tunetyme

Thanks Trurl and Frank, I will upgrade to V6 first on my current system. I am sure there will be more questions as I go through the process. It has been my experience that I have had greater success with AMD products than Intel. They may have fixed the problems I had years ago but AMD has been very reliable for me. I feel they same way with Western Digital drives they used to be so noisy and I had a number of failures I ended up with Samsung (happily and now that Seagate has bought them and are apparently using their technology) so, I am planing on using Seagate's this time. I know everyone has their horror stories about drive manufacturers.

Thank-you for all your advice, it is very helpful. Well that makes it clear that 4.7 isn't going to do what I need. I am wondering if it would be easier to replace the internals of my system. It isn't a big deal to replace the mother board, CPU and RAM. The data is sound on the current drives so I would think that doing upgrades on hardware wouldn't affect the drives. These components are 5.5 years old, while the work fine right now the question is how much longer are they going perform well. I think while I am digging into the the system it is best to get it fixed before I have a serious problem. Since this has been so reliable I tend to forget all the how to's over time and have to relearn everything again. Is there a recommendation for hardware that will meet my needs for V6 and perhaps v7 without breaking the bank? In other words, a practical solution. I don't foresee going much further than using this a a NAS set up but with all the new bells and whistles who knows. With Version 6 there is so much more that I can do, that until now I haven't thought about. Should I upgrade to v6 before making hardware changes or do it all at the same time? garycase: Thanks for the advice on the backup method that you use. That is much easier than what I am doing now. I maintain two backups, 1 onsite and 1 offsite. I certainly have plenty of drives and I grow my database by 2 TB per year currently.

Hi I am looking for some help on upgrading my system from 4.7. It has run flawlessly for 5.5 years. Is this case of if it ain't broke don't fix it or all the improvements are worth it. My current system: Unraid 4.7 Pro License AMD Sempron 145 Processor MSI 880GMA-B36 RAM 4 GB 2 ICY DOCK 4 in 3 tray-less MB454SPF-B 4 Azza Helios 910 case Antec 520C power supply with 6 SATA and 6 Molex connectors 6 2TB Samsung Drives and 1 parity drive (5400 RPM) Sata 3 1 1TB Samsung cache JBOD configuration 2 open slots in the icy docs With this system, I love the case as nothing ever overheats. The highest temp I have seen on the drive is 29c when doing a full parity check. They are usually in the 24 - 26c range when active in regular use. I am planning on replacing my 2 TB drives w 4 TB Seagate Ironwolf 5900 RPM, Sata 6. This is a must do as the Samsung drives are reaching then end of their life cycle. Since drives are cheap, I maintain backups for my data drives. Because this is unraid, I only back them up once a year. My current method takes a couple of days to copy each drive so I need to find a better method to back these up. I am currently using NTFS drives on a networked PC so it is slow going. With 4 TB drives it may take 4 or 5 days each. I plan on replacing the fans in the case as they have run continuously all these years (it may be cheaper to replace the case.) I am open to all thoughts and suggestions to upgrading. Thanks!

Thanks for everyone's help. I checked the cables everything is ok. I have started the rebuild process and it will take approximately 36 hours to complete. I will post my configuration in a day or so. I think that users like myself have been dumbed down because of Windows operating system. I used to love working from command line in DOS and Unix but when you are away from it for 25 years you lose confidence and you know that a screwup is very costly. I enjoy learning but need some clear and simplfied guides to get a firm foundation under my feet. I would certainly be happy to assist in a project to benefit noobs and other users.

Thanks that is helpful. What I do not know is if I can trust parity rebuild on this drive. Is there a means to test parity before I insert a new drive? I will check the cabling first and try to eliminate any other problems according to the troubleshooting guide.

I have had my unRaid server up and running flawlessly since May 2011. The problem I have is that I don't need to work on my server on a regular basis so I forget how to do everything. I am running 4.7 on a server built by Qeegtech. I have spent the last 3-4 days reading forum posts that don't get to the point for several pages or more. It doesn't appear that their is an effort to develop documentation for people like me that only want to be a user not a developer. It has been over 30 years since I spent time using Unix command line interface. As a result I need more how to info and less bug fix discussion. I have read the manuals repeatedly and with all the mixing of different releases I find myself unsure that I am interpreting the info correctly. These are the problems I need to address: A drive is disabled and I want to check it and check parity to see if I can have the system rebuild the drive or should I use an older backup to address the problem. Apparently, it hasn't checked parity for over a year. It also appears that I will be replacing drives over the coming year and I need to think about upgrading both hardware and software and enable notifications to be sent to my e-mail. Current drive configuration is parity and 5 2tb Samsung data drives with 1 1tb Samsung cache drive. The system has been up continuously for over 5 years. I wouldn't know that I had a drive failure if I hadn't tried to attach a Win 10 PC to the network but that's another nightmare. Is there a How To FAQ to help user like me?

Yes HDD

Thanks-Rebuilding now.

I typed the command in and the new main is: Since I am in unfamiliar territory I don't want to do anything that might destroy my data. Is it correct the next step is to start the array and let it run a parity-sync? Is there a way to just do a parity check and not a rebuild as referenced below? The parity should not have changed since no data has been added nor deleted and each disk is in the same slot. 12: SET INVALIDSLOT - Special command that tells unRAID that the array is already protected. Starting the array after this command will trigger a PARITY CHECK and not a PARITY REBUILD. (Remember that the array is protected during a parity check, but not during a parity rebuild). Array Status NEW_ARRAY, unRAID ARRAY is STOPPED 5 disks in array. PARITY NOT VALID: DISK_NEW Array Disk Status Status Disk Mounted Device Model/Serial Temp Reads Writes Errors Size Used %Used Free DISK_NEW new disk /dev/sdd * 5368 456 DISK_NEW new disk /dev/sdf * 10132 26 DISK_NEW new disk /dev/sdg * 75169 26 DISK_NEW new disk /dev/sda * 7684 25 DISK_NEW new disk /dev/sdc * 208 0 Total: 0.00K 0.00K 78% 0.00K UNRAID Drive Device Model/Serial Mounted File System Size Used %Used Free /dev/sdb1 usb-Kingston_Reader_SD_MS_AA00000000176750-0:0 /boot vfat 3.96G 85.00M 3% 3.87G Drive Partitions - Not In Protected Array Device Model/Serial Mounted File System Temp Size Used %Used Free /dev/sde SAMSUNG_HD103UJ_S13PJ9CSB00035 * 1.00T /dev/sde1 SAMSUNG_HD103UJ_S13PJ9CSB00035 *

Here is the the main screen. Where or how do I enter initconfig? Array Status RECON_DISK, unRAID ARRAY is STOPPED 5 disks in array. Parity is Valid:. Last parity check 5 days ago with no sync errors. Array Disk Status Status Disk Mounted Device Model/Serial Temp Reads Writes Errors Size Used %Used Free OK parity /dev/sdd SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JD2B227180 * 5367 456 OK /dev/md1 /dev/sdf SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JD2B227115 * 10131 26 OK /dev/md2 /dev/sdg SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JD5ZC01566 * 75168 26 OK /dev/md3 /dev/sda SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JX0B900925 * 7683 25 New Disk /dev/md4 /dev/sdc * 207 0 Total: 0.00K 0.00K 78% 0.00K UNRAID Drive Device Model/Serial Mounted File System Size Used %Used Free /dev/sdb1 usb-Kingston_Reader_SD_MS_AA00000000176750-0:0 /boot vfat 3.96G 85.03M 3% 3.87G Drive Partitions - Not In Protected Array Device Model/Serial Mounted File System Temp Size Used %Used Free /dev/sde SAMSUNG_HD103UJ_S13PJ9CSB00035 23°C 1.00T /dev/sde1 SAMSUNG_HD103UJ_S13PJ9CSB00035 reiserfs 23°C

I removed a disk in hopes of preclearing more drives at one time. This was addressed in another post. As a result, when I tried to put the original drive back into the machine the array did not recognize the drive. (Can't hot swap drives.) I unassigned the drive under devices. I tried putting the drive in another slot. It didn't help. I powered down and put the drive back into it's original slot. Booted and assigned the drive I now have a blue indicator next to the drive indicating that it is a new drive. I have about 800MB on this disk that I do not want to lose. I am running 4.7. Joe L stated in the other post. Setting a new disk configuration will immediately invalidate any parity calculations, so upon starting the array, parity will be re-calculated. Also, you must be VERY CAREFUL if you attempt to re-add the original drive back to its original slot. Unless you AGAIN set a new disk configuration, the drive will be zeroed. (not what you want if there is data on it) I have not been able to find anything in the wiki about this. I've included the current syslog and smart report as well. I need some help please. syslog-2012-05-24.txt syslog-2012-05-25.txt smart_report.txt

bump I am unable to find anything in the wiki to help with this. Array Status STARTED, 5 disks in array. Parity is Valid:. Last parity check 3 days ago with no sync errors. Array Disk Status Status Disk Mounted Device Model/Serial Temp Reads Writes Errors Size Used %Used Free OK parity /dev/sdd SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JD2B227180 25°C 44 24 OK /dev/md1 /mnt/disk1 /dev/sdf SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JD2B227115 * 53 5 2.00T 1.98T 99% 21.52G OK /dev/md2 /mnt/disk2 /dev/sdg SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JD5ZC01566 26°C 46801 5 2.00T 1.55T 78% 452.13G OK /dev/md3 /mnt/disk3 /dev/sda SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2H7JX0B900925 * 52 5 2.00T 1.92T 96% 81.85G DISK_DSBL_NP /dev/md4 /mnt/disk4 2.00T 838.58G 42% 1.16T Total: 8.00T 6.28T 78% 1.72T UNRAID Drive Device Model/Serial Mounted File System Size Used %Used Free /dev/sdb1 usb-Kingston_Reader_SD_MS_AA00000000176750-0:0 /boot vfat 3.96G 128.84M 4% 3.83G Cache Drive Device Model/Serial Mounted File System Temp Size Used %Used Free /dev/sde1 SAMSUNG_HD103UJ_S13PJ9CSB00035 /mnt/cache reiserfs 22°C 1.00T 555.40G 56% 444.77G Drive Partitions - Not In Protected Array Device Model/Serial Mounted File System Temp Size Used %Used Free /dev/sdc ST2000DL004_HD204UI_S2H7J9FC309608 24°C 2.00T /dev/sdc1 ST2000DL004_HD204UI_S2H7J9FC309608 reiserfs 24°C /dev/sde SAMSUNG_HD103UJ_S13PJ9CSB00035 22°C 1.00T

I tried moving the disk to a different slot. I unassigned the disk. When I try to assign the disk it doesn't show any disk available for assignment. I've rebooted and now it says the disk is not installed. I do not want to risk losing the data so I've stopped playing around with it. I really appreciate your help!!! syslog-2012-05-25.txt

Now I've done it. I replaced the original drive and it is disabled. How do I reconfigure the drive? The other data drives show up as unformatted.

Thanks! I didn't realize that unRaid was not hot plugable. I will start over.

I have an older board and HPA is always on and when I spoke to Gigabyte they did not have a way to turn it off. I was not able to remove HPS on one of my drives that I wanted to reformat for the array. We tried everything we could to remove it with my limited resources. My intent is not to have this as part of the array but a true hard copy back up. I have 3 drives that are almost full and I plan to finish filling them up and then make a NTFS copy. I will keep these off site. If I lose my server I will at least be able to play my media on a Windows system or have the back up to copy to new disks if I have multiple disk failure. As my fourth drive fills up I will make regular copies.

I am not interested in having it as a part of the array but as a backup copy of my data. I don't want to copy it over the network if I can avoid it. I don't want to create a problem with the disks by formatting them on on PC with a Gigabyte mobo.

I've attached my syslog. I do not reboot before trying to change drives. sdj is a new drive. The port was in use prior to changing the drive. I tried taking the array offline but that didn't help. Do I need to reboot? syslog-2012-05-24.txt

I have a Gigabyte Mobo in my PC and I want to format the disks without creating Gigabyte partition. Can I format a new drive (precleared) in my server with a NTFS partition and windows format? I am running 4.7. Why would I want to do that? I have so much time invested in creating 7TB of media I don't want to risk even the remotest possibility of losing the data. If it is on an NTFS disk it would give me portability if the server crashes. tunetyme

bump

I have 8 bays (Icy Dock) that I use for my data disks. I bought 10 new Samsung 2TB drives and am in the process of preclearing the drives. I removed 1 data drive (sdc) so I could prelear 5 drives at a time. The new drive is sdj. I can format the other 4 (that did not have a drive in that bay) but I get an error message that "sdj is already assigned as a part of the unraid array. Clearing will not be performed." Is there some way to work around this? Does this mean that once I use a disk in a given bay that I can no longer use that bay for preclearing?? I am running 4.7. Tunetyme

I have had this problem twice. When I am trying to move files using "Cut and Paste" I end up deleting the destination folder. The method I use frequently in Windows XP is to cut the files I want to move and then paste it to the destination folder. Then the folder disappears. I am not pasting inside the destination folder but clicking on the folder itself. Any ideas and is there a means to recover the folder? Tunetyme

I am using split level 2 and the files are moving now. Thanks

I have all three drives up and running. I am using Disk 1 and 3 for video and disk 2 for music. I just added disk 3. The Share Name is S. Comments is Video Allocation is High Water Min. Free Space is 4000000 Split Level 0 Include Disk Disk 1, Disk 3 Exclude Disk Disk 2 Use Cache Yes Export SMB Export Read/Write Export NFS is blank I tried to move the files via the move command from my cache drive nothing happens. What am I missing? I realize that I have to make some changes in allocation and split level. Right now I have all my videos on Disk 1. The disk is full. I think I would like to split the data with Action Adventure and Scifi on one drive and everything else on the original disk 1. Current folder structure is (disk 1) S - Scifi, Drama etc. With movies under each broad category. Am I to assume that I need to setup a folder S on disk 3 and then move the files from disk 1 to disk 3 ? Is there a way to have the same file structure on Disk 3 and any new files would go to disk 3? Hmmmm so many choices. What is the best method? My preference is to fill up a drive so I can have a external backup copy to prevent risk of loss.

Thanks