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I have a Linux raid (those md device), it only contains one drive, and it has a btrfs patition on it.

I accidently do the following thing:

fdisk /dev/md126

I didn't see the warning

The old btrfs signature will be removed by a write command.

Device does not contain a recognized partition table. Created a new
DOS disklabel with disk identifier 0x3cf67d6f

and type w to exit.

Now the partition table is gone.

I try to use testdisk /dev/md126 , and it pick up my partition, but

Disk /dev/md126 - 1993 GB / 1856 GiB - CHS 486640640 2 4                                                                                                                                                                                       

The harddisk (1993 GB / 1856 GiB) seems too small! (< 1993 GB / 1856 GiB)                                                                                                                                                                      
Check the harddisk size: HD jumpers settings, BIOS detection...                                                                                                                                                                                

The following partition can't be recovered:                                                                                                                                                                                                    
     Partition               Start        End    Size in sectors                                                                                                                                                                               
>  Linux                16368   0  1 486657007   1  4 3893125120 [2018.10.18-11:37:13 v15254]                                                                                                                                                  










[ Continue ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
btrfs blocksize=4096, 1993 GB / 1856 GiB

It doesn't seem to let me keep the partition.

And parted rescue doesn't show the partition at all

What should I do next?

This is the fdisk -l output before I break the partition table:

Disk /dev/sdb: 1.8 TiB, 2000365380096 bytes, 3906963633 sectors
Disk model: EARX-00PASB0    
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xcca96a8e

Device     Boot   Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1          2048    4982527    4980480  2.4G fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb2       4982528    9176831    4194304    2G fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb3       9437184 3902564351 3893127168  1.8T fd Linux raid autodetect

Disk /dev/md126: 1.8 TiB, 19933000280061440 bytes, 3893125120 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

After:

Disk /dev/sdb: 1.8 TiB, 2000365380096 bytes, 3906963633 sectors
Disk model: EARX-00PASB0    
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xcca96a8e

Device     Boot   Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1          2048    4982527    4980480  2.4G fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb2       4982528    9176831    4194304    2G fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb3       9437184 3902564351 3893127168  1.8T fd Linux raid autodetect


Disk /dev/md126: 1.8 TiB, 1993280061440 bytes, 3893125120 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x3cf67d6f

Here is the parted print output of current situation:

Model: Linux Software RAID Array (md)
Disk /dev/md126: 1993GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End  Size  Type  File system  Flags

This is the output of another drive with the similar config:

Model: Linux Software RAID Array (md)
Disk /dev/md123: 1995GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End     Size    File system  Flags
 1      0.00B  1995GB  1995GB  btrfs
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  • You've not broken the partition table - you've broken the BTFS filesystem on /dev/md126. Using fdisk and parted is not relevant here. (Unfortunately I know nothing about BTFS so I can't guide you further.) Commented Jun 6, 2020 at 14:33

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

You don't have a partition table on that device. So trying to restore partitions (when you have none) is bound to fail. Writing a partition table onto a device that holds a filesystem, likely damages that filesystem.

Trying to re-create your situation:

# file -s /dev/md100
/dev/md100: BTRFS Filesystem sectorsize 4096, nodesize 16384, leafsize 16384, UUID=fbae0a54-9d6b-4d20-9981-a1a385a0a91f, 120848384/205520896 bytes used, 1 devices
# fdisk /dev/md100
# file -s /dev/md100
/dev/md100: DOS/MBR boot sector

The steps below worked for me to recover.

Use wipefs to remove the msdos partition header that you wrote:

# wipefs --all --types dos /dev/md100
/dev/md100: 2 bytes were erased at offset 0x000001fe (dos): 55 aa
/dev/md100: calling ioctl to re-read partition table: Success
# file -s /dev/md100
/dev/md100: data

Use btrfs-select-super to restore backup superblock:

Note: I ended up using btrfs-select-super since btrfs check for some reason was unable / unwilling to fix this issue. Please read the man page first before proceeding.

# btrfs-select-super -s 1 /dev/md100
using SB copy 1, bytenr 67108864
# file -s /dev/md100
/dev/md100: BTRFS Filesystem sectorsize 4096, nodesize 16384, leafsize 16384, UUID=fbae0a54-9d6b-4d20-9981-a1a385a0a91f, 120848384/205520896 bytes used, 1 devices

Afterwards the filesystem was mountable with intact files.

However I can't guarantee the same will work for you. If possible you should not run this experiment on the drive directly but use a copy on write overlay.

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  • 1
    Thanks, this did help me recover the partition. The thing that I understand wrong is that I think the /dev/md* device is a drive, but actually it is a partition. You and the comment by roaima really help me realize that. If someone need to fix this, use btrfs inspect-internal dump-super -s 1 /dev/md0 or -s 2 to check if the 1st or 2nd backups of the superblock still exist. If it all shows like ERROR: bad magic on superblock on, btrfs-select-super won't work. Commented Jun 6, 2020 at 16:23

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