Greetings,
I have a system x3100 m4 system with 64GB SSD for OS and 2x2tb for data as MD device (software RAID).
It had Fedora 17 with EFI/
I tried to install centos 6. deleting the existing partitions on the SSD /dev/sdc.
sda and sdb are the 2x2tb md device mounted on /home.
no joy.
googling Questions:
1. Where do I locate the boot loader? /dev/sdc? is MBR (the default with Centos) enough 2. Is it necessary to have GPT label and EFI on /dev/sdc? 3. Will it affect in anyway sda and sdb (I am not choosing to format them)?
any pointers with information to wrap my head around
FC17 was running fine after I fsck-ed the /dev/sdc4 which had vanished when this box came in.
To my knowlege, a root file system of size 64GB should be handled peacefully by centos.
GPT comes into picture only on > 2tb partitions for different mountpoints.
or is it that any system mounting more than 2tb disk as non-root will necessarily need a boot disk with a GPT label and EFI partition?
Am I right or have I got it all wrong?
Any reply and pointers appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 12:48 AM, Rajagopal Swaminathan < raju.rajsand@gmail.com> wrote:
Greetings,
I have a system x3100 m4 system with 64GB SSD for OS and 2x2tb for data as MD device (software RAID).
It had Fedora 17 with EFI/
I tried to install centos 6. deleting the existing partitions on the SSD /dev/sdc.
sda and sdb are the 2x2tb md device mounted on /home.
Did you previously use a md metadata version (in Fedora) that CentOS 6.x doesn't support?
no joy.
So the system doesn't load CentOS at all? Or can't mount /home and has a fit?
More details please in what you mean by "no joy".
googling Questions:
- Where do I locate the boot loader? /dev/sdc? is MBR (the default
with Centos) enough
Does your system BIOS try to boot from /dev/sdc once it finds /dev/sda or /dev/sdb isn't bootable? You might just need to move cables so your SSD becomes /dev/sda.
- Is it necessary to have GPT label and EFI on /dev/sdc?
- Will it affect in anyway sda and sdb (I am not choosing to format them)?
any pointers with information to wrap my head around
FC17 was running fine after I fsck-ed the /dev/sdc4 which had vanished when this box came in.
To my knowlege, a root file system of size 64GB should be handled peacefully by centos.
Yes, the drive size isn't an issue.
GPT comes into picture only on > 2tb partitions for different mountpoints.
Yes, GPT is necessary when partitions are >2TB.
or is it that any system mounting more than 2tb disk as non-root will necessarily need a boot disk with a GPT label and EFI partition?
Am I right or have I got it all wrong?
Any reply and pointers appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
-- Regards,
Rajagopal _______________________________________________ CentOS mailing list CentOS@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
Greetings,
On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 7:06 PM, SilverTip257 silvertip257@gmail.com wrote:
Did you previously use a md metadata version (in Fedora) that CentOS 6.x doesn't support?
The system was installed by somebody else. I did not check all those details.
So the system doesn't load CentOS at all? Or can't mount /home and has a fit?
Yes. See below by learnings.
Does your system BIOS try to boot from /dev/sdc once it finds /dev/sda or /dev/sdb isn't bootable? You might just need to move cables so your SSD becomes /dev/sda.
At that time It was trying to boot from all the possible devices.
Moral of the story: 1. To play safe, use a seperate device such as the ssd or some drive smaller than 2tb as the boot device on the older systems without UEFI. 2. Devices > 2TB should have GPT and they mount fine 3. If the boot device itself is > 2TB, Make sure that UEFI is there in the motherboard if it is possible. Else FC17 had created a EFI partition and I had not gone into the details. Perhaps I should study that now. 4. Be Wary of "Server" hardware as they are conservative like centos. The firmware changes very slowly. Esp I guess with IBM like companies who would like to do a 5 minutes diagnostics even in x-series (perhaps a hangover from i-series, p-series and z-series stuff). I don't blame them as it is part of the game.
BTW, I heard that companies like IBM, HP and DELL seem require customer quoting RHEL subscription number for obtaining the requisite drivers from their requisite sites. Earlier this was not the practice. It was available free. Is my understanding correct or is it some kind of salestalk?
Regards,
Rajagopal
-
Rajagopal Swaminathan -
SilverTip257