kydar

This worked marvelously. I did need to do the manual format with Rufus, and the manual install method, but the instructions were clear and easy and I got it done with minimal effort. The only snag I hit was the make_bootable batch file did not complete correctly even running as administrator, and thus the resulting flash drive would not boot at first because it was trying to boot in legacy mode. I just went into the BIOS and checked UEFI-only boot, and then it booted. Thank you!!!

So my flash drive won't boot. That is, when I hit F12 at boot time to select boot device, it is usually not seen by the BIOS/UEFI. Tried every USB port on the system. Sometimes (maybe 20% of the time) it is seen, but if I select Unraid GUI boot, the boot process starts, but eventually hangs up. If it is helpful, I can try to make a screenshot or video of the process. I tried connecting it to 2 other PCs and the behavior is exactly the same (seen by BIOS about 20% of the time, but boot process fails every time). Also, other USB sticks do boot correctly, ruling out a problem with the computer or USB ports. The flash drive is a Samsung BAR plus 256GB, not a cheap generic off ebay. Now, sure, even a high-quality flash drive can fail, but before I send it in for warranty replacement, I'd like to try wiping it and reinstalling Unraid. Here is where my problem arises. My last flash drive backup was in May, 2024. I can read the drive when it's plugged in to Windows, and the files in the config directory are significantly different than the config directory in 5/24. I was able to successfully image the flash drive with Macrium Reflect. So should I: Format the flash drive, restore the Macrium image. This would restore the most recent config files. Format the flash drive and use the Unraid USB creator app. This would destroy all configuration and I'd have to recreate the array from scratch. Idk how much of a PITA that would be. Format the flash drive and restore the 5/2024 backup. I'm actually not even sure how to do that. I don't think it's as simple as unzipping the backup to the drive, is it? Would it be bootable? Disadvantage: not the most recent config files. Other solution? All opinions and advice appreciated.

Ahh, unfortunately none of this was mentioned in the installation tutorial. Ok, so I have paused the parity sync. Would you recommend that I: 1. Resume it (17.9% complete, estimated 12 hours to go.) Doesn't seem prudent. 2. Cancel it and then: A) remove the parity drive from the array and reattach it after adding data to the data drives. B) remove all drives from the array and run preclear* on all of them now, then add the data drives back to the array, add data to them, and then reattach the parity drive. If it matters (it probably does) the drives were not new and were previously used in a Drobo (I know, I was young and stupid) so they do/did have data on them previously and were not wiped before being added to the Unraid array. * there are two versions of preclear in the app repository. One is called binhex-preclear and is in Binhex's repository, and the other is called Unassigned Devices Preclear and is in dlandon's repository. From their descriptions they appear to have similar functionality but I was wondering if one was recommended over the other. Oh and I just noticed that the first one is a Docker container and the second is a plugin, and I honestly don't know the difference between the two. I hope I'm not asking too many questions, I appreciate your help.

By the way, is it normal for a parity drive to take a long time to prepare on a new array? I attached 5 10TB drives, 4 for data and 1 for parity. The 4 data drives formatted in less than a minute, but the parity drive is estimated to take 13 hours to sync. Again this is a brand new array with no data on it.

I watched the video you recommended and installed Unraid. It was pretty easy and straightforward I have to say. My next concern is tweaking the settings, particularly the security settings. Time to look for some more videos. 🤪

It might actually be helpful for troubleshooting to install on bare metal and then migrate. If it runs fine on bare metal but hiccups under Proxmox, well then the answer is pretty obvious. I bought a 256GB Samsung BAR Plus stick to install Unraid on. And since I bought it on Amazon (aka the new ebay) I ran Samsung's authenticity checker on it and it came back as a genuine Samsung product. So I think I'm ready to install Unraid on it and take it for a spin. Any pointers to good installation tutorials?

Let me rephrase...without too much extra fuss 😂. I have a vague idea about the passthru's of the drives including serial numbers, as well as the USB boot drive, and whatnot. I'd like to remove that layer of complexity for the time being in the interest of getting an array up and running as soon as possible. Then I'll worry about virtualizing it later, now that I know it can be done. I did not realize this. I did know that Unraid can operate as a type 1 or type 2 hypervisor but I did not know that only type 1 was officially supported. Thank you for that information ☺️.

I purchased a Pro license before the price increase a couple months ago. I have no experience with Unraid. I eventually plan to run Unraid virtually under Proxmox, but I don't have time at the moment to set that up, messing with passthru's and such. My question is simply, can I set up Unraid now, on a bare metal box, and virtualize that array under Proxmox later, without too much fuss? Or is it difficult to virtualize an array once it has been set up on bare metal? Thank you.