January 30, 201412 yr I just replaced my parity disk with a larger one, and now I'd like to preclear my old parity drive and use it in my array. The new disk is assigned as the parity, and the server has sync'ed properly so I have a valid parity disk. I've reinstalled the old parity disk and it shows as unassigned in the GUI. However, when I run preclear_disk.sh -l, it returns "No un-assigned disks detected." I found one other thread with a similar situation, and the recommendation was to run the "New Config" utility. I'm hesitant to do that since I don't completely understand what that does. Is that the correct thing to do here? If I run that utility, will I have to rebuild my parity disk again? I'm not keen on my array being unprotected any longer than necessary if there's another way around it. Thanks in advance!
January 30, 201412 yr Sounds like a problem in preclear_disk.sh script if a dusk is shown as unassigned in the unRAID GUI, but not recognised as such btpre_clear. I assume that the array is started, and you can see the drives in the GUI? There have been reports that the pre_clear script can give strange results if the array is not started or the GUI run since the last boot
January 30, 201412 yr Author You are correct. The disk appears in the GUI as unassigned, but is not recognized by preclear_disk. The array is started, and I can see all the drives (both assigned and unassigned) in my array. I tried rebooting my server and running preclear_disk.sh -l before I opened the GUI, but I got the same results. So I've tried running preclear both before starting the GUI and after starting the GUI after a fresh reboot. Same results either way. Thanks for the feedback! Any other suggestions? Edit: Should I consider just adding the drive to the array? It was precleared at least three times before I added it to my array. I've never had a parity error or any other sign that the drive is going bad, so I'm not sure what a preclear would buy me. Thoughts?
January 31, 201412 yr It was precleared at least three times before I added it to my array. I've never had a parity error or any other sign that the drive is going bad, so I'm not sure what a preclear would buy me. Thoughts? It will buy you about 8 to 12 hours of downtime while unRaid clears the drive with the server off-line.
January 31, 201412 yr Author It was precleared at least three times before I added it to my array. I've never had a parity error or any other sign that the drive is going bad, so I'm not sure what a preclear would buy me. Thoughts? It will buy you about 8 to 12 hours of downtime while unRaid clears the drive with the server off-line. Don't get me wrong. I would prefer to preclear the drive, but I can't get the script to recognize the drive is in the array. Any suggestions on what I should do to make preclear recognize the drive?
January 31, 201412 yr Are you by any chance online but in maintenance mode and therefore the drives would be visible but not mounted?
January 31, 201412 yr Author I'm not sure what maintenance mode is, so it's definitely possible. It looks like all the drives are in the array and active. They all appear with the green ball to the left, and it lists 8 drives including parity on the main page. The old parity drive is the only one showing in the unassigned tab. I'm not where I can post a screenshot or I'd do that.
January 31, 201412 yr Author I have a pro key, and when I stop my array, all the remaining potential slots appear. So that seems to be working as well. So far everything appears to be pointing to an issue with preclear. That was a good suggestion, though. I should probably update my signature.
January 31, 201412 yr Author Should I consider running the New Config utility as suggested in the other thread? How will that affect my array?
January 31, 201412 yr Should I consider running the New Config utility as suggested in the other thread? How will that affect my array? You don't link to that other thread so I don't know what you mean. New Config will calculate parity based on the currently assigned disks.
January 31, 201412 yr Author Should I consider running the New Config utility as suggested in the other thread? How will that affect my array? You don't link to that other thread so I don't know what you mean. New Config will calculate parity based on the currently assigned disks. Sorry, I can't find the original thread I was referring to, but here is a similar one http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=22378.0 It sounds like I'd rather not do a New Config, then. I went ahead and started a preclear on the drive that the GUI indicated is unassigned. The S/N, model, etc. all match my old drive, and that info showed up correctly when I initiated the preclear. All the indicators show that I'm preclearing the correct drive. Hopefully there's no funny business going on.
January 31, 201412 yr What version of the preclear script are you running? preclear_disk.sh -v will tell you
February 1, 201412 yr Author What version of the preclear script are you running? preclear_disk.sh -v will tell you Version 1.14 I never got preclear to recognize the drive as unassigned, but I did run a preclear on it anyway, and it appears to have worked.
February 2, 201412 yr What version of the preclear script are you running? preclear_disk.sh -v will tell you Version 1.14 I never got preclear to recognize the drive as unassigned, but I did run a preclear on it anyway, and it appears to have worked. either the disk.cfg file, or the disk.ini or perhaps even the super.dat file still referenced the old serial number. The script is looking for no references at all. The logic is there to keep you from shooting yourself in the foot.
February 2, 201412 yr Author either the disk.cfg file, or the disk.ini or perhaps even the super.dat file still referenced the old serial number. The script is looking for no references at all. The logic is there to keep you from shooting yourself in the foot. Fair enough. I would rather preclear force me to make ABSOLUTELY sure I am zeroing the correct disk than me inadvertently zero my parity or one of my data drives. The drive formatted and added to the array properly. I haven't moved any data to it yet, but everything looks good.
January 9, 201511 yr How did you force preclear to run? I have a similar issue (drive was part of array, then wasn't, now I want to preclear it and add it back) as it doesn't show up with the -l switch, but when I try to run the command with the drive it says it is already assigned as part of the array (even though it's presently unassigned). Nate
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