[linux-lvm] Removing a PV from a mirror

[Fredrik Tolf]

Hi list,

I've got a mirror volume with two S-ATA disks, one of which started
getting bad sectors recently, and I want to replace it. I'm having
trouble removing it from the volume, however.

When googling around on the subject, I've read everywhere that I
shouldn't have to do anymore than remove it, and LVM should discover
that and reconvert the mirror back into a linear volume. To be a bit
more careful, though, I ran "echo 1 >/sys/block/sdh/device/delete" to
have it removed properly in software first. Much to my surprise, shall
we say, that just made the LV die a horrible death; it started returning
EIO for every access to it, and I had to reboot the server to get it
working again. Again, this is the proper procedure according to what
I've been reading on the net; did I do it wrong, somehow, or are my
sources completely off? (And if this doesn't work, then what would
actually happen if the disk were to fail physically?)

As I rebooted the server, I tried disconnecting the disk in advance, but
that made LVM unable to bring the VG back online at all.

How am I supposed to take this disk out of the volume? If I should use
`lvconvert -m 0 $LV', then how do I specify which disk is to be removed?

I'm using a stock Debian stable (Lenny) installation, meaning Linux
2.6.24 and LVM2 2.02.39.

Appreciative for any answers,

Fredrik Tolf