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I've got 3 1TB drives which I've set up to use LVM. Here's the output of pvdisplay:

 --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sda1 VG Name vgpool PV Size 931.51 GiB / not usable 728.00 KiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 238467 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 238467 PV UUID 22ZgJ3-ep7X-flT6-KD1u-fWr1-Q8u9-2V28Ad --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sdc1 VG Name vgpool PV Size 931.51 GiB / not usable 728.00 KiB Allocatable yes (but full) PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 238467 Free PE 0 Allocated PE 238467 PV UUID 3b7vE1-gXPo-Moxm-5F46-vOPb-UpyF-mjo7ad --- Physical volume --- PV Name /dev/sdb1 VG Name vgpool PV Size 931.51 GiB / not usable 728.00 KiB Allocatable yes PE Size 4.00 MiB Total PE 238467 Free PE 774 Allocated PE 237693 PV UUID dFWNtb-WbyA-HSVz-urls-G0Y9-x2W0-jwsoTq

Everything looks good right? Now, I run sudo fdisk -l:

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/sda doesn't contain a valid partition table Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes 81 heads, 63 sectors/track, 382818 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x2e962a62 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdb1 2048 1953525167 976761560 8e Linux LVM Disk /dev/sdc: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes 81 heads, 63 sectors/track, 382818 cylinders, total 1953525168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0xe95df8a7 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdc1 2048 1953525167 976761560 8e Linux LVM Disk /dev/mapper/vgpool-lvstuff: 2997.4 GB, 2997362884608 bytes 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 364408 cylinders, total 5854224384 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Disk /dev/mapper/vgpool-lvstuff doesn't contain a valid partition table

My concern is that fdisk says sda doesn't have a valid partition despite me formatting each drive correctly as LVM (8e). This is my first time playing with LVM so did I do something wrong?

lshal:

 block.device = '/dev/sda' (string) block.is_volume = false (bool) block.major = 8 (0x8) (int) block.minor = 0 (0x0) (int) block.storage_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_WDC_WD10EARS_00Y5B1_WD_WCAV5C337141' (string) info.capabilities = {'storage', 'block'} (string list) info.category = 'storage' (string) info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_3b22_scsi_host_scsi_device_lun0' (string) info.product = 'WDC WD10EARS-00Y' (string) info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_serial_WDC_WD10EARS_00Y5B1_WD_WCAV5C337141' (string) info.vendor = 'ATA' (string) linux.hotplug_type = 3 (0x3) (int) linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.2/host0/target0:0:0/0:0:0:0/block/sda' (string) storage.automount_enabled_hint = true (bool) storage.bus = 'pci' (string) storage.drive_type = 'disk' (string) storage.firmware_version = '80.00A08' (string) storage.hotpluggable = false (bool) storage.lun = 0 (0x0) (int) storage.media_check_enabled = false (bool) storage.model = 'WDC WD10EARS-00Y' (string) storage.no_partitions_hint = false (bool) storage.originating_device = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer' (string) storage.removable = false (bool) storage.removable.media_available = true (bool) storage.removable.media_size = 1000204886016 (0xe8e0db6000) (uint64) storage.requires_eject = false (bool) storage.serial = 'WDC_WD10EARS-00Y5B1_WD-WCAV5C337141' (string) storage.size = 1000204886016 (0xe8e0db6000) (uint64) storage.vendor = 'ATA' (string)
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  • Have you rebooted or ran partprobe since you formatted /dev/sda? Commented Jan 13, 2013 at 18:44
  • @jordanm, no I haven't. But I haven't done it for the other ones either. It's the inconsistency between the drives which is bugging me. Commented Jan 13, 2013 at 18:45
  • you should check what disklabel you are using. If it is the DOS one, then fdisk is the right tool, otherwise, let's say you created a solaris disklabel, or an amiga, or whatever, then fdisk might not be right tool, even if the kerne use it without problems. Check what dmesg say about your disk when it found it. Or you may check it with lshal and verify the storage.partitioning_scheme Commented Jan 13, 2013 at 18:49
  • @eppesuig, I've added the output of lshal for sda but don't see storage.partitioning.scheme. Should I be looking somewhere else? Commented Jan 13, 2013 at 19:03
  • @MaxMackie do you have the storage.partition_scheme on sdb and sdc? Commented Jan 14, 2013 at 7:28

1 Answer 1

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It looks like the partition table on /dev/sda was destroyed. You didn't mention what you did to destroy it, so it's hard to say exactly how you would reconstruct it.

  • You can attempt to use fdisk to recreate the sda1 partition.

    On the assumption that the disk partitions of the three disks were identical, you can recreate the sda1 partition with fdisk /dev/sda1 and the same parameters as on the other two drives. If correct, this should make the volume visible again. (You may need to reboot afterward.)

  • If that fails, you can attempt to use TestDisk to recreate the sda1 partition.

    This will scan the drive and attempt to locate metadata which indicates what was on the disk and where, but it may give false positives. You're kind of on your own here.

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  • I basically just used fdisk to make the partition. sudo fdisk /dev/sda, n p 1 t 8e w. Then I added it as a physical volume etc. So are you saying I can remake the partition with fdisk without losing the data? Or is the data pretty much lost at this point? Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 2:32
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    As long as the newly created partition matches identically to the other two, then it should come out fine. Unlike DOS fdisk, Linux fdisk doesn't erase anything within the partition. Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 2:39
  • When you say matched, you mean just being made the same way. Like the way I mentioned above? I'll give this a try -- thank you very much. Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 2:43
  • You see how the parameters are the same for /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdc1? The same. Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 2:45
  • @MaxMackie Only the MS-DOS version of fdisk does that. Linux fdisk has never erased newly created partitions. Commented Oct 11, 2014 at 2:20

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