Lost 2 data disks on a single parity system. How to save data on existing drives?

[Masala66]

- Unraid 6.9.2

- 1 parity disk

- 10 data disks

 

I gave my father a Unraid/Plex server 4 years ago. The server is running Unraid 6.9.2. I think he has 2 drives that are bad on a single parity system. The drives have not been replaced since I gave him the system so I assume drives died of old age.

 

I asked him to order new drives, but I will not be able to install them until I visit. Replacing the drives is not something he is capable of doing. System will not be restarted until I can visit and help him.

 

How can I preserve the data on the 8 existing data drives when setting up a new configuration? I understand that the data on the 2 bad drives is lost forever; I just don't want to wipe the 8 remaining data drives once I install the new data disks.

 

Any help appreciated. Thanks

[dboonthego]

Of course, figure out the health of the drives first, but if they are in fact toast, you can build vaild parity from the remaining good disks by doing Tools-->New Configuration.  You can re-order/re-assign the slots, however be absolutely certain the parity disk is assigned correctly in the parity slot.  It should allow you to copy from current assignments.  The new config will reset other disk settings like spin down delay etc, so you might want to make note of existing settings first.

[JonathanM]

On 5/13/2024 at 7:17 PM, Masala66 said:

I will not be able to install them until I visit.

Before you start digging in I recommend you collect diagnostics and attach them to your next post in this thread. It's entirely possible that the situation is actually different than what you are assuming right now.

On 5/13/2024 at 7:17 PM, Masala66 said:

System will not be restarted until I can visit and help him.

That implies the system is still running currently, try to collect diagnostics BEFORE you restart.