Hi there,

I would like to have my drives using btr file system.

Initially, they were paired and using xfs.
So I have used the New Config tool to reset the config and start fresh.
Then changed the default filesystem for drives to btrfs.

Then assigned disks to the slots and launched parity.
It still shows xfs!

I tried these steps in a different order, but with no success.

A quick video is attached to this post.

What am I missing/doing wrong?

Many thanks!

Changing the default in "Disk Settings" will not change anything that already has a filesystem, you need to click on "Disk 1" (and others you want to change) on the Main page and change there. 

 

1 hour ago, Kilrah said:

Changing the default in "Disk Settings" will not change anything that already has a filesystem

And nobody would want it to since changing the filesystem will reformat.

@Digital Shamans, just so you are clear, anytime you change the file system on an Unraid disk, you will have lost all of the data on that disk when the reformatting is done-- Period, no exceptions, no 'Buts'!!!  The only way to preserve that data is to copy it off that disk onto another disk before you format it!

IF you want to convert your existing disks from XFS to btrfs, there are instructions to do so.  You can find them here:

 

While this topic is written for reseifs to XFS, the same procedure will work for XFS to btrfs.

Edited August 19, 20223 yr by Frank1940

1 hour ago, Frank1940 said:

@Digital Shamans, just so you are clear, anytime you change the file system on an Unraid disk, you will have lost all of the data on that disk when the reformatting is done-- Period, no exceptions, no 'Buts'!!!  The only way to preserve that data is to copy it off that disk onto another disk before you format it!

 

Looking at their video all their drives are still empty, new server.

Thank you guys for all the replies!
This community is really thriving.

Yes, it is a new server. Formatting is not a problem.
The source of the problem is that there is no File System option in our disks settings:



Why would that be?

Dev3 suggests it's still an unassigned device.

Assign it to a slot in the array first, and go into its name that will now be Disk X. 

Edited August 20, 20223 yr by Kilrah

Follow the instruction in the post above, then read and follow the instructions from the manual:

 

   https://wiki.unraid.net/Manual/Storage_Management#Changing_a_File_System_type

Thank you!

It seems to be all good now.

Could you take a quick look at the screenshots and tell me if there is no red flags to your knowledge?

Btw, I changed system user shares to be preferably kept on SSDs.
Because Id like to predominantly use SSDs for everything but Library of Source Files storage and other PC's HDD backups.

Appreciate all the help got from you!
 

Edited August 21, 20223 yr by Digital Shamans

Diagnostics will tell us more than screenshots, attach to your NEXT post in this thread

I see this tool is especially made for that reason.
Thanks!

I attached the diagnostics to this post.

Currently, the only issue I am having is that the server is does not appear in the Windows Network. 
It wasn't, then it appeared for like a single session and then disappeared again.
My bet is that's because of some Windows settings, so I'm about to make a post in the adequate topic.

ds-server-001-diagnostics-20220824-1714.zip

Edited August 24, 20223 yr by Digital Shamans

Make sure this is turned on:

 

If it still does not show up, download the PDF in the first post of this thread and read the section on " Fixing the Windows Explorer Issue". 

 

      https://forums.unraid.net/topic/110580-security-is-not-a-dirty-word-unraid-windows-10-smb-setup/

 

OH, and be sure to set "Enable NetBIOS: to    'No'     as the Windows' SMB client already has it turned off.  (You only need if it you are using one of the 12-year old media players that need to access your server via SMB.)

 

Thanks,

NetBIOS was "No" and Enable WSD was "yes" all this time.

Yesterday I have enabled Windows features: SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support, SMB Direct and Services for NFS.

It didn't help though.

Thanks for the PDF, reading now.

Already posted more detailed description of the challenge here:

 

On 8/19/2022 at 2:41 PM, Frank1940 said:

@Digital Shamans, just so you are clear, anytime you change the file system on an Unraid disk, you will have lost all of the data on that disk when the reformatting is done-- Period, no exceptions, no 'Buts'!!!  The only way to preserve that data is to copy it off that disk onto another disk before you format it!

In the case of a server already operating with parity disks ok, if you change the file system (and then format the disk) will parity rebuild the data or do you have to move all the data elsewhere and then retransfer them?

14 minutes ago, LastEndingStart said:

In the case of a server already operating with parity disks ok, if you change the file system (and then format the disk) will parity rebuild the data or do you have to move all the data elsewhere and then retransfer them?

 

Understand that the format operation on a disk in the array will cause the parity data to be update to reflect the formatting as the disk is being formatted.  Also, Formatting only changes the file tables area of the disk.  (This is why the formatting of a 20TB drive takes only a couple of minutes.  All the data bits are still there.  You just can not access anything useful because the file structure does not have any information about all that information.) 

 

So when you rebuilt a disk you just formatted, the drive will be rewritten as a freshly formatted disk and it will be as empty as any newly formatted disk. 

 

So Yes, you have to copy the data off the disk to some other location/disk before you format or you will lose data.  Repeat-- You will lose data!!!!

23 minutes ago, LastEndingStart said:

format the disk) will parity rebuild the data

Format is a write operation, it writes an empty filesystem to the disk. Unraid treats this write operation just as it does any other, by updating parity. How could it do otherwise and maintain parity?

 

After formatting an array disk, parity agrees the disk is formatted, so the only thing that can be rebuilt is a formatted disk.