okay..thanks for the clarification. I think it was initrd - busybox. my debian version is: root@rider:~# lsb_release -a No LSB modules are available. Distributor ID: Debian Description: Debian GNU/Linux 6.0.3 (squeeze) Release: 6.0.3 Codename: squeeze
uname -mrs Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 x86_64 I fooled around with the bois and I was able to both drives to be seen and the good partition running and the drive is syncing. Not really sure why it was behaving this way - but thanks to plug and play - the running system seen the bad drive and i was able to sync it. Now, my question to you is: 1. what do I do next ? do i run the command - "grub-install --recheck --no-floppy /dev/sdc1" (sdc1 is my good drive) 2. Do i do this command after a reboot or just after the sync is done ? 3. I get this error regarding a Floppy Error - I have no floppy drives - how can i remove this ? 4. Do i have to update any of the mdadm files ? or any additional grub files ? before or after I reboot ? thanks for your help! mjh On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 2:07 PM, tv.deb...@googlemail.com <tv.deb...@googlemail.com> wrote: > 18/01/2012 19:38, Joey L wrote: >> On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 12:49 PM, tv.deb...@googlemail.com >> <tv.deb...@googlemail.com> wrote: >>> > 18/01/2012 18:03, Joey L wrote: >>>> >> The issue I am having is that if I put into the system both drives, >>>> >> the system always chooses the faulty drive. >>>> >> I do not even get linux system - i get a weird text prompt - i think >>>> >> it is initrdfs - even if i change it in the bios. >>>> >> >>>> >> On installing grub - can you tell me what is the procedure for that >>>> >> after i get my drives to an okay state ? >>>> >> >>>> >> thanks >>>> >> mjh > > initrd is a later stage than grub menu, grub comes second after bios, > and is in charge of loading the initrd. So if you get to the initrd > "busybox" shell it means you got past the grub menu. Otherwise what you > think is initrd really is either bios or grub. > > Maybe it's time you give us some details about your setup, what kind of > computer is this, and what flavor of Debian are you running on it (grub > version would be nice too) ? > How exactly is the boot sequence occurring, what do you "see" and in > what order ? > How do you know it "chooses" the faulty drive ? > > No matter which drive the system boots on, it will fail to bring up the > raid array your root partition resides on if it's flagged as degraded, > unless you pass the necessary option I gave you earlier. It is possible > to assemble the array from the busybox ("initrd") shell and resume the > init ("boot") process, but if we don't have more details, or if you > don't tell us exactly what you try and the result (error messages), we > can keep shooting in the dark for a long time. > > If you can't get it to boot by itself it may be easier to boot from a > recovery live-cd, any will do as long as it has mdadm installed or > installable. From there it will be possible to start the degraded raid > array, make sure it works, "chroot" on it (means "transferring" the > live-cd shell to the target system), and then issue commands as if they > were issued from the target system. Or for a start you could simply > assemble the array, start it and mount the target system's partition, > and edit the grub menu entry to add the necessary option. > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org > Archive: http://lists.debian.org/4f17186a.3000...@googlemail.com > -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/CAK3ER7sVaYQ5ghCGO7nJL2fT6p8Yj4V03w=nk7lafhqxsjy...@mail.gmail.com