Couldn't find device with uuid" LVM messages seen during boot

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 Service Pack 4 (SLES 11 SP4)

Situation

On systems with LVM based root on multipath devices, during boot the following is an example of messages logged during boot, the system continues to boot normally regardless:

Setup multipath devices: ok.
Couldn't find device with uuid AdYzmg-C2Qq-2S57-b45e-Evl3-7vvb-CXN7Kv.
Refusing activation of partial LV lv_name. Use --partial to override.
Refusing activation of partial LV lv_name. Use --partial to override.
0 logical volume(s) in volume group "volume_group" now active
...
0 logical volume(s) in volume group "volume_group" now active
7 logical volume(s) in volume group "volume_group" now active
Waiting for device /dev/volume_group/logical_volume to appear: ok
Resetting LVM for multipath
...
Reading all physical volumes. This may take a while...
Found volume group "volume_group" using metadata type lvm2
Found volume group "volume_group" using metadata type lvm2
...
7 logical volume(s) in volume group "volume_group" now active

Resolution

It is working as designed, the error messages "Couldn't find device with uuid" can be ignored.

Cause

The "errors" are seen due to the fact that the system is actively polling for the device(s) to come online. Thus it can happen that on the initial polling attempts the device(s) are not available yet which results in the mentioned error. Subsequent polling attempts succeed and the system continues to boot without any problems.

Especially with large SAN configurations this is not uncommon / unexpected.

Disclaimer

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