Fresh install 13.04 from Live usb stick to SSD (with 2 x RAID0 HDD)

[Rob Hills]

Trying to install fresh 13.04 onto a machine with a 128G SSD and 2 x 1TB HDD in hardware RAID0. I'm trying to get the OS onto LVM partitions on the SSD (just using the generic LVM install from the checkbox on the relevant dialog in the Install Wizard) and plan to use the HDDs for data etc, but I keep getting this Grub error.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: ubiquity 2.14.6
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-19.29-generic 3.8.8
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-19-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
CasperVersion: 1.331
Date: Wed Jul 31 22:59:17 2013
InstallCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz quiet splash -- maybe-ubiquity
LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
MarkForUpload: True
SourcePackage: grub-installer
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Rob Hills (rhills)]

This was posted automatically when the install process crashed. It asked me for the log but said it would include the user password, so I declined. Where do I find the install log? I could edit it to obfuscate the password.

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

You appear to have tried to install grub to /dev/sda, which appears to be one of the drives in the fake hardware raid array. If you wish to boot from the fakeraid, you need to install grub to the whole raid array, not an individual disk. That would be the /dev/mapper/xxx device.

If you are not dual booting with Windows, it is advised to avoid the use of fakeraid entirely and stick to regular Linux software raid, which is much better supported.

[Rob Hills (rhills)]

As I noted in my comments, I did NOT wish to install to the RAID HDDs, the Ubuntu Installer did that. I specifically selected /dev/sdc (an SSD) as my installation target during setup. I think there is a valid bug here as the Installer tried to put Grub on a different drive from the one that I'd targeted for the OS to be installed on. I note this was a straight, vanilla (apart from the LVM option) install of Ubuntu 13.04 onto a single SSD. Specifically, this was NOT dual boot.

Also, not sure what you mean by "fakeraid". This is a Hardware RAID set up using the motherboard hdd controller. Are you saying it's not a real RAID controller and that I should use the Linux SW RAID instead?

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

According to the logs you selected /dev/sda, which is the default. Do not confuse the selection of where to install the system to with the selection for where to install grub to. The two can be different. If your bios is set to boot from the ssd ( /dev/sdc ) then you need to make sure to select that drive from the drop down list for where to install grub, not just assign the root filesystem to a partition on that disk.

Yes, I am saying it is not a real raid controller and you are better off using Linux SW raid instead, unless you must dual boot with Windows, which does not understand Linux SW raid, but does understand the fake raid. See http://wiki.ubuntu.com/FakeRaidHowto for more information.

[Rob Hills (rhills)]

Hi Phillip,
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I didn't choose to have grub installed anywhere. Unless I missed something, that's not an option you're given in the basic install process. Neither should it be, asking the average punter where they'd like grub installed would confuse them mightily!

Phillip Susi <email address hidden> wrote:
>According to the logs you selected /dev/sda, which is the default. Do
>not confuse the selection of where to install the system to with the
>selection for where to install grub to. The two can be different. If
>your bios is set to boot from the ssd ( /dev/sdc ) then you need to
>make
>sure to select that drive from the drop down list for where to install
>grub, not just assign the root filesystem to a partition on that disk.
>
>Yes, I am saying it is not a real raid controller and you are better
>off
>using Linux SW raid instead, unless you must dual boot with Windows,
>which does not understand Linux SW raid, but does understand the fake
>raid. See http://wiki.ubuntu.com/FakeRaidHowto for more information.
>
>
>** Changed in: grub-installer (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Invalid
>
>--
>You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the
>bug
>report.
>https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1206952
>
>Title:
> Fresh install 13.04 from Live usb stick to SSD (with 2 x RAID0 HDD)
>
>Status in “grub-installer” package in Ubuntu:
> Invalid
>
>Bug description:
> Trying to install fresh 13.04 onto a machine with a 128G SSD and 2 x
> 1TB HDD in hardware RAID0. I'm trying to get the OS onto LVM
> partitions on the SSD (just using the generic LVM install from the
> checkbox on the relevant dialog in the Install Wizard) and plan to use
> the HDDs for data etc, but I keep getting this Grub error.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
> Package: ubiquity 2.14.6
> ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-19.29-generic 3.8.8
> Uname: Linux 3.8.0-19-generic x86_64
> ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8
> Architecture: amd64
> CasperVersion: 1.331
> Date: Wed Jul 31 22:59:17 2013
>InstallCmdLine: noprompt cdrom-detect/try-usb=true persistent
>file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper initrd=/casper/initrd.lz
>quiet splash -- maybe-ubiquity
>LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64
>(20130424)
> MarkForUpload: True
> SourcePackage: grub-installer
> UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
>
>To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub-installer/+bug/1206952/+subscriptions

Cheers,
Rob Hills
--
Sent from my Android phone.

[Phillip Susi (psusi)]

Yes, you need to choose to do a manual install to get the option, otherwise it assumes /dev/sda.