raiddev /dev/md1 raid-level 1 nr-raid-disks 2 nr-spare-disks 0 chunk-size 4 persistent-superblock 1 device /dev/hdc6 raid-disk 0 device /dev/hda6 raid-disk 1 If I disconnect /dev/hdc raidstart complains /dev/hdc6 is not accessible and won't start the raid device. I if make raidtab look like raiddev /dev/md1 raid-level 1 nr-raid-disks 2 nr-spare-disks 0 chunk-size 4 persistent-superblock 1 device /dev/hda6 raid-disk 0 device /dev/hdc6 raid-disk 1 and disconnect /dev/hdc it does starts /dev/md1 in degraded mode. Note I just changed the order of the devices in raidtab. raidstart just stops reading raidtab when the first listed fails and marks the md unavailable. RH7.2 w/ updates - raidtools-0.90-24