So I found my Unraid giving me a warning that the USB is corrupted. (At the time of this writing I haven't seen the warning in a while, I don't know if this means anything but I doubt anything fixed itself because I still have other problems. When I click on the USB on the main page I see a long list of this these errors...

Jun 8 09:17:18 Tower kernel: I/O error, dev sdh, sector 36896 op 0x1:(WRITE) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 2

Jun 8 09:17:18 Tower kernel: Buffer I/O error on dev sdh1, logical block 34848, lost async page write

Jun 9 20:43:18 Tower kernel: FAT-fs (sdh1): error, fat_get_cluster: invalid start cluster (i_pos 0, start 6955717b)

Jun 9 20:47:48 Tower kernel: FAT-fs (sdh1): error, fat_get_cluster: invalid start cluster (i_pos 513378305, start 16ce9dfe)

I've attached my diagnostics to this post.

As per my research I've backed up my USB, apparently it's still readable.

Here is my course of action right now based on the research I've gathered.

1. Check the current corrupted USB for with windows CheckDisk and see if it can be repaired, if yes, boot up Unraid and go from there. If no, go to step 2.

2. Make another install USB of unraid and do a custom install from my backed up USB config file. ( I was lucky that the corrupted USB is still readable)

3. I need to figure out how to transfer my license to the new USB.

4. Boot/install? From new USB. Question: Do I even need to do this if I have a cache drive I can run Unraid on? My research tells me I can use my cache drive as the boot drive as well, so do I even need to do anything with a new USB?

These are the lots of other issues that I have but I'm guessing that most of them are caused by my boot USB being corrupted. I know the UDMA crc errors are due to power connectors so I'm reseating them after I post this. They've also only gone up once and they haven't got any higher.

Custom Name "Warlock" Disappeared and now it's named "Tower"

API is offline and can't get it working again

8 Plugin File Install Errors

gpustat.plg

dynamix.file.manager.plg

fix.common.problems.plg

folder.view3.plg

nvidia-driver.plg

tailscale.plg

unbalanced.plg

dynamix.unraid.net.plg

Parity 1: 2 UDMA CRC errors

Parity 2: 1 UDMA CRC errors

Disk 2: 411 UDMA CRC errors

Disk 4: 1 UDMA CRC errors

Disk 5: 3 UDMA CRC errors

tower-diagnostics-20260609-2348.zip

9 hours ago, Herdie27 said:

Make another install USB of unraid and do a custom install from my backed up USB config file.

Recommend creating a stock install with the tool and then restoring only the config folder from the backup

11 hours ago, Herdie27 said:

1. Boot/install? From new USB. Question: Do I even need to do this if I have a cache drive I can run Unraid on? My research tells me I can use my cache drive as the boot drive as well, so do I even need to do anything with a new USB?

I wouldn't recommend moving to internal boot, not yet.

Wait at least a year or two and then decide.

By switching now you'd be trading proven simplicity for unnecessary complexity with multiple drawbacks and unknown long term potential problems yet to be discovered.

One thing worth being selective about before you proceed -- the replacement USB drive you choose matters enormously for long-term reliability.

Most consumer USB drives available today use QLC or low-grade TLC NAND that will eventually (sometimes months) produce the same corruption issues you're dealing with now.

If you don't already have a quality drive on hand, before purchasing anything check eBay for the Innodisk DEUA1-64GI61BW1SC --

ebay item number 326046070546

It's an industrial-grade drive using MLC NAND designed specifically for always-on embedded applications -- exactly the Unraid boot use case.

Currently around $4 each.

Worth getting a couple or more while they're available at that price.

Plug it into an internal USB 2.0 motherboard header via a cheap 9-pin adapter if possible, or a rear USB 2.0 port.

The Boot Devices guide in the Boot Devices section of the forum explains what to look for and why drive selection matters for this specific use case.