Ignite error on make_tape_recovery

[Scott Guy_2]

When running make_tape_recovery on HP-UX 11.0, I'm getting the following error:

lifls: can't list /dev/dsk/cXXXXX
WARNING: /dev/dsk/cxxxxxx not a lif volume

Now, the disk that it is listing is the main disk of my root volume group. It is mirrored to a second disk. I don't have this problem on two other identical servers with similar patch levels, etc.

Any words of wisdom?

Thanks.

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom Scott,

Patching does not cause this problem.

Inconsistencies in lvm structure cause this problem.

strings /etc/lvmtab

This lists disks included in volume groups.

Check that they are all present and working. Correct any problems with disk or vgreduce bad disks out of volume groups and try again.

SEP

[Scott Guy_2]

The specific disk is listed in /etc/lvmtab. There doesn't appear to be any problems with the disk. I've gone into support tools and ran tools against it but it doesn't report anything.

Thanks for your response, btw!!

[Bill Hassell]

This is not a good sign at all. The LIF area is what the computer first reads in order to bootup. It is a specialized filesystem and must be readable. Use this command:

lifls /dev/rdsk/cXXXXX

It must report a set of files something like this:

HPUX ODE MAPFILE SYSLIB CONFIGDATA
SLMOD SLDEV SLDRIVERS SLSCSI MAPPER
IOTEST PERFVER PVCU SSINFO ISL
AUTO LABEL

If get an error such as reported above, your boot disk has not been created correctly. If your boot disk is mirrored, then lifls must also work on that disk too. If not, DO NOT reboot!!! Your system will fail during bootup. You need to recreate the LIF area, something that was done when first installing your system. If this system was cloned by a homegrown method, the LIF areas were omitted. You'll need to run the mkboot command to create and populate the LIF area. Also check that the boot, root, dump and swap areas are correct: lvlnboot -v

[john korterman]

Hi Scott,

Check Document ID: UIUXKBRC00011961 in the Tech Base - the errors described look a little like yours and may turn up both in connection with make_net_recovery and make_tape_recovery.

regards,
John K.

[Scott Guy_2]

OK, this is getting stranger based on the responses.
I noticed the error for the first time at the beginning of December when I was running the monthly Ignite backup. Since then (last week actually!!), we had a thermal situation/shutdown at our data center and all of our servers went down. The server came back up that night with no problems. I ran the lifls command and it gives me the error "Can't list: Not a LIF volume".
So, I know we've "rebooted" once with this condition and the server came up.

Now, my next question is this: I see comments about "recreating" the lif "part" of the boot disk. Would this be a situation where the disk gets "blown away"?

[Scott Guy_2]

John,
Thanks for the doc id. I'm having trouble finding it. When I search for that doc id in the Tech base, it produces no results.

It tells me it can't search one of the areas. I'll keep trying in the event something is down at the moment.

[john korterman]

Hi again Scott,

I cannot attach the doc id without violating coyrights etc, and it might not even solve your problem.
However, I guess it is ok to suggest making a "man bootconf" and compare the content of that file with those on your working systems and their respective boot disks...


regards,
John K.

[Scott Guy_2]

I completely understand John. I appreciate the information.

I've ran the following and it appears everything is in order. I'm befuddled at this point!!

(h5027n2)root# cat /stand/bootconf
l /dev/dsk/c1t6d0
(h5027n2)root# setboot
Primary bootpath : 0/0/2/0.6.0
Alternate bootpath : 0/0/2/1.6.0

Autoboot is ON (enabled)
Autosearch is ON (enabled)
(h5027n2)root# ioscan -fnC disk | pg
Class I H/W Path Driver S/W State H/W Type Description
====================================================================================
disk 0 0/0/1/0.2.0 sdisk CLAIMED DEVICE HP DVD-ROM 6x/32x
/dev/dsk/c0t2d0 /dev/rdsk/c0t2d0
disk 1 0/0/2/0.6.0 sdisk CLAIMED DEVICE SEAGATE ST39103LC
/dev/dsk/c1t6d0 /dev/rdsk/c1t6d0
disk 2 0/0/2/1.6.0 sdisk CLAIMED DEVICE SEAGATE ST39204LC
/dev/dsk/c2t6d0 /dev/rdsk/c2t6d0

[Scott Guy_2]

Bill,
I ran the lvlnboot command and this is the output:
It definitely appears the one disk is "hurting".
I also ran lifls on both disks and they are at the bottom. So, I guess the other day when the server rebooted, it must have booted from the secondary disk, huh??
If I run mkboot to correct the "bad" disk, can I run that with the system up?? Will it be "gentle" on the disk, or will it delete anything on there??

(h5027n2)root# lvlnboot -v
lvlnboot: LIF information corrupt or not present on "/dev/dsk/c1t6d0".
Use the "mkboot" command to initialize the LIF area.
Boot Definitions for Volume Group /dev/vg00:
Physical Volumes belonging in Root Volume Group:
/dev/dsk/c1t6d0 (0/0/2/0.6.0) -- Boot Disk
/dev/dsk/c2t6d0 (0/0/2/1.6.0) -- Boot Disk
Boot: lvol1 on: /dev/dsk/c1t6d0
/dev/dsk/c2t6d0
Root: lvol3 on: /dev/dsk/c1t6d0
/dev/dsk/c2t6d0
Swap: lvol2 on: /dev/dsk/c1t6d0
/dev/dsk/c2t6d0
Dump: lvol2 on: /dev/dsk/c1t6d0, 0


(h5027n2)root# lifls /dev/dsk/c1t6d0
lifls: Can't list /dev/dsk/c1t6d0; not a LIF volume
(h5027n2)root# lifls /dev/dsk/c2t6d0
ISL AUTO HPUX PAD LABEL