So I just replaced my parity disk. The old one is fairly new (8 mos.) and I would like to use it as a new data disk. Since it was precleared originally and has been in use, without issue, does it need to be fully precleared again? Is there a quick way to get it added to the array? I guess I'm just not totally comfortable with which parts of the preclear script I can skip. And I don't want to put undue stress on the drive if I don't need to.

 

It seems like invoking preclear with the -W switch would get the job done, correct?

I would use the -n switch

 

i.e. preclear_disk.sh  -n  ==> this skips both the pre-read and the post-read, but clears (zeroes) the drive and adds the pre-clear signature.

 

Is there any danger of the zeros not being written correctly, I see this mentioned occasionally but not sure if it's anything to really worry about. Maybe using bjp's  modified pre-clear script with the fast post read would be a good compromise.

Anytime you don't do a full verification of writes there's SOME chance of that.  But it's very small.    Certainly doesn't hurt to do the post-read -- all it takes is time [and not "your" time at that ... just the computer's  ].

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I think I'm going to try the bjp script option to speed up the post zero read. It really helped cut down the excessive time to preclear the 6TB drives I got recently.