Further testing shows that in fact there is something "wrong" with gpt labels. Using parted and msdos label works fine; using gpt label the partition table is damaged at reboot. Transcripts below.
I now wonder if the bug is in parted, or maybe something else damages the partition table at boot time. Output of dmesg below also. I get the same results with Debian parted 1.7.1 or my "own" version 1.8.7. - For this test I told the 3ware RAID controller to use single disks, not all 8*750GB disks in one RAID5 array as I would really want, so cfdisk or msdos labels would work on this reasonably sized disk. Paul Szabo [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/psz/ School of Mathematics and Statistics University of Sydney Australia --- ## Using msdos partition table, things work fine # parted /dev/sda GNU Parted 1.7.1 Using /dev/sda Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands. (parted) mklabel msdos (parted) mkpart p 10G 20G (parted) print free Disk /dev/sda: 750GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 32.3kB 10.0GB 10.0GB Free Space 1 10.0GB 20.0GB 10.0GB primary 20.0GB 750GB 730GB Free Space (parted) quit # mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1 mke2fs 1.40-WIP (14-Nov-2006) Filesystem label= OS type: Linux Block size=1024 (log=0) Fragment size=1024 (log=0) 1221632 inodes, 9767520 blocks 488376 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user First data block=1 1193 block groups 8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group 1024 inodes per group Superblock backups stored on blocks: 8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185, 401409, 663553, 1024001, 1990657, 2809857, 5120001, 5971969 Writing inode tables: done Creating journal (32768 blocks): done Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done This filesystem will be automatically checked every 35 mounts or 180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override. # mount /dev/sda1 /tmp/mnt # echo msdos partition sda1 > /tmp/mnt/file # umount /tmp/mnt # shutdown -r now # ... # mount /dev/sda1 /tmp/mnt # cat /tmp/mnt/file msdos partition sda1 # umount /tmp/mnt --- ## Using gpt partition table, things do not work # parted /dev/sda GNU Parted 1.7.1 Using /dev/sda Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands. (parted) mklabel gpt (parted) mkpart p 10G 20G (parted) print free Disk /dev/sda: 750GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: gpt Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 17.4kB 10000MB 10000MB Free Space 1 10.0GB 20.0GB 10.0GB p 20.0GB 750GB 730GB Free Space (parted) quit # mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1 mke2fs 1.40-WIP (14-Nov-2006) Filesystem label= OS type: Linux Block size=1024 (log=0) Fragment size=1024 (log=0) 1221632 inodes, 9765624 blocks 488281 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user First data block=1 1193 block groups 8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group 1024 inodes per group Superblock backups stored on blocks: 8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185, 401409, 663553, 1024001, 1990657, 2809857, 5120001, 5971969 Writing inode tables: done Creating journal (32768 blocks): done Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done This filesystem will be automatically checked every 37 mounts or 180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override. # mount /dev/sda1 /tmp/mnt # echo gpt partition sda1 > /tmp/mnt/file # umount /tmp/mnt # shutdown -r now # ... # mount /dev/sda1 /tmp/mnt mount: you must specify the filesystem type ## So the partition did not survive... check parted output: # parted /dev/sda GNU Parted 1.7.1 Using /dev/sda Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands. (parted) print free Disk /dev/sda: 750GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: gpt Number Start End Size File system Name Flags 17.4kB 10000MB 10000MB Free Space 1 10.0GB 20.0GB 10.0GB ext3 p 20.0GB 750GB 730GB Free Space (parted) quit Information: Don't forget to update /etc/fstab, if necessary. ## which seems "good", but in fact the table is damaged ## as shown by mkfs trying to write 732MB: # mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1 mke2fs 1.40-WIP (14-Nov-2006) Filesystem label= OS type: Linux Block size=1024 (log=0) Fragment size=1024 (log=0) 91551744 inodes, 732410876 blocks 36620543 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user First data block=1 89406 block groups 8192 blocks per group, 8192 fragments per group 1024 inodes per group Superblock backups stored on blocks: 8193, 24577, 40961, 57345, 73729, 204801, 221185, 401409, 663553, 1024001, 1990657, 2809857, 5120001, 5971969, 17915905, 19668993, 25600001, 53747713, 128000001, 137682945, 161243137, 483729409, 640000001 ... [pressed ctrl-C] --- ### dmesg shows same thing whether disk is msdos or gpt labelled: ... 3ware 9000 Storage Controller device driver for Linux v2.26.08.002-2.6.18. ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:0a:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16 PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:0a:00.0 to 64 scsi0 : 3ware 9000 Storage Controller 3w-9xxx: scsi0: Found a 3ware 9000 Storage Controller at 0xda300000, IRQ: 16. 3w-9xxx: scsi0: Firmware FE9X 3.08.00.016, BIOS BE9X 3.08.00.004, Ports: 8. Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 Vendor: AMCC Model: 9650SE-8LP DISK Rev: 3.08 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 05 libata version 2.00 loaded. SCSI device sda: 1464821760 512-byte hdwr sectors (749989 MB) sda: Write Protect is off sda: Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00 SCSI device sda: drive cache: none SCSI device sda: 1464821760 512-byte hdwr sectors (749989 MB) sda: Write Protect is off sda: Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00 SCSI device sda: drive cache: none sda: sda1 sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi disk sda SCSI device sdb: 1464821760 512-byte hdwr sectors (749989 MB) ... -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
