0

I have Linux (Crunchbang 8.10) set up with 3x1TB Hard drives set up as software RAID5.

It has recently suddenly stopped working.

cat /proc/mdstat shows the following:

Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10]
md0 : inactive sdd[2](S) sdc[1](S) sdb[0](S)
      2930287488 blocks

unused devices:

mdadm --detail /dev/md0 shows:


mdadm: md device /dev/md0 does not appear to be active.

I Have tried running sudo mdadm -A /dev/md0 but get:

mdadm: /dev/md0 not identified in config file.

My /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf shows:

# mdadm.conf
#
# Please refer to mdadm.conf(5) for information about this file.
#

# by default, scan all partitions (/proc/partitions) for MD superblocks.
# alternatively, specify devices to scan, using wildcards if desired.
DEVICE partitions

# auto-create devices with Debian standard permissions
CREATE owner=root group=disk mode=0660 auto=yes

# automatically tag new arrays as belonging to the local system
HOMEHOST 

# instruct the monitoring daemon where to send mail alerts
MAILADDR root

# definitions of existing MD arrays

# This file was auto-generated on Thu, 21 May 2009 18:32:49 +0100
# by mkconf $Id$

Has my config been corrupted? Please help.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Looks like your drives are all being reported as [S]pares. You should check your logs (dmesg, /var/log/messages) to see if there's any indication why this happened.

Try running the following 

sudo mdadm --examine --scan --config=/etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf

And see the output. If it outputs something like this:

ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid5 metadata=1 num-devices=3 UUID=22f22c3599:613d5231:d407a655:bdeb84 name=backup:1

Then you can append it to the bottom of the mdadm.conf:

sudo mdadm --examine --scan --config=/etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf >> /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf

Then try starting the array:

sudo mdadm -A /dev/md0

Good luck.

Improve this answer
25
  • Thanks for the fast response. mdadm --examine --scan --config=/etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf Gives me no output. And dmesg, spouts a lot but not an advanced enough user to locate problem areas..
    – iali
    Aug 16, 2010 at 1:50
  • Ah. I had to use sudo. I get the following: ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid5 num-devices=3 UUID=adc48f8c:fc8a367a:05731609:dddb53d2 No metadata=1 though. I get permission denied when I try to use your append command. Though I am using sudo command
    – iali
    Aug 16, 2010 at 1:54
  • Yes, you need to use sudo for all commands. I edit the post to reflect that. Try running the append command again with sudo. If it doesn't work, edit the mdadm.conf file and paste the contents manually. Then run the last command to assemble the array.
    – vmfarms
    Aug 16, 2010 at 1:59
  • Update: I have managed to append the line. I now get "no devices found for /dev/md0" when I try mdadm -A /dev/md0
    – iali
    Aug 16, 2010 at 2:00
  • I ran "sudo mdadm --stop /dev/md0" then "sudo mdadm -A /dev/md0" I get the following message: "mdadm: /dev/md0 assembled from 1 drive - not enough to start the array"
    – iali
    Aug 16, 2010 at 2:07

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.