Hello, Wol.

On Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 11:32:18 +0100, Wol wrote:

On 20/08/2024 22:16, Peter B÷hm wrote:

Hello Alan,

Anyhow, I'm up to the stage of configuring the kernel, and I'm stuck at
the bit where I need to specify the firmware to be incorporated into the >> kernel for the integrated graphics processor.

Yes, you surely will need some firmware files for your GPU of your AMD CPU. The
easiest way to find out what you need is:

The other thing I'll throw in is do you actually want to load the
firmware into the kernel?

Yes, I do.

Or do you want to build the video driver as a module, and let it
choose what it wants.

I've never built a modular kernel in my life. Such is a workaround for
binary distributions, which couldn't otherwise include drivers for all
the possible bits of hardware in users' machines.

I had great grief trying to build the correct firmware into the kernel,
gave up and went down the module route (no I don't like having drivers
for base hardware as modules), and the relief when it "just worked".

We'll see how I get on. :-)

So think about that ...

Thanks!

Cheers,
Wol

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 20/08/2024 22:16, Peter Böhm wrote:

Hello Alan,

Anyhow, I'm up to the stage of configuring the kernel, and I'm stuck at
the bit where I need to specify the firmware to be incorporated into the
kernel for the integrated graphics processor.

Yes, you surely will need some firmware files for your GPU of your AMD CPU. The
easiest way to find out what you need is:

The other thing I'll throw in is do you actually want to load the
firmware into the kernel? Or do you want to build the video driver as a
module, and let it choose what it wants.

I had great grief trying to build the correct firmware into the kernel,
gave up and went down the module route (no I don't like having drivers
for base hardware as modules), and the relief when it "just worked".

So think about that ...

Cheers,
Wol

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, 21 August 2024 12:15:22 BST Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Hello, Peter.

On Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 23:16:39 +0200, Peter Böhm wrote:

Hello Alan,

Anyhow, I'm up to the stage of configuring the kernel, and I'm stuck at the bit where I need to specify the firmware to be incorporated into the kernel for the integrated graphics processor.

Yes, you surely will need some firmware files for your GPU of your AMD
CPU. The easiest way to find out what you need is:

Boot with our GentooLiveCD (*) and ask:

"dmesg | grep firmware"

I've done that, and see just three firmware files:

regulatory.db
regulatory.db.p7s
rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw

.. The first, according to file, is a wireless regulatory database file.
The second is some variant of this, I think a signed version or
something. The third is surely firmware for my Realtek 8125 Ethernet
chip.

That's not yet got me very far.

You'll need the above if you using WiFi, but for your graphics can you please take a look/share the output of:

lspci | grep -i VGA

and

lshw -C cpu

lshw -C display

The above will show which APU you are using and its GPU cores. Then it is a matter of looking here for the corresponding GPU chipset and microarchitecture you need to enable in the kernel:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/AMDGPU#Feature_support

before you check what firmware blobs you also need to include, from this table:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/AMDGPU#Firmware_blobs_for_a_known_card_model

Alternatively, as Wol mentioned, you can set up your kernel graphics drivers as modules (temporarily) and inspect dmesg to find out what firmware is being loaded. Then use this information to add the firmware file names to be built in the kernel and also configure to be built-in any kernel graphics drivers.

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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Hello Alan,

Am Mittwoch, 21. August 2024, 13:15:22 CEST schrieben Sie:

Boot with our GentooLiveCD (*) and ask:

"dmesg | grep firmware"

I've done that, and see just three firmware files:

Have you used the GentooMinimalInstallationCD ?

Please try again with our GentoLIVE-CD.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Hello, Peter.

On Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 23:16:39 +0200, Peter B÷hm wrote:

Hello Alan,

Anyhow, I'm up to the stage of configuring the kernel, and I'm stuck at
the bit where I need to specify the firmware to be incorporated into the kernel for the integrated graphics processor.

Yes, you surely will need some firmware files for your GPU of your AMD CPU. The
easiest way to find out what you need is:

Boot with our GentooLiveCD (*) and ask:

"dmesg | grep firmware"

I've done that, and see just three firmware files:

regulatory.db
regulatory.db.p7s
rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw

.. The first, according to file, is a wireless regulatory database file.
The second is some variant of this, I think a signed version or
something. The third is surely firmware for my Realtek 8125 Ethernet
chip.

That's not yet got me very far.

You will see every loaded firmware file ... notice it and build it into your kernel. ;-)

Might it be that my installation environment is running under VGA (it's
37 lines to the screen) rather than on a framebuffer? These 37 lines
would fit just nicely into an 800x600 screen assuming characters were
8x16 pixels.

Maybe there's some parameter I could give the kernel at booting time to
use a framebuffer.

*) It must be our GentooCD because we have a kernel patch for logging the loading of firmware files.

Many Greetings,
Peter

P.S.: Maybe you know this already ? ->

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Pietinger/Tutorials/ Manual_kernel_configuration

I'll go and have a look at that file, thanks!

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Hello, Michael.

On Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 12:37:53 +0100, Michael wrote:

On Wednesday, 21 August 2024 12:15:22 BST Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Hello, Peter.

On Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 23:16:39 +0200, Peter B÷hm wrote:

Hello Alan,

Anyhow, I'm up to the stage of configuring the kernel, and I'm stuck at the bit where I need to specify the firmware to be incorporated into the
kernel for the integrated graphics processor.

Yes, you surely will need some firmware files for your GPU of your AMD CPU. The easiest way to find out what you need is:

Boot with our GentooLiveCD (*) and ask:

"dmesg | grep firmware"

I've done that, and see just three firmware files:

regulatory.db
regulatory.db.p7s
rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw

.. The first, according to file, is a wireless regulatory database file. The second is some variant of this, I think a signed version or
something. The third is surely firmware for my Realtek 8125 Ethernet
chip.

That's not yet got me very far.

You'll need the above if you using WiFi, but for your graphics can you please take a look/share the output of:

lspci | grep -i VGA

I've tried that already. I get

VGA compatible controller, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc [AMD/ATI] Raphael (rev c4)

, which fails to identify the GPU cores. Raphael, I believe, is just the
code name for the entire processor.

and

lshw -C cpu

lshw -C display

They don't give me any more information, either.

The above will show which APU you are using and its GPU cores. Then it is a matter of looking here for the corresponding GPU chipset and microarchitecture
you need to enable in the kernel:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/AMDGPU#Feature_support

I've tried that already. "Raphael" does not appear in that document.

before you check what firmware blobs you also need to include, from this table:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/AMDGPU#Firmware_blobs_for_a_known_card_model

That is my problem - discovering the "known card model" for my Ryzen
7900. The Gentoo documentation doesn't appear to deal with this case,
and my three hour web search yesterday turned up nothing useful.

Alternatively, as Wol mentioned, you can set up your kernel graphics drivers as modules (temporarily) and inspect dmesg to find out what firmware is being loaded. Then use this information to add the firmware file names to be built in the kernel and also configure to be built-in any kernel graphics drivers.

That would involve me learning how to make and handle a modular kernel, something I'd really rather not have to do. Why is the identity of the necessary firmware for Ryzen APUs such a closely guarded secret?

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wednesday, 21 August 2024 13:04:44 BST Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Hello, Michael.

On Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 12:37:53 +0100, Michael wrote:

[snip ...]

lspci | grep -i VGA

I've tried that already. I get

VGA compatible controller, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc [AMD/ATI] Raphael (rev c4)

, which fails to identify the GPU cores. Raphael, I believe, is just the code name for the entire processor.

and

lshw -C cpu

lshw -C display

They don't give me any more information, either.

Try a different liveUSB, as already suggested. It could come with the necessary modules/firmware and will load them, making it easy to identify firmware file names to copy over.

The above will show which APU you are using and its GPU cores. Then it is a matter of looking here for the corresponding GPU chipset and microarchitecture you need to enable in the kernel:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/AMDGPU#Feature_support

I've tried that already. "Raphael" does not appear in that document.

Yes, Raphael is not listed in the wiki page. :-(

If you're happy to experiment, you could try configuring your kernel for
RDNA2, or even RDNA3, before you boot with it and see what firmware the kernel complains is missing in dmesg. The error message of missing firmware will point to the relevant chipset's firmware you should add to your kernel.

Alternatively, as Wol mentioned, you can set up your kernel graphics drivers as modules (temporarily) and inspect dmesg to find out what firmware is being loaded. Then use this information to add the firmware file names to be built in the kernel and also configure to be built-in
any kernel graphics drivers.

That would involve me learning how to make and handle a modular kernel, something I'd really rather not have to do.

Well, there's nothing to it really. Just configure your kernel with the drivers needed by your graphics card, but set them as modules. Then boot with it and check dmesg. The kernel will load the modules and try to fetch the requisite firmware.

Once you know what you need to configure in the kernel switch over the drivers to be built in-kernel and add your firmware files.

Why is the identity of the
necessary firmware for Ryzen APUs such a closely guarded secret?

I agree, you should not have to guess which driver and firmware you need for your graphics. Perhaps the Wiki page has not caught up with the latest hardware - something to contribute to once you get yours running. ;-)

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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 21/08/2024 14:49, Michael wrote:

That would involve me learning how to make and handle a modular kernel,
something I'd really rather not have to do.

Well, there's nothing to it really. Just configure your kernel with the drivers needed by your graphics card, but set them as modules. Then boot with
it and check dmesg. The kernel will load the modules and try to fetch the requisite firmware.

Just don't forget to "make modules" and "make modules_install". Then you
need to make sure it's included in any initramfs, so no it's not quite
as simple as "but set them as modules" if you don't have any other modules.

That said, I've always had a modular kernel and there really isn't
anything much to it - I just do my best (provided I can find them) to
configure all the *required* drivers into the kernel, so if the module
system fails the system still boots, or if only sometimes need them,
modules aren't loaded until necessary to save ram.

Knowing how to boot a modular kernel is a sensible skill to have. And
booting the modular way (even if you don't actually have any modules) is
an easy and sensible thing to do.

Cheers,
Wol

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Wednesday, 21 August 2024 16:22:18 BST Wol wrote:

On 21/08/2024 14:49, Michael wrote:

That would involve me learning how to make and handle a modular kernel,
something I'd really rather not have to do.

Well, there's nothing to it really. Just configure your kernel with the drivers needed by your graphics card, but set them as modules. Then boot with it and check dmesg. The kernel will load the modules and try to
fetch the requisite firmware.

Just don't forget to "make modules" and "make modules_install". Then you
need to make sure it's included in any initramfs, so no it's not quite
as simple as "but set them as modules" if you don't have any other modules.

That said, I've always had a modular kernel and there really isn't
anything much to it - I just do my best (provided I can find them) to configure all the *required* drivers into the kernel, so if the module
system fails the system still boots, or if only sometimes need them,
modules aren't loaded until necessary to save ram.

Knowing how to boot a modular kernel is a sensible skill to have. And
booting the modular way (even if you don't actually have any modules) is
an easy and sensible thing to do.

Someone said once that he builds-in everything necessary to start the system, and all the less essential things as modules. That seems to make sense, and I followed that advice for some years. I haven't been too particular more recently, though.

--
Regards,
Peter.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Hello, Peter.

On Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 14:03:10 +0200, Peter B÷hm wrote:

Hello Alan,

Am Mittwoch, 21. August 2024, 13:15:22 CEST schrieben Sie:

Boot with our GentooLiveCD (*) and ask:

"dmesg | grep firmware"

I've done that, and see just three firmware files:

Have you used the GentooMinimalInstallationCD ?

Please try again with our GentoLIVE-CD.

Yes, I'd misunderstood that. I downloaded the Gentoo live CD, burnt it
onto a DVD and booted from it.

It looks like it was trying to boot into a KDE system, but nothing
stayed on my screen for more than ╜ second. However I was able to type Ctrl-Alt-F1 to get to a console, and perform # dmesg | grep firmware.
This showed a LOT of files from amdgpu being loaded.

I copied all these files into my kernel config, and built the kernel. I carried on with the rest of the stuff in the installation handbook, and
got to the stage of rebooting into the new system.

Nothing. No trace of anything on my blank screen. I hate it when
people say that configuring a kernel is easy. It isn't, never has been,
and never will be.

So I've got my evening to try and debug it. Yes, I'm aware that having
the firmware loaded into a modular kernel would have helped here, but
that's just not the way I want to go.

Thanks everybody for the help!

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Hello Alan,

Am Mittwoch, 21. August 2024, 19:26:11 CEST schrieb Alan Mackenzie:

Nothing. No trace of anything on my blank screen. I hate it when
people say that configuring a kernel is easy. It isn't, never has been,
and never will be.

A black screen could be a missing FB device or FB console support.

Please see:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Pietinger/Tutorials/ Manual_Configuring_Kernel_Version_6.6#Part_3_-_Must_Haves

If this does not help, I would need your .config file.

Many Greetings,
Peter (aka pietinger)

.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
I have kernels configured for three different video cards.

AMD : sienna_chiclid, polaris10, navi31 --- all with firmware

The good thing about this is if you add firmware not needed, it is ignored.

If the added bin is older, it is also ignored.

Try a build with the firmware suggested by Grant Edwards.

set the pathing to :
/lib/firmware/

This is how my kernel(s) are configured : 6.6.38-gentoo

NOTE :
The firmware drivers are NOT listed on the Gentoo Wiki.
You need all shown below to get console output.
---------
Under "Device Drivers ---> Firmware Drivers --->"
[*] Mark VGA/VBE/EFI FB as generic system framebuffer

Under "Device Drivers ---> Graphics support ---> Frame buffer Devices --->"
<*> Support for frame buffer device drivers --->
[*] Provide legacy /dev/fb* device

Under "Device Drivers ---> Graphics support ---> Frame buffer Devices ---> <*> Support for frame buffer device drivers --->"
[*] VESA VGA graphics support
[*] EFI-based Framebuffer Support
<*> Simple framebuffer support

---------

If you want to build-in the firmware :
Under "Device Drivers ---> Generic Driver Options --->"
[ ] Select only drivers that don't need compile-time external firmware
[ ] Disable drivers features which enable custom firmware building
If you don't want the firmware built-in, this package will prep a loadable firmware image for the kernel ( Just toggle support for you chosen loader ) :

sys-kernel/installkernel USE="-grub -dracut -refind -systemd -systemd-boot -uki -ukify


Hope this helps.


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<pre>I have kernels configured for three different video cards.</pre>
<pre>AMD : sienna_chiclid, polaris10, navi31 --- all with firmware
</pre>
<pre>The good thing about this is if you add firmware not needed, it is ignored.</pre>
<pre>If the added bin is older, it is also ignored.</pre>
<pre>Try a build with the firmware suggested by Grant Edwards.</pre>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">set the pathing to :
/lib/firmware/

This is how my kernel(s) are configured : 6.6.38-gentoo

NOTE :
The firmware drivers are NOT listed on the Gentoo Wiki.
You need all shown below to get console output.
---------
Under "Device Drivers ---&gt; Firmware Drivers ---&gt;"
[*] Mark VGA/VBE/EFI FB as generic system framebuffer

Under "Device Drivers ---&gt; Graphics support ---&gt; Frame buffer Devices ---&gt;"
&lt;*&gt; Support for frame buffer device drivers ---&gt;
[*] Provide legacy /dev/fb* device

Under "Device Drivers ---&gt; Graphics support ---&gt; Frame buffer Devices ---&gt; &lt;*&gt; Support for frame buffer device drivers ---&gt;"
[*] VESA VGA graphics support
[*] EFI-based Framebuffer Support
&lt;*&gt; Simple framebuffer support

---------

If you want to build-in the firmware :
Under "Device Drivers ---&gt; Generic Driver Options ---&gt;"
[ ] Select only drivers that don't need compile-time external firmware
[ ] Disable drivers features which enable custom firmware building
If you don't want the firmware built-in, this package will prep a loadable firmware image for the kernel ( Just toggle support for you chosen loader ) :

sys-kernel/installkernel USE="-grub -dracut -refind -systemd -systemd-boot -uki -ukify


Hope this helps.


</pre>
<p></p>
</body>
</html>

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Thursday, 22 August 2024 01:34:28 BST corbin bird wrote:

[Snip ...]

You need all shown below to get console output.

With EFI MoBos in most cases you no longer need any other than the EFI framebuffer, although legacy framebuffers won't hurt beyond bloating the size of the kernel image. Kernel image size could be an issue for embedded devices, but not for a desktop.

---------
Under "Device Drivers ---> Firmware Drivers --->"
[*] Mark VGA/VBE/EFI FB as generic system framebuffer

Under "Device Drivers ---> Graphics support ---> Frame buffer Devices --->" <*> Support for frame buffer device drivers --->
[*] Provide legacy /dev/fb* device

The legacy /dev/fb* device above is only needed if you have some particular application or code which may use fbdev to provide graphics output - e.g.

https://github.com/reiver/go-fbdev

Under "Device Drivers ---> Graphics support ---> Frame buffer Devices

<*> Support for frame buffer device drivers --->"

[*] VESA VGA graphics support
[*] EFI-based Framebuffer Support
<*> Simple framebuffer support

Just building the "EFI-based Framebuffer Support" should be enough for EFI MoBos. Note, to have a console coming up and not just a black screen you will also need DRM_FBDEV_EMULATION for the KMS to be able to set your display mode:

Device Drivers

-> Graphics support
-> Enable legacy fbdev support for your modesetting driver (DRM_FBDEV_EMULATION [=y]) │
Selects: FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE_DETECT_PRIMARY [=y]

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--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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Hello, Peter.

On Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 20:10:51 +0200, Peter B÷hm wrote:

Hello Alan,

Am Mittwoch, 21. August 2024, 19:26:11 CEST schrieb Alan Mackenzie:

Nothing. No trace of anything on my blank screen. I hate it when
people say that configuring a kernel is easy. It isn't, never has been, and never will be.

A black screen could be a missing FB device or FB console support.

Please see:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/User:Pietinger/Tutorials/ Manual_Configuring_Kernel_Version_6.6#Part_3_-_Must_Haves

If this does not help, I would need your .config file.

I've now managed to get a framebuffer up on my screen whilst booting.
So my boot manager is working, and my video also.

Sadly the kernel can't mount my root partition and panics. The said
partition is /dev/md126, a RAID1 assembly of two identical partitions on
two nvme drives. It's looking like the md driver is not being
associated with its major device number (9) soon enough. Or something
like that. The same setup works just fine on my current machine.

For some reason emerge --sync downloaded the ebuild for gentoo-sources
6.6.47 rather than 6.6.38 which is the current unmasked version. Maybe
this newer version is broken. Maybe. More likely, I've just made a
mistake, somewhere.

Is there an easy way to persuade portage to download the ebuild for gentoo-sources 6.6.38? Why have I got 6.6.47 instead?

Many Greetings,
Peter (aka pietinger)

.

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

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On Thursday, 22 August 2024 15:46:41 BST Peter Humphrey wrote:

On Thursday, 22 August 2024 12:57:21 BST Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Is there an easy way to persuade portage to download the ebuild for gentoo-sources 6.6.38? Why have I got 6.6.47 instead?

6.6.47 is the current stable version.

Can't help with your more immediate problem, I'm afraid, because I don't use RAID.

Running a diff between my kernel .config files for gentoo-sources 6.6.38 and 6.6.47 I don't see anything relevant to RAID, although I don't have CONFIG_DM_RAID enabled on this system.

May be worth rechecking your raid configuration and how you ran mdadm, the
NVMe UUIDs you've entered in fstab, etc.
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On Thursday, 22 August 2024 12:57:21 BST Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Is there an easy way to persuade portage to download the ebuild for gentoo-sources 6.6.38? Why have I got 6.6.47 instead?

6.6.47 is the current stable version.

Can't help with your more immediate problem, I'm afraid, because I don't use RAID.

--
Regards,
Peter.

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Hello, Michael.

On Thu, Aug 22, 2024 at 16:05:38 +0100, Michael wrote:

On Thursday, 22 August 2024 15:46:41 BST Peter Humphrey wrote:

On Thursday, 22 August 2024 12:57:21 BST Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Is there an easy way to persuade portage to download the ebuild for gentoo-sources 6.6.38? Why have I got 6.6.47 instead?

6.6.47 is the current stable version.

Can't help with your more immediate problem, I'm afraid, because I don't use
RAID.

My new machine had a kernel panic last night, being unable to mount the
RAID1 root partition. I "didn't change anything" and it booted just
fine today. I wish I understood why. These things normally work the
other way around, and I don't wish to appear ungrateful, but I would
really like to understand what went into "didn't change anything".

Running a diff between my kernel .config files for gentoo-sources 6.6.38 and 6.6.47 I don't see anything relevant to RAID, although I don't have CONFIG_DM_RAID enabled on this system.

Yes, 6.6.47 has become the new stable Gentoo kernel, and I've now
updated my old machine, and this worked without problem. This was
mainly to test that nothing RAID-wise had gone missing in the kernel.
It hadn't

May be worth rechecking your raid configuration and how you ran mdadm, the NVMe UUIDs you've entered in fstab, etc.

It all seems to be working now, thanks!

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On Thursday, 22 August 2024 17:37:22 BST Alan Mackenzie wrote:

It all seems to be working now, thanks!

You'd think that, software being nothing but 0s an 1s, not a trace of anything in between or outside, and given stable hardware to keep it that way, there would be not the faintest chance of any difference between one run and the next.

Why, then, do things persist in going 'bump' in the night?

--
Regards,
Peter.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 22/08/2024 17:37, Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Yes, 6.6.47 has become the new stable Gentoo kernel, and I've now
updated my old machine, and this worked without problem. This was
mainly to test that nothing RAID-wise had gone missing in the kernel.
It hadn't

What version of mdraid? 0.97? or 1.x?

0.97 is in-kernel, and deprecated - as in "if it ain't broke, don't fix
it. If it is broke, it's not supported". I think there are a fair few
people who depend on it, though, so it tends to get fixed if something
goes wrong.

1.x is assembled in user space, so there are probably races with other
stuff in user space for completion. I run a somewhat messy boot stack,
but iirc my root space is just "rust, mdraid, lvm, root partition", and
it works just fine. But I do run systemd, and I might have had to make
sure there's something in the boot stack waiting for each bit to
complete in order.

My /home stack has dm-integrity between rust and raid, and boy did that
really cause some grief getting that to behave. But that makes sure that
my raid-5 never sees a corrupt read, so I can recover from a damaged
disk as well as a lost disk.

I - allegedly - know about raid :-) , so if you give me a bit more info
I might be able to help. Or I might not ...

Cheers,
Wol

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Hello, Wol.

On Fri, Aug 23, 2024 at 10:42:54 +0100, Wol wrote:

On 22/08/2024 17:37, Alan Mackenzie wrote:

Yes, 6.6.47 has become the new stable Gentoo kernel, and I've now
updated my old machine, and this worked without problem. This was
mainly to test that nothing RAID-wise had gone missing in the kernel.
It hadn't

What version of mdraid? 0.97? or 1.x?

The 0.97, I think. The one with the version 0.90 metadata, so that the
kernel can assemble the MD things at boot time without an initramfs.

0.97 is in-kernel, and deprecated - as in "if it ain't broke, don't fix
it. If it is broke, it's not supported". I think there are a fair few
people who depend on it, though, so it tends to get fixed if something
goes wrong.

Well, I've been using it for nearly 15 years now, so it seems like
somebody is looking after it.

1.x is assembled in user space, so there are probably races with other
stuff in user space for completion. I run a somewhat messy boot stack,
but iirc my root space is just "rust, mdraid, lvm, root partition", and
it works just fine. But I do run systemd, and I might have had to make
sure there's something in the boot stack waiting for each bit to
complete in order.

We've got different ideas on what a boot system should look like. ;-)

My /home stack has dm-integrity between rust and raid, and boy did that really cause some grief getting that to behave. But that makes sure that
my raid-5 never sees a corrupt read, so I can recover from a damaged
disk as well as a lost disk.

Yes, these things always cause grief when they're being installed. And
then they run trouble free for many years.

I - allegedly - know about raid :-) , so if you give me a bit more info
I might be able to help. Or I might not ...

My root partition is on /dev/md126, in an ext4 file system. Most of my
other partitions are in /dev/md127, which I've configured as a volume
group containing several partitions.

But it's booting now, and I can carry on installing Gentoo, though I'm a
bit fed up with the video bug I've mentioned in the other thread. We'll
see what comes of that.

Have a good weekend!

Cheers,
Wol

--
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).

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