Unraid server with failed Parity and Disk 1 rebuild order and confirming OS USB Drive is not damaged.

[Narth2809]

A few days ago I discovered that both one of my parity drives and drive one of my array have failed. I have new 4 TB drives to replace both of them with. But I'm concerned that there are other errors in the logs that I don't understand. Is there a way to verify that the UNRAID OS USB is working correctly?  What is the proper rebuild process, parity drive or disk one first?  I've stopped the array but am holding off on rebooting for now. I've downloaded the diagnostics and also the S.M.A.R.T reports of each drive and can post if needed. I am running SATA drives in a server Super micro rack mount unit so I think I have to power down to add the two new drives (not sure if I'm correct on that).  I wanted to make sure I don't loose my config files/corrupt the OS USB before powering down.  

bcfserver-diagnostics-20220706-2145.zip

[Narth2809]

The Unraid OS version is 6.9.2 and I'm also noticing now that the Apps tab isn't present?  

[JorgeB]

There is a problem with the flash drive, try re-formatting it or replacing it and then post new diags after array start.

[Narth2809]

Ok, I have a new flash drive and I can download the 6.9.2 Unraid OS and install it.  I believe I just need to copy over the .config file from the old USB, does that sound right?

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Narth2809
confusing sentence

[Narth2809]

I downloaded the ######-flash-backup-20220708-####.zip before powering off the server and attempted to install it using the Unraid USB Flash Creator but have thus far been unable to get the server to boot to the replacement flash drive created.  I plan to have a few other USBs to try tomorrow, it's getting difficult to source a USB 2.0 at this point.  Would it make sense to try use the USB Flash Creator to create a clean install of Unraid 6.9.2 and then delete/replace the existing config file with the one from the backup?  I ran out of time today, but noticed that there's a EFI folder in the backup.  Maybe I need to check the option for UEFI booting when creating the new USB?

[Narth2809]

I forgot to add that the original USB was very hot when removed and I could not load it or repair it on my PC (didn't even recognize I had plugged something in.)  When I replaced it on the server, it doesn't show up as a boot option. So, maybe it's toast? Thankfully I have the backup and the diagnostics files. 

[JorgeB]

You just need to restore the config folder from the backup, and if you want to boot UEFI rename EFI- to EFI.

[Narth2809]

I attempted to load the most recent backup but was presented with a page stating:  " SYSLINUX 6.03 EDD 2014-10-06 Coyright ...   No DEFAULT or UI configuration directive found! "  I powered down the server and loaded the default 6.9.2 Unraid installation from the USB Flash Creator, which I accidentally let boot all the way to the default login page with a TOWER login.  (this was not GUI mode).  Believing the USB to be usable I then  found an older backup and diagnostics but trying to install them resulted in the same "No DEFAULT or UI configuration directive found!" notice.  As a last ditch effort I installed 6.9.2 on the drive again, deleted the contents of the "config" file and copy/pasted the contents of the "config" folder from the older backup.  This I was able to get to load into GUI mode from the server with a monitor and keyboard, however it doesn't accept my root login creds or the default of no password.    I then shut the machine back down and posted here.  Calling it a day for now and will try again later.      Could all of this be avoided if I just load a default Unraid 6.9.2 install and then make changes before starting the array?

bcfserver-diagnostics-20220701-2215.zip

[JorgeB]

First create a new flash drive install and restore just the config folder from the backup.

[Narth2809]

well, things are going much better today.  Using the starting over section of the wiki page I copied over various settings in the config folder from the 2nd most recent backup to the new USB drive. Updated the login so that it's not set to default creds after the server booted up and there were the drives that I needed showing up in green!  I transferred the license by getting a new license key emailed and was happy to see an option to start the array. Instead, I shutdown the machine (using the UI) and removed the disks that had never been assigned to the array, (a 200GB Intel SSD and a 4TB that had been pre-cleared)  This freed up space to install two additional new 4TB Sata drives.  Booted it back up and after verifying the HDD assignments matched my DISK-ASSIGNMENTS file and an old picture or the Main page I started the array.  I was grateful when the Shares successfully loaded.  I added two of the previous uses, since only the "root" user was showing up and after saving the same user/pass was greeted with all of the Share User Access settings loading correctly!  I've copied the critical folder from this server and am letting it sit for now until I hear back to verify I'm not missing something.  

tower-diagnostics-20220710-2154.zip