Hi all,

 

I hope someone can help me!

 

I have an old ASUS motherboard which supports both IDE and SATA hard disks (2 + 2) and my array is a mixture of both types of drives. I would like to get rid of the IDE drives (as I have just increased the number of SATA ports with a PCI card) to run a "SATA only" array. My parity drive is SATA so that one does not need to be replaced.

 

What are the exact steps I should take?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Nestor

Hi all,

 

I hope someone can help me!

 

I have an old ASUS motherboard which supports both IDE and SATA hard disks (2 + 2) and my array is a mixture of both types of drives. I would like to get rid of the IDE drives (as I have just increased the number of SATA ports with a PCI card) to run a "SATA only" array. My parity drive is SATA so that one does not need to be replaced.

 

What are the exact steps I should take?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Nestor

You will probably laugh as how simple it is, but here are the instructions...

 

Do this ONE disk at a time. 

 

1. Perform a parity check to make sure all disks are readable.  If any errors, do not proceed until the errors are resolved.

Stop the array.

Un-assign the IDE drive on the Devices Page.

Power down.

Remove the old IDE drive, install the SATA drive.  (you can actually skip this step if the new drive is already physically connected and you do not need the physical space for the new drive.)

Power back up, the array will probably not start with the one disk un-assigned.  If it does start, stop it once more.

Go to the devices page.  Assign the SATA drive to the slot that previously held the IDE drive.

Go back to the main page. Start the array.  (You may need to check the "I'm sure box under the start button to enable it)

Let the disk completely be re-constructed from parity and the other data disks.

Once the disk is re-constructed, perform a parity check to make sure it is readable. (You just finished writing it, but have not checked to ensure it is readable)

Now, wait a few days to make sure the disk will not suffer an early failure before going on to the next disk.  If you used the preclear_disk.sh script on the new disk it will have proven itself and you'll not need to wait as long.

 

That's it. 

 

DO NOT press the button labeled as "restore" on some older versions of unRAID.  It sets a new initial disk configuration and immediately invalidates parity.  You do not want to do that.  Do not format any disk,  If a format button appears, do NOT press it. Seek guidance on the forum

 

Just un-assign the old disk, assign the new, and "Start" the array. It will reconstruct the old disk onto the new.

 

I've personally done it two times on one of my servers.  (My old motherboard had two SATA ports, but was originally all IDE drives)

 

Joe L.

Basically you are more or less copying old data off your IDE to your Sata, but like Joe L said make sure you do one drive at a time.

 

Highly recommended you use Joe L's pre_clear script to beat up your new drive before putting into use.

 

As well the really cool thing when you upgrade to a larger drive the procedure is the samething. unRAID just makes things so easy even a cave man like myself can do it. 

Thank you very much Joe L., that was exactly what I needed.

 

Also to you Kizer for the tip!