Problem booting RAID1/mdadm system when one disk is unplugged

[James Brown <jbrown@orange.net>]

All,

I have already posted this question to gmane.linux.raid, but would 
really appreciate some help from a Debian perspective please...

My System has 2x120GB IDE disks with the an up-to-date Sarge install, 
running kernel 2.6.8-3 and configured for mirroring.

When I tested booting my system, I found:

a) A kernel panic unless both disks are plugged in.
b) One disk removes from the array each reboot.

The relevant logs are on this thread:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.raid/13033/match=newbie+kernel+panic+raid1

I was advised this was a problem with my initrd because it didn't 
contain a mdadm.conf file and presumably that I should

Unfortunately, some friends of mine do not agree that my initrd is the 
problem because they point out that I can still boot when two disks are 
present. What do people here think?

Thanks in advance

James.