MyISAM Corruption

MyISAM stores every table as a set of three files: table_name.frm contains the table structure (schema), table_name.MYD contains the data, and table_name.MYI contains the index. Corruption can damage the datafile, the index file, or both. In such cases, you will get an error like "ERROR 126 (HY000): Incorrect key file for table './test/t1.MYI'; try to repair it" or "Table './test/t2' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed" when you access the table. The error message can vary, but check for the words “repair” or “crashed” as a clue that the table is corrupted.

The SQL statements CHECK TABLE and REPAIR TABLE troubleshoot corruption. From the operating system shell, you can also used the myisamchk utility for the same purpose. One advantage of myisamchk is that you can use it without access to a running MySQL server. For instance, you can try to repair a table after a crash before bringing up the server again.