Summary: Often, when restarting MySQL Server after a crash, installing a plugin, etc., the server doesn't start. Attempting to start with MySQL Server with innodb_force_recovery also fails. Read the blog to know the possible reasons behind the 'MySQL innodb_force_recovery not working properly' issue. Also, check out the solutions to fix the problem manually or using a MySQL repair tool.
![[Fixed] MySQL innodb_force_recovery is Not Working Properly](data:image/svg+xml;nitro-empty-id=NzM3OjQxNQ==-1;base64,PHN2ZyB2aWV3Qm94PSIwIDAgMjUyIDcyIiB3aWR0aD0iMjUyIiBoZWlnaHQ9IjcyIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==)
Whether you are running MySQL on a Linux or Windows machine, forcing InnoDB recovery to restart the server might fail. This may happen due to any of the following reasons:
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It is important to troubleshoot problems starting your MySQL Server. For this, open the MySQL error log and check the logs to see why the server fails to start. You can find the error log on a Windows PC by browsing the location- C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server nnn\data.
Here replace nnn with the version of MySQL Server you are using. For instance, if you’re using MySQL Server version 8.0, then locate the error log in – C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 8.0\data.
For a Unix or Linux distribution, you can find the error log by browsing:
/usr/local/var
Once the data directory opens, search for ‘host_name.err’ and ‘host_name.log’ files. Once found, examine the last lines in these files to understand why the server won’t start.
See this MySQL post for additional suggestions on troubleshooting problems starting the server.
If the problem persists, try to work around the issue as discussed in the next section.
Following are some workarounds you can use to troubleshoot the ‘InnoDB force recovery not working’ problem:
If you have directly used innodb_force_recovery=6, try running it with a value 3 and increase it to values 4, 5 if InnoDB fails to start. The steps are as follows:
innodb_force_recovery=3
innodb_purge_threads=0
Note: If MySQL doesn’t start, use MySQL Server startup script mysqld_safe. It helps in running mysqld server on a Unix machine.
mysql> #mysqld_safe –innodb_force_recovery=4
If this doesn’t work, skip to the next workaround.
If you cannot start the server, you can access data by restoring the MySQL database from a valid backup (mysqldump) file. You can find the detailed steps on how to restore a MySQL database from mysqldump file, click here.
If you don’t have a backup or it fails to work for you, the only solution is to use a MySQL database repair tool. Stellar Repair for MySQL helps repair severely corrupted InnoDB tables and recover their components.
The software also helps fix corrupted MyISAM tables. Thus, using the MySQL repair tool helps save time in troubleshooting tables on InnoDB and MyISAM storage engines via a single interface.
See the software working by watching this video:
You will have a problem starting MySQL Server if MySQL innodb_force_recovery is not working properly. Before resolving this issue, check the reasons discussed in this blog to understand what you may be doing wrong.
Try the suggestions to fix problems starting the server. If nothing helps, use the above-discussed workarounds. If innodb_force_recovery won’t work and you don’t have a backup, Stellar Repair for MySQL software can help repair the database and restore it to its original form.
Charanjeet is a Technical Content Writer at Stellar®who specializes in writing about databases, e-mail recovery, and e-mail migration solutions. She loves researching and developing content that helps database administrators, organizations and novices to fix multiple problems related to MS SQL and MySQL databases and Microsoft Exchange.
