postmaster dead but pid file exists following "pg_ctl start"

Question

i am using postgres 9.2 on redhat 6

i'm a little confused as to why the following is happening with postgres

when postgres is running, performing "service postgresql92-postgresql status" as root results in "postmaster (pid 1379) is running..." (as expected)
as postgres run "pg_ctl stop -D $PGDATA -m s" to stop postgres
as postgres run "pg_ctl -D $PGDATA start" to start postgres (postgres is now running correctly)
now as root run "service postgresql92-postgresql status", output is now "postmaster dead but pid file exists"

my confusion is why am i getting the message in step 4 when postgres is running correctly? am i stopping/starting postgres incorrectly?

thanks Dave

davegreen100 davegreen100 · Accepted Answer · 2015-04-17T09:09:57

this has been answered for me over at dba.stackexchange, this thread explains whats was going on