DaleWilliams

http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/ Seagate's free drive diagnostic tool.

True. By using disk references from your PC/Mac, you 'ensure' that you are accessing files on a physical drive, and not their 'virtual locations' in a SHARE that can span multiple drives. (To get to the 'disks' directly, GO:/Connect to server... and type in /smb://Tower/disk1/ , etc. (The disks must be Exported for access. I use 'hidden' so that I can see them, but nobody else can.) Open one finder window for each disk, and it's obvious.) The OP asked about 'easy'. If I connect directly to the disks as suggested by dgaschk, the files are copied FROM unraid TO mac and BACK to the new unRaid place. =Simple If I use MC, that all happens on the unRAID box, (and perhaps with simple directory changes and no file moves) =Fast So I guess 'easy' could be 'fast', or 'simple'. If I were better at MC it could be both!

Nope. I left SMB running. I also run AFP (for TimeMachine). I *liked* the MakeMKV program and used it for some time. When it started having problems, I switched to Handbrake and it worked great out of the box.

I found this quick and easy summary of Midnight Commander usage: http://www.nawaz.org/media/docs/mc/mc.pdf

Yes. nacat78's got it. IP addresses are 'dynamic', they're assigned from 1-n as they are requested. What you're asking for is a 'static' address that doesn't change...and that way you ALWAYS know what address to use. Different routers have different screens for doing this, but what you're looking for is a screen that talks about 'reserving' or 'fixed' or 'static' ip ranges. By convention, the high end addresses are usually fixed. So something like 192.168.1.100 or greater is reserved/fixed/static. If you know the unRAID MAC address (it should show up in IPCONFIG on the unraid box), and your router supports reserving it, that's the first way nacat78 describes. The second way is to set aside a range of fixed addresses in the router, and then in unRAID edit the config file to use one of those fixed addresses.

Oh, sorry, it may not be 'called' unraid. Attached is a screenshot of my local network. (fios) Unraid is simply identified as an 'ethernet' device. (in my screen shot, its #50) So let me try it again. Just to be sure I understand where you're at. You've accessed your cable/dsl/internet router. You're looking for the list of 'local devices' and their numeric addresses. ...So your router is #192.168.1.1, and (if you have only one PC and the unraid box on your local network) your PC shows up as #192.168.1.2, etc. Do you recognize all the other devices...and by process of elimination, know which one is new? Or how about this, what's the LARGEST number? something like 192.168.1.7 Try that. (the numeric addresses are created in the order in which your PC's, etc. are powered up and connect.) Type the LARGEST number in to the browser.. (all 192.168.1.xx of it. )

It sounds like you're almost there... Do you know the local IP number for your UNRAID box? it will look like 192.168.1.2 or 192.168.1.xx in Chrome, just type in that number in the address box. You can get the number from your router...do you know how to access it? (type 192.168.1.1 (probably) in your browser) If you don't know the login, try the username 'admin' and no password, or a password of 'admin'.

OH! That's brilliant! It never occurred to me to try MC via Telnet! That works great! And I already had a flash share....but it just never occurred to me to upgrade that way. Thanks, trurl!

Bloodlust, Congrats on your new unRAID server! I sometime can't get http://tower/ to connect. (long, irrelevant story). I've simply bookmarked 'http://192.168.1.xx' as 'Tower' in my Chrome browser. ('xx' is the IP for your unRaid box...) I'm not too concerned with my 'internal' security, so don't have a password setup, just a carriage return suffices. I left the admin userid as 'root'. Except for 'pre-clearing' (which I didn't do...), all my setup was easily done from the web browser. Eventually, I found I needed a few more capabilities (and just wanted to learn a bit 'o Linux), and tried Telnet. (installing plug-ins, for example, requires either Telnet, or shutting down and moving the flash drive back to the PC) I use the same numeric IP address to 'TELNET' from my Mac/PC into unRAID. (Use Terminal on a Mac for telneting. 'Putty' seems to be the PC choice, although the builtin telnet client works, too.) Using Telnet, you have total control of your unRAID server from your Mac/PC, as Fireball says. I also sometimes plug in a separate keyboard and monitor directly to the unRAID box (versus Telnet). One advantage of this is the availability of 'Midnight Commander', or MC, which is built-in to unRAID. Once you get the shell running on your unraid box and are logged in, just type 'MC'. MC is an interface to the file system that can be handy and productive for certain types of file movements/operations, as well as for just looking around to see how stuff really works.

Hadn't thought of that. Did you still leave SMB 'on' in unRAID?

Glad you found it. I'm bookmarking this solution...someone will need it again in a couple of months.

kristisdad, I use Lion (and Mavericks on another Mac) with unRAID and no problems. SMB has worked fine for a long time... There IS a long standing set of complexities around SMB networking between MACs and WINDOWS for file sharing...but that doesn't apply to MAC<-->UNRAID. There is ALSO an issue with Apple TimeMachine and SMB. TM REQUIRES AFP and will not work with SMB. It is also TRUE that Apple, by default, can read/but not write a Windows file format. (although the free control panel 'NTFS-3G' fixes this). However, the issue here is not about file formats. (and besides, unRAID uses the ReiserFS file systems, which is not native to either the Mac or Windows. It that were the problem, you wouldn't even be able to see unRAID files.) But back to the problem at hand... Are you using MakeMKV on your Mac to create your mkv files? If so, there's something about the latest MakeMKV and SMB releases that doesn't work right together. The MakeMKV forums seem to indicate that downgrading a release on either MakeMKV or SMB will fix this. MakeMKV is discussed here: http://elhsd.digital2get.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6490 http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6167 On your Mac you can revert to an older SMB release by connecting to unRAID with cifs. See this for some ways to do that: I simply dropped MakeMKV and switched to Handbrake and haven't looked back.

It does feel weird, not having to install a giant honking OS, doesn't it? When I first built my unRAID box, I made sure the BIOS was set to use SATA for the hard drives. ('AHCI' with some motherboards.) I also made the USB key the first boot option, instead of the hard drives. I don't think either of these is required with unRAID but it made me feel useful.

and 7Gig available on your cache (if you use one).

You could also check to see if your PMS plugin is up to date...in case the Plex folks have been plugging memory leaks.

What's the emoticon for "that's a knee slapper!"

Yes, ethernet hubs or ethernet switches would work. (I'm sorry, I mentioned 'hubs' in my first post, but those are older tech...these days ethernet switches are much faster/cheaper/more reliable.) The answer to '...speed things up?' is more complex... It will certainly stop the problem you're having with your PC connecting with a bad local address. It will also reduce the traffic internal to your LAN, and therefore speed it up. (you're still constrained to the outside world by the FIOS speed, of course.) One reminder about something I mentioned earlier...Verizon's support with FIOS of 'wireless bridging' is really suspect. Wireless bridging If you must go WIRELESS from your ActionTec FIOS router to another router where you will redistribute to other devices, then I urge caution. The ActionTec routers do not support the Wireless Distribution System (WDS) protocol... And that's why I ended up using 'Powerline' adapters to simulate ethernet wiring. There's a lot of activity looking for a work around, but before you buy a wireless bridge or range extender be sure to read up on compatibility. Here's a start: http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-Internet/Does-FIOS-Internet-Support-Bridging/m-p/533967/highlight/true#M35070 I spent hours and hours trying to root a Linksys (DD-WRT) router to act as a wireless bridge...no joy (if anyone knows how to do this in a way that is compatible with the ActionTec router, please toss me a clue on how you did it! I was so mad I ended up bricking the router and throwing it away. But if someone's figured it out, I'll try again!)

ruh roh...frustrating, huh? Short answer Turn off DHCP in all routers EXCEPT the FIOS router. Some hints follow below...but this is off topic for unRAID...the forums.verizon.com site will have better help than I can provide. Explanation: Verizon gives your house an IP number that is unique. (its WAN or Broadband IP address). Your fiber comes into the house and touches your FIOS router--everything from that point inside your house is a single local area network (LAN). (if every house on your street had this same broadband IP number, whose mail would you get?) (You can see this by logging into the FIOS router. On the dashboard screen, under 'my router' in the MAIN screen, it's the 'Broadband Connection' 'IP Address'. It'll be something like "71.126.xxx.xxx".) One of the jobs of your FIOS router is to manage the local LAN 'mail' by translating from the Broadband address to a 'local address'. Each device inside your LAN can have only ONE address....these must be unique numbers. ...and they are assigned and managed by your FIOS or 'gateway' router. (using the street and house metaphor, the local mail is like an apartment within a building. Every apartment number within the building MUST be unique. And only one set of apartment numbers can be used within the building. (But, every apartment building on your street can have the same internal numbering scheme. (#101, #102, #201, #301, etc.) ) Your FIOS router assigns that 'local IP' to every device on your LAN. (on the FIOS dashboard, these are shown in the 'My Network' panel. They start at 192.168.1.1 for the FIOS router itself and then go from 192.168.1.2 and up.) As IP comes and goes from the fiber, the FIOS router translates the addresses to and from the local device(apartment) numbers and forwards the traffic. (and that's why its called a 'router'. ) The FIOS router, and ONLY the FIOS router MUST do this, otherwise your traffic would end up at the wrong apartment, or end up as 'address unknown' and 'fall into the bit bucket! ) ) Routers-by default when you buy them-assume that they sit between your LAN and a wide area network. They don't know that you've already got a router installed...they assume that it will be THEIR job to translate addresses and route. This management of local addresses by the router is done using a protocol called 'DHCP' (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). If you have two or more routers on the same LAN running DHCP, both will try to assign 'device' numbers to everything they can see within the LAN. So a single device (like your PC) could end up with two conflicting addresses...NOT GOOD because the device can only have ONE valid address! What you can do is either of two things: 1. Simplify your network...the simplest solution is to have just ONE ROUTER by using ethernet HUBs, not Routers. Wired hubs are cheap. ($5 on sale!). 2. log in to each of your local routers (except FIOS) and turn OFF the DHCP. a. (Remember, your FIOS router is locally #192.168.1.1 , the routers you want to change are numbered 192.168.1.2 or higher.) b. if you've got another router inside your network, a Belkin or a D-link or a Linksys or an Apple for example, it'll have a local IP assigned by FIOS router of something like '192.168.1.7'. (you get that IP number from the FIOS dashboard mentioned earlier.) d. Login to the Belkin (etc.) by opening a web browser and typing in its local IP address (192.168.1.7) . (Note that if your local addressing is really hosed up, you may have to do this from your PC connected via a wired ethernet directly to the FIOS router to ensure you're using the FIOS set of local addresses.) e. ...sorry...from here it depends upon the brand of the router...but you'll get a login/password screen. Try 'admin' and 'admin' ...otherwise Google for the default password. Once you're logged in, look through the screens until you find something that says, "DHCP addressing". (Verizon hides it behind a link called 'Local IP address distribution'. You want to turn OFF the DHCP ability in each of your non-FIOS routers.) This may require a reboot of the non-FIOS local router. DO NOT TURN OFF DHCP IN YOUR FIOS ROUTER. Apple TimeMachine. TimeMachine (the program) itself will work fine with all of the above. If what you have is a Time Capsule, then it has a builtin router and provides DHCP. (just like the discussion above, you need to login and turn that OFF)...also be sure it has up to date firmware...a TC firmware version about a year ago fixed a number of compatibility issues. If your TC has a 'BRIDGE mode', then use that! See the Apple forums for more info on this.) Multiple wireless access points If you do not need multiple wireless access points, then use just the wireless from your FIOS router. If you do need more wireless access points-- because you have devices that aren't wireless, and you can't run wire to them-- then what you really want is not a distant 'router', but a 'wireless bridge'. Unfortunately, not every FIOS router plays nicely with wireless bridges. Check the FIOS forums for compatibility. (forums.verizon.com) (Have the exact model number, version number and manufacture date of your FIOS router handy.). In my case, I keep my servers in the basement..they aren't wireless, and I can't run wire, so I use 'ethernet over powerline' adapters. (newegg or amazon). These devices use the existing inside the house electric wiring as ethernet cable. If you do need more wireless access points--because your FIOS router's signal doesn't go far enough, then your best bet is to search the Verizon site...I believe they have an extended range antenna option. You can also try putting a 'reflector' behind the antenna that points the signal. (google for instructions...or try sites like makezine.com, makershed.com, etc. Using a pringle can seems to be popular. ) It is also possible to add a wireless bridge that extends the wi-fi range...variously called 'wi-fi range extenders', etc. They basically rebroadcast the wifi signal. However, they are often slow and there are real compatibility issues with many FIOS routers. Read the verizon forums carefully before spending your cash.

Tough question, Russ! Its hard for me to remember exactly how the Mac OS changed from 10.4 Tiger onwards. (I do remember what a treat it was when the 'Multi Finder' was introduced with version 5. Imagine! running two programs at once! ) The only thing I've noticed that's changed AFP in unRAID is with 5.0.3. There's a modification to the server names that affects AFP. You should read the change log for that. http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=30452.0 My own experience is that the specific changes in 5.0.3 for AFP seem to have made things faster and stabler. I'm currently running Mavericks and Lion, and everything works great with 5.0.3. After install, I restarted each Mac and reconnected to unRAID. Now, the new server names (and passwords) survive restarts, and are, if anything more reliable. I do run TimeMachine, and it now connects properly without handholding.

Hi! I'm also new to unRAID (4 months as a user), but maybe I can get you started. Then someone smart can takeover! I also just run PLEX on a standalone unRAID box with seven hard drives. (5 data drives, 1 parity drive, and a 'cache' drive. ~18TB) When I was first trying to understand unRAID, I began with the WIKI...especially this page: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Best_of_the_Forums BUT--the Wiki is OLD and not completely updated for the current unRAID 5.0.3 version. You have a lot of data, so you don't want to lose anything, so go slowly, and ask questions. The forums here are very helpful. To Start: ...the basic version of unRAID is free. See Software on this page: http://lime-technology.com/products/ ...you could set up a small unRAID (one or two hard drives plus one parity drive) just to see if its right for you. Any old PC should work if it has network, SATA and USB. Build a simple system, with PLEX, but no other add-ons or Plug-ins and see if you like it. Once you're certain, you can buy the unRAID software that supports your 12 hard drives, and you can then build a big NAS box to hold all your drives. In your message, you mention a few things: 1. 'parity drive 2 or Span it'. That doesn't work with unRAID..you only need one parity drive. (and Parity must be as large as the largest data drive.) 2. 'windows 7'. An unRAID box is a standalone box, using a dedicated linux kernel. Your Windows machine will access it fine (using SAMBA), but it can't be the 'operating system'. The unRAID kernel sits easily on a USB flash drive plugged into the unRAID server, and does not live on any of the server hard drives. 3. '12 drives of different sizes'. unRAID works great with different sized drives. (The Parity drive MUST be as big as your largest data drive.) 4. Warning: unRAID uses the ReiserFS file system, NOT a windows drive format. Therefore, you'll need to move your data FROM your existing drives TO unRAID. My strategy for doing this was: Another strategy is 5. Crashplan: unRAID servers are not normally connected directly to the internet--they are a local NAS device, and don't have the security needed for connecting to the big internet. There are several forum threads discussing how to use Crashplan. I don't use Crashplan, but I believe the accepted wisdom is to use a different PC (such as your existing Windows 7 machine) to access unRAID and copy files out to Crashplan on the internet. I hope this helps!

I didn't notice at first, but after upgrading to 5.03 - I was not able to connect via AFP. I had to stop and then restart AFP a few times and then it started working. I did not reboot my mac. This may mean that we will have to do this step after a reboot until resolved. I did not see anything in the syslog. The server names were changed. Instead of 'Tower', its now 'Tower-AFP'. Your Mac's saved server names (and passwords) became out of sync with the new names. Reboot the Mac works, too. (or do GO/CONNECT_TO_SERVER...(cmd+K))

Your sig says, "Impatiently waiting for HD prices to drop"! Makes me wonder, though, just how big are your existing harddrives? The expansion case is $200+ ... would it perhaps be cheaper (and require less power) to swap in some higher capacity drives? 3TB are about $110 and 4TB are $140. Its a little bit of work to move the files back from a swapped out drive...but might be all around worth it.

Update to 5.0.3. in FINDER PREFERENCES / SIDEBAR / turn OFF the Bonjour setting. Voila! Only listed once

Agreed. When I setup unRAID, I used a 'rule of thumb' I found in the Wiki...I didn't try the tunables script until this month, but I'm seeing a similar 3x speedup on throughput. VOTE on STICKY = YES. and add it to the unofficial documentation!

This Thanksgiving, I'm giving thanks for version 5.0.3! The AFP changes are much welcomed! For a long time, I've had a 'workaround' to ensure my TimeMachine mounted properly and is announced and visible to the Mac OS. I've never been able to figure out how to reliably duplicate the issue--it was always sort of random. My 'workaround' was a bit of voodoo and magic spells consisting of a specific order for restarting/mounting/accessing the TM bundle...followed by chanting and the shaking of rattles to ensure success. I'm very Thankful that with 5.0.3 none of that seems necessary. TM mounted and ran before I even had a chance to start the incantations! Thanks, Tom