Precise/Raring does not detect proper device (/dev/mapper/isw_<something>_Volume0p1) during preseed install

[Leonardo Borda]

1. Description of the problem:
When performing a preseed install, on Dell machines using the Intel Matrix RAID controller (BIOS/FW Raid - Intel Corporation Patsburg SATA RAID Controller) the installer fails to find the proper device and prompts where to install grub.
The installer will just show "/dev/mapper". If you do install to just /dev/mapper it will fail. Instead I have to tell the installer to point to /dev/mapper/isw_<something>_Volume0".

IMPORTANT: debug files are attached to this bug

2. Ubuntu release, software version, Release Number and Architecture of the selected components.
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS AMD64 AND Ubuntu Raring

3. How reproducible is the problem?
Always using the reported Intel Matrix RAID controller (BIOS/FW Raid).

4. Steps to Reproduce:
1. Download ubuntu 12.04.2 alternate cd or Raring:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/precise/ubuntu-12.04.2-alternate-amd64.iso

2. Use a preseed file template for automatic installation

3. Change the kernel boot options to your preseed file as below:
flags=all-x DEBCONF_DEBUG=5 auto=true priority=critical
url=http://webserver/server.seed vga=788 initrd=/install/initrd.gz quiet --

 a. Actual Results:
When you get to the end of the installation, it will ask
where to install grub to. The installer will just show
“/dev/mapper”. *Do not install to just /dev/mapper or else it will
fail. Instead, tell the installer to point to
/dev/mapper/isw_<something>_Volume0”. * From here, grub should
install to the correct location and the system should boot.

 b. Expected Results:
Install the system on the proper boot partition without being prompted by debian-installer.

5. Known Workaround:
Install the system manually making sure you select the right device. ie: /dev/mapper/isw_????????_Volume0p1

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

I have Intel Raid Controller as well [1]. My experience is as follows:

1) Automatic preseeding with installer booted in BIOS (Legacy) mode, ends up installing grub into /dev/sda, succeeds unattended and fails to reboot.
2) Automatic preseeding with installer booted in UEFI mode, succeeds unattended and successfully reboots into a working system.

Does the machine in question can boot in UEFI mode?

I also wonder how similar raid controller in the affected machine is similar to mine [1] (Z77 intel south bridge)

[1] http://paste.ubuntu.com/5701268/

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

Now, since the boot is happing in BIOS mode and the grub-installer is instructed to install bootloader into "mbr" and it picks the wrong target, we can instead instruct a bootdev to the grub-installer. One way to achieve this is to preseed:

d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean false
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/mapper/isw_eaijafbabd_Volume0

(do not preseed any other grub-installer/* nor lilo-installer/*)

This is not generic, however as another machine will have a different id of the raid array.
To circumvent that, one can rely on the implementation detail that the first raid array will be a symlink to /dev/dm-0.
Thus using:

d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean false
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/dm-0

(do not preseed any other grub-installer/* nor lilo-installer/*)

I managed to boot the installer and complete the installation unattended in BIOS (Legacy) mode.

This is a workaround. The bug as far as I currently understand is inside grub-installer package which incorrectly suggests wrong device when preseeding grub-installer options only_debian & with_other_os as true, while performing dmraid installation.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[PsYcHoK9 (psychok9)]

Ubiquity freeze on 2nd step (after install updates from internet selection).

Intel on Z77 Motherboard, Intel i3770k, Radeon 5850 1GB,
2x160GB Stripe 0
2x1 TB, 389GB Stripe 0, 736GB Mirroring 1.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

On 18 April 2013 15:55, PsYcHoK9 <email address hidden> wrote:
> Ubiquity freeze on 2nd step (after install updates from internet
> selection).
>
> Intel on Z77 Motherboard, Intel i3770k, Radeon 5850 1GB,
> 2x160GB Stripe 0
> 2x1 TB, 389GB Stripe 0, 736GB Mirroring 1.
>

Nothing freezes in this bug. So your case is different, possibly
related to http://pad.lv/1080701

Regards,

Dmitrijs.

[Dave Chiluk (chiluk)]

Installation on such a machine can be accomplished through the below sections of a preseed file. Keep in mind this is not a complete preseed file.

# Partitioning
d-i partman/early_command string debconf-set partman-auto/disk "$(ls /dev/mapper/isw* | head -n1)"
d-i partman-auto/method string regular
d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe select atomic
#d-i partman-auto/disk string /dev/dm-0
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select Finish partitioning and write changes to disk
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman/default_filesystem string ext4
d-i clock-setup/utc boolean true

d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean false
d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean false
d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/dm-0