tillkrueger

Points well taken, Fireball3...thanks for checking into it...I have prepared myself for losing yet another WD drive, and by the sound of it the other shoe has already dropped...i'll let this last cycle take its course but will, in all likelihood, look forward to replacing it during my next trip to Berlin...if I can, I might also rebuild the server from the ground up then.

will do, captain, and report back...thanks!

As you also well know, Helmonder, there are so many potential causes that could be responsible for drive corruption, that I will most likely have to rebuild my system from the ground up...i'm still on 2009 technology (mobo, CPY, etc.), so I have been planning on upgrading to something more current, which can also handle the modern implementation of VMs and all the other great features unRAID now supports...but since that won't be possible for "peanuts", i'll have to make do with what i have for a bit longer. so, the single cycle of preclear without a pre-read finished successfully...this was the output from the status window: ############################################################################################################################ # # # unRAID Server Pre-Clear of disk /dev/sdd # # Cycle 1 of 1, partition start on sector 64. # # # # # # Step 1 of 4 - Zeroing the disk: [7:27:03 @ 111 MB/s] SUCCESS # # Step 2 of 4 - Writing unRAID's Preclear signature: SUCCESS # # Step 3 of 4 - Verifying unRAID's Preclear signature: SUCCESS # # Step 4 of 4 - Post-Read verification: [2:08:58 @ 387 MB/s] SUCCESS # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ############################################################################################################################ # Cycle elapsed time: 9:36:50 | Total elapsed time: 9:36:50 # ############################################################################################################################ ############################################################################################################################ # # # S.M.A.R.T. Status # # # # # # ATTRIBUTE INITIAL CYCLE 1 STATUS # # 5-Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0 - # # 9-Power_On_Hours 12210 - # # 194-Temperature_Celsius 32 - # # 196-Reallocated_Event_Count 0 - # # 197-Current_Pending_Sector 2 - # # 198-Offline_Uncorrectable 0 - # # # # # # # # # # # # # ############################################################################################################################ # 199-UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0 - # ###########################################################################################################################? --> ATTENTION: Please take a look into the SMART report above for drive health issues. the drive did drop offline again, though...should i reboot and do more cycles, johnnie, until it stops dropping offline, or is it unlikely that it will remain online long enough to be re-implemented into the array as a cache drive? (and when i say "cache drive", i mean that i don't actually use it as such, but for less critical copy operations)

Helmonder, I should have kept better track of which drive i purchased from whom...you may be right about your suggestion, especially since i always purchase my drives with my VISA Business card, which doubles the warranty and usually helps out when vendors refuse to honor their promises/warranty...but i have not, so when i have more time i'll have to research this a bit. what's more disconcerting to me is why my system produces so many bad drives when yours clearly does not...maybe there is something fundamentally broken in the hardware of my data-pathways which causes this behavior...i swapped out all of my drive cages after some damage to the previous ones, but maybe the culprit is somewhere else...i am due for a complete hardware rebuild, so I hope to get through with this system until then.

skipped pre-read and starting to zero now...the fact that it didn't finish zero'ing in 3 seconds seems to be a sign of things being different than before...let's see how this fares.

well, same thing, only took twice as long...at the very end i first got these two errors: /usr/local/emhttp/plugins/preclear.disk.beta/script/preclear_disk.sh: line 270: echo: write error: Broken pipe /usr/local/emhttp/plugins/preclear.disk.beta/script/preclear_disk.sh: line 271: echo: write error: Broken pipe before it ended with this status: ############################################################################################################################ # # # unRAID Server Pre-Clear of disk /dev/sdd # # Cycle 1 of 3, partition start on sector 64. # # # # # # Step 1 of 5 - Pre-read verification: [4:11:53 @ 198 MB/s] SUCCESS # # Step 2 of 5 - Zeroing the disk: [0:00:03 @ 0 MB/s] SUCCESS # # Step 3 of 5 - Writing unRAID's Preclear signature: SUCCESS # # Step 4 of 5 - Verifying unRAID's Preclear signature: FAIL # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ############################################################################################################################ # Cycle elapsed time: 4:12:46 | Total elapsed time: 4:12:47 # ############################################################################################################################ ############################################################################################################################ # # # S.M.A.R.T. Status # # # # # # ATTRIBUTE INITIAL STATUS # # 5-Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0 - # # 9-Power_On_Hours 12206 - # # 194-Temperature_Celsius 31 - # # 196-Reallocated_Event_Count 0 - # # 197-Current_Pending_Sector 2 - # # 198-Offline_Uncorrectable 0 - # # 199-UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0 - # # # # # # # # # # # ############################################################################################################################ # SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED # ###########################################################################################################################? --> FAIL: unRAID's Preclear signature not valid.

i am also wondering why the first time i ran preclear the first of 5 steps (pre-read) completed in about 2:15hrs, while this time i'm only through 20% after 1:45hrs. here is the status after 2hrs...strange how much slower this cycle is progressing: ############################################################################################################################ # # # unRAID Server Pre-Clear of disk /dev/sdd # # Cycle 1 of 3, partition start on sector 64. # # # # # # Step 1 of 5 - Pre-read in progress: (23% Done) # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ** Time elapsed: 1:59:14 | Current speed: 126 MB/s | Average speed: 99 MB/s # # # ############################################################################################################################ # Cycle elapsed time: 1:59:17 | Total elapsed time: 1:59:18 # ############################################################################################################################ ############################################################################################################################ # # # S.M.A.R.T. Status # # # # # # ATTRIBUTE INITIAL STATUS # # 5-Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0 - # # 9-Power_On_Hours 12206 - # # 194-Temperature_Celsius 31 - # # 196-Reallocated_Event_Count 0 - # # 197-Current_Pending_Sector 2 - # # 198-Offline_Uncorrectable 0 - # # 199-UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0 - # # # # # # # # # # # ############################################################################################################################ # SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED # ###########################################################################################################################?

are you saying that i should set the option to not do the pre-read when running the preclear?

looking at the preclear status window i noticed that the pending sector count has increased from 1 to 2. after doing a search on reiserfs pending sector fix i came across someone's post saying the following: is this something that might work in my situation as well, and if so, is the dd command included in unRAID, or if not, maybe installable by someone as inexperienced with the command prompt as i am?

since this first cycle "only" took a bit over 2hrs (maybe because it stopped short of completing?), is there an advantage of choosing 3 cycles right off the bat? if so, i'll run it later, overnight. (i am in Germany, where it's 1:42pm now)

hmm, the last thing i saw was something about failing a write because of a broken pipe, and this is what the status window now shows: ############################################################################################################################ # # # unRAID Server Pre-Clear of disk /dev/sdd # # Cycle 1 of 1, partition start on sector 64. # # # # # # Step 1 of 5 - Pre-read verification: [2:15:17 @ 369 MB/s] SUCCESS # # Step 2 of 5 - Zeroing the disk: [0:00:03 @ 0 MB/s] SUCCESS # # Step 3 of 5 - Writing unRAID's Preclear signature: SUCCESS # # Step 4 of 5 - Verifying unRAID's Preclear signature: FAIL # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ############################################################################################################################ # Cycle elapsed time: 2:16:09 | Total elapsed time: 2:16:10 # ############################################################################################################################ ############################################################################################################################ # # # S.M.A.R.T. Status # # # # # # ATTRIBUTE INITIAL STATUS # # 5-Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0 - # # 9-Power_On_Hours 12203 - # # 194-Temperature_Celsius 31 - # # 196-Reallocated_Event_Count 0 - # # 197-Current_Pending_Sector 1 - # # 198-Offline_Uncorrectable 0 - # # 199-UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0 - # # # # # # # # # # # ############################################################################################################################ # SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED # ###########################################################################################################################? --> FAIL: unRAID's Preclear signature not valid. should i try another one? although the disk now disappeared from the unassigned disk choices in the preclear settings.

thanks so much for all your great pointers, johnnie...it is now doing the preclear: sdd WDC_WD30EFRX-68AX9N0_WD-WMC1T0098667 31 C 3 TB Pre-Read: 0% @ 141 MB/s (0:01:18) i am starting with 1 cycle and see where i'll end up...will do the other 2 cycles once i find out how long the first will take....could be a loooong time.

when opening the monitor pop-up window for this operation i get this: /boot/config/plugins/preclear.disk/preclear_disk.sh -c 1 /dev/sdd 2>/tmp/preclear.log root@unRAID:/usr/local/emhttp# /boot/config/plugins/preclear.disk/preclear_disk.sh -c 1 /dev/sdd 2>/tmp/preclear.log Sorry: Device /dev/sdd is busy.: 1 root@unRAID:/usr/local/emhttp# why is dev/sdd busy and how do i resolve this?

just found the preclear plugin in Community Apps, installed it and the preclear_disk.sh script, and will see how far i can get with this...looks like this process will take many days if i do the 3 cycles you recommend...here's to trying!

yeah, I am prepared to wave that drive goodbye, like all the other ones, but while i don't have physical access to the server, which may be the case for many weels to come, i might as well try to get some use out of it, that is non-critical. what's the correct procedure to pre-clear this drive? is there a telnet command that executes this, and if so, how long does one pre-clearing pass take?

ok, after a reboot the disk is showing again, and i added it as a cache drive for the moment (without re-starting the array). trying to get the SMART test results, but it's been taking 10 minutes already...will post when/if completed. the Attributes tab produces the following results (excuse the formatting): # Attribute Name Flag Value Worst Threshold Type Updated Failed Raw Value 1 Raw read error rate 0x002f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always Never 4 3 Spin up time 0x0027 179 174 021 Pre-fail Always Never 6008 4 Start stop count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old age Always Never 486 5 Reallocated sector count 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always Never 0 7 Seek error rate 0x002e 200 200 000 Old age Always Never 0 9 Power on hours 0x0032 084 084 000 Old age Always Never 12201 (1y, 4m, 22d, 9h) 10 Spin retry count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old age Always Never 0 11 Calibration retry count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old age Always Never 0 12 Power cycle count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old age Always Never 70 192 Power-off retract count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old age Always Never 15 193 Load cycle count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old age Always Never 470 194 Temperature celsius 0x0022 120 085 000 Old age Always Never 30 196 Reallocated event count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old age Always Never 0 197 Current pending sector 0x0032 200 200 000 Old age Always Never 1 198 Offline uncorrectable 0x0030 100 253 000 Old age Offline Never 0 199 UDMA CRC error count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old age Always Never 0 200 Multi zone error rate 0x0008 100 253 000 Old age Offline Never 0

no, i haven't rebooted yet, but will do so shortly and report back.

ok, the rebuild has completed, parity is synced and the array started again, but how would i now be able to get a SMART report from the failed disk...i am not able to see it anywhere...how would i be able to enable the cache feature and maybe select the failed disk, so that i can at least access it via telnet and maybe run some check-disk operations on it? or is there a better way to access it for potential repairs? (i am pretty sure there is)

points well taken, testdasi...i'm just getting tired of looking at a big stack of failed 1, 2 and 3TB drives from the past 15 years, that all bear the WD label, and for many of which i wasn't able to take advantage of the warranty as sending them across the Atlantic is just not economical or timely...time to find a new drive manufacturer with a better track-record and international warranty.

will do, johnnie...about 12hrs to go for the rebuild.

I wish it'd be that obvious a reason, testdasi, but i've been ordering WD-Green and Red drives for the past 15 years, from all over the place (Amazon, B&H, CyberPort, EggeHead) in both the USA and Germany, with no discernible commonalities (other than that they are all WD drives), so my guess is that it's a combination of bad quality and bad luck...what's worse is that WD's warranty isn't international, and that they won't swap German drives in the USA, or US drives in Germany, which makes it very difficult for someone like me who lives and works on two continents. which drives do you use/recommend? I might have to start looking elsewhere and slowly start swapping out drives, one by one, to another manufacturer.

here they are. I am amazed about how regularly these WD-Red drives fail on me...I must have had about 10 of them go bad on me in the past 3-4 years...very frustrating...I thought they are meant to be particularly long-lasting in these type of server applications. unraid-diagnostics-20160615-1050.zip

Well, when you say it like that, Johnnie, you make it sound so easy...and it was...rebuilding now...I forget sometimes how brilliant the unRAID system is. Thanks for the concise instructions! Is there some way you know of to try to remotely "fix" the failed drive?

One problem solved and immediately I am struck with the next one. Just got a notification that my unRAID array, which is all the way up in Berlin (500 miles away from me), is in a compromised state after disk 9 is marked as disabled after it produced 9 errors during a New Permissions operation. Even though i do have a cache drive in my server, I am not really using it as such...it is not configured for its intended purpose, but only as an additional drive to copy data to and from during my usual file-maintenance. Since the cache drive is also a 3TB drive, just like my failed data disk, what would the correct procedure be to make my cache drive the new data disk 9, without risking the loss of data?

I shall heed your advice, trurl, and read up on how to gain better knowledge of how to make dockers work properly. Thanks!