[mythtv-users] Totally OT - but need help wit RAID5 array

[Jafa]

James Pifer wrote:
>> Well, your basic problem is that the disk would look to be hosed.
> I'm trying dd_rhelp right now. Would be nice to recover some of the
> stuff if I can. 
>
> Assuming dd_rhelp is able to do it's thing (it appears to be doing
> something!), how do I bring up the array? Should I switch hdb and hdd in
> the cabling or just try and force the array to load using hdc and hdd?
>   
Hi,

Quick recap - you have a 3-drive RAID5 configuration?
You are trying to start it with two drives, but now one of those is failing?

BTW - what happened to the third drive? Is it just out of sync or is it 
dead/non-existent?

I would work on fixing/recovering what you can with the underlying hard 
drives first - don't try to restart the RAID system on top of a failing 
disk when it is in a non-redundant configuration.

First, run "smartctl --all <dev>" on each of drives. Take a look at what 
is going on (post back).
If the failing hard drive is mostly readable the use dd_rescue (not dd) 
to copy it to a new hard drive.
Swap out the failing drive with the new copy and then try to start the 
RAID system.

Nick