[linux-lvm] FS recovery from lost vg, pv data

[mike.czajka@utoronto.ca]

Hello;

I have a (probably common and detested) LVM1 recovery question: how can i get
the data off my /dev/hda3 (LVM partition) which previously housed a VG and a few
LVs whose metadata is now lost, having done a 'pvcreate -ff /dev/hda3' and a
'vgcreate vg /dev/hda3'? The actual data is in a few reiserfs3 partitions of
unknown sizes (unknown number of LVs, approximately 4). 

I removed my /dev/hdb PV using vgreduce, after attempting a pvmove (but it
seemed that it wasn't used). After a reboot I couldn't mount my root LV (it was
a very bad idea to make a root lv), and after booting using a bootCD vgscan
exited with 'error pv_read_pe can't get data of volume group from physical
volume' (roughly). So this is when I tried 'pvcreate -ff' and created a new vg.
However, I cannot guess at the LV information. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Mike