Is there a way to remove data from a disk that's showing up as a blue ball?

 

Thanks

Is there a way to remove data from a disk that's showing up as a blue ball?

 

Thanks

If a disk is "blue" then it indicates it is not currently known in the superblock defining the array. 

 

It "might" have a file-system on it, it might not.  It might have files on it, it might not. 

 

If the disk is functional, and has a file-system, then it is very easy to get the data off of it.

 

Believe it or not, if the disk has a valid file system, the easiest way to proceed is to start your array.  But first, let's make sure the file-system exists.

 

First things, first... Un-assign the "blue" drives from the array.  Before you do, make note of the linux "device" names shown in parentheses on the devices page.  It will be (hd?) or (sd?) depending on if it is an IDE drive, or an SATA drive.  LEt's assime for the rest of my examples, it is "sdf"

 

Log in via telnet.  Then type:

vol_id /dev/sdf1

 

Notice I used sdf1, with a trailing "1", to reference the first partition on the disk.  If you have a reiserfs file-system, it should return something like this:

vol_id /dev/sdf1

ID_FS_USAGE=filesystem

ID_FS_TYPE=reiserfs

ID_FS_VERSION=3.6

ID_FS_UUID=ebc0aeb3-a2e7-4ee7-b4f2-cdf4e556abf6

ID_FS_UUID_ENC=ebc0aeb3-a2e7-4ee7-b4f2-cdf4e556abf6

ID_FS_LABEL=

ID_FS_LABEL_ENC=

 

Assuming it has a reiserfs file-system, you are in good shape.  If it reports no file system, then post back here with what you do see.

You can also post the output of

fdisk -l /dev/sdf

if it reports no file-system exists.  (It shows how the disk was partitioned)

 

If there is a file-system, then we can check it to see if it has any corruption:

Type:

reiserfsck -q -y /dev/sdf1

 

With any luck, the file-system will not have any corruption.  If it does, the output should direct you how to proceed.  Post the output here for guidance.

 

Assuming a good file-system, just re-assign the drives on the management console and start the array and you can get to your files. (You may need to check the I'm sure box below the "Start" button)

 

Joe L.