JustinChase Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 aha!! Progress. I have it mounted to somedisk, and can see files on the disk now. I have cleared everything off of disk4, to have room to move everything off of disk9. I was hoping to format disk4 to XFS before putting anything on it, but I'm not sure how to do that outside of the GUI, and I'm not sure it's a great idea, considering the 'delicate' situation I'm in currently. If you think it's 'easy' to re-format disk4 to XFS before putting files on it, I'd like to do it, otherwise, I'll just move everything to disk4 from "somedisk", then start worrying about duplicates. thoughts? Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 The only thing would be how to copy to disk4. with the array stopped you could only mount disk4's partition directly bypassing parity, so you would then need to do a new config anyway. If you planned to do that anyway, I would just do a new config first re-assign all the disks to the same slots and start it with the valid parity checked. If the disk9 comes in as valid, it will start reconciling parity based off all the data on the drives. If it is still unformatted that you can just stop the parity check / array and then copy the data directly and then start a new config. If disk9 does come online as valid, then you would save the time of copying the data and the array would be up and available during the parity check... Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 I have the array running, and can see the somedisk in Midnight Commander, so i was just thinking of using it to move the files to disk4 bad idea? Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 It probably wouldn't hurt since unraid is emulating it anyway. I just wouldn't do any updates to it, just copies.. Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 If you do copy that data off, and then start a new config you could then specify disk9 as XFS and then format it when it starts.. Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 okay, so only COPY the data, not MOVE, right? No (good) way to format disk4 as XFS before starting is there? If I could, it would save me from having to move the data off of it again just to format it. but at this point safety of data is more important than saving time in the future; but if it's easy/possible, now is a better time Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Probably better to wait... Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 Okay, I'll start copying the data now. it's about 1.5TB (I think), so it's gonna take awhile. Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 I probably still won't do it now, but out of curiosity, would this command work... mkfs.xfs /dev/sdc1 (sdc is the designation for my disk4) Or would I have to do it within the GUI to get unRAID to know about the new format type? Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 I would guess in theory since that disk was created with unRaid, and all the signatures on the disk are correct. But you would probably need someone from LT to verify that. Probably safest to do through the UI and take the extra time to double copy.. Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 good plan, that's what I'll do now. thanks again for all your valuable help!! Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 Okay, I finally got all the files copied over, and have eliminated some of the duplicates. What is the 'best' way to wipe/kill the unformatted disk9 from the array, then wipe/format the actual hard drive, and add it back to the array as a blank drive, ready for me to move files back to it? I assume I need to stop the array, select disk9, change the format type to XFS, then restart the array, then hit the format button. But, I REALLY don't want to cause myself more problems, so I figure I should double-check my thought process before continuing. thanks. Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 The only options you have to get that disk put back is either replace the disk ( either the same disk or a new disk) and let it rebuild or start with a new config. If you start with a new config, you can specify the disk9 as another filesystem type and format it once the array starts. Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 The only options you have to get that disk put back is either replace the disk ( either the same disk or a new disk) and let it rebuild or start with a new config. If you start with a new config, you can specify the disk9 as another filesystem type and format it once the array starts. I'm not sure I understand. I think, based on how I understand what you've said, that I want to replace the disk with the same disk. I don't know how to actually do that. I thought I could do that by doing what I described above, but it seems not. Effectively, as it sits now, I don't have a disk9 in my array. It shows unformatted, but all the data that used to be on that disk has been copied to my other disks. I want to make the array 'forget' that there is a disk9. Once that's done, and unRAID has no knowledge of disk9, I then want to tell it to add a disk, as an XFS formatted drive, and have the disk show up as blank/empty. Is that possible? If not, how do I get there? If I have to start with a new config, how do I do that? I don't want to have to set up all my users and shares again, so I'm hoping I don't have to start with a blank unRAID to get to where I want to be. Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 The new config is not really as bad as it sounds, it doesn't effect the shares or users just your data. The main thing is to know what disk was in what slot so you don't clobber a data drive. I usually take a screen shot of the main tab so I know what disk serial number was in which slot. 1. Stop the array. 2. Under tools, just click on new config, check the are you sure box and click apply. 3. Add all the disks back to the configuration with the same serial number in the same slot. They should all show auto on the filesystem type, or at least mine did 4. Click on disk9, and switch the filesystem type to XFS 5. Start the array It should bring the array up and start a parity build but the array should be available immediately with all your data, and disk9 should show as unformatted. Just click the format button, and it should finish creating the new FS on that disk in about 5 minutes or so. Then in about 12 hours you should be protected.. Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 Awesome, thanks again for the detailed help. It's back and parity is being checked right now. 12 hours was optimistic; GUI says 36, but I think it normally takes about 20. fingers crossed I don't have any more issues anytime soon. Once parity is restored, I'll try to finish duplicate resolution. Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Cool, glad to hear.... Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 so, parity is about 65% finished. Before I started it, there was a checkbox for "Parity is good" or something similar. I figured that since mine was good, ticking that box was a good idea, so I did, then started the parity check. Now, in looking at the stats, there are 397176 Sync errors corrected This seems bad, but I don't really know what I'd do about it. I assume this is because it still had info about disk9, even though it was unformatted, but still it's disconcerting to see so many "errors". i guess there's not much I can do about it at this point, other than let it finish. Quote Link to comment
itimpi Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 You should only ever check that box if you have made NO change to the disk assignments. If any disk has been added/removed or altered then the parity will not be good. You have a couple of options as I see it. Start again from the new config option and this time do not tick the box to say parity is good. If you go down this route, then an initial parity will be calculated. When that finished you will want to run a parity check to make sure that the parity that was written can be read back correctly. That should complete with no errors If you have started a correcting parity check then you could just let it run to completion ignoring errors (of which there will be a lot). Afterwards you should run a non-correcting parity check and this time no errors should be flagged. Quote Link to comment
jphipps Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Yeah, I agree with itimpi. I only use that if I know the parity is pretty close and I know there wont be many updates. You should be fine, a new config usually kicks off a correcting parity check and it should true up all the incorrect blocks. As itimpi said, I would kick off another check right after and you should get 0 corrections or there is something else going on... Quote Link to comment
JustinChase Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 Thank you both. It's about 80% done now, and says it will only take 2 more hours, so I'll just let it go, then re-run another one tonight, to confirm there are no more errors. I figured that since it had 'ignored' disk9, and everything else was done inside unRAID, that parity would be 'right' or pretty close to right. Live and learn Quote Link to comment
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