Hello all! I have a raid setup in stripping over some sata hdds(/dev/sda) and I setup lvm ontop of it. now after one reboot I couldn't mount the lvm no more. the /dev/mapper/ contains only the control device dmesg |grep "device mapper": device-mapper: 4.4.0-ioctl (2005-01-12) initialised: dm-devel@redhat.com pvs --verbose: Scanning for physical volume names pvscan --verbose Wiping cache of LVM-capable devices Wiping internal cache Walking through all physical volumes No matching physical volumes found pvdisplay: nothing going to /etc/lvm/archive I see that I have some files with some configs and the latest one appears to be the good one: # Generated by LVM2: Tue Jun 14 03:27:02 2005 contents = "Text Format Volume Group" version = 1 description = "Created *before* executing 'lvcreate -l 1144408 archive'" creation_host = "sakunew" # Linux sakunew 2.6.11.12-arc-accpx #1 SMP Sun Jun 12 22:39:40 MST 2005 i686 creation_time = 1118744822 # Tue Jun 14 03:27:02 2005 archive { id = "I0Cbr4-o1RK-RclG-4gkI-zHca-12ac-1ASEOh" seqno = 1 status = ["RESIZEABLE", "READ", "WRITE"] extent_size = 8192 # 4 Megabytes max_lv = 0 max_pv = 0 physical_volumes { pv0 { id = "cNr18P-wskQ-bvR3-FTON-1HVE-SotJ-bpFDhP" device = "/dev/sda" # Hint only status = ["ALLOCATABLE"] pe_start = 384 pe_count = 1144408 # 4.36557 Terabytes } } logical_volumes { lvol0 { id = "2Z4RG7-zWsp-wlg0-M7s5-GP4F-fGIF-8K5K4i" status = ["READ", "WRITE", "VISIBLE"] segment_count = 1 segment1 { start_extent = 0 extent_count = 1144408 # 4.36557 Terabytes type = "striped" stripe_count = 1 # linear stripes = [ "pv0", 0 ] } } } } I tried the PV metadata recovery command found at http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/LVM-HOWTO/recovermetadata.html root@sakunew:/etc/lvm/archive# pvcreate --uuid "cNr18P-wskQ-bvR3-FTON-1HVE-SotJ-bpFDhP" --restorefile /etc/lvm/archive/archive_00003.vg -d /dev/sda Couldn't find device with uuid 'cNr18P-wskQ-bvR3-FTON-1HVE-SotJ-bpFDhP'. Device /dev/sda not found. I tried also vgcfgrestore : root@sakunew:/etc/lvm/archive# vgcfgrestore -d -v archive Couldn't find device with uuid 'cNr18P-wskQ-bvR3-FTON-1HVE-SotJ-bpFDhP'. Couldn't find all physical volumes for volume group archive. Restore failed. when running cat /dev/sda | hexdump -C | less I get : 00000000 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 000001c0 01 00 ee fe ff ff 01 00 00 00 ff ff ff ff 00 00 |..îþÿÿ....ÿÿÿÿ..| 000001d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 000001f0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 55 aa |..............Uª| 00000200 45 46 49 20 50 41 52 54 00 00 01 00 5c 00 00 00 |EFI PART....\...| 00000210 65 36 d6 7e 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |e6Ö~............| 00000220 ff 0f cb 2e 02 00 00 00 22 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |ÿ.Ë.....".......| 00000230 de 0f cb 2e 02 00 00 00 4c de eb 10 ba 5e c6 4d |Þ.Ë.....LÞë.º^ÆM| 00000240 98 a0 e4 a7 f3 9e 90 62 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |. ä§ó..b........| 00000250 80 00 00 00 80 00 00 00 59 cc a7 59 00 00 00 00 |........Y̧Y....| 00000260 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 00000a00 df aa fa b7 20 4c 56 4d 32 20 78 5b 35 41 25 72 |ߪú· LVM2 x[5A%r| 00000a10 30 4e 2a 3e 01 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 |0N*>............| 00000a20 00 f8 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.ø..............| 00000a30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 00004600 4c 41 42 45 4c 4f 4e 45 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |LABELONE........| 00004610 8c 54 98 8d 20 00 00 00 4c 56 4d 32 20 30 30 31 |.T.. ...LVM2 001| 00004620 48 32 30 79 50 73 33 5a 30 4c 34 39 4e 58 59 46 |H20yPs3Z0L49NXYF| 00004630 71 64 4b 76 75 69 56 6d 5a 48 57 4c 7a 6e 32 57 |qdKvuiVmZHWLzn2W| 00004640 00 00 00 96 5d 04 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 |....]...........| 00004650 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| 00004660 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| 00004670 00 f8 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.ø..............| 00004680 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 00004c00 df aa fa b7 20 4c 56 4d 32 20 78 5b 35 41 25 72 |ߪú· LVM2 x[5A%r| 00004c10 30 4e 2a 3e 01 00 00 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 |0N*>............| 00004c20 00 f8 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |.ø..............| 00004c30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 00004e00 61 72 63 68 69 76 65 20 7b 0a 69 64 20 3d 20 22 |archive {.id = "| 00004e10 71 74 72 52 68 61 2d 72 77 73 42 2d 67 54 39 4c |qtrRha-rwsB-gT9L| 00004e20 2d 44 63 39 31 2d 75 52 70 62 2d 57 46 50 6e 2d |-Dc91-uRpb-WFPn-| 00004e30 37 63 54 4a 66 71 22 0a 73 65 71 6e 6f 20 3d 20 |7cTJfq".seqno = | 00004e40 31 0a 73 74 61 74 75 73 20 3d 20 5b 22 52 45 53 |1.status = ["RES| 00004e50 49 5a 45 41 42 4c 45 22 2c 20 22 52 45 41 44 22 |IZEABLE", "READ"| 00004e60 2c 20 22 57 52 49 54 45 22 5d 0a 65 78 74 65 6e |, "WRITE"].exten| 00004e70 74 5f 73 69 7a 65 20 3d 20 38 31 39 32 0a 6d 61 |t_size = 8192.ma| 00004e80 78 5f 6c 76 20 3d 20 30 0a 6d 61 78 5f 70 76 20 |x_lv = 0.max_pv| 00004e90 3d 20 30 0a 0a 70 68 79 73 69 63 61 6c 5f 76 6f |= 0..physical_vo| 00004ea0 6c 75 6d 65 73 20 7b 0a 0a 70 76 30 20 7b 0a 69 |lumes {..pv0 {.i| 00004eb0 64 20 3d 20 22 48 32 30 79 50 73 2d 33 5a 30 4c |d = "H20yPs-3Z0L| 00004ec0 2d 34 39 4e 58 2d 59 46 71 64 2d 4b 76 75 69 2d |-49NX-YFqd-Kvui-| 00004ed0 56 6d 5a 48 2d 57 4c 7a 6e 32 57 22 0a 64 65 76 |VmZH-WLzn2W".dev| 00004ee0 69 63 65 20 3d 20 22 2f 64 65 76 2f 73 64 61 31 |ice = "/dev/sda1| 00004ef0 22 0a 0a 73 74 61 74 75 73 20 3d 20 5b 22 41 4c |"..status = ["AL| 00004f00 4c 4f 43 41 54 41 42 4c 45 22 5d 0a 70 65 5f 73 |LOCATABLE"].pe_s| 00004f10 74 61 72 74 20 3d 20 33 38 34 0a 70 65 5f 63 6f |tart = 384.pe_co| 00004f20 75 6e 74 20 3d 20 31 31 34 34 34 30 38 0a 7d 0a |unt = 1144408.}.| 00004f30 7d 0a 0a 7d 0a 23 20 47 65 6e 65 72 61 74 65 64 |}..}.# Generated| 00004f40 20 62 79 20 4c 56 4d 32 3a 20 54 75 65 20 4a 75 | by LVM2: Tue Ju| 00004f50 6e 20 31 34 20 30 33 3a 31 37 3a 32 35 20 32 30 |n 14 03:17:25 20| 00004f60 30 35 0a 0a 63 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 73 20 3d 20 22 |05..contents = "| 00004f70 54 65 78 74 20 46 6f 72 6d 61 74 20 56 6f 6c 75 |Text Format Volu| 00004f80 6d 65 20 47 72 6f 75 70 22 0a 76 65 72 73 69 6f |me Group".versio| 00004f90 6e 20 3d 20 31 0a 0a 64 65 73 63 72 69 70 74 69 |n = 1..descripti| 00004fa0 6f 6e 20 3d 20 22 22 0a 0a 63 72 65 61 74 69 6f |on = ""..creatio| 00004fb0 6e 5f 68 6f 73 74 20 3d 20 22 73 61 6b 75 6e 65 |n_host = "sakune| 00004fc0 77 22 09 23 20 4c 69 6e 75 78 20 73 61 6b 75 6e |w".# Linux sakun| 00004fd0 65 77 20 32 2e 36 2e 31 31 2e 31 32 2d 61 72 63 |ew 2.6.11.12-arc| 00004fe0 2d 61 63 63 70 78 20 23 31 20 53 4d 50 20 53 75 |-accpx #1 SMP Su| 00004ff0 6e 20 4a 75 6e 20 31 32 20 32 32 3a 33 39 3a 34 |n Jun 12 22:39:4| 00005000 30 20 4d 53 54 20 32 30 30 35 20 69 36 38 36 0a |0 MST 2005 i686.| 00005010 63 72 65 61 74 69 6f 6e 5f 74 69 6d 65 20 3d 20 |creation_time = | 00005020 31 31 31 38 37 34 34 32 34 35 09 23 20 54 75 65 |1118744245.# Tue| 00005030 20 4a 75 6e 20 31 34 20 30 33 3a 31 37 3a 32 35 | Jun 14 03:17:25| 00005040 20 32 30 30 35 0a 0a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 | 2005...........| 00005050 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |................| * 00008200 4a 46 53 31 01 00 00 00 60 fe fc ff 00 00 00 00 |JFS1....`þüÿ....| 00008210 00 10 00 00 0c 00 03 00 00 02 00 00 09 00 00 00 |................| 00008220 00 00 40 00 00 09 20 10 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 |..@... .........| 00008230 04 00 00 00 53 00 01 00 02 00 00 00 51 00 01 00 |....S.......Q...| indicating that both the archive UUID and the pv0 UUID changed and that pv0 now is on /dev/sda1(!) and that the JFS partition is there and possibly could be recovered ... I made a backup of the archive_00003.vg config and modified it with the data that I found in the hexdump above and now file looks like: # Generated by LVM2: Tue Jun 14 03:27:02 2005 contents = "Text Format Volume Group" version = 1 description = "Created *before* executing 'lvcreate -l 1144408 archive'" creation_host = "sakunew" # Linux sakunew 2.6.11.12-arc-accpx #1 SMP Sun Jun 12 22:39:40 MST 2005 i686 creation_time = 1118744822 # Tue Jun 14 03:27:02 2005 archive { id = "qtrRha-rwsB-gT9L-Dc91-uRpb-WFPn-7cTJfq" seqno = 1 status = ["RESIZEABLE", "READ", "WRITE"] extent_size = 8192 # 4 Megabytes max_lv = 0 max_pv = 0 physical_volumes { pv0 { id = "H20yPs-3Z0L-49NX-YFqd-Kvui-VmZH-WLzn2W" device = "/dev/sda1" # Hint only status = ["ALLOCATABLE"] pe_start = 384 pe_count = 1144408 # 4.36557 Terabytes } } logical_volumes { lvol0 { id = "2Z4RG7-zWsp-wlg0-M7s5-GP4F-fGIF-8K5K4i" status = ["READ", "WRITE", "VISIBLE"] segment_count = 1 segment1 { start_extent = 0 extent_count = 1144408 # 4.36557 Terabytes type = "striped" stripe_count = 1 # linear stripes = [ "pv0", 0 ] } } } } now why my original config showed that pv0 was on /dev/sda and in metadata taken with hexdump it was in /dev/sda1 ? if I run : pvcreate --uuid "H20yPs-3Z0L-49NX-YFqd-Kvui-VmZH-WLzn2W" --restorefile /etc/lvm/archive/archive_00003.vg -d /dev/sda1 Couldn't find device with uuid 'H20yPs-3Z0L-49NX-YFqd-Kvui-VmZH-WLzn2W'. Physical volume "/dev/sda1" successfully created and root@sakunew:/etc/lvm/archive# pvscan PV /dev/sda1 lvm2 [2.00 TB] Total: 1 [2.00 TB] / in use: 0 [0 ] / in no VG: 1 [2.00 TB] it shows only 2T instead of 4T which is in the config file and root@sakunew:/etc/lvm/archive# pvdisplay --- NEW Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sda1 VG Name PV Size 2.00 TB Allocatable NO PE Size (KByte) 0 Total PE 0 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 0 PV UUID H20yPs-3Z0L-49NX-YFqd-Kvui-VmZH-WLzn2W I'm running debian 3.1 with kernel 2.6.12 with ARECA RAID: 64BITS PCI BUS DMA ADDRESSING SUPPORTED scsi0 : ARECA ARC1130 PCI-X 12 PORTS SATA RAID CONTROLLER (RAID6-ENGINE Inside) Driver Version 1.20.00.07 Vendor: Areca Model: ARC-1130-VOL#00 Rev: R001 Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 03 arcmsr device major number 253 SCSI device sda: 9374994432 512-byte hdwr sectors (4799997 MB) SCSI device sda: drive cache: write back what can I do to get lvm to detect my raid correctly and where is the problem so I can fix it and get my data ? I hope I pasted all information that was needed. Now don't go ignoring me with this please ;p thanks, cip