L2000 root disk errors

[NickPHughes]

I have an L2000 that is experiencing recovered errors on the root disk (the only disk in vg00)
I have ignite tapes available and also a nice new disk but what would be the procedure to use if I were to copy the failing disk to the new disk. I'd like to avoid a tape recovery if possible.
Thanks in advance

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

Hi Nick,

Have a look at this thread.

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=118108&admit=109447626+1253877670218+28353475


Regards,
Robert-Jan

[Torsten.]

Consider to mirror the disk or use "dd" to "clone" it, but this will fail if the disk is already bad.

The recovery from tape will likely take less than an hour, so I would do this.

[NickPHughes]

So I could plug in the new drive, do a "dd if=/dev/dsk/c0t2d0 of=/dev/dsk/c1t4d0 bs=1024"
whick would copy from the failing disk to the replacement disk, shutdown and swap its location to that of the failing disk, and if no errors, boot and Ive recovered?
If I went the preferred route of using ignite, would I need to recover any other volume groups or would they stay intact. (its just occured to me that Ive only recovered whole systems in DR trials and not just root disk)

[NickPHughes]

..or better to use raw devices and bs=64k

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

You could at least try the dd option, if this fails you can use the ignite tape.

Shutdown all your apps/databases before you start the dd

# dd if=/dev/rdsk/c0t2d0 of=/dev/rdsk/c1t4d0 bs=1024k

Regards,
Robert-Jan

[OldSchool]

If you've got vg00 all on one drive (which isn't real clear to me from the posting) and its not mirrored, then you could mirror to the new disk. If it is already mirrored, you don't need the ignite or to mirror it, as you can run off the mirror and replace it. follow the guidelines in the relevant sections of:

http://docs.hp.com/en/5991-1236/When_Good_Disks_Go_Bad_WP.pdf

[NickPHughes]

yes root is all on one disk "the only disk in vg00" but the client hasnt installed Mirror Disk.

[Bill Hassell]

> I'd like to avoid a tape recovery if possible.

Copying the disk to another disk will fail at the first error so you don't have a choice. There is a bad spot on the disk and the data cannot be read. That is why a single disk is always a bad idea for important systems.

[melvyn burnard]

Do yo have HP-UX 11iv2 or 11iv3?
If so, consider using DRD (Dynamic RootDisk) to clone your suspect disk to th enew one.

[NickPHughes]

I only have 11.11 so that isnt an option. Doh!

[Michael Steele_2]

HI

What would I do if I had this problem?
a) I would install the new disk and mirror the primary onto it. If this fails,
b) I would plug in the newest ignite tape, interupt the automatic restore sequence and install manually onto the new disk.

Now, when you go into this process, you will be given the option of which disk to choose. Just choose the new one, ignore the current one, and duplicate everything from there.

Some preparation, get the basic stuff like vgdisplay -v
cat /etc/fstab
bdf
strings /etc/lvmtab
etc.

Once installed, you should be at run level three and you can verify everything. And if doesn't look right, well you still have the current disk to boot off of and roll back to.

If you really want to be carefull, halt the server, swap the new with the current and put the current on your desk for roll back. And just perform an auto restore without fooling around with two disks in the server.

[NickPHughes]

I used the dd option and copied the 'bad' disk to a nice new disk with no errors.
System back up and running.
that's the 2nd root disk to fail on this system in less than 3 years.
Thanks for the advice