So, I cooked another flash drive and sent a request to Tom for new key to use Unraid Pro with the replacement Flash.

 

Can I take the config file produced with pro (6 drives + cache drive) and use that with the free version to get back up and running temporarily while waiting for a new key (assuming he's kind enough to send one out)?

 

So, I cooked another flash drive and sent a request to Tom for new key to use Unraid Pro with the replacement Flash.

 

Can I take the config file produced with pro (6 drives + cache drive) and use that with the free version to get back up and running temporarily while waiting for a new key (assuming he's kind enough to send one out)?

 

I do not think so... It will only let you assign 3 drives. No idea what it will do with the old config files... you'll have to let us know.

And one of those 3 would be a new parity drive, based on the other 2, which you probably do NOT want.  I would not use your old config at all.

 

What you can do is use the free version, and assign any 2 drives.  When you start the array, you will have access to those 2 drives only.  And I would be very careful not to write to either one, because if you do, then your actual parity drive is invalid.  You can then alternate the 2 drives with others by stopping the array, changing which drives are assigned, and restarting the array.

 

You might want to use the network.cfg and ident.cfg files, from the config folder.

What you can do is use the free version, and assign any 2 drives.  When you start the array, you will have access to those 2 drives only.  And I would be very careful not to write to either one, because if you do, then your actual parity drive is invalid.  You can then alternate the 2 drives with others by stopping the array, changing which drives are assigned, and restarting the array.

if you are using unmenu, you can mount the others disk outside the array.

 

I figured I was grasping at straws.

 

I don't want to risk any data loss, so I'll just sit tight until I hear back from Tom.

 

Install unmenu on the new flash drive along with a new current version of unRAID. Do not copy any config files at all for now. (you can after you get the new PRO key)

 

Do NOT assign any drives in the unRAID devices page.

Instead, use the "Device Management" page in unMENU to mount all the drives, in read-only mode, to get to your files.  They will be in shares named after your disk devices, you won't have user-shares, but you can get to all your data and not write to your drives at all to endanger your parity backup.

 

Joe L.

I received the new Key file from Tom.

 

I copied my back-UNRAID flash, and replaced the old Pro.key with the new one from Tom.

 

I'm now presented with this option:

"Start will record all disk information, bring the array on-line, and start Parity-Sync (if parity is present). The array is immediately available, but is unprotected until Parity-Sync completes.

 

Restore will initialize the stored array configuration; all drives will appear as New, but data disk contents are not affected."

 

Should I choose start, or restore, or something else entirely?

 

Never mind.   I just hit start and it's rebuilding the parity.

 

I had added another SATA controller (the reason I shut down UNRAID in the first place, only to find the flash drive had failed), and now my cache drive is no-longer found (listed as "no device").   I'm guessing that the new sata controller moved the logical location of the my cache disk (an old IDE drive).

 

Since I believe my cache drive still had some data on it, are there any special steps I should take when adding the cache drive back in?

 

I'm guessing that I:

 

1) Stop the array.

 

2) Go into devices and change the cache disk to the correct "new" location

 

3) Go back to main and select "restore".

 

4) Start the array.

 

(Running 4.5 beta6 BTW)

 

Don't use "Restore"

 

Just stop the array, assign the cache drive, and then "Start" the array.

 

The button labeled "Restore" is very poorly named.  It restores nothing.  It renames your current config/super.dat file to config/super.old and then creates a new one based on the currently assigned and working data drives.  When the array is subsequently started, it will completely recompute pariity, since it has no knowledge of the prior configuration of disks, or the parity it had previously computed.

 

The "Restore" button has NOTHING to do with the cache drive.

Should I choose start, or restore, or something else entirely?

 

For future reference, the correct choice would have been the Trust My Array procedure, assuming the array is exactly the same set of drives, with no intervening writes.  You would want to first check the Devices page, to verify all assignments are correct, in this case, to fix the Cache drive assignment.

 

Just a side note:  the Trust My Array procedure does use the Restore button, but only in a very special procedure, and only for systems that meet its conditions.  The Restore first wipes out the previous configuration, then a special command builds a fresh new configuration.  The Restore button normally invalidates your parity drive, requiring a full parity rebuild.  But this very special procedure 'validates' your existing parity drive, by essentially trusting your judgment that it really is a valid parity drive, with *near* perfect parity info.  For safety, it then starts a parity check to verify for itself that parity is good, and corrects any small problems it finds.

Thanks, both of you, for the clarification.

 

As soon as my parity is finished re-building, I'll simply stop/add cache drive/start.

 

As much as I'd like to think I know what I'm doing, clearly I don't.

 

Install unmenu on the new flash drive along with a new current version of unRAID. Do not copy any config files at all for now. (you can after you get the new PRO key)

 

Do NOT assign any drives in the unRAID devices page.

Instead, use the "Device Management" page in unMENU to mount all the drives, in read-only mode, to get to your files.  They will be in shares named after your disk devices, you won't have user-shares, but you can get to all your data and not write to your drives at all to endanger your parity backup.

 

Joe L.

 

I have unmenu 1.1 and using 4.5beta6, I noticed that the names of the samba config files are no longer the same as the ones that the sharing portion of the unmenu script expects and the share button does not work.  I edited the file and updated the filenames to the new ones and it is fine, but I thought you should know.  The unmenu package I downloaded is the one referenced in the first post of the unmenu thread (that directs you to another post).  If that is not the latest version, please let me know where I can find it.

 

Thanks.

Install unmenu on the new flash drive along with a new current version of unRAID. Do not copy any config files at all for now. (you can after you get the new PRO key)

 

Do NOT assign any drives in the unRAID devices page.

Instead, use the "Device Management" page in unMENU to mount all the drives, in read-only mode, to get to your files.  They will be in shares named after your disk devices, you won't have user-shares, but you can get to all your data and not write to your drives at all to endanger your parity backup.

 

Joe L.

 

I have unmenu 1.1 and using 4.5beta6, I noticed that the names of the samba config files are no longer the same as the ones that the sharing portion of the unmenu script expects and the share button does not work.  I edited the file and updated the filenames to the new ones and it is fine, but I thought you should know.  The unmenu package I downloaded is the one referenced in the first post of the unmenu thread (that directs you to another post).  If that is not the latest version, please let me know where I can find it.

 

Thanks.

These is a new plug-in for disk management here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=2595.msg30513#msg30513

 

It fixes the issues you described. (and works with both the new and old locations of the samba config files)

 

This plug-in overrides the built-in disk management page in unmenu and replaces it.  It has the advantage of also being usable in unRAID-Web in the unMENU extension.

 

I've been waiting to put a new set of files for unMENU in place, but I've not gotten around to it, and there are really very few changes...

Hope this helps.

 

Joe L.