little scare there... back up and running..

[jakebake]

Alright I guess when I was changing my PSU I fried my motherboard so I just bought one at frys and I am back up and running now. Phew  

I have to send mine back to newegg, but I think I am just going to get a replacement. I can use it for an HTPC build or something.

 

Now that I am back up I want to redo my drives. I want them to be 4k aligned and I am confused on how to go about it. My array is stopped but my parity and data drive are still assigned. Is all I have to do is unassign them and then switch to 4k aligned? Because right now there is no drop down box to switch.

 

I made this new thread so I can get faster responses then having to go through my old thread.

 

thanks

[jakebake]

I''d really like to get the parity sync/check going tonight while I am sleeping, but don't want to start it before I get this figured out.

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

[Joe L.]

I''d really like to get the parity sync/check going tonight while I am sleeping, but don't want to start it before I get this figured out.

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

There is no "easy" way  to do what you wish.  once initially partitioned, unRAID will not change the partitioning.

 

The only way to do what you wish is to un-assign one drive, write zeros to its MBR wiping its partition table, then re-assigning it and letting unRAID use the partition type you set in the "settings" to re-create the partition and re-construct the data in it.

 

The risk of data loss is HIGH. 

 

My advice... don't bother if you are trying to save the data on the disks.  If you don't care about the data you can use the preclear_disk.sh utility to clear the disk and set the partition type.

 

Joe L.

[jakebake]

I''d really like to get the parity sync/check going tonight while I am sleeping, but don't want to start it before I get this figured out.

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

There is no "easy" way  to do what you wish.   once initially partitioned, unRAID will not change the partitioning.

 

The only way to do what you wish is to un-assign one drive, write zeros to its MBR wiping its partition table, then re-assigning it and letting unRAID use the partition type you set in the "settings" to re-create the partition and re-construct the data in it.

 

The risk of data loss is HIGH.  

 

My advice... don't bother if you are trying to save the data on the disks.   If you don't care about the data you can use the preclear_disk.sh utility to clear the disk and set the partition type.

 

Joe L.

So basically I will have to preclear again (all 24 hours of it) to do this? I have all my data still on other hard drives so that is not a problem. I just don't know if it is worth the trouble/time. I know it has benefits, but I am still not clear on what those exactly are and how much of a benefit it is. If it is not much I might just not worry about it unless told otherwise. If I don't end up changing it can I do it with future drives I add later?

 

I may just do it to the parity drive.

[lionelhutz]

You have an odd problem that you can't change that setting.

 

On the flash in the config directory - \\TOWER\flash\config

There is a file called disk.cfg

In that file on the 5th line it sets the alignment. The top of the file should look something like this. The line in question is bolded and you need to have it =2 for 4k aligned. Try editing the file but use Midnight Commander (the file is in /boot/config) to edit it.

 

# Disk configuration

spindownDelay=3

queueDepth=0

spinupGroups=yes

defaultFormat=2

md_num_stripes_default=1280

 

Out of interest, what OS and internet browser are you using?

 

Peter

[Joe L.]

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

There is no setting on a per-disk basis.  Nobody has one.

The field simply shows how each disk was partitioned.

 

Once partitioned, or pre-cleared, unRAID will not change the partitioning unless the master-boot-record is zeroed. (or pre-cleared with alignment specified)

[lionelhutz]

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

There is no setting on a per-disk basis.  Nobody has one.

The field simply shows how each disk was partitioned.

 

Once partitioned, or pre-cleared, unRAID will not change the partitioning unless the master-boot-record is zeroed. (or pre-cleared with alignment specified)

 

No, that's the right spot Joe. On the web interface click onto the Settings page and towards the bottom in the Disk settings group is the alignment setting. He's saying the setting there can't be changed for some odd reason. The disk won't be partitioned on sector 64 when he clears the MBR if this setting isn't correct.

 

If you click on each disk on the main web interface page it will list the disk alignment and it can't be changed there.

 

 

Peter

 

[jakebake]

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

There is no setting on a per-disk basis.  Nobody has one.

The field simply shows how each disk was partitioned.

 

Once partitioned, or pre-cleared, unRAID will not change the partitioning unless the master-boot-record is zeroed. (or pre-cleared with alignment specified)

 

No, that's the right spot Joe. On the web interface click onto the Settings page and towards the bottom in the Disk settings group is the alignment setting. He's saying the setting there can't be changed for some odd reason. The disk won't be partitioned on sector 64 when he clears the MBR if this setting isn't correct.

 

If you click on each disk on the main web interface page it will list the disk alignment and it can't be changed there.

 

 

Peter

 

 

OK if under settings/disk settings/Default partition format is the only spot you can change it I actually CAN change it there.

 

So do I just change it there and then do the preclear steps here and it should be changed: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Configuration_Tutorial#Preclear_Hard_Drives

 

Sorry to ask the same question over and over, but didn't seemed to be answered. I also did a forum search with no results...is the time it is going to take to do this worth it? What performance gains will I see?

You did mention just doing it to the parity drive before. If I do that will I still be able to use my server while it is being precleared (with out parity of course)?

 

[Joe L.]

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

There is no setting on a per-disk basis.  Nobody has one.

The field simply shows how each disk was partitioned.

 

Once partitioned, or pre-cleared, unRAID will not change the partitioning unless the master-boot-record is zeroed. (or pre-cleared with alignment specified)

 

No, that's the right spot Joe. On the web interface click onto the Settings page and towards the bottom in the Disk settings group is the alignment setting. He's saying the setting there can't be changed for some odd reason. The disk won't be partitioned on sector 64 when he clears the MBR if this setting isn't correct.

 

If you click on each disk on the main web interface page it will list the disk alignment and it can't be changed there.

 

 

Peter

 

 

OK if under settings/disk settings/Default partition format is the only spot you can change it I actually CAN change it there.

Changing it there will ONLY affect future drives that are cleared by unRAID.  It will have no affect on a drive that was previously partitioned by unRAID, or on a drive already pre-cleared.

So do I just change it there and then do the preclear steps here and it should be changed: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Configuration_Tutorial#Preclear_Hard_Drives

That guide was written many version of preclear (and unRAID) ago.  It is basically correct.  The guide does not mention the partition alignment.  That is a new concept as of unRAID 4.7.

 

In the current version 1.6 of preclear_disk.sh, if you do NOT give an alignment preference option of "-a" (for MBR-unaligned) or "-A" (for MBR-4k-aligned) it will use the preference you set on the unRAID settings screen.

 

Sorry to ask the same question over and over, but didn't seemed to be answered. I also did a forum search with no results...is the time it is going to take to do this worth it? What performance gains will I see?

If it is NOT an AF drive, no difference at all will be noticed.  None, zip, nada, nothing...

You did mention just doing it to the parity drive before. If I do that will I still be able to use my server while it is being precleared (with out parity of course)?

To do it with the parity drive you'll need to un-assign the parity drive from the array.  You'll be without parity for the time it takes to zero the MBR (or pre-clear the parity drive) and then re-write parity.  You'll still likely not see any difference.

 

Joe L.

[jakebake]

I found under settings/disk settings/Default partition format where I can change it to 4k aligned but even doing this does not give me the drop down box under Partition format for each disk.

There is no setting on a per-disk basis.  Nobody has one.

The field simply shows how each disk was partitioned.

 

Once partitioned, or pre-cleared, unRAID will not change the partitioning unless the master-boot-record is zeroed. (or pre-cleared with alignment specified)

 

No, that's the right spot Joe. On the web interface click onto the Settings page and towards the bottom in the Disk settings group is the alignment setting. He's saying the setting there can't be changed for some odd reason. The disk won't be partitioned on sector 64 when he clears the MBR if this setting isn't correct.

 

If you click on each disk on the main web interface page it will list the disk alignment and it can't be changed there.

 

 

Peter

 

 

OK if under settings/disk settings/Default partition format is the only spot you can change it I actually CAN change it there.

Changing it there will ONLY affect future drives that are cleared by unRAID.   It will have no affect on a drive that was previously partitioned by unRAID, or on a drive already pre-cleared.

So do I just change it there and then do the preclear steps here and it should be changed: http://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php?title=Configuration_Tutorial#Preclear_Hard_Drives

That guide was written many version of preclear (and unRAID) ago.  It is basically correct.  The guide does not mention the partition alignment.  That is a new concept as of unRAID 4.7.

 

In the current version 1.6 of preclear_disk.sh, if you do NOT give an alignment preference option of "-a" (for MBR-unaligned) or "-A" (for MBR-4k-aligned) it will use the preference you set on the unRAID settings screen.

 

Sorry to ask the same question over and over, but didn't seemed to be answered. I also did a forum search with no results...is the time it is going to take to do this worth it? What performance gains will I see?

If it is NOT an AF drive, no difference at all will be noticed.  None, zip, nada, nothing...

You did mention just doing it to the parity drive before. If I do that will I still be able to use my server while it is being precleared (with out parity of course)?

To do it with the parity drive you'll need to un-assign the parity drive from the array.  You'll be without parity for the time it takes to zero the MBR (or pre-clear the parity drive) and then re-write parity.  You'll still likely not see any difference.

 

Joe L.

 

Alright I think I just won't do it then. I'm assuming the Seagate 2 tb LP drives are not advanced format?

[lionelhutz]

Seagate green drives are supposed to be advanced format.

 

You can try the parity again. Just run the command;

 

dd if=/dev/zero count=8 of=/dev/sdX

 

on the parity disk. Make sure you get the X correct. Then, let unRAID rebuild the parity drive. When you go to the main interface screen and click on the parity it should say 4k-aligned or something like that.

 

I think you posted that you had precleared before so I wouldn't bother with a complete preclear cycle at this point.

 

Peter

 

[jakebake]

Ok I will try it so what I need to do is stop array run, change the disk setting to 4k and then unassign the parity and then run your command? Or I keep it assigned then run it?

[BRiT]

My Seagate LP 5900rpm drive is certainly not Advanced Format. It is native 512byte sectors.

[lionelhutz]

My Seagate LP 5900rpm drive is certainly not Advanced Format. It is native 512byte sectors.

 

I guess you need to look up the part number on the Seagate web site to know. The green drives you see pictured with the green leaves behind them are supposed to be AF. But maybe they have other LP drives that are not?

 

Peter

 

[jakebake]

My Seagate LP 5900rpm drive is certainly not Advanced Format. It is native 512byte sectors.

 

I guess you need to look up the part number on the Seagate web site to know. The green drives you see pictured with the green leaves behind them are supposed to be AF. But maybe they have other LP drives that are not?

 

Peter

 

 

OK well I am running a parity sync again and it now says it is 4k aligned

How should I do the actual data disk?

[lionelhutz]

If you really want to do it, then just do it the same way. Once you clear the mbr then disk will appear as a new disk to unRAID. If you unassign one data disk and start the array without it unRAID will assume any new disk is the replacement, even the same disk. So, stop, unassign, start, stop. Do the command to clear the MBR and then assign the disk and start again. There should be a blurb about rebuilding the data onto the new disk. There might also be an "are you sure" box that you have to check.

 

Peter

[BRiT]

There is only one typical hardware situation where you should not be using MBR 4K-Aligned setting on unRAID 4.7 or later series: A JUMPERED WD EARS drive.

[jakebake]

If you really want to do it, then just do it the same way. Once you clear the mbr then disk will appear as a new disk to unRAID. If you unassign one data disk and start the array without it unRAID will assume any new disk is the replacement, even the same disk. So, stop, unassign, start, stop. Do the command to clear the MBR and then assign the disk and start again. There should be a blurb about rebuilding the data onto the new disk. There might also be an "are you sure" box that you have to check.

 

Peter

 

Oh cool so it should rebuild the data from the parity? If not I still have it on another drive.

[jakebake]

alright parity is 4k aligned now and I am rebuilding my data drive and it is 4k aligned now as well!

thanks for your help!

[lionelhutz]

Good to hear it's working. Keep that 4k-Aligned setting turned on for all future drives and don't jumper any new EARS drives.

 

Peter