4.20 Repairing a Traditional Volume

Typically, you cannot mount a Traditional volume if it has even minor damage. Occasionally, a damaged volume mounts and causes errors in the process.

Dismount the volume (see Section 4.10, Dismounting a Traditional Volume), then use the Vrepair utility to correct volume problems or to remove name space entries from File Allocation Tables (FATs) and Directory Entry Tables (DETs).

You can run the Vrepair utility (vrepair) on a damaged volume while other volumes are mounted. For details about using the Vrepair utility, see VREPAIR in the NW 6.5 SP8: Utilities Reference.

Following are typical instances when the Vrepair utility can help:

If a volume fails to mount as the server is booting, the Vrepair utility loads automatically and attempts to repair the volume.

When the Vrepair utility autoloads, it uses the default options. If you want to use an alternate option, load the Vrepair utility manually and set the alternate option before running the Vrepair utility.

NOTE:If you do not want the Vrepair utility to automatically repair a volume that fails to mount, use the SET parameter named Automatically Repair Bad Volumes to change the default value of On to Off.

4.20.1 Prerequisites

  • The volume you want to repair must be dismounted. For instructions, see Section 4.10, Dismounting a Traditional Volume.

  • If the volume to be repaired has name space support, the corresponding Vrepair name space module (v_namespace.nlm) must be located in either the sys:\system directory or in a search path directory.

    Example modules include v_mac.nlm and v_long.nlm.

4.20.2 Procedure

  1. At the server console prompt, enter

    vrepair [volume_name] [logfile_name]
    

    Replace volume_name with the name of the volume to repair. If there is only one volume that is dismounted, you don’t need to specify this parameter, because the Vrepair utility attempts to repair that volume.

    If you want to save the error log, replace the logfile_name with the name of the file you want the Vrepair utility to create. The Vrepair utility creates a log of errors it finds. It displays the errors on screen and writes them to a file if you specify a filename.

    When you launch the Vrepair utility, an Options menu is displayed.

  2. Accept the default options, or select alternate options, as appropriate.

    The first time you try to repair a volume, accept the default options. If the default options fail to repair the volume, select alternate options.

    1. To accept the default options, continue with Step 3.

    2. To set alternate options at the Options menu, choose Set Vrepair Options, then select Option 2.

  3. To begin the repair process, choose Repair A Volume from the Options menu.

    • If more than one volume is dismounted, select the volume to repair from those listed.

    • If only one volume is dismounted, the Vrepair utility assumes it is the volume that needs repairing and begins the repair.

    As the volume is being repaired, the server console screen displays a message indicating vrepair activity.

  4. (Optional) Modify error log settings after the repair has started.

    If the Vrepair utility finds many errors during the repair process, you might want to change some of the run-time error settings. To modify these settings after the repair has started, press F1 to display the Current Error Settings menu.

    • Select Option 1 if you do not want the Vrepair utility to pause after each error.

    • Select Option 2 if you want the Vrepair utility to log errors in a text file.

    • Select Option 3 to stop the volume repair.

    • Select Option 4 to continue with a volume repair after you have stopped it.

  5. When the repair is complete, answer Y (yes) when prompted to write repairs to the disk.

  6. If the Vrepair utility has found errors, run vrepair again by repeating Step 2 through Step 5. Repeat until the Vrepair utility finds no errors.

    If you are unable to mount the volume after running the Vrepair utility several times, you must delete the volume, then re-create the volume using Novell Remote Manager for NetWare.