dmraid erronously detects pdc metadata

[Laurent Riffard]

Hello,

I tried to update my system from the mandriva-free-2007-thor-DVD.i586-x86_64
DVD. 

Installation failed because dmraid detected PDC metadata on my second HD (see 
http://qa.mandriva.com/show_bug.cgi?id=24096).

The fact is I do *not* have any Promise controller, my box is built upon an asus
A7V133-C board. 

# lspci 
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8363/8365 [KT133/KM133] (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8363/8365 [KT133/KM133 AGP]
00:04.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super South] (rev 40)
00:04.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:04.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 16)
00:04.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 16)
00:04.4 Bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C686 [Apollo Super ACPI] (rev 40)
00:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Agere Systems FW323 (rev 04)
00:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8029(AS)
00:0d.0 Multimedia audio controller: Ensoniq 5880 AudioPCI (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400] (rev b2)


Perharps hdb have been plugged in such a controler before I bought it...

# dmraid -r -c -c
/dev/hdb:pdc:pdc_bdhijbieh:stripe:ok:160086400:0

# dmraid -vv -n
NOTICE: skipping removable device /dev/hdd
NOTICE: skipping removable device /dev/hdc
NOTICE: /dev/hda: hpt37x discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hda: hpt45x discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hda: isw    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hda: lsi    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hda: nvidia discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hda: pdc    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hda: sil    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hda: via    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: hpt37x discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: hpt45x discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: isw    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: lsi    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: nvidia discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: pdc    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: pdc metadata discovered
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: sil    discovering
NOTICE: /dev/hdb: via    discovering
INFO: RAID device discovered:

/dev/hdb (pdc):
0x000 promise_id: "Promise Technology, Inc."
0x018 unknown_0: 0x20000
0x01c magic_0: 0xf11007
0x020 unknown_1: 0x20000
0x024 magic_1: 0x8381007
0x028 unknown_2: 0x0
0x200 raid.flags: 0x80
0x204 raid.unknown_0: 0x7
0x205 raid.disk_number: 0
0x206 raid.channel: 2
0x207 raid.device: 0
0x208 raid.magic_0: 0xf11007
0x20c raid.unknown_1: 0x20000
0x210 raid.unknown_2: 0xedeeeff0
0x214 raid.disk_secs: 160086465
0x218 raid.unknown_3: 0xffffffff
0x21c raid.unknown_4: 0x1
0x21e raid.status: 0xf
0x21f raid.type: 0x0
0x220 raid.total_disks: 1
0x221 raid.raid0_shift: 7
0x222 raid.raid0_disks: 1
0x223 raid.array_number: 0
0x224 raid.total_secs: 160086400
0x228 raid.cylinders: 9963
0x22a raid.heads: 254
0x22b raid.sectors: 63
0x22c raid.magic_1: 0x8381007
0x230 raid.unknown_5: 0x0
0x234 raid.disk[0].unknown_0: 0x7
0x236 raid.disk[0].channel: 2
0x237 raid.disk[0].device: 0
0x238 raid.disk[0].magic_0: 0xf11007
0x23c raid.disk[0].disk_number: 131072
0x7fc checksum: 0xa86031ac Ok

My question is: Is it safe to erase RAID metadata 
(dmraid -E /dev/hdb)? Is there any risc to lose my 
partition table ?

# fdisk -l /dev/hdb

Disque /dev/hdb: 81.9 Go, 81964302336 octets
255 têtes, 63 secteurs/piste, 9964 cylindres
Unités = cylindres de 16065 * 512 = 8225280 octets

Périphérique Amorce    Début         Fin      Blocs    Id  Système
/dev/hdb1               1        2491    20008926    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hdb2            2492        9964    60026872+   f  W95 Etendu (LBA)
/dev/hdb5            2492        4958    19816146    b  W95 FAT32
/dev/hdb6            4959        4990      257008+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hdb7            4991        5090      795217   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/hdb8            5090        7700    20972826   83  Linux
/dev/hdb9            7701        9964    18185548+  8e  Linux LVM

Thanks
~~
laurent