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Hard disk 0 in UEFI is not reported as sda in Linux - IBM System x

Troubleshooting


Problem

When multiple ServeRAID adapters are installed, Hard Disk 0 in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is not reported as sda in Linux.

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H204008

Symptom

When multiple ServeRAID adapters are installed, Hard Disk 0 in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) is not reported as sda in Linux.

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

  • System x3550 M2, type 4198, any model
  • System x3550 M2, type 7946, any model
  • System x3550 M3, type 4254, any model
  • System x3550 M3, type 7944, any model
  • System x3650 M2, type 4199, any model
  • System x3650 M2, type 7947, any model
  • System x3650 M3, type 4255, any model
  • System x3650 M3, type 7945, any model

The system is configured with at least one of the following:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 4, Update 5, Update 6
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, any Service Pack
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, any Service Pack

This tip is not option specific.

Note: This does not imply that the network operating system will work under all combinations of hardware and software.

Please see the compatibility page for more information: http://www.ibm.com/systems/info/x86servers/serverproven/compat/us/

Workaround

  1. Install Linux on the disk array of a ServeRAID adapter located on a PCI-E riser card instead of one located in a PCI-E slot dedicated for Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID).
  2. In UEFI, set HD1 as the first boot device.

Additional information

The UEFI POST PCI scan order is as follows:

  1. Video Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) (fixed)
  2. system board Ethernet 1 Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) (fixed)
  3. system board Ethernet 2 PXE (fixed)
  4. system board Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), or PCIe slot dedicate for RAID, Default setting for PCI Device Boot Priority
  5. Slot 1
  6. Slot 2
  7. Slot 3
  8. Slot 4

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL5) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10.0 or 11.0 Linux kernel scan order is as follows:

  1. Slot 1
  2. Slot 2
  3. Slot 3
  4. Slot 4
  5. system board SAS, or PCIe slot dedicate for RAID, Default setting for PCI Device Boot Priority.

UEFI and Linux scan orders are different, preventing the disk array from being mapped as sda in Linux.

Document Location

Worldwide

Operating System

System x:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5

System x:Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 x86-64

System x:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

System x:SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 x86-64

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Document Information

Modified date:
30 January 2019

UID

ibm1MIGR-5088886

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