PhatalOne

Awesome find!!! Just bought myself a second Supermicro card with the code plus a $10 promotional card they sent to me. Total was $81 shipped!

Thanks for your help Joe. I still have 20 hours left on this parity check so I will have to wait until it is finished to tackle the SATA mode problems. The boot problem did occur even with the USB HDD as the highest priority HDD. Hopefully a BIOS upgrade will address the issue.

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION === Device Model: ST32000542AS Serial Number: 6XW24TWK Firmware Version: CC34 User Capacity: 2,000,398,934,016 bytes Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall] ATA Version is: 8 ATA Standard is: ATA-8-ACS revision 4 Local Time is: Thu Jan 7 17:44:05 2010 Local time zone must be set--see zic m SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability. SMART support is: Enabled === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION === SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED General SMART Values: Offline data collection status: (0x00) Offline data collection activity was never started. Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled. Self-test execution status: ( 0) The previous self-test routine completed without error or no self-test has ever been run. Total time to complete Offline data collection: ( 643) seconds. Offline data collection capabilities: (0x73) SMART execute Offline immediate. Auto Offline data collection on/off support. Suspend Offline collection upon new command. No Offline surface scan supported. Self-test supported. Conveyance Self-test supported. Selective Self-test supported. SMART capabilities: (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering power-saving mode. Supports SMART auto save timer. Error logging capability: (0x01) Error logging supported. General Purpose Logging supported. Short self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 1) minutes. Extended self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 255) minutes. Conveyance self-test routine recommended polling time: ( 2) minutes. SCT capabilities: (0x103f) SCT Status supported. SCT Feature Control supported. SCT Data Table supported. SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10 Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x000f 112 100 006 Pre-fail Always - 47536508 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0003 100 100 000 Pre-fail Always - 0 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 16 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 100 100 036 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x000f 100 253 030 Pre-fail Always - 45300 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 161 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0013 100 100 097 Pre-fail Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 020 Old_age Always - 6 183 Runtime_Bad_Block 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 184 End-to-End_Error 0x0032 100 100 099 Old_age Always - 0 187 Reported_Uncorrect 0x0032 090 090 000 Old_age Always - 10 188 Command_Timeout 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 189 High_Fly_Writes 0x003a 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0022 072 071 045 Old_age Always - 28 (Lifetime Min/Max 28/29) 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 028 040 000 Old_age Always - 28 (0 19 0 0) 195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered 0x001a 049 048 000 Old_age Always - 47536508 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0012 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0010 100 100 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x003e 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 240 Head_Flying_Hours 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 78353088380970 241 Total_LBAs_Written 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 87342570 242 Total_LBAs_Read 0x0000 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 1730629009 SMART Error Log Version: 1 ATA Error Count: 10 (device log contains only the most recent five errors) CR = Command Register [HEX] FR = Features Register [HEX] SC = Sector Count Register [HEX] SN = Sector Number Register [HEX] CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX] CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX] DH = Device/Head Register [HEX] DC = Device Command Register [HEX] ER = Error register [HEX] ST = Status register [HEX] Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes, SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days. Error 10 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 149 hours (6 days + 5 hours) When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle. After command completion occurred, registers were: ER ST SC SN CL CH DH -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 40 51 00 ff ff ff 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were: CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- -------------------- 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:45:28.057 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:45:28.018 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:45:27.977 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:45:27.937 READ DMA EXT e5 00 00 b7 5d de a0 00 05:45:27.897 CHECK POWER MODE Error 9 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 149 hours (6 days + 5 hours) When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle. After command completion occurred, registers were: ER ST SC SN CL CH DH -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 40 51 00 ff ff ff 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0fffffff = 268435455 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were: CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- -------------------- 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:28:27.250 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:28:27.211 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:28:27.190 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 ff ff ff ef 00 05:28:27.150 READ DMA EXT e5 00 00 e7 eb 4f a0 00 05:28:27.120 CHECK POWER MODE Error 8 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 146 hours (6 days + 2 hours) When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle. After command completion occurred, registers were: ER ST SC SN CL CH DH -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 40 51 00 44 54 76 0f Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0f765444 = 259413060 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were: CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- -------------------- 25 00 00 7f 03 74 ef 00 02:48:40.303 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 7f ff 73 ef 00 02:48:40.263 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 7f fb 73 ef 00 02:48:40.223 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 7f f7 73 ef 00 02:48:40.183 READ DMA EXT e5 00 00 7f f3 73 a0 00 02:48:40.146 CHECK POWER MODE Error 7 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 145 hours (6 days + 1 hours) When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle. After command completion occurred, registers were: ER ST SC SN CL CH DH -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 40 51 00 09 63 92 0c Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0c926309 = 210920201 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were: CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- -------------------- 25 00 00 f7 62 92 ec 00 02:17:26.475 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 f7 12 91 ec 00 02:17:07.134 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 f7 0e 91 ec 00 02:17:07.094 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 f7 0a 91 ec 00 02:17:07.054 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 f7 06 91 ec 00 02:17:07.014 READ DMA EXT Error 6 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 145 hours (6 days + 1 hours) When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was active or idle. After command completion occurred, registers were: ER ST SC SN CL CH DH -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 40 51 00 bc 62 92 0c Error: UNC at LBA = 0x0c9262bc = 210920124 Commands leading to the command that caused the error were: CR FR SC SN CL CH DH DC Powered_Up_Time Command/Feature_Name -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- -------------------- 25 00 00 f7 12 91 ec 00 02:17:07.134 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 f7 0e 91 ec 00 02:17:07.094 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 f7 0a 91 ec 00 02:17:07.054 READ DMA EXT 25 00 00 f7 06 91 ec 00 02:17:07.014 READ DMA EXT e5 00 00 f7 01 91 a0 00 02:17:06.974 CHECK POWER MODE SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1 No self-tests have been logged. [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t] SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1 SPAN MIN_LBA MAX_LBA CURRENT_TEST_STATUS 1 0 0 Not_testing 2 0 0 Not_testing 3 0 0 Not_testing 4 0 0 Not_testing 5 0 0 Not_testing Selective self-test flags (0x0): After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk. If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

I've attached the syslog. Here is some info on the drive and the most common error I am seeing with it: Jan 7 00:13:02 MEDIA kernel: hdb: ST32000542AS, ATA DISK drive Jan 7 00:13:02 MEDIA kernel: hdb: host max PIO4 wanted PIO255(auto-tune) selected PIO4 Jan 7 00:13:02 MEDIA kernel: hdb: UDMA/100 mode selected Jan 7 00:13:02 MEDIA kernel: hdb: max request size: 512KiB Jan 7 00:13:02 MEDIA kernel: hdb: 3907029168 sectors (2000398 MB), CHS=65535/255/63 Jan 7 00:13:02 MEDIA kernel: hdb: cache flushes supported Jan 7 02:29:12 MEDIA kernel: hdb: dma_intr: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error } Jan 7 02:29:12 MEDIA kernel: hdb: dma_intr: error=0x40 { UncorrectableError }, LBAsect=210920201, sector=210920183 Jan 7 02:29:12 MEDIA kernel: hdb: possibly failed opcode: 0x25 Jan 7 02:29:12 MEDIA kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev hdb, sector 210920183 Jan 7 02:29:12 MEDIA kernel: md: disk12 read error Jan 7 02:29:12 MEDIA kernel: handle_stripe read error: 210920120/12, count: 1 UDMA100 mode appears to be why my drive performance is in the tank as that is 100Mb correct? syslog-2010-01-07.txt

At work/lunch right now so I can't get the log until I get home. Hardware Specs: PSU: Seasonic X-750 Case: Norco 4220 (included b/c of the SAS backplanes) MB: Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H CPU: Athlon II X2 3.0 GHz RAM: 4GB DDR3-1600 SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 Ports: 8x SAS/SATA 2 from AOC-SASLP-MV8 (no problem drives are on this card and it was fully filled at 12 drives.) 2x SATA 2 from onboard JMicron controller. (no issues with the drives on these ports.) 6x SATA 3 ports from SB850 Here is the part of the hardware that is an unknown to me: Board will boot fine with SB850 ports 0-3 in SATA/AHCI mode and ports 4-5 set to IDE mode. If ports 4-5 are set to SATA mode, the system will present just a blank screen and cursor after initial POST. Upon reboot the BIOS will not show any menu options/text but function keys work. Problem is only resolved with clearing the CMOS. The problem drive is on one of these two ports. Anyone ever experience anything similar to this issue as this is the first time I've seen this specific issue in the 15 years I've built computers. Update: It looks like I stumbled into buying a relatively new board given Gigabyte's BIOS page. I will see if BIOS is latest and see if an update will resolve the BIOS/POST issues.

I'm not currently running unmenu, what is the direct URL to the syslog.

Here is a tip I learned the hard way... only buy something for the unRAID server if it is on the list of approved devices. If the Intel card is on the list, go for it, otherwise save yourself the hassle and go with the SuperMicro since it is a known quantity.

I've been on a stable 12 disk array for quite awhile. Last week I added four new drives to the array and finally got around to letting them clear. I decided to run a parity check on the array with the new drives and have noticed two things: 1.) My parity check speed which used to be a minimum of 50MBps on the 12 drive array is now only 13 MBps. 2.) One of the new 2TB drives is showing 1,024 write errors as of this morning with only 18% of the parity check complete. 8 drives are plugged into onboard SATA connectors and the other 8 are plugged into a SuperMicro SAS controller. I checked my cable connections and the connectors were secure and cable does not appear to be damaged. I really don't want to put anything on this drive until I diagnose what is going on with the errors. What should my next step be in hunting this down.

You have a point and back in high school and college I used to keep all my drives spun up. However, I stopped that once I started paying my own utility bills! I personally think the biggest factor is the consistency of the operating environment and minimizing thermal expansion and contraction within the components. Under that theory, I don't think waking the drives up helps as it just adds additional heat cycles on the components and lubricants.

I never encountered the 128gb problem. However, I agree that in WD's case the easiest validation test is to just ship an add in card instead of trying to validate the multitude of SATA/SAS controllers that are in use. By going this route, any manufacturers who are interested in ensuring compatibility with drives larger than 2.2TB now have a product on the market to use in validation and driver updates. I'm also waiting for the dust to settle because look at how the 2TB drives were priced... they stayed in the $180-200 range until around Thanksgiving of '09 when they had sale prices of $140. By Spring of 2010 $140 became the normal price. Now you can pick up 2TB drives for $85-100 easily.

Newegg actually has some decent MB/CPU combo deals for that processor with free/low cost shipping on the MB. Total for a Gigabyte board and i530 processor ~$210 shipped. (4 different Gigabyte boards are eligible for bundles.) They also have an Asus P7H55 MB/ i530 CPU/ 4GB RAM/ 1TB HDD combo that lists at $323. I'm not in the market for a new system atm and haven't price shopped the bundles so they may or may not be great deals.

None. The only concerns I've ever had with Samsung was their RMA process. While I prefer Western Digital and Seagate, Samsung has been making drives for as long as they have been. My concern about RMA process is mainly due to the fact that when I worked at a local shop years ago, they used Sammys in all of their cheap builds and I can't tell you how many systems came back dead for warranty service.

You're also paying a premium because WD has to bundle an add-in card with the drive since many drive controllers / BIOS don't recognize drives over ~2.2tb. Last time I had that issue was when I bought a 60gb UDMA133 drive way back in '98.

I'd go with something that has a bit more power behind it, 3 of those cooler master fans will have approximately the same effective CFM as one of the stock 80mm jet engines. When I replace my 140's I'll probably go with the mid range 120mm Panaflo's. The case design really requires fans with good static pressure as BubbaQ was kind enough to educate me on a long time ago.

I'd second the upgrade to 120mm fans. The high flow 80mm's sound like mini jet engines. I'm running 140mm fans. While they are acceptable for my current storage density, there simply aren't any good replacement 140mm fans since I put these in over a year ago. 120mm seems to be the sweet spot for fans that have acceptable flow rates, static pressure, and noise profiles.