recognizes the drives as a /dev/sdcx naming convention and labels the disks in the configuration files as such. However, the installed kernel is set to run from a /dev/sdax naming convention. Thus after the install process was complete, but before I elected to reboot the computer, I took out a shell and mounted the installed system. I then edited the grub menu so that it was using the /dev/sdax naming convention. I also edited the fstab configuration file and made the same changes.

If one does not edit the grub menu then the computer will not even boot. If one completes the grub menu, but does not edit fstab you will get a superblock error on startup. Please make sure to complete both steps.

For those less familiar with linux, please research "booting with a linux live cd" to edit configuration files. Also research fstab, and the grub menu.

I hope this helps anyone trying to get Debian on a dell system!!

Thanks for the Update, and letting us know what finally worked for you.

I'm impatiently waiting for Etch to become stable. I just picked up an HP server (HP DL360 G5) with an SAS RAID array, Sarge is clueless, can't see the array, says there are no drives to install to. Typical. I haven't tried any of the other custom Sarge builds, but Etch picked up the array controller and installed flawlessly.. Why did I choose an HP server ? It probably had to do with HP's press release that they were going to support Debian.

I just don't feel comfortable putting this server into production until Etch is moved to stable. but the install went so smooth and the applications are more up to date than Sarge. I really don't want to move it backwards to sarge either.. such a dilemma..

Thanks again for the update.

I tested my system for a failure by pulling one of the disks while the server was powered down. It booted fine, although the flashing Dell lights let me know the hard drive wasn't there.

Following the instructions via Dells site I was able to rebuild the drive using the configuration tool in the pre-boot configuration utility.

However, during a real failure the server will be powered on and a drive will suddenly stop working. I am sure the RAID system is capable of handling it, however, little flashing lights aren't enough. I need it to send me an email after a failure. Especially since all my disks are in use, and I don't have room for a hot spare.

Basically, I need either LSI's Server Management Software, or Dell's OMSA software installed. This communicates with the array and sends you information. If a disk fails, you can program it to let you know.

I looked at the LSI logic site's page on the MegaRAID SAS 8408E (it is the perc 5/i OEM equivalent). I can see that all of the packages provided are RPM based. Alien wasn't good enough to convert everything over, and it seems I cannot run there software.

I took a look at the Dell site posted here. It references to a Debian package for OMSA.

However, installing the .deb package didn't get OMSA working at all.

Dmesg gives me these errors;


....
When I reboot the computer the following error shows up


Any ideas on what might be going wrong?

Knowing the status of an array is very important.

I was reading that you should use YAIRD instead if INITRD so that it sets the disks properly