amd & GPT & format ZFS & Boot option installer

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stephane
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 6:45 am

amd & GPT & format ZFS & Boot option installer

Post by stephane »

hello

i try to reinstall last build ghostbsd 2020.08 , it see all disks ( 4 SSD + 1 HDD + 1 M2 SSD ) ,
but i cant select type boot format ( GPT appears in shadow) ,
so i cant go to next step to format

is there a way to see log or debug on this step ( or since start )

motherboard is X570-aorus-pro + 3600XT
stephane
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 6:45 am

Re: amd & GPT & format ZFS & Boot option installer

Post by stephane »

i have made more investigation
i always boot in UEFI
with only disks formatted GPT ,
gpart show reports thes disks
but
gpart list do not report theses disks ,

only disks with others partitions filled
Ian_Robinson
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2019 9:53 am

Re: amd & GPT & format ZFS & Boot option installer

Post by Ian_Robinson »

I have an HP with AMD Opteron processors, GPT, zfs, and a working installation of GhostBSD 20.08.04.

It is usually best to remove the previous GPT installation from the intended target disk before attempting an install. It may be that the existing gpt installation is preventing you from overwriting it.

Background:

A previous FreeBSD install with GPT & ZFS usually has a disk divided into three parts: a boot section, the zfs storage section, and a swap section. The command "#gpart show" will list the individual disks, while "#gpart list" displays the sectioning of each disk.

If you have a SATA or SAS disks, the disks will be named "da0", "da1", "da2", etc. If your interface is different from SATA, it will have a different prefix such as "ada." The subsections of the disk will be identified with a suffix after the individual disk name. Example: da0p1, da0p2, da0p3. [Note: gpt disks use a "p" to identify a gpt disk "slice" (p1, p2, p3) whereas mbr disks use an "s" to identify slice (s1, s2, s3).]

GPT Remove Previous Installation Commands:

Be careful and please study the "gpart" command (i.e., "#man gpart") and the relevant sections of the FreeBSD Handbook to review how to delete the sections of a gpt disk. Take note of the gpart delete and gpart destroy sections and the use of the -i and -F flags within the commands.

I recommend you disconnect any disk you do not want to damage, leaving only your target disk connected.

Here are the commands I have used to remove the old system completely by first deleting the sections one-by-one in reverse order (i.e., 3 - 2- 1) and then destroying the disk install itself. You must be in a terminal as the root user.

#gpart delete -i 3 da0
#gpart delete -i 2 da0
#gpart delete -i 1 da0

#gpart destroy -F da0

Thereafter, with a clean disk, you should be able to perform the install.

If your other disks (data disks) have a zfs filesystem and zfs pools on them created in a previous installation, study the "#zpool import" command and the "#zpool import -f [zpool-name] command to connect them to your new GhostBSD install.


You also asked whether there is a log to identify what happened during a failed install.
Look in /root/pc-sysinstall.log. You can view them in a terminal with the command "#cat /root/pc-sysinstall.log" to list the contents or "#ee /root/pc-sysinstall log" to scroll through them."

There are several other important logs that can be viewed in the directory called /var/logs.

Finally, when asking for help it is best to report the output of your diagnostic commands from which experienced users can usually identify what the problem is and provide you with a solution.
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