Joe L. Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Enter "preclear_disk.sh -?" for help. Great, thanks. before you do anything, post the output of fdisk -lu /dev/sdX where sdX = the three letter designation of your drive. Have you already assigned the drive to your array? Quote Link to comment
samcon Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 before you do anything, post the output of fdisk -lu /dev/sdX where sdX = the three letter designation of your drive. Have you already assigned the drive to your array? Yes, I've assigned it to the array. Here's the command output: Disk /dev/sdd: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes 1 heads, 63 sectors/track, 62016336 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdd1 63 3907029167 1953514552+ 83 Linux Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary. Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary. Quote Link to comment
Joe L. Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 Once assigned, the only way to change the partition is to zero the mbr. That will erase all on the disk. You don't have to preclear it again, and, you cannot with it assigned to the array. But, if you do not preclear it, unraid will clear it when you assign it to your array Quote Link to comment
samcon Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Once assigned, the only way to change the partition is to zero the mbr. That will erase all on the disk. You don't have to preclear it again, and, you cannot with it assigned to the array. But, if you do not preclear it, unraid will clear it when you assign it to your array I see. Should I use the "TO PROPERLY ALIGN AN UNJUMPERED EARS DRIVE ALREADY IN THE ARRAY" or "TO ADD A USED EARS DRIVE TO THE ARRAY" method form the first page to do so? Is there a way to run a shorter preclear this time? If it matters somehow, I didn't assign a parity drive yet (though I did copy stuff to the drive). Thanks! Samcon Quote Link to comment
Joe L. Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Once assigned, the only way to change the partition is to zero the mbr. That will erase all on the disk. You don't have to preclear it again, and, you cannot with it assigned to the array. But, if you do not preclear it, unraid will clear it when you assign it to your array I see. Should I use the "TO PROPERLY ALIGN AN UNJUMPERED EARS DRIVE ALREADY IN THE ARRAY" or "TO ADD A USED EARS DRIVE TO THE ARRAY" method form the first page to do so? Is there a way to run a shorter preclear this time? If it matters somehow, I didn't assign a parity drive yet (though I did copy stuff to the drive). Thanks! Samcon If there is no parity disk assigned then unRAID will not clear the disk when it is installed. You can therefore, un-assign the disk from the array clear the MBR preclear_disk.sh -z /dev/sdX re-assign the disk to the array. unRAID will show it as un-formatted. (and in reality, it is un-partitioned too) When you start the array it partition the disk. (and since the MBR is zeroed, it will use the partition alignment set from your settings) Once the array is started it will slow a "format" button. You can press it. You will lose all the contents of the drive by following this procedure. Joe L. Quote Link to comment
samcon Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 If there is no parity disk assigned then unRAID will not clear the disk when it is installed. You can therefore, un-assign the disk from the array clear the MBR preclear_disk.sh -z /dev/sdX re-assign the disk to the array. unRAID will show it as un-formatted. (and in reality, it is un-partitioned too) When you start the array it partition the disk. (and since the MBR is zeroed, it will use the partition alignment set from your settings) Once the array is started it will slow a "format" button. You can press it. You will lose all the contents of the drive by following this procedure. Joe L. Worked like a charm. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
skank Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Is there a method to see if the disk is alligned at sector 64 or 63? Quote Link to comment
Joe L. Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Is there a method to see if the disk is alligned at sector 64 or 63? fdisk -lu /dev/sdX Quote Link to comment
lionelhutz Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Is there a method to see if the disk is alligned at sector 64 or 63? Click on the disk link on the main unMENU screen. Peter Quote Link to comment
skank Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 This i got: Unraid login: root Linux 2.6.32.9-unRAID. root@Unraid:~# fdisk -lu /dev/sda Disk /dev/sda: 2000.3 GB, 2000398934016 bytes 1 heads, 63 sectors/track, 62016336 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sda1 63 3907029167 1953514552+ 83 Linux Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary. root@Unraid:~# fdisk -lu /dev/sdb Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.3 GB, 2000398934016 bytes 1 heads, 63 sectors/track, 62016336 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdb1 63 3907029167 1953514552+ 83 Linux Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary. root@Unraid:~# fdisk -lu /dev/sdc Disk /dev/sdc: 2000.3 GB, 2000398934016 bytes 1 heads, 63 sectors/track, 62016336 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Disk identifier: 0x00000000 Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sdc1 63 3907029167 1953514552+ 83 Linux Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary. root@Unraid:~# Guess all 3 harddrives arent working as the should? They are alle wd20ears, the sda is my parity drive I jumpered the drives and followed preclearing as recommended I'm about to put in third data drive, also wd20ears but unjumpered, i've put in 4.7 that it should be formatted 4K alligned Do i just leave those 3 drives alone as it is? or not? edit: I've just read this on page 1 lol 2. If you have a jumpered EARS, already in your array, and aligned at sector 63, LEAVE IT ALONE. There is zero performance advantage in removing the jumper and moving to sector 64 alignment. Guess i'll be leaving it alone if theres no performance boost, then why align it to 64 in the first time? Quote Link to comment
lionelhutz Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Read it again - "If you have a jumpered EARS, already in your array, and aligned at sector 63, LEAVE IT ALONE. " You're going to install a EARS without the jumper, meaning this sentence doesn't apply and you need to use sector 64. You want either jumpered = 63 or unjumpered = 64. Peter Quote Link to comment
skank Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Read it again - "If you have a jumpered EARS, already in your array, and aligned at sector 63, LEAVE IT ALONE. " You're going to install a EARS without the jumper, meaning this sentence doesn't apply and you need to use sector 64. You want either jumpered = 63 or unjumpered = 64. Peter yes off course, i meant, the other 3 drives are jumpered and at 63, so the sentence is applyable (or how do you say that) Quote Link to comment
znelbok Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hi guys I am looking at some new drivew, do I just stay clear of these EARS drives? I admit that i dont understand what it means (both to the drive and to unRAid), but it sounds like a hassel none the less and it may be better to go with a seagate or other instead. I am looking at this drive - Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 2TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive It says EARX, not EARS. Is that significant in any way to this discussion? Mick Quote Link to comment
BRiT Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 All new drives should be put into the array UNjumpered with Advanced Format Sector64 4K Alignment. Quote Link to comment
p1lot Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I am going to install a brand new system with 6 ears drives. I guess leaving them unjumpered is fine. Do I need to download joes preclear script or am i good to go with unraid 4.7 ootb? Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment
S80_UK Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I am going to install a brand new system with 6 ears drives. I guess leaving them unjumpered is fine. Do I need to download joes preclear script or am i good to go with unraid 4.7 ootb? Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk Preclearing with new drives is always a good idea if the system is intended for long term use. Preclearing not only initialises the drives but also exercises them (and the rest of your system) which will help show up any weaknesses in the drives. Better to find those before you start than later. It is tempting just to run one pass pf the preclear process to save time, but running 2 or 3 passes will generally be a more thorough test. Quote Link to comment
prostuff1 Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I am going to install a brand new system with 6 ears drives. I guess leaving them unjumpered is fine. Do I need to download joes preclear script or am i good to go with unraid 4.7 ootb? Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk If you are using new drives, do not install a jumper, on the settings page of the unRAID webGUI set the disk alignment to 4-K aligned, and I highly suggest at least 2 passes of preclear on EVERY drive. Quote Link to comment
dgaschk Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Start a new thread. This has nothing to do with EARS drives. Quote Link to comment
zaniix Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 So if I install my new EARS drives with the jumper, what am I loosing? I was under the assumption that the safest and easiest thing to do was install them with the jumper always and never mess with any of this. My new parity drive is a 2tb EARS drive and its working so I guess I will just leave it be and not use the jumper when I add the others I will be adding soon. Quote Link to comment
JustinAiken Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 So I'm on Unraid 4.5.6, with 2 or 3 jumpered EARS drives... Is anything bad going to happen if I update to the latest stable, or the 5 beta? Quote Link to comment
dgaschk Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 So I'm on Unraid 4.5.6, with 2 or 3 jumpered EARS drives... Is anything bad going to happen if I update to the latest stable, or the 5 beta? The jumpers have nothing to do with upgrading. Just leave them be. Quote Link to comment
DrMexSS Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I had a unjumpered ears drive that I needed to align, so did the following TO PROPERLY ALIGN AN UNJUMPERED EARS DRIVE ALREADY IN THE ARRAY 1 - Make sure the unRAID alignment setting is "4K aligned" 2 - Take a screenshot of the unRAID main page. Save it in a JPG or print it out. 3 - Stop the array 4 - Unassign the disk from the array 5 - Start the array (may need to check the checkbox to start the array) - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Array must be started with disk missing. 6 - Stop the array 7 - From telnet prompt run the following commad. This clears the MBR and is necessary to change the partition alignment. dd if=/dev/zero count=200 of=/dev/sdX where sdX the is device. Look on unmenu, myMain or the unRAID devices page for the 3 letter device code (e.g., sda, sdb, ...) 8 - Reboot (click reboot buttong on unRAID GUI) 9 - Array should not start automatically. DO NOT START IT YET! 10 - Preclear (optional - if you precleared it when it was new and it is not giving trouble, no need to preclear it again) 11 - Verify that the unjumpered disk is assigned to its prior slot (e.g., if this was disk3, make sure the disk is again assigned to disk3) 12 - If not - go to the devices page and assign it to the devices page 13- Go to main page and compare it to the screenshot taken in step 2 14 - You should see unRAID saying that it will rebuild the disk. (You may need to click a checkbox to enable the start button) 15 - Start the array 16 - Disk will rebuild, let it finish 17 - Verify contents of rebuilt disk However, when I rebooted the array started atuomatically (step 9). So I stopped the array and continued with the steps. Now it's rebuilding. Why did my array started? Is it a symptom of something wrong? I followed carefully the steps. UPDATE 7th Oct 2011: Now my system is much much faster! Copying a big file: Before: 15MB/s --- Now: 30 MB/s. The parity check speed was always great (90 MB/s). Note: My system has 1parity+5 data disks (the parity and 3 data disks are 2TB EARS) Quote Link to comment
SSD Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 If array starts on step 9, stop the array. Quote Link to comment
mlounsbury Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 So I admittedly haven't been on here since I set up my unRAID server about a year ago because its been running without any problems. I've currently got two EARS jumpered drives in my server that have been running issue free since they were installed. I bought another EARS drive about 2 months ago and I jumpered it and installed it in the case, but did not connect it up because I was going on vacation soon and didn't want to start fooling around with the server and get sidetracked. So, at any rate yesterday I downloaded unRAID 4.7 and the newer preclear script and put them both on my flash drive, shutdown the server, connected the new drive up to power, and ran a preclear on my new drive. I decided to poke around on the forums to see if there was anything new and I see this thread here. At this point, I have an array with two jumpered 2.0TB EARS drives and one jumpered 2.0TB EARS drive that has not yet been added to the array. I have not changed the option to 4K aligned at this point because I didn't want to go any further in this process without getting some direction from those in the know. So what should I do? Quote Link to comment
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