Running Beta9.

 

I just got 2x 3TB drives in the mail. I turned my server off, and plugged them into the empty hotswap bays. I then started my computer. Now unraid claims Disk12 is missing. I don't really see anything in the syslog related to this. The drive is warm, and is spinning. I tried turning the server off, cold booting, and also verifying the sata/power connections are secure.

 

I really need some help here, as I cannot add these 3TBs with a drive missing, and I have 2 drives I need to remove and get shipped out from my server (upgrading them to 3TB drives..)

 

Anyone have any idea? Did the drive really just suddenly die? It had 0 SMART errors when I did a SMART check a few days ago.

 

 

EDIT:

Just adding that removing the new 3TB drives, and Disk12 is now detected. Somehow my server won't detect more than 22 drives...?

 

I'm using 3x SAT2-MV8s. The MV8 i'm adding the 3TBs to is not the same one that disk12 is on.

 

Any ideas?

syslog.txt

I looked at your syslog but didn't have any insights.  It confirms that unRAID thinks disk12 is missing, but of course you already knew that.

 

Maybe by adding the three new drives you have reached the limits of your PSU?  This would explain why one of your current array disks dropped out.  You can test this hypothesis by shutting down, removing all three of the new drives, booting into unRAID, and seeing if disk12 returns.  If it does, then shut down again, add one new disk, boot into unRAID, verify that all disks are present and that you can add the new one to the array.  Repeat this procedure, adding one disk at a time, until you see disk12 (or another disk) drop out again.  This is the point at which your PSU is overtaxed.

 

Edit: I posted the above before seeing your edit.  unRAID currently maxes out at 22 drives: 1 parity, 1 cache, and 20 data.  unRAID will not let you add more than this.  I'm unsure how unRAID handles a situation like yours since I've never tried it myself.

I looked at your syslog but didn't have any insights.  It confirms that unRAID thinks disk12 is missing, but of course you already knew that.

 

Maybe by adding the three new drives you have reached the limits of your PSU?  This would explain why one of your current array disks dropped out.  You can test this hypothesis by shutting down, removing all three of the new drives, booting into unRAID, and seeing if disk12 returns.  If it does, then shut down again, add one new disk, boot into unRAID, verify that all disks are present and that you can add the new one to the array.  Repeat this procedure, adding one disk at a time, until you see disk12 (or another disk) drop out again.  This is the point at which your PSU is overtaxed.

 

My PSU is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011

 

12V@70A - It has enough amps to easily do 24 green drives, and my UPS confirms I am only using a mere 302W peak on startup.

 

Edit: I posted the above before seeing your edit.  unRAID currently maxes out at 22 drives: 1 parity, 1 cache, and 20 data.  unRAID will not let you add more than this.  I'm unsure how unRAID handles a situation like yours since I've never tried it myself.

 

This makes me sad. If this is the case, there is simply no way for me to preclear both of these drives at the same time? I'm looking at ~70 hours of preclearing and another ~24 hours of data rebuilding to add these 2 drives.

 

How does one preclear a "upgrade" drive when they have 1 parity, 1 cache, and 20 data drives?

 

 

 

What other hardware is in your build.  We need a breakdown to help figure out what might be going on.

What other hardware is in your build.  We need a breakdown to help figure out what might be going on.

 

Case: Norco 4224

Data Drives: 18x 2TB/1.5TB Western Digital Green (WD20EARS/EADS), 2x 3TB Western Digital Green (WD30EZRX)

Parity Drive: 1x 3TB Western Digital Green (WD30EZRX)

Sata Cards: 3x SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8

CPU: Intel E5200 (2.50GHz)

Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X7SBE

Memory: 4GB G.Skill (DDR2-800 5-5-5-15)

Power Supply: 850W Corsair HX850W

Operating System: unRAID 5.0 B9

Fans: 3x Noctua NF-P12, 2x Noctua NF-R8

What other hardware is in your build.  We need a breakdown to help figure out what might be going on.

 

Case: Norco 4224

Data Drives: 18x 2TB/1.5TB Western Digital Green (WD20EARS/EADS), 2x 3TB Western Digital Green (WD30EZRX)

Parity Drive: 1x 3TB Western Digital Green (WD30EZRX)

Sata Cards: 3x SUPERMICRO AOC-SAT2-MV8

CPU: Intel E5200 (2.50GHz)

Motherboard: Supermicro MBD-X7SBE

Memory: 4GB G.Skill (DDR2-800 5-5-5-15)

Power Supply: 850W Corsair HX850W

Operating System: unRAID 5.0 B9

Fans: 3x Noctua NF-P12, 2x Noctua NF-R8

 

How many molex connectors plugged into the backplanes on the 4224?

 

If it is only 1 per backplane I suggest plugging both molex connectors in and trying again.

You are right, your PSU is more than powerful enough.  I'm still not sure why unRAID decided to drop disk12 when you added the new drives, but like I said earlier, I've never tried to add more than 22 drives so I don't know how unRAID is supposed to behave in that scenario.  It could also be the backplanes not providing enough power to the drives, as prostuff1 suggests.

 

Actually, you can preclear your drives even if your array is at capacity.  Remember that preclear is done outside the array.  You just won't be able to add your precleared drives to the array when you are done.  In your situation, here's what I would do:

 

First of all, download the latest preclear1.12beta to your flash drive if you don't have it already - you need it to be able to preclear 3 TB drives.  As it is named differently, it will not overwrite your current preclear script.  It is perfectly fine to leave them both on your flash drive.

 

If you have the option of preclearing the three new 3TB drives on a separate test server or even another regular computer that you don't mind being tied up for 48+ hours, that would definitely be preferable.  This second system can be running the free version of unRAID, no need to use your Pro key.  If you don't have this option, then you may have to preclear one or two of the 3TB drives at a time.  Start by installing just two of the new drives, boot into unRAID, and see if disk12 (or any other disk) is still missing.  If so, then shut down and remove one of the 3TB drives.  If not, then you can continue.  Once you find a stable point, then you can hook up a keyboard and monitor to the server (or telnet in via screen) and start the preclear(s).  The syntax will be:

 

login: root

cd /boot

preclear_disk1.12beta.sh -l

(That is a lower case 'L'.  This command will display the drive serial number and drive letter of any drives not assigned to the unRAID array.  Verify the serial number is correct for the 3 TB drive(s) that you want to preclear.  Also make a note of the drive letter.)

preclear_disk1.12beta.sh /dev/sdX

(Substitute the drive letter from the previous step in for sdX.  It might be sda, sdb, etc.  It could also be hda, hdb, etc.)

 

Repeat for each additional 3TB drive as needed.  On the system console or telnet, alt+F1, alt+F2, etc. will switch you between up to 6 different logins.  Repeat the above steps as needed.

Has anyone found anyone that actually had more than 22 drives in their unRAID server at one time? (In the array, and not in the array?) This makes sense to me, I think unRAID is the limitation here. It's rather hard to plug in molexes for those secondary molex's due to the fan bay being so close.. I removed it when I plugged in the other line. The manual states "they are designed for a double PSU system, do not use in a single PSU system". I actually had them plugged in once, and someone on here told me to unplug the secondary line.

 

Is there a case where plugging in those secondary molexes fixed a problem like this? The 3TBs im adding are actually on a totally different "line" of hotswap bays, so it's a different device powering them.

 

I've started the preclear on one of the drives already, since I really need to get the drives i'm replacing shipped out. Looks like i'm just going to have to preclear one at a time.

Norco's official statement is that when used in a single PSU system, only one molex on each backplane should be powered.  I've never seen them recommend against using them in a single PSU system, I would be interested to see where they said that if you have a link handy.  Some users in these forums have had intermittent power problems when powering just one molex that were solved by adding a second (even just using a Y style power splitter).  I haven't heard any of these reports in quite a while, so I expect that the problem was with some of the early backplanes that Norco released, and that more recent models haven't had this problem.  That's just speculation, though.

 

I suggest that you send Joe L. (the author of the preclear script) a PM and point him to this thread.  Maybe there is something built-in to the preclear script that mirror's unRAID's limit of 22 drives.  I've never heard of that being the case, but again, I've never run into the situation you are currently in.