Topic: GParted Error Message on Raid 1 Array
Hello,
I've set up a Linux software raid 1 array using 2 WD hard drives. Everything seems to be working fine; however, when I try to view the array in GParted, I get the following error messages for the individual devices and the array, respectively:
Unable to detect file system! Possible reasons are:
- The file system is damaged
- The file system is unknown to GParted
- There is no file system available (unformatted)
- The device entry /dev/sdb1 is missing
e2label: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/md0p1
Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.
tune2fs 1.42.9 (28-Dec-2013)
tune2fs: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/md0p1
Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.
Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.
dumpe2fs 1.42.9 (28-Dec-2013)
dumpe2fs: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/md0p1
Unable to read the contents of this file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.
The cause might be a missing software package.
The following list of software packages is required for ext4 file system support: e2fsprogs v1.41+.
I verified that I have a version of e2fsprogs installed that is greater than 1.41. When I run sudo parted /dev/sdb print, sudo parted /dev/sdc print, and sudo parted /dev/md0 print, i get the following:
$ sudo parted /dev/sdb print
Model: ATA WDC WD10EZEX-60W (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 1000GB 1000GB primary raid
sudo parted /dev/sdc print
Model: ATA WDC WD10EZEX-60W (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 1000GB 1000GB primary raid
sudo parted /dev/md0 print
Model: Linux Software RAID Array (md)
Disk /dev/md0: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Flags
1 0.00B 1000GB 1000GB ext4
So, it seems like I partitioned each drive with an msdos partition table, but didn't format them individually with an ext4 filesystem, but when I created the software raid, i assigned it an ext4 filesystem, but didn't generate a valid partition table. (???)
Is there anything I should have done differently, and/or is GParted telling me the full story, since a file system is assigned to the array? Is there anything I can do that would otherwise be painless (read: not require a back up of my data) or would starting from scratch be the only option? Finally, if the setup is incorrect, would the correct set of steps have been: 1)create a partition on the entirety of each disk 2)set up a file system on each disk, 3)set up the raid array with mdadm as I appear to have already done?