axeman

I actually never tried to install ESXi on a flash...mine is on a SDD I've been under the assumption, that ESXi would reserve some space on the flash as datastore. What is a vsphere client reporting in the config section under "storage" ? yes, a bigger drive or flash should take you further... i actually installed from a flash, to a flash - go figure. after much hair pulling and buggy bootloaders, i finally got it working going the 4.0 to 4.1 upgrade route. after the pre-clear ends on the other machine, i'm going to take the UR stick and try install ESXi on that. it's bigger, faster and supposedly "better". i'll be the judge of that

no..in ESXi the BIOS for VMs would not allow to boot a VM from USB (flash). That's why you do need plop, don't you You do need to create VM. If you do not want to waste a small boot-disk to install plop, you will need to stick with the plop iso. However either will need to reside on a datastore (probably on the same flash from where you boot ESXi off). This has the possibility in it to end you up in some kind of deadlock, won't it?....you'll be in need to start the unraid-vm before you can access the datastore on it. Also, I doubt that it will be possible...maybe as a NFS datastore. "Normal" remote datastores are via iSCSI and unraid lacks the support for that. thanks for the reply. i hosed my esxi install. smart guy that i am, i passed through all my usb devices. which put the usb that i boot from into a read-only state, so no config changes were sticking. so just re-installed. still my issue is that i can't get an iso or anything on a usb to be seen by ESXi. Even the usb that it is installed on isn't visible when i do an fdisk -l (or -ls?). the drive that unraid is on is bigger, but it's busy on another machine pre-clearing the drive that esxi hijacked. if all else fails, i guess i need to get a wd scorpio or something to get moving on this.

okay - so this is a stupid question.... say i don't have ANY physical disks in the ESxi just yet... is there anyway for ESXi to boot to plop that's on a flash? or do I have to create a VM, that actually resides on a datastore on the server, then continue from there? on a side note, I have esxi and unraid on two separate boxes for now... can i create a datastore on the /flash/ share that's on the unRaid?

ah makes sense. i saw the esxi formatted drive have like 1/2 dozen. ty learned something today.

blech! == Disk /dev/sda is NOT precleared also i'm new to linux - is it "normal" to have the drives listed 2x in the main of Unmenu? i see /dev/sdb and then right below it /dev/sdb1 on the devices tab of unraid, the drop downs only show the actual number of disks.... so i should run another pre-clear then right?

gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i was toying with esxi and it auto formatted one of the drives (i'm guessing sda)... will unraid think it's not pre-cleared, meaning i'll have to run another cycle on it?

40GB physical disk would mean ide, right? i thought i read somewhere that esxi can't use IDE drives? don't know much, so i could be way off the mark on this.

hit a minor snag. my nic isnt esxi compatible. googling around people using same board (p6x58d-e) fixed issue by purchasing an intel nic. so i ordered 2x the cheapest ($24.99) intel nic on NE. might fire off another pre-clear or play w. the vPlayer install to usb while i wait.

what you are going to want to do is get an iso of plop and use that to boot to the usb. The vm won't boot DIRECTLY from the usb, but it will via redirection. So I looked around and found a couple of threads on here about Plop and even a couple of posts in this thread. But for the life of me, I can't figure out the hows and the whats. so on my UnRaid flash drive: i have to change the syslinux.cfg so that it uses the plop boot files? That would allow me to keep unraid on the flash while allowing ESXi to boot to it?

thanks. i saw someone mention Plop on a page or two back. thought that had to do w. an MB not booting from USB. will re-read and research

thanks - didn't realize that. puts a minor damper on my plans. will it allow a VM to boot from a physical USB? I have another 8GB usb drive that I can use for this purpose. If yes, what should I install on the 32GB and what should I install on the 8GB? I *think* the 32GB is the faster stick. thanks again!

when creating the VMDK is it okay to create as an expandable? I have a 32GB flash drive that I would like to hold both the VMDK and my ESXi install (if possible). thanks - still sitting on my pre-clears to finish

funny thing the Post Read stage is running now and i've got 36c, 35c, and 34c all between 74MB and 78MB read speed.... looks like sticking them together, but in front of the fan has helped keep it below 40.. havent' broken that since this cycle started yesterday.

sda is now at 40c on the zeroing disk process, 25% it IS a bit warm - right now, the room is 80F or 26.6C. Is there a way for me to get case temp from unraid or this linux distro? Cpu is at: +56.0 C, +55.0 C, +54.0 C, +52.0 C. perhaps first I can try throw two fans on the side? Or maybe just get a 5in3 and put 1 or two HDs in there?

i've been thinking of a 5in3 for when I "release" the 1TB drives. After your first reply, i moved them so that they are in front- and on the pre-read cycles, i'm getting 39, 38, and 36 (top to bottom). Going to go dig for a decent 5in3. my machine sits in Living Room so need something not so funky on the look.

it's the Cooler master Storm scout: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196 I know it's not ideal, but didn't think drives would get this HOT. Pic below is from NE's stock photo. Sorry it's a bad scribble using win7 snipping tool. I can't get good photo of the actual unit w.o. moving it a good amount. wit the HD light solid, prolly shouldn't. Thanks for lookin @ it.

Okay so stackin' em didn't help much. more airflow, but temps are still same (perhaps a bit higher when it goes over to the write stage). SOO... the drive that is getting the highest (over 40C).. should I make that my parity drive, or keep it as a data drive? I saw a posting on here, about two types of drives - ones that have failed already, and ones that will fail. And high temps lead to failure... so is it better for a parity drive to fail or a data drive? right now it's on stock case fan. I can add two more to the side as exhaust and perhaps swap out the front one with a noctua or something. OH BTW, the reallocated sectors are at 0 so far. thanks for everyone's help still learning the ropes around here.

ty - that seemed to have worked pretty good. weird it got a different IP from the router, but that's minor. will mark as solved.

thanks - going to fire off another 2 rounds. the 40c has me concerned also. it was the 1 drive that's at the top of the drive rack. and coincidentally is "missed" by the intake fan on the bottom of the case (Cooler master storm scout). I have the drives spaced out so that there's a gap between them. before i fire off the next round, i'm going to put them closer together so they all get hit with the intake air. bad thing is i think I'm going to need to get a sata backplane or something when i decide to add more drives. I have 3x 1TB drives that would be in here by about december or so. Scout can hold 6x 3.5" but it would be too tight and would probably melt if i ran a pre-clear. Oh - I was also hoping that the temp wouldn't be too bad during regular non-stress use. thanks BRiT and Superorb. I planned on finishing up the ESXi + UnRaid build this weekend. I guess it's just pre-clears. :-)

I have two UnRaid formatted flash drives - and both boot fine. One has some config changes - the other is a fresh install.... Can I just copy all the files over from flash a to flash b (using a Wiindows computer that shows hidden/system files) ? Or am i just asking for trouble? thanks

So here are my results - any input would be greatly appreciated. there are three drives - sda, sdb, and sdc. WD20EARS, 2.0TB drives. Command I used was from config tutorial: ./preclear_disk.sh -A -M 4 /dev/sda (thru sdc). sdc Initial: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x002f 100 253 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 253 253 021 Pre-fail Always - 966 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 15 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x002e 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 13 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 12 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 17 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 117 117 000 Old_age Always - 33 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 200 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0008 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 sdc final: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x002f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 253 253 021 Pre-fail Always - 966 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 15 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x002e 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 26 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 13 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 12 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 17 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 113 111 000 Old_age Always - 37 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0008 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 sda initial: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x002f 100 253 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 253 253 021 Pre-fail Always - 1008 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 15 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x002e 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 1 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 13 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 12 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 17 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 114 114 000 Old_age Always - 36 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 200 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0008 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 sda final: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x002f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 253 253 021 Pre-fail Always - 1008 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 15 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x002e 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 29 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 13 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 12 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 17 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 111 109 000 Old_age Always - 39 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0008 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 sdb initial: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x002f 100 253 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 253 253 021 Pre-fail Always - 958 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 17 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x002e 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 2 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 15 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 14 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 25 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 118 115 000 Old_age Always - 32 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 200 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0008 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 sdb final: ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME FLAG VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE UPDATED WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE 1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate 0x002f 200 200 051 Pre-fail Always - 0 3 Spin_Up_Time 0x0027 253 253 021 Pre-fail Always - 958 4 Start_Stop_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 17 5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct 0x0033 200 200 140 Pre-fail Always - 0 7 Seek_Error_Rate 0x002e 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 30 10 Spin_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032 100 253 000 Old_age Always - 0 12 Power_Cycle_Count 0x0032 100 100 000 Old_age Always - 15 192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 14 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 25 194 Temperature_Celsius 0x0022 116 113 000 Old_age Always - 34 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 197 Current_Pending_Sector 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 198 Offline_Uncorrectable 0x0030 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count 0x0032 200 200 000 Old_age Always - 0 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate 0x0008 100 253 000 Old_age Offline - 0

are people really running several cycles my 3x 2TB drives took a little over 30hrs to complete (running simultaneously). not sure that I want to run/start another cycle if not neccesary..

I didn't realize $130 was sub $100 using other peoples math.... it is - if you are borrowing other people's money. ;-) j.k

works great! the unraid install guide shows how to get it to work. so far i'm doing great w. this... one question semi-related .. i'm running the pre-clears on a regular 4.7 install (haven't had time to get the ESxi peice working yet. will I have to re-run them on the ESXi? or is UR smart enough to know that the drives have been pre-cleared?

new to linux, new to unraid and have somewhat heard of screen... i'll google it - but trust me, i'll be back! :-)