Hi All,

 

Not sure where this should go but I'd like to report a bug that I *think* I found in 4.3.3 (I'm using 4.4.2 now).

 

Can someone else please test the following:

 

1) start a parity check

2) during the parity check, 'stop' the array

3) see if all the other drives besides the parity drive show up as 'unformatted' and the option for 'formatting' those drives becomes available?

 

 

Thanks!

This problem has been around for quite a while, has been discussed, has even had a fix, which turned out to be only a partial fix.  Unfortunately, it appears that even unRAID may not be able to determine the true status of a drive, if the kernel is confused about a drive.  I'm sure that Tom is aware of it, but has not yet determined the best way to resolve it.

 

For a number of links to help, explanations, discussion, and even some history, please see the FAQ entry here.

My apologies. Thanks.

No apologies needed, I didn't mean to imply that.  Although there are a flurry of current reports of this happening, it usually is rather infrequent, enough that we discuss it when it happens, then forget about it for a month or 2 until it happens again.  We really should try to 'publicize' it a little better, to forewarn users about it.  It is certainly a traumatic and confusing experience for those who have had it happen, yet most of us, including me, have never seen it first-hand!

I have had this happen to me quite a few times.  For me, it mostly happens when i try to stop the array but i have something still running on one of them.  Usually I have BubbaRaid and rtorrent running on disk1 and when i try to stop the array without shutting those apps down i get the remaining disks showing as Unformatted.

I know this is said over and over in this context, but NEVER allow unRAID to format a disk that you think is already formatted.  The false "unformatted" indicator won't hurt anything in and of itself, but if you select the format option it REALLY will reformat the disk and you WILL lose data (parity will be updated to reflect the reformat and you'll have no way to rebuild the disk except to run Reiserfsck.

 

When you see the unformatted indicator, shutdown any user apps that might be running, stop the array (if its not already stopped), and reboot the server.  If it is still showing up unformatted after the reboot you have other problems.

Usually I have BubbaRaid and rtorrent running on disk1 and when i try to stop the array without shutting those apps down i get the remaining disks showing as Unformatted.

 

That's why BubbaRaid has the "stop apps" button on the dashbboard.  It stops the BubbaRaid apps, and does a fuser -mvk on the array drives, to clear out any processes that prevent clean unRAID shutdown.

 

It would be nice if the unRAID interface either had a button for "force array stop" in addition to regular "stop array" that would kill the appropriate processes.

I know the button exist in Bubba Raid for that.  The only thing i was saying in that was that I tend to forget i have apps running until i try to stop the array adn then i get the "Unformatted" bug.  Once that happens it is a simple matter to correct my stupidity and shut down the requited apps.

 

It would be nice if the unraid "stop" button was more powerful.  Or perhaps like you said, have another that forces the array to stop and forces anthing open to quit.