Hi,

 

I want to add a new SATA controller so I can add more drives to my array.

 

ASUS P5E-VM HDMI

Ram 2 x 2GB PC2-6400

Intel Quadcore Q6600 2400Mhz ??

2 x IB-555SK 3.5 SATA/SAS 5 BAY

10 x 2TB HIT SATA OF10311 32m 7200

HDD Controllers 6 onboard SataII

2 x PCIEx1 2 channel controllers

 

The new SATA controller is a 4 port PCIEx4 which I have added to the spare PCIEx16 slot.

 

Adding the new card obviously messes with the order of my HDD in the array. The drive letters (sda, sdb etc.) seem to have been reallocated to difference physical drives, although the drives themselves do seem to be mostly in the correct order on the array.

 

Attached are 2 screenies of the array. The first shows the working array (one drive is unassigned whilst pre-clearing). array_01.gif

 

The second image shows how the array is organised after I add the new SATA controller. array_02.gif

 

Should I try to put things back in the correct order and does it matter if the drive numbers letter are all different (sda, sdb etc.)?

 

Just need some advice before I bork my array!

 

Thanks,

 

Adam

 

 

 

Hi Adam,

as far as I read somewhere here in the forums, since unRAID v5rc??? it doesn't matter what "drive letters" (is that the correct linux definition?) is assigned.

It is important that the drives itself (check by serial number) are on the right slots.

 

Try to switch one and you will get a warning that drives are on the wrong position.

You don't need to start the array, just move a drive into another slot and you see a warning.

 

It think the "drive letters" are distributed by the "first come, fist serve" principle in terms of controller readiness. The new controller you added is now probably the early bird.

 

If you're not sure, wait for more answers!

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

Thanks, I found another question on the subject and suspect you are correct.

 

I'll give it a go

 

Cheers,

 

Adam

if I am reading your post right you had your initial  HDDs plugged into on-board SATA ports first

before adding PCIe card...

 

you can also check your BIOS boot options

some BIOS will priorities PCIe slots on boot over on-board (or so I heard) 

and some BIOS will let you switch the priorities.

not that is is matter for unraid much as V5.0 identifies the HDD via serial numbers not assigned letters. I don't even think it cares if drives are plugged in into the same slots anymore.

you can theoretically shuffle the drives any way you like and it still would build the array properly.

I haven't tried this yet though so do not quote me on this one  :-)