Disk in error state, looking for guidance on next steps.

[Moe]

I have a disk that has been giving me some issues for the last couple months.  You can see what has happened in my last couple of posts here and here

 

The disc just got a red X again and this time I can't run a smart test on it.  When I go to run the Smart test the button presses but then nothing happens and the button is pretty much immediately able to be pressed again.

 

At this point, I think that I just want to remove the disk.  The problem disk is a 6TB drive and I have a 12TB drive sitting in the array unused and all ready to go.   What I am wondering is what is the best way of going about doing this?  How do I transfer the data from the bad disk to a disk already existing in the array?

 

If it helps, I have Unbalance and Krusader installed on the server.

 

If the 6TB drive is still okay I can still it in my desktop and it won't go to waste. 

 

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[Moe]

Bump.

[JorgeB]

If you want to use an existing array disk and then remove that one you need to transfer the data there first using your favorite tool, then do a new config without it.

[Moe]

Thank you!

 

I hate to be dumb but what do you mean by "then do a new config without it." Do you mean make sure any shares that used disk 6 (the bad disk) now use disk 10 (the good disk)?

[JorgeB]

New config allows you to reset the array assignments so you can re-sync parity without that disk: Tools -> New config

[Moe]

I just want to make sure that I do this right.

 

I have moved all the data from the bad disk (Disk 6) to the good disk (Disk 10) using Unbalance.

 

Do I the following:

 

Stop the array

Unassign Disk 6

Restart the array

Tools -> New config

 

Thank you JorgeB, you always seem to be the one coming through for me

 

 

 

[JorgeB]

In this order:

 

4 minutes ago, Moe said:

Stop the array

 

5 minutes ago, Moe said:

Tools -> New config

Keep all assignments in the new config page.

 

5 minutes ago, Moe said:

Unassign Disk 6

Restart the array

 

Before starting you can also move the disks around if you want, so disk6 doesn't stay empty, but it's not required

[Moe]

Thanks again, I really appreciate the help!

 

[dboonthego]

Something to consider if you re-arrange the disk order is your include/exclude disks in your share settings.  Like, if you specifically included disk7 and now that disk has been moved to position 6, you'd want to reflect that in your share settings.

[Moe]

I was able to get this done thanks to JorgeB's help in this thread.

 

The array is up and running but it says "Started, Array Unprotected",  Is this normal behavior?  I can see the read counts going up on Disk 1, is the system doing some kind of check/rebuild since I did the new config and the Array Unprotected status will go away when that is done?  Is there another step that I need to do after restarting the array? 

[JorgeB]

33 minutes ago, Moe said:

The array is up and running but it says "Started, Array Unprotected",  Is this normal behavior?

It is if a disk is rebuilding or parity is syncing, if you are not sure you can post diags.

[Moe]

I don't see any kind of progress report or anything, it doesn't look like anything is happening which is why I am confused.  Here is a diags.

 

 

tower-diagnostics-20231027-1059.zip

[JorgeB]

Disk6 is disabled, and it was disabled by you, so the array is unprotected.

[Moe]

Did I unassign Disk 6 incorrectly or something? 

 

Per your instructions in this post I did the following.

 

Stopped the array

Went to Tools -> New Config and chose All

Set Disk 6 to unassigned

Restarted the array

 

Did I miss something?

[dboonthego]

2 hours ago, Moe said:

Did I unassign Disk 6 incorrectly or something?

 

Instead of checking the box "Yes, I want to do this" and clicking Apply, is it possible, you simply clicked "Done" and proceeded to unassign your disk?  The checkbox is very easy to miss because it's hidden behind the preserve assignment drop down.  "Apply" is greyed out until you check the box leaving you with "Done" being your only option.  A reasonable person would assume they're "Done" making changes and click the button thinking it works similarly to how OK vs. Apply works in a Windows environment, but it seems "Done" doesn't actually do anything but kick you back to the Tools menu.

 

What I'm thinking you did.

 

 

What needs to be done.

 

 

[Moe]

Hmmm, I honestly can't remember.  But what you describe could very well be the case.  If that is the case, do I just repeat the steps above and make sure that I have that checkbox checked?  The worry that I have is that drive is currently unassigned, do I need to reassign it first or just leave it unassigned?  Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[dboonthego]

7 hours ago, JorgeB said:

Disk6 is disabled, and it was disabled by you, so the array is unprotected.

Where do you see this?  Disk6 looks unassigned/not missing to me.

 

3 hours ago, Moe said:

If that is the case, do I just repeat the steps above and make sure that I have that checkbox checked?

Yes, but I don't think you need to do it.  It looks like Disk6 is unassigned to me too. 

 

After doing the new config and starting the array, a parity sync begins and is calculated against all your array disks.  It's normal to see a ln icon or status showing your system isn't protected while this is in progress.  Once the sync is successful, that should go away.  What does your main tab look like?  What does it say for parity at the botom?   

[Moe]

This is what I see.

[JorgeB]

7 hours ago, dboonthego said:

Where do you see this?  Disk6 looks unassigned/not missing to me.

I didn't say it was missing, it is disabled.

 

4 hours ago, Moe said:

This is what I see.

The new config was not correctly done, do it again, most likely you didn't hit apply.

[dboonthego]

10 hours ago, Moe said:

This is what I see.

Yep.  Do the new config again by checking the yes box and apply.  Assign your disks again without #6 and start the array.  A parity sync will begin.  You will see reads on all data disks and writes to parity with overall progress at the bottom of main tab.  During sync, you may still see alerts ⚠️ that array is unprotected.  That's normal until a successful parity sync.

 

You will also want to review your default disk settings (spin down, filesystem, etc) and set them accordingly.  The new config resets these settings to defaults.  If you had disk shares enabled, those would need to be enabled again too.

[Moe]

That did the trick, parity sync is now in progress and no disk 6 listed on the main tab.

 

I must have been a dummy and missed the checkbox.

 

Thank you both, I really appreciate the help.