YaST is returning an error similar to the following: LVM error vgcreate -M2 -A n -s 4096k system /dev/sda3/dev/system: already exists in filesystem
Articles and Tips: qna
01 Aug 2005
Q.
I am reinstalling SUSE LINUX on a system that once had LVM volumes defined on it. I want to recreate these volumes just as they were before, but YaST is returning an error similar to the following: LVM error vgcreate -M2 -A n -s 4096k system /dev/sda3/dev/system: already exists in filesystem. How do I solve this problem?
A.
LVM stores the information about LVM volumes at the beginning of the LVM partitions. If the partition table for a drive is eradicated and then re-created exactly as it was before, the new LVM partitions won't be able to be created because the old configuration information will be found. Try one of the following solutions:
When deleting the old partitions, be sure to delete the LVM partitions, volume groups and logical volumes one by one in YaST. YaST ensures that the configuration information is wiped out so that when these partitions are re-created, there is no conflict with the old configuration.
If you have already wiped the partition table using FDISK or another tool, you need to clear the configuration information from these partitions. First, re-create the partition table as you want it. If you have encountered the above error, this has already been done. Boot the system with CD1 in rescue mode. Then wipe out the first 2 kilobytes of the LVM partitions. For example, if /dev/sda3 and /dev/sda4 were LVM partitions, you would do the following:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda3 bs=2048 count=1 dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda3 bs=2048 count=1 Now, reboot and start the installation. The LVM partitions can now be created. See Cool Solutions article 14829 for more details.
* Originally published in Novell Connection Magazine
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