Hi I had a one disk pool, that I want to use as a boot disk, but I can''t seem to get rid of the efi label, when i use format -e it and try to relabel, format bitches that it can''t set disk geometry or write the new label. any one have any clues how to fix this? james
On 5/27/06, James Dickens <jamesd.wi at gmail.com> wrote:> Hi > > I had a one disk pool, that I want to use as a boot disk, but I can''t > seem to get rid of the efi label, when i use format -e it and try to > relabel, format bitches that it can''t set disk geometry or write the > new label. > > any one have any clues how to fix this? > > james >guess i need to give more info since its a known bug(s) this is on solaris SX-CR b39 ... on a u2 usparc the disk is 36GB scsi, that was a zfs pool so has a efi label on it.. i just want to nuke it all dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0 bs=10k count=1024 doesn''t work format analyse verify didn''t work okay i finally got it working... format -e scsi format apparently did the trick i guess i will leave it up to you guys as to what bug report to adjust or create.. there are many on this issue. James
> Hi > > I had a one disk pool, that I want to use as a boot > disk, but I can''t > seem to get rid of the efi label, when i use format > -e it and try to > relabel, format bitches that it can''t set disk > geometry or write the > new label. > > any one have any clues how to fix this? > > james > _______________________________________________ > zfs-discuss mailing list > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discu > ss >James, you can usually find your disk manufacturer''s disk format utility to totally clear the drive. Alternatively, the Sun BIOS updated images, if you have a Sun x86 system, have a format utility included on the CD ROM. Another method it to start an install of FreeBSD or Linux on the drive to just the point they clear the disk. Ugly, but it works. Then there is this first hit on Google: http://tech.tyr.org.uk/2006/02/solaris_and_efi.html [search string: clear+efi+label+solaris] ;) This message posted from opensolaris.org
On 5/27/06, Wes Williams <wes at classiarius.com> wrote:> > Hi > > > > I had a one disk pool, that I want to use as a boot > > disk, but I can''t > > seem to get rid of the efi label, when i use format > > -e it and try to > > relabel, format bitches that it can''t set disk > > geometry or write the > > new label. > > > > any one have any clues how to fix this? > > > > james > > _______________________________________________ > > zfs-discuss mailing list > > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org > > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discu > > ss > > > > James, you can usually find your disk manufacturer''s disk format utility to totally clear the drive. Alternatively, the Sun BIOS updated images, if you have a Sun x86 system, have a format utility included on the CD ROM. > > Another method it to start an install of FreeBSD or Linux on the drive to just the point they clear the disk. Ugly, but it works. > > Then there is this first hit on Google: http://tech.tyr.org.uk/2006/02/solaris_and_efi.htmltryed all the solaris based stuff that i can find... it just refused to over write the efi label i thought the scsi format worked, but it just gave me a more complete label, it stili isn''t liked by the solaris 10 installer... i really just jeed a work around.. and i really don''t want to pull 11 disks out of my 711/multistore to connect this to a linux box since i don''t have a any other way to get a linux box and sca slots.. safely i''m currently looking for anything.. even a short perl script etc. James> > [search string: clear+efi+label+solaris] > > ;) > > > This message posted from opensolaris.org > _______________________________________________ > zfs-discuss mailing list > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss >
>> > >> > I had a one disk pool, that I want to use as a boot >> > disk, but I can''t >> > seem to get rid of the efi label, when i use format >> > -e it and try to >> > relabel, format bitches that it can''t set disk >> > geometry or write the >> > new label. >> > >> > any one have any clues how to fix this? >> > >> >> James, you can usually find your disk manufacturer''s disk format utility >> to totally clear the drive. Alternatively, the Sun BIOS updated images, >> if you have a Sun x86 system, have a format utility included on the CD >> ROM. >> >> Another method it to start an install of FreeBSD or Linux on the drive to >> just the point they clear the disk. Ugly, but it works. >> >> Then there is this first hit on Google: >> http://tech.tyr.org.uk/2006/02/solaris_and_efi.html > > tryed all the solaris based stuff that i can find... it just refused > to over write the efi labelI''m a little out of the loop here and have not been following closely .. but as I understand it you have a disk that has an new fangled vtoc/slice map/partition thing on it and you want it back to old fashioned vtoc/SFI type thing right ? What happens if you try format -e /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0 select backup .. format> backup Disk has a primary label, still continue? and then apply the backup label ? Dennis
Try the directions in the previous posted link....using the Solaris ''format'' command. This message posted from opensolaris.org
On 5/27/06, Dennis Clarke <dclarke at blastwave.org> wrote:> > >> > > >> > I had a one disk pool, that I want to use as a boot > >> > disk, but I can''t > >> > seem to get rid of the efi label, when i use format > >> > -e it and try to > >> > relabel, format bitches that it can''t set disk > >> > geometry or write the > >> > new label. > >> > > >> > any one have any clues how to fix this? > >> > > >> > >> James, you can usually find your disk manufacturer''s disk format utility > >> to totally clear the drive. Alternatively, the Sun BIOS updated images, > >> if you have a Sun x86 system, have a format utility included on the CD > >> ROM. > >> > >> Another method it to start an install of FreeBSD or Linux on the drive to > >> just the point they clear the disk. Ugly, but it works. > >> > >> Then there is this first hit on Google: > >> http://tech.tyr.org.uk/2006/02/solaris_and_efi.html > > > > tryed all the solaris based stuff that i can find... it just refused > > to over write the efi label > > I''m a little out of the loop here and have not been following closely .. but > as I understand it you have a disk that has an new fangled vtoc/slice > map/partition thing on it and you want it back to old fashioned vtoc/SFI > type thing right ? > > What happens i you try > > format -e /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0 > > select backup .. >> format> backup > Disk has a primary label, still continue? >tried it again... same results... restores the damm efi label.. disk starts on block 34 not 0, there is no slice 2... that solaris ijnstaller demands can not start any track at block 0.. so i can''t create a backup slice aka 2.> and then apply the backup label ? > > Dennis > >
James Dickens schrieb:> tried it again... same results... restores the damm efi label.. disk > starts on block 34 not 0, there is no slice 2... that solaris > ijnstaller demands > > can not start any track at block 0.. so i can''t create a backup slice > aka 2.This is a SCSI disk? Then you can send SCSI commands directly to the drive which overwrite sector 0. I found a small test program to become famliar with USCSI I wrote a long time ago. It can also be used to overwrite the label: http://www.deadcafe.de/disk.c At least it still compiles. But I don''t have any SCSI drive, so I cannot test. Simply compile with "make disk". Then call the program with the following options: ./disk -u -w c0t0d0s2 This will start writing the disk starting at sector 0. You can abort after a few seconds. Now you should have an empty disk without any disk label. Daniel
You may want to give Joergs sformat a try. I''m using it (since SunOS 4.1.1) as replacement for format at home, and prefer it for a number of reasons. # sformat --version sformat 3.6 (sparc-sun-solaris2.10.1) Copyright (C) 1986-1991, 93-97, 2000-2004 J?rg Schilling -- Tatjana This message posted from opensolaris.org
Daniel Rock wrote:> James Dickens schrieb: > >> tried it again... same results... restores the damm efi label.. disk >> starts on block 34 not 0, there is no slice 2... that solaris >> ijnstaller demands >> >> can not start any track at block 0.. so i can''t create a backup slice >> aka 2. > > > This is a SCSI disk? Then you can send SCSI commands directly to the > drive which overwrite sector 0. > > I found a small test program to become famliar with USCSI I wrote a long > time ago. It can also be used to overwrite the label: > > http://www.deadcafe.de/disk.cWhile folks are on this topic, does anyone know a reason why Solaris is so dead-set against giving you access to a block device that represents a whole SCSI LUN? It''s the second (after the various Windows flavours) most annoying OS I use in terms of not letting you just blat data straight to the disk. Apart from this case of lifting the EFI curse from a disk, direct LUN access was also handy for moving data between non-networked hosts with no common partition scheme or filesystem support (e.g. AmigaOS and BeOS, some years back). Writing tar files straight to disk blocks is better than nothing in those cases. To do this on my old Sparc 5, I used to have to make a label on the disk with format, then send the tar file straight to slice 2, thus erasing the disk label. Without special magic SCSI-banging progs, I couldn''t go back the other way from my home BeBox to my work Solaris machine. It''s also nice for hard disk disaster recovery; if for some reason the old-style Solaris partition table got lunched (blatting straight to slice 2 for instance), having a disk image stashed away somewhere else is great for your confidence when you''re relabelling the disk and reconstructing filesystems. -Jason
Tatjana S Heuser wrote:>You may want to give Joergs sformat a try. I''m using it (since SunOS 4.1.1) as replacement for >format at home, and prefer it for a number of reasons. > ># sformat --version >sformat 3.6 (sparc-sun-solaris2.10.1) >Copyright (C) 1986-1991, 93-97, 2000-2004 J?rg Schilling > >I don''t think it is acceptable to tell people to resort to a 3rd party utility to do this. If Solaris is marking disks in some way as to impact their future use (even if only with Solaris) then we need to fix that... Darren
okay this was meant to go to the list... i thought i had, its a work around to the problem. that people can use untill Sun engineers fix it. James ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: James Dickens <jamesd.wi at gmail.com> Date: May 27, 2006 4:57 PM Subject: Re: [zfs-discuss] Re: Re: Life after the pool party To: Wes Williams <wes at classiarius.com> Solved.. well at least a work around. had to boot another version of Solaris, 9 in this case, and used format -e to wipe the efi label, so this is a bug, not sure if its a duplicate of one of the numerous other efi bugs on this list so I will let one of the zfs guys determine how best to handle the bug reports. Solaris express b39 is now happy and is installing as expected. James Dickens uadmin.blogspot.com On 5/27/06, James Dickens <jamesd.wi at gmail.com> wrote:> On 5/27/06, Wes Williams <wes at classiarius.com> wrote: > > Try the directions in the previous posted link....using the Solaris ''format'' command. > > > > tried them repeatly there must be a bug in b39 that keeps format from > overwriting an efi > > it gives > > warning: error setting drive geomerty > warning: error writing vtoc > > label failed > > the disk is in perfect shap.. has completed numerous format verify cycles > > and zfs checks... writing then rereading all blocks no errors not even > a chksum error... even smartctl reports only soft errors that were > corrected.. no physical defects > > > James > > > > > This message posted from opensolaris.org > > _______________________________________________ > > zfs-discuss mailing list > > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org > > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss > > >
jamesd.wi at gmail.com said:> Solved.. well at least a work around. > . . . > had to boot another version of Solaris, 9 in this case, and used format -e to > wipe the efi label, so this is a bug, not sure if its a duplicate of one of > the numerous other efi bugs on this list so I will let one of the zfs guys > determine how best to handle the bug reports.FYI, I had this problem also awhile back; This was with EFI-labelled disk labelled under Solaris-10 FCS (03/05). I was able to fix it by moving the disk from a SPARC machine to a Solaris-10_x86 machine, and running fdisk on the c1t0d0p0 device node (which is not possible on SPARC, at least not as of the patches available in Jan-2006 when I was doing this). My conclusion at the time was that SPARC version of Solaris-10 wasn''t as fdisk-aware as the x86 version. Hopefully this is improving in the U1 and U2 releases.... Regards, Marion