The Compaq SMART2 (cpqarray) driver detects the Smart Array 3200 controller as different devices in the 2004.3-r1 Live CD kernel than on the 2.4.26-gentoo-r13 kernel. This may be a k2.4.x vs. k2.6.x issue overall. The Live CD uses /dev/ida/c0d0pn (where n>=1 is the partition number) The 2.4 kernel uses /dev/ida/disc0/partn (where n>=1 is the partition number) Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Install from 2004.3-r1 Universal Live CD onto a Compaq Proliant 6500 or 6400 (circa P3 500Mhz) with a Smart Array 3200 array controller and configured array. (I believe this to not be specific to server model and exact array model as long as the cpqarray driver is used.) 2. Emerge gentoo-sources (which currently gives you a 2.4 kernel) 3. Compile kernel with the Compaq SMART2 (cpqarray) driver 4. Config lilo and fstab with /dev entries as seen by the Live CD kernel 5. Reboot to new system Actual Results: fsck fails, complainig that it can not find devices to check. The boot process stops with errors that partition devices are not available. System prompts for root p/w or Ctrl-D. You CAN access the root partition, but it is mounted read- only. Expected Results: Boot properly after installation. Detect array controller and logical volume (s) as the same devices as the Live CD did. One possible workaround: o Upon failed boot, enter the root password. o Take note of the /dev entries for the array controller as seen by the boot kernel o Mount the /usr partition as writeable (or another writeable partition if /usr is part of your / partition) o Copy lilo.conf to the writeable partion and change the following lines: From: boot = /dev/ida/c0d0 To: boot = /dev/ida/disc0/disc From: root = /dev/ida/c0d0p1 To: root = /dev/ida/disc0/part1 (assuming you're using Controller 0, Disc 0, Partition 1 as the root partition on the boot volume) o Run 'lilo -v -C /path/to/updated/lilo.conf' o Reboot to the Live CD o Mount the necessary partition(s) and edit /mnt/gentoo/etc/fstab with new /dev entries, similar to above. o Reboot and you should be running. Notes: o You can't update lilo after booting from the Live CD because it won't find the correct /dev entries and will fail to install the boot loader. o Conversely, you can't edit the fstab until you reboot to the live CD because the root partition is mounted read-only when the boot process fails.
Well... this has nothing to do with the LiveCD. This is a misconfiguration issue on the installer's part. The difference is because of udev versus devfs and really has nothing to do with 2.4 or 2.6 other than the fact that 2.4 cannot use udev. Honestly, this is a WONTFIX as far as the LiveCD is concerned. We are moving 2.6 and have no plans on turning back. On the other hand, this should be documented in the Handbook so that others do not run into the same problems with devfs using non-standard device namings from udev or non-dynamic /dev systems. Just to let you know, the 2.4 kernel uses /dev/ida/* also, it is devfs which uses the /dev/ida/disc0/* junk. Also, in your notes, you can always do the following: mount -o remount,rw / to edit files on your root partition, so there's no need to reboot to the LiveCD. Anyway, I am reassigning this to the docs team. Besides the cpqarray stuff, there is also carmel, and cssis that are different between udev/non-dynamic and devfs.
We already have this in the udev guide. Since Gentoo currently does not use udev by default, I see no reason to include this in the handbook as well - users should be checking out the udev guide. See also a similar discussion on http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.documentation/1515
