Bug#797880: QNAP TS-219P II with linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood "loses" one hard disk from the RAID while flashing initramfs, causing read-only remount and dpkg to fail

[Robert Schlabbach]

On Thu, 2015-12-10 at 09:34, Ian Campbell wrote:
> On Wed, 2015-12-09 at 16:02 -0800, Martin Michlmayr wrote:
> > * Robert Schlabbach  [2015-09-03 12:19]:
> > > Package: linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood
> > > Version: 4.1.3-1~bpo8+1
> > >
> > > Bad things happen when flash-kernel (3.45) flashes the initramfs
> > with this Linux kernel on my QNAP TS-219P II:
> >
> > Ian Campbell added a workaround to flash-kernel 3.52 for this kernel
> > issue.
> >
> > Can you try if 3.52 works for you? If so, I guess it makes sense to
> > upload 3.52 to backports.
> 
> I've just uploaded 3.52~bpo8-1 (pending a successful dinstall run).

I've just updated from kernel 4.2.6-1 to kernel 4.2.6-3 using this new
version of flash-kernel, and am happy to report that this indeed fixed
the problem for me. The update was successfully completed and the RAID
was still fully operational afterwards.

Best Regards,
-Robert Schlabbach

Bug#797880: QNAP TS-219P II with linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood "loses" one hard disk from the RAID while flashing initramfs, causing read-only remount and dpkg to fail

[Ian Campbell]

On Wed, 2015-12-09 at 16:02 -0800, Martin Michlmayr wrote:
> * Robert Schlabbach  [2015-09-03 12:19]:
> > Package: linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood
> > Version: 4.1.3-1~bpo8+1
> > 
> > Bad things happen when flash-kernel (3.45) flashes the initramfs
> with this Linux kernel on my QNAP TS-219P II:
> 
> Ian Campbell added a workaround to flash-kernel 3.52 for this kernel
> issue.
> 
> Can you try if 3.52 works for you?  If so, I guess it makes sense to
> upload 3.52 to backports.

I've just uploaded 3.52~bpo8-1 (pending a successful dinstall run).

Cheers,
Ian.

Bug#797880: QNAP TS-219P II with linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood "loses" one hard disk from the RAID while flashing initramfs, causing read-only remount and dpkg to fail

[Martin Michlmayr]

* Robert Schlabbach  [2015-09-03 12:19]:
> Package: linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood
> Version: 4.1.3-1~bpo8+1
> 
> Bad things happen when flash-kernel (3.45) flashes the initramfs with this 
> Linux kernel on my QNAP TS-219P II:

Ian Campbell added a workaround to flash-kernel 3.52 for this kernel
issue.

Can you try if 3.52 works for you?  If so, I guess it makes sense to
upload 3.52 to backports.

-- 
Martin Michlmayr
http://www.cyrius.com/

Bug#797880: QNAP TS-219P II with linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood "loses" one hard disk from the RAID while flashing initramfs, causing read-only remount and dpkg to fail

[Robert Schlabbach]

Package: linux-image-4.1.0-0.bpo.1-kirkwood
Version: 4.1.3-1~bpo8+1

Bad things happen when flash-kernel (3.45) flashes the initramfs with this 
Linux kernel on my QNAP TS-219P II:

1. The NAS is equipped with 2 HDDs 3TB in size in RAID 1 mode (mirroring).
2. After the flashing, dpkg errors out stating it is unable to write to a file 
under the /var tree.
3. cat /proc/mdstat reveals that the partitions of HDD /dev/sdb are marked with 
[F].
4. As a result, the RAID partitions have been remounted as read-only, including 
the root partitions, rendering the system inoperable.
5. Regular shutdown is not possible at this point. The NAS has to be 
force-powered off by holding the power button on the device for several seconds.
6. After reboot, dpkg is in an intermediate state. Following the advice to use 
"dpkg --configure -a" results in the flashing operation being carried out again 
with the same result, i.e. the user is caught in a loop.
7. Using "dpkg --configure" instead allows other package install/remove 
operations.

Removing the Linux kernel 4.1, reverting to Linux kernel 3.16.7-ckt11-1+deb8u3 
from debian jessie fixes the problem. In Linux kernel 3.16.7, the same version 
of flash-kernel (3.45) works without the problems mentioned above. So the 
culprit appears not to be the flash-kernel package, but rather the Linux kernel 
4.1 package.

Best Regards,
Robert Schlabbach