I have a personal raid 5 array that is in rough shape.  The failed array has eight 2 TB drives that were built up over time in my n-2 desktop machine.  The array is from an in-house computer that was my n-2 desktop machine.  I put eight 2TB drives into it as my storage needs grew.  It had an undersized processor and a meager amount of memory.  After finding the raid in a degraded state, I tried a number of times to bring it back.  This was late at night during a period when I was short on time and cash.I have the 8 drives in a different machine now.  However, the array will not activate.  I have tried assembling it and started going through blog postings and expert advise forums to see what I could do to bring it back.Is there anything I should try before attempting: --assemble --force or --create --assume-clean?Here are details about the array:$ cat /proc/mdstatPersonalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] md6 : inactive sde[0](S)      1953514496 blocksmd1 : inactive sdf[0](S) sdl[5](S) sdg[1](S) sdh[2](S) sdi[4](S)      9766917560 blocks super 1.2unused devices: <none>$ sudo mdadm --examine /dev/sd[e-l] |  egrep 'Event|/dev/sd'/dev/sde:         Events : 2266749/dev/sdf:         Events : 171/dev/sdg:         Events : 171/dev/sdh:         Events : 171/dev/sdi:         Events : 27/dev/sdj:         Events : 27/dev/sdk:         Events : 31/dev/sdl:         Events : 31$ sudo mdadm --examine /dev/sd[e-l] |  egrep 'Array'     Array Size : 13674601472 (13041.12 GiB 14002.79 GB)     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)   Array State : AAA.... ('A' == active, '.' == missing)     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)   Array State : AAA.... ('A' == active, '.' == missing)     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)   Array State : AAA.... ('A' == active, '.' == missing)     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)   Array State : AAAAAAA ('A' == active, '.' == missing)     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)   Array State : AAAAAAA ('A' == active, '.' == missing)     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)   Array State : AAAA.A. ('A' == active, '.' == missing)     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)   Array State : AAAA.A. ('A' == active, '.' == missing)$ dmesg...[   33.532447] scsi7 : rr62x[   33.532641] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5[   33.532699] scsi 7:0:1:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5[   33.532751] scsi 7:0:2:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5[   33.532823] scsi 7:0:3:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5[   33.532871] scsi 7:0:4:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5[   33.532919] scsi 7:0:5:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5[   33.532978] scsi 7:0:6:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5[   33.533051] scsi 7:0:7:0: Direct-Access     ATA      WDC WD20EARX-00P 51.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5...[   33.535178]  sdg: unknown partition table...[   33.535928]  sdh: unknown partition table[   33.536042]  sdf: unknown partition table...[   33.536481]  sdj: unknown partition table[   33.536568]  sdk: unknown partition table[   33.536624] sd 7:0:5:0: [sdj] Attached SCSI disk[   33.536663]  sdl: unknown partition table[   33.536775] sd 7:0:7:0: [sdl] Attached SCSI disk[   33.536834] sd 7:0:6:0: [sdk] Attached SCSI disk[   33.537042]  sdi: unknown partition table[   33.537190] sd 7:0:4:0: [sdi] Attached SCSI disk[   33.573418]  sde: sde1 sde2 < sde5 >[   33.573753] sd 7:0:0:0: [sde] Attached SCSI disk[   33.609751] md: bind<sdi>[   33.612501] md: bind<sdh>[   33.615419] md: bind<sdg>...[   34.032720] md: bind<sde>...[   39.140891] md: bind<sdl>...[   64.651514] systemd-udevd[484]: '/sbin/mdadm --incremental /dev/sdk' [2730] terminated by signal 9 (Killed)[   64.651589] systemd-udevd[487]: '/sbin/mdadm --incremental /dev/sdj' [2466] terminated by signal 9 (Killed)...[   65.185503] systemd-udevd[488]: '/sbin/mdadm --incremental /dev/sdf' [2470] terminated by signal 9 (Killed)...$ sudo mdadm --examine /dev/sd[e-l]/dev/sde:        Version : 0.90.00           UUID : d7b20e6c:1b319034:e5fb2d97:a1144fba  Creation Time : Sun Apr 29 22:14:28 2012     Raid Level : raid5  Used Dev Size : 1953514496 (1863.02 GiB 2000.40 GB)     Array Size : 13674601472 (13041.12 GiB 14002.79 GB)   Raid Devices : 8  Total Devices : 8Preferred Minor : 1    Update Time : Fri Dec 27 15:32:54 2013          State : clean Active Devices : 8Working Devices : 8 Failed Devices : 0  Spare Devices : 0       Checksum : 3a37d47e - correct         Events : 2266749         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K      Number   Major   Minor   RaidDevice Statethis     0       8        0        0      active sync   /dev/sda   0     0       8        0        0      active sync   /dev/sda   1     1       8       16        1      active sync   /dev/sdb   2     2       8       32        2      active sync   /dev/sdc   3     3       8       48        3      active sync   /dev/sdd   4     4       8       64        4      active sync   /dev/sde   5     5       8       80        5      active sync   /dev/sdf   6     6       8       96        6      active sync   /dev/sdg   7     7       8      112        7      active sync   /dev/sdh/dev/sdf:        Version : 1.2    Feature Map : 0x0     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966           Name : mjf-sysa:1  Creation Time : Fri Dec 27 15:53:16 2013     Raid Level : raid5   Raid Devices : 7 Avail Dev Size : 3906767024 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)  Used Dev Size : 3906765824 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)    Data Offset : 262144 sectors   Super Offset : 8 sectors          State : clean    Device UUID : 9d365d82:23f568c5:46534949:3b2dff9f    Update Time : Sat Mar 29 08:00:25 2014       Checksum : 86b60aea - correct         Events : 171         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K   Device Role : Active device 0   Array State : AAA.... ('A' == active, '.' == missing)/dev/sdg:        Version : 1.2    Feature Map : 0x0     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966           Name : mjf-sysa:1  Creation Time : Fri Dec 27 15:53:16 2013     Raid Level : raid5   Raid Devices : 7 Avail Dev Size : 3906767024 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)  Used Dev Size : 3906765824 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)    Data Offset : 262144 sectors   Super Offset : 8 sectors          State : clean    Device UUID : a21fde1e:07530215:0f854883:bc6484d6    Update Time : Sat Mar 29 08:00:25 2014       Checksum : e354bb1d - correct         Events : 171         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K   Device Role : Active device 1   Array State : AAA.... ('A' == active, '.' == missing)/dev/sdh:        Version : 1.2    Feature Map : 0x0     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966           Name : mjf-sysa:1  Creation Time : Fri Dec 27 15:53:16 2013     Raid Level : raid5   Raid Devices : 7 Avail Dev Size : 3906767024 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)  Used Dev Size : 3906765824 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)    Data Offset : 262144 sectors   Super Offset : 8 sectors          State : clean    Device UUID : f0446a88:6a5d5026:37375e86:1bb5c6cf    Update Time : Sat Mar 29 08:00:25 2014       Checksum : 5a86ed57 - correct         Events : 171         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K   Device Role : Active device 2   Array State : AAA.... ('A' == active, '.' == missing)/dev/sdi:        Version : 1.2    Feature Map : 0x0     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966           Name : mjf-sysa:1  Creation Time : Fri Dec 27 15:53:16 2013     Raid Level : raid5   Raid Devices : 7 Avail Dev Size : 3906767024 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)  Used Dev Size : 3906765824 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)    Data Offset : 262144 sectors   Super Offset : 8 sectors          State : active    Device UUID : ec21c8aa:75a114e6:5cdb77ea:543c438b    Update Time : Sun Jan 19 21:53:52 2014       Checksum : 5bef1322 - correct         Events : 27         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K   Device Role : Active device 4   Array State : AAAAAAA ('A' == active, '.' == missing)/dev/sdj:        Version : 1.2    Feature Map : 0x0     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966           Name : mjf-sysa:1  Creation Time : Fri Dec 27 15:53:16 2013     Raid Level : raid5   Raid Devices : 7 Avail Dev Size : 3906767024 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)  Used Dev Size : 3906765824 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)    Data Offset : 262144 sectors   Super Offset : 8 sectors          State : active    Device UUID : db1f64fd:5c0b94e8:6f717f78:c2348f0b    Update Time : Sun Jan 19 21:53:52 2014       Checksum : bf5e097a - correct         Events : 27         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K   Device Role : Active device 6   Array State : AAAAAAA ('A' == active, '.' == missing)/dev/sdk:        Version : 1.2    Feature Map : 0x0     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966           Name : mjf-sysa:1  Creation Time : Fri Dec 27 15:53:16 2013     Raid Level : raid5   Raid Devices : 7 Avail Dev Size : 3906767024 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)  Used Dev Size : 3906765824 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)    Data Offset : 262144 sectors   Super Offset : 8 sectors          State : clean    Device UUID : 5bf385b8:5747c231:196e1bd5:286bb1ef    Update Time : Sun Jan 19 21:58:51 2014       Checksum : 46e4d24 - correct         Events : 31         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K   Device Role : Active device 3   Array State : AAAA.A. ('A' == active, '.' == missing)/dev/sdl:        Version : 1.2    Feature Map : 0x0     Array UUID : 5e410da5:ef0f83c4:aa4b35d6:28916966           Name : mjf-sysa:1  Creation Time : Fri Dec 27 15:53:16 2013     Raid Level : raid5   Raid Devices : 7 Avail Dev Size : 3906767024 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)     Array Size : 11720297472 (11177.35 GiB 12001.58 GB)  Used Dev Size : 3906765824 (1862.89 GiB 2000.26 GB)    Data Offset : 262144 sectors   Super Offset : 8 sectors          State : clean    Device UUID : a6a63833:7302c477:58127a50:b4204201    Update Time : Sun Jan 19 21:58:51 2014       Checksum : 52121556 - correct         Events : 31         Layout : left-symmetric     Chunk Size : 512K   Device Role : Active device 5   Array State : AAAA.A. ('A' == active, '.' == missing)
challenging failed raid5 recovery
linux;data recovery;raid;mdadm;raid5