Constant errors over 2 years with this system

[statikcat]

Writing this as kind of a last resort with Unraid. Before I was using Drivepool in Windows as my main system (now it runs my backup enclosures with zero issues). I did not have a parity but I had zero errors or issues. Unraid gives me monthly errors that cause work and some panic in my system. I realize the difference between DrivePool and Unraid is a computer vs enclosure so different power, etc. I am not convinced Unraid itself is the issue but I need some help I just don't have time to troubleshoot this all the time. 

 

Some common issues:

 

1. I will have a drive go missing and if I power cycle the drive it often comes back.

 

2. I get read errors on a drive multiple times and then it passes a preclear (with preread) with zero problems. 

 

3. File system error which usually is fixed by running the repair command wit -L

 

4. And my current issue that has returned... my parity drive is disabled. I am rebuilding parity now for at least the 5th time.

I am using a combo of motherboard sata pots along with:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ST9CPND/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

my PSU is 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LV8TZAG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

To my knowledge the sata card is not a Marvel controller and my PSU has 43A of power on the 12v rail. I have 6 8TB drives with ssd cache. I am considering the PSU may be an issue or going bad. I am not an expert here but I think the PSU is sufficient?I have changed all the cables many times.

 

I uploaded my diag file after I noticed my parity was disabled (it worked yesterday). Any advice here?

statiknas-diagnostics-20220327-1214.zip

Edited March 27, 2022 by statikcat

[Squid]

Mar 26 12:00:21 statiknas kernel: ata9: EH complete
Mar 26 12:00:21 statiknas kernel: ata9.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x0 action 0x0
Mar 26 12:00:21 statiknas kernel: ata9.00: irq_stat 0x40000000
Mar 26 12:00:21 statiknas kernel: ata9.00: failed command: READ DMA EXT
Mar 26 12:00:21 statiknas kernel: ata9.00: cmd 25/00:08:00:2a:81/00:00:a3:03:00/e0 tag 8 dma 4096 in
Mar 26 12:00:21 statiknas kernel:         res 53/04:08:00:2a:81/00:00:a3:03:00/e0 Emask 0x1 (device error)
Mar 26 12:00:21 statiknas kernel: ata9.00: status: { DRDY SENSE ERR }

 

Your issue is cabling.  SATA connections are terrible, and depending upon the type of drives, the non-locking cables are better than the locking ones (eg: on WD drives)

 

Reseat the cabling at both ends, along with the power, avoid splitters at all costs, and do not try and make cable runs look pretty -> the prettier it is the more susceptible to cross talk it is and never, never, never tie power cables to data cables.

 

When doing this, take care not to disturb any adjacent cables.  Whenever I'm in my system I always give a little push to every single sata cable everywhere.

[statikcat]

Thank you for the reply. Sorry if I seem a little frustrated. Is it possible to connect a USB3 / esata enclosure to unraid such as:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-H82-SU3S2-ProBox-External-Enclosure/dp/B005GYDMYG/ref=sr_1_4?crid=275ALKA4DGJ9I&keywords=8+bay+enclosure&qid=1648399811&sprefix=8+bay+enclosure%2Caps%2C59&sr=8-4

 

Would that make the cable issues less of a problem since there are no sata cables involved? This enclosure is what I use in Windows as a backup but I was not sure if Unraid would recognize it or be recommended. However, I imagine an enclosure might make running smart checks harder without dedicated connection to each drive?

As for the cables. I did just move so possibly they came loose although the server has worked for the past 3 days it has been back online. Most of my sata cables are snap cables so maybe I will order a set of new non-snapping ones. All my drives are Seagate. I have never had drive errors from sata cables in any other desktop. Is this unique to Unraid / file server somehow?

Another question. If my parity drive gets an error from sata cable, which seems easy to occur, it requires full parity resync each time? 

 

Thanks!

[Squid]

USB while supported isn't recommended  (ever wonder why on occasion your windows system does the sounds for a device disconnect and reconnect when nothing changed?)

[Squid]

1 minute ago, statikcat said:

Another question. If my parity drive gets an error from sata cable, which seems easy to occur, it requires full parity resync each time? 

 

It's actually hard to occur once you've got the cabling right.  Reason why the drive keeps getting disabled is because during a read from the drive it dropped offline momentarily, so the OS tried to correct the read error by writing the appropriate information back to the drive and it failed.

[trurl]

Why didn't you ask for advice 2 years ago?

[statikcat]

17 minutes ago, trurl said:

Why didn't you ask for advice 2 years ago?

Because I was able to find similar posts and resolve the issue. For example the repair to fix file system issue. I am a procrastinator in this regard and am foolish for not posting earlier. It is good to hear cable(s) is the culprit, possibly for all my issues. Kind of annoying they are so sensitive but better than power issues or bad drives I suppose!