fido666

@Neilt0, Can you post a pic with that mesh bay cover in place? I've got another 2GB WD Green here I could potentially use as the 6th array drive, just need to get a Nexus DoubleTwin or X-Swing bracket to mount it and the 5th drive in the top bay. Edit: Forgot to mention I got the cache drive installed today. I'm a bit scarred from the process of re-routing power cables, etc but it works. I'm using a SIL3132 based controller card to handle mine, saves having to re-route the eSATA port.

Thanks for the explanation Joe and taking the time to go over my logs. I'll re-allocate it to the array and see how I go.

Thanks Joe, I'm just waiting for the most recent preclear run on the drive to finish. I've attached the reports from the original run. Hitachi's DFT test ran for some time but to be honest I didn't note the elapsed time, probably not the 27-29 hours each preclear took. Same for chkdsk from the command prompt. Update: Latest preclear completed with same result, let me know if you want those logs as well. preclear_finish__ML0220F30GNJ3D_2012-02-25.zip

Hi there, I managed to get preclear installed on my HP Microserver with help from the Wiki . I've run successful preclears on 4 out of 5 Hitachi 5K3000 2TBs however the 5th has thrown up 49 re-allocated sectors on each of 2 passes so far. I've tested the drive using Hitachi's DFT tools but it found no errors over 4 passes. Have also tested the drive in question under Windows with Chkdsk from a command line as well as the Windows version (Properties > Tools), again no errors. The drive in question was basically new having only been used in OS testing before settling on UNRAID. Any ideas what might cause Preclear to find errors when other tools don't? I don't want to return a good drive if I can avoid it, these drives are out of stock everywhere here and seems a refund would be my only option. Note: I'm running 4.7 Plus.

Update: Didn't get any errors over 4 cycles of DFT. Windows disk check run via the Properties > Tools menu, no errors found. Have since run a CHKDSK from the command line with no errors. Any ideas what might cause preclear to find sectors requiring re-allocation when other tests don't?

One of my Hitachi 5K3000 HDDs threw up 49 re-allocated sectors during a pre-clear, got the same number on a repeat run. Since the drive was basically new and only used during initial Microserver testing I wouldn't expect to see so many. I've tried testing it with Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test software but can't get that to see any drives, checked on 2 PCs. WD's software passed the drive on both short and extended tests so I'm wondering if I really have a problem or not. I'm going to try re-running DFT with HDDs set to IDE mode and just the suspect drive connected, will see how that goes. I don't want to have to return the drive if I can avoid it, these drives are in serious short supply here and ,my original source has none in stock. Edit: HItachi's DFT software works on the Microserver if you disable all SATA options and set the HDD control options to IDE instead. You also have to put the HDD you want to test as the first drive in the chain (the leftmost bay when viewed from the front). It might still work with other drives in bays 2-4, have not tested this. You also have to remember to disable SATA mode in the Southbridge Configuration (I'm running The Bays modifed BIOS). I mention this only because the Hitachi 5k3000 drives are very popular with the Microserver crowd so it might help some others.

LOL, that would be nice! It took 27hrs to clear 1 x 2TB HDD so clearing the other 4 is going to take some time. I believe you can run more than one at a time so I might try kicking off 2 sessions and see how I go. The HDD I cleared was in the ODD bay in a hot swap caddy and temp never went above 35c which is good, love my Hitachi Coolspins! Edit: Kicked off 1 preclear session via the console and another via Telnet using Putty, so far all good.

I just purchased a generic 4 port SIL3132 based card off eBay (2 SATA, 2 eSATA; only 2 can be used at any one time though). Have not had a chance to try it out yet though, my Tardis is still chugging away pre-clearing a HDD. UnRAID can be picky but SIL3132 chipset cards should be OK, just make sure you get one with a low-profile bracket and a PCIe interface.

You might need another set of HDD screws if the Nexus doesn't include any. I've only got 4 left in the door with 4 HDDS in their caddies and 1 in the hot swap bay (which I used the ODD screws to mount in the top bay). Yes there's a space below the ODD bay that you could easily slip an SSD or 2.5" HDD into.

Thanks Jens but I got around it. Guess you could do that, it's a little tricky with the stick being internal though. Still haven't sorted out my cache drive dilemna guys, couldn't get the external casing open without destroying it so chose not to try. Now the local source of the Nexus Double Twin adapters has run out of stock so I'm stuck with using a 2.5" laptop drive rather than the 250gb 3.5" that came with the microserver. I've been offered a WD Black 500gb for $85AUD but not sure if a Black would run too hot. Edit: I've got pre-clear running on my 5th HDD at the moment, only learned about it today thanks to the Wiki. The first four drives were added to the array without being pre-cleared, should I re-visit them? None have any data on them yet so there's no problem un-assigning & clearing them, will just take a long time.

The wiki recommends using faster drives (i.e. 7200RPM), just not sure if it matters that much in real life.

Anyone care to comment on my previous post? I just want to confirm a 5400RPM HDD is okay to use for cache before opening the external up.

I'm looking for some guidance on the appropriate type of HDD for use as a cache drive. I was planning to use a 320GB 2.5" drive extracted from an external USB case but I'm guessing the drive will be a 5400RPM type (haven't opened it yet). Looking at the UnRAID wiki it suggests a faster drive (i.e. WD Black 7200RPM) be used as the cache drive. http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cache_disk I could use the 250GB 7200RPM drive that came with my N36L but that would mean using a double stack bracket in the top bay. I'm a little concerned about cooling issues with that method; I don't really want to have to ghetto mod the standard bay cover to create extra ventilation. If I use the laptop drive instead I can mount my 5th array drive in a sata hot swap bay like the one in the OP (already have one in another PC I can use) which already has ventilation slots in the cover. Opinions? Is capacity over speed better?

Now the seller tells me the low-profile bracket won't fit this card (after I placed my order and paid), trying to organise a refund now May have found another but won't place an order till the previous one gets sorted out. I might have to get handy with the pliers and tin snips if I get stuck with the other one. I'll post back once I have a working card, might be a while though (slow boats from China and all). Pulled the drive casing apart today but sadly mine has the USB connector directly on the PCB so be warned if you are thinking of doing the same. Got it all back together but some of the clips got broken during disassembly so the casing's a bit loose now, at least it wasn't a brand new drive

I managed to get into the bios flash link from Jens guide earlier but now it has gone awol again. It appears Jens is hosting the file on his own domain so perhaps the host server is down. In any case I have flashed the BIOS using TheBays modified ROM with help from the AVF thread even though I was happily running the Russian hacked one before. One thing to note when running the actual BIOS flash is that it will terminate at the C:\ prompt; at this point it is safe to remove the USB stick you used for the flash. After re-booting you will get the "-041" Rom version displayed as well as "The Bays" which indicates you have successfully flashed the BIOS (plus the SATA ports 5 & 6 will be visible in certain BIOS options, namely AHCI config and also Southbridge config under Chipset). Don't forget you will need to change the BOOT order from the UNRAID USB stick to the BIOS update one before running the flash; you will need to change it back again post flash to boot into UnRAID. Sorry if I'm telling anyone here how to suck eggs, just thought it might help the newbies

Thanks Neilto for reacquainting me with this thread I have finally gotten around to buying an UnRAID Plus licence so I can make use of all my 5 x 2TB Hitachi 5K3000 HDDs. I'm planning to use the top bay to hold the 5th HDD plus a cache drive. I was going to use the eSATA loop-back method to connect the 5th drive when someone over on OCAU suggested a PCIe SATA card instead. I have found a SIL3132 based card on eBay which I think will do the trick :- http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/230714137688?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 The seller can provide a low-profile bracket by request but in his reply to my query mentioned SATA3.0. Perhaps it's a different card, I'm awaiting clarification. The only thing I'm not sure about in the specs is this:- ? Support 1-lane(x1) PCI-Express with transfer rate 2.5 Gb/s ? Compliant with PCI-Express 1.0a specification Does the 1st bullet point mean the card will only work in the PCIe x1 slot? I've read somewhere that throughput is best if the card is in the x16 slot but I'm not sure if that is correct. Also can anyone confirm if a 250GB 2.5" HDD out of a WD Passport case could be used as the cache drive? From the case opening tutorials on YouTube it seems they have a standard SATA interface but I haven't tried opening mine yet. I could just use the 250GB 3.5" that came with my N36L but that means buying a double stack bracket (i.e. Nexus DoubleTwin). Using the 2.5" means I could mount it under the ODD bay and use a SATA hot swap caddy in the ODD bay for the 5th array drive.