[ale] RAID 5 - do I just trash the array & start over?

[Gregory C. Johnsom]

Hello world,

Cutting to the chase, I have a RAID 5 array created with a "missing" 
drive and a RAID0 assemblage as placeholders for where the data source 
drives will go.

I was not able to set up the RAID atomically, and since starting the 
process suffered a fried PS.  On the new box, I set up the the RAID 
using the script I originally developed (creatively named "bootRaid") 
and tried to  finish the process.  It did not go well, and dmesg started 
showing a lot of channel resets. (If memory serves).  I dropped the box, 
and upon reboot md0 (the big RAID5) refused to start.  I've waited 2-3 
days for the sync to complete, and it has not.  Just before the last 
operation the array showed several hundred gig of data on it, so it's 
worth salvaging if I can.

During this time, I've tried to find anything resembling current 
guidance on the md drivers and recovery thereof.  I have yet to find 
anything that will indicate whetehr a re-sync is actually in progress 
and if so where it stands.

The system has no OS yet, so I'm running Knoppix3.7 using 2.6 for the 
EVMS (LVM2?) support.

Is a dirty, degraded raid5 array toast? 

If yes, I assume this is why most controllers emphasize RAID 01/10.  I 
favor 01 in this scenario.  What think you?

If no, how can I get this thing back up and avoid wasting days on "high 
availability" again?

Thanks,
-Greg