Ok, IIRC the reason you need to initdb is because indexes use your specific
locale to work. Without knowing the locale, indexes can't be used.
That said, it seems to be a bit strict to refuse to start the server.
In any case, there is a program pg_controldata which dumps the current
locale. It may help to determine if you edit pg_control properly.
Once you can start it, pg_dumpall and restart. Ofcourse, if you have
backups...
In any case, as a last resort you can try pgfsck
(http://svana.org/kleptog/pgfsck.html). It ignores your locale and so may be
able to recover some of your data.
Hope this helps,
On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 11:58:37AM +0200, Sander Smeenk wrote:
> Hi,
>
> After a very recent postgresql update, the postmaster failed to start
> because of this:
>
> | PANIC: The database cluster was initialized with LC_CTYPE
> | 'nl_NL@euro.UTF-8', which is not recognized by setlocale().
> | It looks like you need to initdb.
>
> Now I know nl_NL@euro.UTF-8 is an incorrect locale, I fixed that some
> time ago, but because postgresql kept on running, and the machine didn't
> reboot in the mean time, I noticed nothing when the new libc's / locales
> stopped 'supporting' that (faulty) locale.
>
> To make a long story short: i can't activate that locale again,
> therefore the postmaster won't start, and therefore I can't salvage my
> databases to re-create them & finish the postgresql upgrade.
>
> Now I found out the binary file data/global/pg_control matches the
> faulty locale, so I tried to vi that in a desperate attempt to start the
> server, but it failed and I had to restore the original.
>
> Is there some way that I can get to my precious databases?
> I fear that downgrading postgresql won't work, because the locale still
> isn't available, so it probably won't start either.
>
> Help? :)
>
> I'm running Debian Unstable, libc6/locales 2.3.2, postgresql 7.3.4.
>
> Thanks!
> Sander.
> --
> | A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.
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>
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> TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster
--
Martijn van Oosterhout <kleptog@svana.org> http://svana.org/kleptog/
> "All that is needed for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good
> men to do nothing." - Edmond Burke
> "The penalty good people pay for not being interested in politics is to be
> governed by people worse than themselves." - Plato