[OpenIndiana-discuss] More N40L fun :-(

[Reginald Beardsley]

Facts:

System will not boot from regular S10/8 image. Hangs just before "configuring devices"

S10/8 failsafe boots but can't see pools.

S10/u8 installer shell can't see pools.

I can't recall if I ran format(1m) to check if the disks were visible.

OI_151a7 text installer shell sees pools and imports rpool w/ no errors.  A scrub produces messages for each disk:

"has a block alignment that is larger than the pool alignment"

but no errors. 

prtvtoc reports

512 bytes/sector
252 sectors/track
255 tracks/cylinder
64260 sectors/cylinder
60799 cylinders
60797 accessible cylinders

I labeled the disks using the OI_151a7 text installer shell which doesn't allow me to specify a starting sector, just a starting cylinder.

echo ::sd_state | mdb -k

reports blocksizes

    un_sys_blocksize = 0x200
    un_tgt_blocksize = 0x200
    un_phy_blocksize = 0x1000

zdb rpool | egrep ashift

produces

"zdb: can't open 'rpool': no such file or directory"

The latter seems very strange given that I have imported the pool and can list the filesystem.

Memtest reports the memory is fine.  The system seemed to be working fine when I shut it down to install the 2nd DIMM.  Access to the DIMM on the N40L is a real hassle and I'm doubtful that it's anything but coincidental.

There is a bit of annoyance that the BIOS on the N40L keeps resetting the boot order in seemingly random fashion if I plug or unplug a USB DVD drive.

The 4k sector business w/ S10/8 makes me nervous.  I was a bit surprised it appeared to work.

If I do a text install of OI_151a7, then mount the LiveCD .zlib filesystems, can I rsync the text installed image to be the LiveCD install image?  It would help a lot if there was an explanation of how the installers worked rather than forcing the user to do a forensic analysis.

This is really making me crazy.  12+ hours on something that should work but only almost does.  I so wish that the text installer were included as an option for installing from the LiveCD.

Thanks,
Reg