Just like it sounds, didn't see anything on search - I've run out of slots, and am planning to ask a friend at a repair store whether they have any old boxes lying around they'd be willing to let go of for a song.

 

Does anyone have any recommendations on bare minimums to keep in mind if the ONLY thing I want to do is slap in a drive and run Preclear?

There are really only two things to be sue of ...

 

(1) That it will boot from a USB flash drive.  [Prepare one, boot your own system with it to confirm it's set up right; and then take the USB flash drive with you and confirm whatever you're looking at boots]

 

and

 

(2)  Be sure it has a SATA interface => older systems may only have IDE interfaces, and it's very unlikely you'll need to pre-clear an IDE drive 

Make sure that it has SATA port that supports >2TB drive sizes.

 

I've used a laptop with an eSATA interface and one of those drive docks.

I've also used my unRAID server and an eSATA dock.

Wouldn't it even be possible to preclear via a drive dock connected over USB?

Wouldn't it even be possible to preclear via a drive dock connected over USB?

 

 

It would be really slow for the large drives, yet I've done it in the past.

Yep. USB 2.0 would be really slow.  USB 3.0 would work fine though I think.  From what I've read 3.0 is roughly on par to a SATA connection...

unRAID doesn't support USB 3.0.

unRAID doesn't support USB 3.0.

 

 

Anyone know the requirements to support USB 3.0?

Seems like a good feature to lobby for.

I recently pre-cleared a drive over USB. Didn't really bother me with the time it takes. The only issue was that it cannot obtain the SMART reports over USB. So you should get a SMART report to verify everything is OK if clearing over USB.

I recently tried to preclear a Hitachi 4TB USB 3.0 drive (connected to a USB 2.0 port) and it took so long, I gave up and ripped it open. It helped that I could read the serial number and check the warranty of the bare drive online. At that point I figured there was no point keeping it in the case. I think it would have taken about 7 to 10 days to preclear vs. about 2 days via SATA.

I recently tried to preclear a Hitachi 4TB USB 3.0 drive (connected to a USB 2.0 port) and it took so long, I gave up and ripped it open. It helped that I could read the serial number and check the warranty of the bare drive online. At that point I figured there was no point keeping it in the case. I think it would have taken about 7 to 10 days to preclear vs. about 2 days via SATA.

 

USB 2.0 is too slow, Approx 30MB/s tops, USB 3.0 is on par with eSATA, possibly even faster (from what I've read).

I recently tried to preclear a Hitachi 4TB USB 3.0 drive (connected to a USB 2.0 port) and it took so long, I gave up and ripped it open. It helped that I could read the serial number and check the warranty of the bare drive online. At that point I figured there was no point keeping it in the case. I think it would have taken about 7 to 10 days to preclear vs. about 2 days via SATA.

 

USB 2.0 is too slow, Approx 30MB/s tops, USB 3.0 is on par with eSATA, possibly even faster (from what I've read).

I tried to preclear a USB 3.0 disk via a RDM'd drive in an unRAID virtual box setup on Windows 7 host - so lots of overhead.  And got 60+MB/s so USB 3.0 native would definately be close to eSATA.

Does anyone know of an expresscard 34 that works with unRAID/Linux ?

perhaps that with a cheap laptop and external dock would work out really nice.

 

I suppose a PCMCIA card in an older model would suffice too.

 

I like to use these for working on drives temporarily.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817707169

StarTech SAT3510BU2E Aluminum 3.5" Black eSATA USB Trayless SATA External Hard Drive Enclosure

 

I recently tried to preclear a Hitachi 4TB USB 3.0 drive (connected to a USB 2.0 port) and it took so long, I gave up and ripped it open. It helped that I could read the serial number and check the warranty of the bare drive online. At that point I figured there was no point keeping it in the case. I think it would have taken about 7 to 10 days to preclear vs. about 2 days via SATA.

 

USB 2.0 is too slow, Approx 30MB/s tops, USB 3.0 is on par with eSATA, possibly even faster (from what I've read).

 

I know. That's my point about USB 3.0 not being supported.