No system volume found.

[mark_odell]

Hi,

I have a machine that I am building for data storage. I set up one volume group with 2 1TB partitions, all working fine. Created a target, added those and linked using MS initiator. This was working for two days.

I went to add the final 768gb as a third volume, which was OK. I then was about to add it to my target, but the target wasn't shown. I could add a new target, but still the orginal one didn't show. The server was still connected to this target and I could still access the volume.

I rebooted iSCSI box and now when I click on most of the menus I get "No system volume found.". Although the volume all still show. Consequently I can no longer access anything on it.

Note, that the RAID 6 was still building during this process, as it takes nearly 48 hours.

Server:

iSCSI Version: 2.32.DB00000000.2863

Intel shipset, quad core processor, 4gb RAM, 3ware 9650se raid card, running 5 1tb disks in raid 6.

[mark_odell]

Having read another post, tried a few things

restored setup to default
tried restoring LVM, but it fails

It's not the end of the world if I lost the data on the drives, but I do need to get it working and understand why it happened before it goes live

[mark_odell]

OK, fixed it, but would still like to understand why.

Fixed it by using extended options on the console. Then "select default volume group" and setting it to the first disk

Obvious really if you find it, but none of the groups or manual mention this message.



What does the system volume actually do? In particular, if it was lost completely do we lose config and/or data?

Thanks!!

[To-M]

Was there any errors showing on the bottom left side of the GUI? Not sure what happened other then possibly of the Raid was not completed and when you added the other drive maybe as a single this completed first then defaulted to your new VG0x as the RAID 6 was not completed (even though you created the targets). Was the 768GB a separate Volume Group like VG01 or did you try to migrate the drive in to your existing RAID set. If so you would need to use the PV Resize function then go into the Volume Manager to add the new VG or add it to the existing VG00. The Reserved for system - 1GB is stored on the VG (RAID Set) to hold the volume information so in the event you need to restore your previous partitions you would need to use the "Restore LVM VG configuration" from Extended console tools (ALT+CTRL+X) and select last configuration backup. This will restore the info of where the partitions are not the files. iSCSI is Block base and NAS is file base. If you delete the VG and the RAID set then you will lose your data for obvious reasons.

If this does happen again please send the log file to support so they can review the cause of the problem.

[netsyphon]

First off: Let the volume build and keep activity low for initial building without rebooting to cut down on build time or use fast initialization! I think you got bumped with the same bug I did when i started playing with the 9650 controller.

My system boots faster than the 3ware can clear and reset the drive itself and often when I did either a hard or soft reset I would get some drives that seemed to be 'locked up' (reset command got queued and flushed but never executed?). Another strange thing I had to do (recommended by 3ware) was to delay staggered spin-up..

what mainboard/chasis/case are you using? latest firmware for mainboard?
what's your firmware revision for your raid controller? latest?
are you using stock sata breakout cables from the 3ware card to the backplane/drives or ones that came with the backplane/chasis?

You should most definitely patch the firmware on your 3ware to the latest revision and do the delay spinup.. And since you only have 5 disks I doubt it will strain your power supply.

let us know what your findings are,