Veah

This and/or Plex backups from before. Chances of this being Unraid are really slim at this point.

Yes. Do a trial and use it any way you can think of. If everything works as it should, you can transfer your license over to the new usb stick.

Oof. That is high. Your solution will likely reside in bios. Need to get familiar with aspm, c-states and settings that allow for the OS to manage power. Also look for performance type settings and select the power saver options. Disable any overolting. Some might suggest an undervolt but I've found it to be negligible if unRAID is managing the power. Within unRAID, you can play with powertop in the cli.

Those cables are tender. I have had instances of being able to bend them certain ways to get them to work in a pinch. It sounds like you have a good temporary solution in place and are able to return/replace so stick with what you are doing.

You are clearly passionate about this and seem to know a lot. Is it possible you can create a community guide, maintain it, and LT could post it in the appropriate area. Would be pretty helpful to everyone. Just thoughts anyway.

Do you by chance have the old Mac address associated with your IP on the router?

Try binding the old nic to vfio. Should make it disappear as far as unRAID is concerned which will make your new nic the default.

Sometimes a failing USB stick can cause strange things. Can you load up a trial unRAID on a different thumb drive and run it for a bit? If it works fine like that ...

Certainly

Backup flash Upgrade to current version If any hiccup at all, post diagnostics with description of problem/concerns Roll back and wait for ideas here

Bonding is just bad. It doesn't do much if anything to increase real world performance. You would be better served to install a higher speed nic if supported by your network.

I don't believe the Realtek 8127 is ready for Unraid yet. Here's a copy/paste from AI slop: Realtek RTL8127 support in Unraid is currently limited and depends on the Unraid version and available plugins. As of Unraid 7.3, support for the Realtek RTL8127 is expected to be included natively via the kernel, eliminating the need for third-party plugins. Until then, users are advised to check the Community Apps section for a Realtek driver plugin. The existing plugin for R8125/R8126/R8168/R8152/R8156 supports similar Realtek chips, and may offer compatibility or a workaround for the RTL8127.

Is the vt-d in image #2 enabled?

Trim does not work on array. You do not want to assign nvme or ssd there.

Symptoms look like failing batteries in the UPS. Maybe something not properly connected inside the UPS.

I don't think anyone can help without more information. Diagnostics attached could help with that

What about disable all plugins?

I thought you could do both. Can get around that by using 'New Config' and assigning everything manually. Take a SS and be sure to assign array drives correctly and the two 24Tb hdds as parity. I think you will be able to choose the fs for the old 20tb hdd. Be sure to preserve your things by checking the boxes before starting... I cannot recall exactly what they are called.

This but you do not need to copy anything. When you install new drive, a parity build will start. Suggest you add the 20tb to array and put 24tb parity in it's place in same step so you only get hit with 1 parity build.

This is the answer

To simplify this a little, go in system devices, bind the unused (unwanted) nic to vfio then reboot. That will make it so only 1 nic shows up in network settings. Then reconfigure the single nic showing up.

Unlikely, but it is possible. Jorge is really good at deciphering the logs, so I highly recommend pursuing the errors he points out. To me it's more an opportunity to update something that fell 6 years behind.

Your bios is a bit out of date. https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/H370-HD3-rev-10/support#Support-Bios

Sounds like you are considering something with coax cable. It doesn't turn out as nice as it advertises. Stick with Ethernet or fiber if you can.

1-Quarterly 2-Yes 3-No downside in a small home use scenario like mine 4-No