Disk Troubleshooting

The disk state indicates the current condition of a disk. The disk state appears in the state column of the grid and in the Disk Properties window. When a disk is unhealthy, an alert icon appears on the disk and the disk is listed in the Alert Monitor window. Disk states can be one of the following:

Disk State: Imported

The disk is accessible and has no known problems. The disk is under VxVM control and belongs to a dynamic disk group. This is the normal disk state. No user action is required.

Disk State: Free

The disk is freely available. A disk that is freely available is under VxVM control, but does not belong to a dynamic disk group.

To make the disk available for VxVM use, add the disk to a dynamic disk group.

Disk State: Not Setup

The disk is not under VxVM control.

To make the disk available for VxVM use, place the disk under VxVM control and add the disk to a dynamic disk group.

Disk State: Import Failed

The disk was previously under VxVM control, but VxVM cannot access the disk and/or configuration information for the disk. The disk is not available for use. This can happen after you upgrade VxVM. This can also happen if some disks are inaccessible at system startup.

Make sure that the physical disk is turned on, plugged in, and attached to the computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system (Actions > Rescan) to make sure that VxVM recognizes all attached hardware. Try to import the dynamic disk group for the disk.
If the dynamic disk group is imported and the disk does not have a VxVM disk name, place the disk under VxVM control and add the disk to a dynamic disk group.

Disk State: Disconnected

The connection between the VxVM disk and the underlying physical disk (device) is broken. This can occur when a disk fails or when you disconnect a disk.

Make sure that the physical disk is turned on, plugged in, and attached to the computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system (Actions > Rescan) to make sure that VxVM recognizes any newly attached hardware.
Try to reconnect the disconnected VxVM disk to its physical disk (using the Replace Disk task).
If you cannot fix the problem, replace the disk with another physical disk.

Disk State: Deported

The disk belongs to a dynamic disk group that is currently deported. The disk is not available for use in the deported dynamic disk group and cannot be added to a new dynamic disk group.

To return the disk to a usable state, import the dynamic disk group for the disk.
To move the disk to another dynamic disk group, import the current disk group, remove the disk, and add the disk to a new dynamic disk group.
If the disk group import fails and you want to free the disk space for use in other dynamic disk groups, you can use the Initialize Disk task.
CAUTION: This command overwrites the disk header and configuration information on the disk. Any volume copies or regions located on the disk are not accessible after you reinitialize the disk.

Disk State: Offline

VxVM cannot access the disk.

To return the disk to an accessible state, bring the disk online.

Disk State: Not Initialized

A configuration error prevents the disk from being used.

To make the disk available for VxVM use, place the disk under VxVM control and add the disk to a dynamic disk group.
If the disk cannot be added to VxVM, it can be necessary to reinitialize the disk with the Initialize Disk task.
CAUTION: This command overwrites the disk header and configuration information on the disk. Any volume copies or regions located on the disk are not accessible after you reinitialize the disk.

Disk State: Locked

The disk belongs to a dynamic disk group that is currently imported by another machine or was last imported by another machine and was not deported cleanly. The disk is not currently usable on the local machine.

To make all of the disks in the dynamic disk group available for use on the local machine, deport the disk group on the remote machine and then import the dynamic disk group on the local machine.
To make one disk available for use on the local machine, remove the disk from its dynamic disk group (on the other machine) and add it to a dynamic disk group on the local machine.
If the dynamic disk group is not imported on another machine, it can be necessary to re-import the dynamic disk group and clear the host ID on all disks in the dynamic disk group. You can do this by selecting the Clear Host ID option in the Import Disk Group dialog box.
CAUTION: If any of the disks in the dynamic disk group are in use by another machine, this command can cause the disks to be managed by two systems at the same time, which can lead to corruption.

Disk State: Inactive

The disk appears to belong to a dynamic disk group, but is not active in the disk group. The disk may have become (temporarily) inaccessible. Alternatively, the disk may have been inaccessible at dynamic disk group import, but may be accessible now.

Make sure that the physical disk is turned on, plugged in, and attached to the computer. Repair any disk, controller, or cable problems. Scan the disks on the system (Rescan) to make sure that VxVM recognizes any newly attached hardware.
It may be necessary to reattach the disk to its dynamic disk group with the Replace Disk task.
After a successful reattach, volume recovery can be necessary.
If the reattach fails and you want to free the disk space for use, you can use the Initialize Disk task.
CAUTION: This command overwrites the disk header and configuration information on the disk. Any volume copies or regions located on the disk is not accessible after you reinitialize the disk.

Disk State: Foreign Owned

The disk is under the control of another disk management product. The disk is not available for use with VxVM.

To make the disk available for VxVM use, remove the disk from the other disk management product control and place the disk under VxVM control.