Re: preclear_disk.sh - a new utility to burn-in and pre-clear disks for quick add


Recommended Posts

quick question guys

 

im preclearing a 2tb EARS drive via telnet using the -A option.

 

am i ok to close the telnet window? as i do not want to leave my pc im telnetting from on over night.

 

if so, how i can view the status of the preclear the next day?

Link to comment

I have 8 2TB drives and 1 500G drive that I am going to use for my cache drive.  For each of the 2TB drives I used the -A option in the preclear.  For the 500G drive I left the -A out but did not put in the lower case -a.  Since my options are set for 4K aligned, it looks like I 4K aligned this 500GB drive.  Is that going to be a problem since it is not an advanced format drive?  Do I need to redo the preclear on this disk?

Link to comment

I have 8 2TB drives and 1 500G drive that I am going to use for my cache drive.  For each of the 2TB drives I used the -A option in the preclear.  For the 500G drive I left the -A out but did not put in the lower case -a.  Since my options are set for 4K aligned, it looks like I 4K aligned this 500GB drive.  Is that going to be a problem since it is not an advanced format drive?  Do I need to redo the preclear on this disk?

No, the drive is fine, leave it be

Link to comment

im preclearing a 2tb EARS drive via telnet using the -A option.

 

am i ok to close the telnet window?

 

No. If you close the telnet window your preclear session will be stopped.

 

To do so, you need to use screen to run the preclear session so you can detach and leave the process still running.

Link to comment

Joe, it would be great if the /tmp/precl* output filename could include the serial number of the drive.  I copy the files to a central location and right now I have to edit the filename so they don't overwrite prior preclear logs.

I don't even find the device shortname (sde) is useful but maybe someone else does.

 

Something like /tmp/preclear_report_sde_serialNumber* where the serial number is enough to identify the device.  Maybe an option to have the serial number instead of the device shortname would work.

 

Thanks

 

 

Link to comment

Joe, it would be great if the /tmp/precl* output filename could include the serial number of the drive.  I copy the files to a central location and right now I have to edit the filename so they don't overwrite prior preclear logs.

I don't even find the device shortname (sde) is useful but maybe someone else does.

 

Something like /tmp/preclear_report_sde_serialNumber* where the serial number is enough to identify the device.  Maybe an option to have the serial number instead of the device shortname would work.

 

Thanks

 

 

Not a bad idea.
Link to comment

im preclearing a 2tb EARS drive via telnet using the -A option.

 

am i ok to close the telnet window?

 

No. If you close the telnet window your preclear session will be stopped.

 

To do so, you need to use screen to run the preclear session so you can detach and leave the process still running.

 

thanks, lucky i kept teh PC on just incase :)

 

not long to go now for the preclear i hope

Link to comment

im preclearing a 2tb EARS drive via telnet using the -A option.

 

am i ok to close the telnet window?

 

No. If you close the telnet window your preclear session will be stopped.

 

To do so, you need to use screen to run the preclear session so you can detach and leave the process still running.

 

FWIW I used nohup to accomplish this. I also used the -m option so the server sent me emails as the preclear progressed/finished. Guess I need to look into screen.

Link to comment

Quick question...

 

Can I pre-clear drives that are already part of the array but do not have any data on them?

 

I have 8x 250GB drives that are 5 years old and I'm a little suspect of them.  I did not know about the preclear script until after I put everything together.

 

If thsi is possible, can someone give me a quick step-by-step?

 

TIA,

 

John

Link to comment

Quick question...

 

Can I pre-clear drives that are already part of the array but do not have any data on them?

No, you'll have to un-assign them.

 

I have 8x 250GB drives that are 5 years old and I'm a little suspect of them.  I did not know about the preclear script until after I put everything together.

 

If thsi is possible, can someone give me a quick step-by-step?

 

TIA,

 

John

if there is no data then stop the array, un-assign the drives, run the pre-clear on them, re-assign them.

Then, type

initconfig

on the command line and let unRAID re-compute parity once more.

 

Joe L.

Link to comment

Joe,

 

Can one preclear a drive and pull it out and put it on the shelf for a rainy day spare?  I say the shelf because I have two different unraid servers and I would like to interchangeably put that spare in either machine.  Is that possible?

 

Thanks!

 

Neil

 

Link to comment

Joe,

 

Can one preclear a drive and pull it out and put it on the shelf for a rainy day spare?  I say the shelf because I have two different unraid servers and I would like to interchangeably put that spare in either machine.  Is that possible?

 

Thanks!

 

Neil

 

yes.  Just do not assign it before pulling it and putting it on the shelf.
Link to comment

I have a new disk I just installed in my unRaid machine, and I want to preclear it.  However, if I run preclear_disk.sh -l it says no disks are available.  If I try to force it to the drive, it says that this disk is already assigned as part of the array.  This disk is not even mounted.

 

I also have a manually-mounted disk I run my applications off, and it is not presented as an option either (although, as it is in use, it is actually mounted).

 

I'm on 5.0b6a.  Any idea why the disk may be getting tagged as being in the array?

Link to comment

I have a new disk I just installed in my unRaid machine, and I want to preclear it.  However, if I run preclear_disk.sh -l it says no disks are available.  If I try to force it to the drive, it says that this disk is already assigned as part of the array.  This disk is not even mounted.

 

I also have a manually-mounted disk I run my applications off, and it is not presented as an option either (although, as it is in use, it is actually mounted).

 

I'm on 5.0b6a.  Any idea why the disk may be getting tagged as being in the array?

no idea.  What version of preclear_disk.sh are you using?

 

Disks that are mounted or otherwise busy will not be precleared.  I tried to make it really difficult to accidentally clear the wrong disk.

Link to comment

I was using 1.7, but saw the note in the first post, so grabbed the latest at 1.9.  It still says "No un-assigned disks detected."

 

The main page of unMenu clearly shows that the drive has no partitions and is not mounted.  lsof shows that no processes are accessing it.  fdisk confirms there are no partitions.

 

It persists through reboots, too.

Link to comment

I'm currently doing simultaneous preclears of 4x 2TB HDs.  2 are Hitachi and the other 2 are Samsung.  It's only been around 2 hours 40 minutes and I have already got email notifications that all 4 are already at 50% done. Am I doing something wrong?  I have read that it can take up to 24 hours to clear a 2TB drive.

 

Running latest version of Preclear downloaded today from the 1st page of this post. Unraid basic 5.0 beta 6a.  Running Screen for multiple clears.

Command is "preclear_disk.sh -M 4 -A dev/sdX

 

Thanks,

Paul.

Link to comment

It's 50% though Phase 1... there are 10 phases (some quicker than others).  You can see if you look at the terminal window.

 

It'll take 24+ hours guaranteed!

 

Doh!  I had forgotten I read about that while learning how to build an Unraid server this past couple weeks.  Thanks again for the quick explanation.

Link to comment

Quick question...

 

Can I pre-clear drives that are already part of the array but do not have any data on them?

No, you'll have to un-assign them.

 

I have 8x 250GB drives that are 5 years old and I'm a little suspect of them.  I did not know about the preclear script until after I put everything together.

 

If thsi is possible, can someone give me a quick step-by-step?

 

TIA,

 

John

if there is no data then stop the array, un-assign the drives, run the pre-clear on them, re-assign them.

Then, type

initconfig

on the command line and let unRAID re-compute parity once more.

 

Joe L

 

Thx Joe.

 

Safe assumption that I can only do this one drive at a time?

 

John

Link to comment

Quick question...

 

Can I pre-clear drives that are already part of the array but do not have any data on them?

No, you'll have to un-assign them.

 

I have 8x 250GB drives that are 5 years old and I'm a little suspect of them.  I did not know about the preclear script until after I put everything together.

 

If thsi is possible, can someone give me a quick step-by-step?

 

TIA,

 

John

if there is no data then stop the array, un-assign the drives, run the pre-clear on them, re-assign them.

Then, type

initconfig

on the command line and let unRAID re-compute parity once more.

 

Joe L

 

Thx Joe.

 

Safe assumption that I can only do this one drive at a time?

 

John

 

The technique Joe L. Laid out removed the disks from the array. So you can run multiple simultaneously.

 

You might consider running 1-2 parity checks on your disks instead of preclearing them, carefully examining the before and after smart reports for signs of problems. Although this omits the writing test, it does keep the array whole and protected throughout, and is effective at identifying drive problems.

Link to comment

Ok I screwed up and I can't watch the progress of my preclear but I know it is running!  Is there any results written via file at the end of the process so I can make sure everything looks kosher?  I can not reconnect to my telnet session unfortunately :(

 

The finishing SMART reports are stored in /var/log/smart_start_sdX and /var/log/smart_finish_sdX so you can see them with your browser at:

  //tower/log/smart_start_sdX and //tower/smart_finish_sdX

 

Keep an eye on the emails as they come through... the final email contains a dump of the final result of the preclear.

 

Joe L. has thought of everything!

Link to comment

Ok I screwed up and I can't watch the progress of my preclear but I know it is running!  Is there any results written via file at the end of the process so I can make sure everything looks kosher?  I can not reconnect to my telnet session unfortunately :(

yes, a summary reoprt is written to /boot/preclear_reports directory and to the system log.

 

If it is in the "write" phase you can follow along somewhat by typing

tail -f /tmp/zerosdX

 

where sdX = the three letter device name for your disk.   Press Control-C to stop the "tail" command.

 

Joe L.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.