Hello all,

 

I have been running Unraid for a few years now and I recently started having a problem with the server booting up.  I mainly use the server as a NAS for my HTPC.  When not in use I usually power down the server and reboot it when we watch movies on the weekend or at times during the week.  I have noticed that in the last few weeks I have had to turn off and restart the server before it would come up in the network drives.  I hooked up a monitor and keyboard to see what was happening and I have no idea what may be wrong.  It seems to go thru the boot up process and I do get to the login screen, but i don't know why the drives are showing up.  I can type root and i login.  What info do you need from me to help me out?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Oscar

When you watch the attached monitor, do you get to Tower Login ?

 

If so, can you see your disks & shares from a PC if you run Windows Explorer [NOT Internet Explorer] and type

 

\\tower

 

in the address bar?

 

If that works, try this:

 

(a)  After you've used \\tower to view your files; go to Internet Explorer and go to //tower and see if the Web GUI now displays.

(b)  If not, reboot your PC (NOT the UnRAID server) and see if the Web GUI displays then.

 

... it should be obvious, but just in case  ==>  If you used a name other than Tower for your server, obviously substitute that name everywhere I used "Tower" above 

Thanks for the reply.  I am only able to see flash from ie. No disks are showing up.  My server has 6 disks  plus parity disk.  Is it possible that the flash is corrupt?  I can login with root. And I can see the files in the flash dir.  But no disks show up.  Should I disconnect and reconnect all the drives?

Thanks in advance,

 

Oscar

It sounds like you've lost your configuration -- you could indeed have a failed flash drive.

 

First, what happens if you go to //tower in Internet Explorer ... do you see the Web GUI display, but it only shows the flash drive?

 

If that's the case, what does it show on the Devices page?

 

 

 

 

Tower does not show up in Firefox.  Tower shows up in network places only.  Should I format the flash drive?  Will I loose any data?

Just to confirm:

 

I think you're saying that:

 

(a)  From Internet Explorer, if you go to //Tower you see the Web GUI, but it doesn't show any assigned disks;

 

and

 

(b) From Windows Explorer, if you go to \\Tower, you see the Flash drive on the network, but NONE of the disks.

 

Are those both correct?

 

Yes that is correct.  After the server boots up I get the Tower login: prompt.  Above that I see starting samba: /usr/sbin/nmbd -D

/usrsbin/smbd -D

 

Welcome to linux 2.6.32.9-unraid (ttyl)

 

Tower login:

I can type root and it logs in

 

 

I'm not talking about what you see on the UnRAID machine.  I'm asking what you see on a client PC (i.e. a Windows PC) when you try to open the Web GUI or look at the server via your network.

 

i.e. if you use Windows Explorer and go to \\Tower

          or use Internet Explorer and go to //Tower

 

Tower does not show up in Firefox.  Tower shows up in network places only.  Should I format the flash drive?  Will I loose any data?

You should NEVER reformat the flash drive.  You are thinking with a Microsoft mindset.  unRAID re-loads itself every time you reboot.  There is almost never a need to re-format.  (I've had a unRAID server for about 8 years, have gone through (seemingly) hundreds of releases, and have never had to reformat the flash drive.)

 

There are two different issues, one with networking and domain name resolution., the other with windows shared drives.

 

The first is resolved by your router and/or hosts file.  The second by the election of a "master browser" on your LAN by all the PCs and devices connected to it.  It can usually be resolved by setting the "Local Master" = "yes" under the "Settings->SMB" settings.

 

Joe L.

With windows explorer I type tower like I have done in the past but I don't get the control screen.  IP address  doesn't bring u. I only see the flash drive in my computer. Under networks is where I see tower.  What do I need to do to resolve the router and or host file?

 

With windows explorer I type tower like I have done in the past but I don't get the control screen.  IP address  doesn't bring u. I only see the flash drive in my computer. Under networks is where I see tower.  What do I need to do to resolve the router and or host file?

 

You won't see the Web GUI with Windows Explorer ==> do you mean Internet Explorer?

 

... In Windows Explorer, if you type \\Tower you should see the shares on your server [the shares, the individual disks, and the flash]  Post a screen shot of the Windows Explorer display when you type \\Tower

 

Yes I meant internet explorer, not windows explorer.  I can go into he flash drive and navigate to the files on it.  I attached a screen shot.  Thank you for your efforts.

 

Oscar

Here is a better screen shot

 

You're not seeing any of the disks, so it definitely looks like the configuration has been lost ... OR you have somehow disabled the disk shares (and all others).

 

Do you by any chance have UnMenu installed?  And if so, can you get to it?  [in Internet Explorer type http://Tower:8080/ ]

 

 

Yes unmenu is installed.  One note, the last few times I started the server I had disk 2 that had a blue dot.  I opened up the case and reseated the serial cables and restarted and all was good.  Then the following time is when only the shares stopped showing up.

 

Thanks again,

 

Oscar

Can you get to the UnMenu screen in Internet Explorer?

 

... What I'm looking for here is whether or not UnMenu shows the disks?

 

I sounds like you've lost your configuration files and the array doesn't have any disks assigned.    But you want to be SURE of that before we start with a new configuration.

 

Can you get to the UnMenu screen in Internet Explorer?

 

... What I'm looking for here is whether or not UnMenu shows the disks?

 

I sounds like you've lost your configuration files and the array doesn't have any disks assigned.    But you want to be SURE of that before we start with a new configuration.

Or, you booted up with the two disks not-responding, so unRAID has forgotten their respective model/serial numbers, and then re-seated the power connection, and now unRAID sees them (as new drives to it) and wants to treat them as new disks.

 

Be very careful, as unRAID could want to clear them if you start it at this point.  You might, as mentioned earlier in this thread, set a new disk configuration now that they are seen once more and re-calculate parity based on them being present.

 

Joe L.

ok, That doesn't sound good. I did not have a chance to try unMenu yet.  I will do it as soon as I get home from work.

 

Question:  Can I rebuild the array if I disconnect all the disks and add one by one?  Will it recognize the file shares?

 

I have been thinking of updating the case from a tower to a Server style.  I am sure it is advisable to get the array working before I do that, but It would allow me to have better disk management.

 

Thanks again,

 

Oscar

ok, That doesn't sound good. I did not have a chance to try unMenu yet.  I will do it as soon as I get home from work.

 

Question:  Can I rebuild the array if I disconnect all the disks and add one by one?  Will it recognize the file shares?

 

I have been thinking of updating the case from a tower to a Server style.  I am sure it is advisable to get the array working before I do that, but It would allow me to have better disk management.

 

Thanks again,

 

Oscar

If the on-screen prompts talk about clearing newly added drives DO NOT START THE ARRAY.

You must set a new disk configuration instead.  (Utils->New-Configuration) That will immediately invalidate parity, but will accept all the currently assigned, formatted and present drives as they are.

 

I think if you are running the most recent 5.0rc12a you can even check a box that indicates parity is to be trusted, and the invalidation I mentioned above would not occur.

 

Joe L.

I think if you are running the most recent 5.0rc12a you can even check a box that indicates parity is to be trusted, and the invalidation I mentioned above would not occur.

 

I believe Joe is correct r.e. the "trust parity" checkbox => HOWEVER, if you do that be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you have not made ANY writes to the array between the time you had this problem and when you start a new configuration.

 

 

Can I rebuild the array if I disconnect all the disks and add one by one?  Will it recognize the file shares?

 

Yes, it should recognize all of the data disks and will automatically recognize top-level folders as shares.  HOWEVER ... as Joe L already warned you ... if you take this approach, do NOT click on ANYTHING if there are warnings about formatting or clearing a drive.    If your problem is simply that the flash drive has somehow been corrupted or lost its config, then doing a new config will easily resolve the issue;  but if something else has gone wrong, you need to be VERY CAUTIOUS or you can lose data.

 

.... first thing I'd try, however, as I noted earlier, is whether or not you can get to the UnMenu screen. 

Ok, Sorry for the late reply,  I got home  checked all the connections on the server and fired up the unraid server and my computer.  I opened up windows explorer and now the tower does not show up in the network.  See Pic 1.  So I tried to see if I could see the files that I had mapped.  The files were there in my M:Movie drive and I can navigate to them.  Pic 2.  i am glad that I am able to view files again, but i am not able to see the console.  i was able to get unmenu to come up  Pic 3 it shows that disk 2 is disabled.  I am not sure why.  Anyway, what is my next move?  Why is Tower not showing up in the network?  Feel better ha I am able to see files.  Thanks

 

Oscar

pic 2

pic 3