Preclear.sh results - Questions about your results? Post them here.

[Joe L.]

one or two disks are ears but are 1tb....the jumper thing is only for the 2 tb version? 

yes.  Only that specific 2TB drive.

 

Quoting from another post:

 

Action items for the WD20EARS drive:

    If you are installing a new WD20EARS drive, and you are running version 4.6.1/5.0-beta3 (or greater), do not install the jumper.

    If you already have the jumper installed, and the drive has already been formatted by unRAID version 4.6/5.0-beta2 or earlier, you do not have to do anything.  Your drive is already operating at full speed, and I recommend you just leave it this way.

[japilch]

just upgraded parity - and had a power surge that took down the comp running the telnet session for this - in the last post check of 3 cycles on a 2TB drive - 50 hrs later------.

everything seemed ok  at time - so decided to add  - am running a parity sync as we speak .

 

have attached a smart report - before and after - nothing seems to stand out - nothing increased ..

any one see any issues?

smart.txt

[SSD]

Joe L. -

 

I precleared a 3T drive with 1.12 beta a while back.  Tonight I was confirming the disk was indeed precleared before adding it to my array.  I downloaded the latest and greatest preclear (1.12), and tested the preclear signature, and it said the disk was NOT precleared.  I then went back to version 1.12beta and it says the disk IS precleared.

 

Is this just a little bug, or was there a change in the preclear signature?  If so, what version was the change made?  Is the disk precleared?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

Here is the preclear -t output from the 1.12beta

 

Pre-Clear unRAID Disk /dev/sdn

################################################################## 1.12

Device Model:    Hitachi HDS5C3030ALA630

Serial Number:    MJ1323YNG0Zxxx

Firmware Version: MEAOA580

User Capacity:    3,000,592,982,016 bytes

 

Disk /dev/sdn: 3000.6 GB, 3000592982016 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 364801 cylinders, total 5860533168 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x00000000

 

  Device Boot      Start        End      Blocks  Id  System

/dev/sdn1              1  4294967295  2147483647+  0  Empty

Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.

########################################################################

========================================================================1.12

==

== DISK /dev/sdn IS PRECLEARED with a GPT Protective MBR

==

============================================================================

 

 

Here is the same output with version 1.12

 

Pre-Clear unRAID Disk /dev/sdn

################################################################## 1.12

Device Model:    Hitachi HDS5C3030ALA630

Serial Number:    MJ1323YNG0Zxxx

Firmware Version: MEAOA580

User Capacity:    3,000,592,982,016 bytes

 

Disk /dev/sdn: 3000.6 GB, 3000592982016 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 364801 cylinders, total 5860533168 sectors

Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x00000000

 

  Device Boot      Start        End      Blocks  Id  System

/dev/sdn1              1  4294967295  2147483647+  0  Empty

Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.

########################################################################

========================================================================1.12

==

== Disk /dev/sdn is NOT precleared

== 1 4294967295 5860533104

============================================================================

 

[Joe L.]

Probably a mistake I made in the newest version.. in the test option.

Won't be able to look at it till next week.

Sorry ...

 

[SSD]

No worries.  I was able to add the drive to my array.

 

Have a great vacation!  Seems like Irene is cooperating!

 

Probably a mistake I made in the newest version.. in the test option.

Won't be able to look at it till next week.

Sorry ...

 

[cjthiel]

noob at this and have a quick question.  I'm preclearing 2x3TB drives and a 500gb cache drive.  I used putty to open multiple telnet sessions to do this but in a lapse of judgement shutdown the laptop I telnetted in from.  Now i can't see how far along the preclears are as the putty sessions were closed.

 

I'm sure the preclear is still running but I'm wondering if there is any way to check the status either from the server itself or telnet.  Or is there a safe amount of time to wait before just assuming the preclears have been done?

[dalben]

noob at this and have a quick question.  I'm preclearing 2x3TB drives and a 500gb cache drive.  I used putty to open multiple telnet sessions to do this but in a lapse of judgement shutdown the laptop I telnetted in from.  Now i can't see how far along the preclears are as the putty sessions were closed.

 

I'm sure the preclear is still running but I'm wondering if there is any way to check the status either from the server itself or telnet.  Or is there a safe amount of time to wait before just assuming the preclears have been done?

 

UnMENU gives you the status of a preclear.

[Joe L.]

If you closed the putty sessions, and did not use "screen", the pre-clear scripts were all terminated. 

It is easy to tell you the status.  They are not running... and they did not complete.

 

Start them again...  This time, either use the system console, or "screen", or do not shut down the telnet sessions.

 

Joe L.

[cjthiel]

well that explains it.  thank you both

[MikeL]

I have finished preclear on all my drive in my new unRAID server build.

I had decided to reissue an older 1.5TB drive that had red balled in my other unRAID server. It don't look too good, I am posting a screen shot of the preclear findings. I would like the opinions from some that are much more knowledgeable then I on the subject.

Should I tank the drive, or use it til it fails all the way?

I am thinking it should be ok to use, but by no means am I an expert.

 

 Thanks for any feedback.

                             Mike

 

I got my answer! I will NOT be using the drive, as it will not show up in unRAID when connected to a controller card, and the system will not go past post when on mobo connector.

[p1lot]

When I created my array for the first time, I pre-cleared all disks and it was all fine. I then added them to my array. It turned out, one disk has failed (no temp, lots of read/write errors, it turned out I didn't put it strong enough in the hot swap bay, but that's another story).

 

As this drive was faulty, I put it out and my array config got rendered invalid, thus I recreated my unraid usb stick and assigned all the drives from scratch. The creation of the array went fine without clearing by unraid itself, even though preclear_disk.sh -t /dev/sdX on all the array disks showed clearly, that the preclear signature is gone. Then I used the Format button to format all the drives.

 

Let me know if what I did was correct or if I should have done another preclear-cycle (I already did 3-4, depending on the drive).

Hopefully my parity is valid.

[heffneil]

I just ran pre-clear on two of my drives on my secondary server. they both completed and the one stayed in that server and when I added it to unraid it said it needed to format.  The other drive I pulled and moved to my main server and when I added it it said it needed to be cleared?!  I am running 1.11 of the script on 4.7 version of unraid.  I started the clear so I am sure I screwed something up but I was wondering what could have gone wrong?

 

"Start will record the new disk information and bring the expanded array on-line. All new disks which have not been factory-erased will be cleared first; and, the array will be available after the clear completes. This process takes time, but the array remains protected at all times. Caution: any data on the new disk(s) will be erased! If you want to preserve the data on the new disk(s), reset the array configuration and rebuild parity instead."

[aiden]

So I think I've looked everywhere for a more thorough explanation, but I can't seem to find it.  What does version 1.13 fix about the GPT partitions?  The notes just say...

 

Edit: Aug 28, 2011  1.13 - Deployed correct fixed GPT version...  (1.12 was actually a 1.11 version variant... Sorry)

 

I have used 1.12 to preclear 5 3TB drives and have had no problems.  Is it safe to assume that even if 1.12 was not correct, that unRAID properly formatted the drives anyway?

[SSD]

So I think I've looked everywhere for a more thorough explanation, but I can't seem to find it.  What does version 1.13 fix about the GPT partitions?  The notes just say...

 

Edit: Aug 28, 2011  1.13 - Deployed correct fixed GPT version...  (1.12 was actually a 1.11 version variant... Sorry)

 

I have used 1.12 to preclear 5 3TB drives and have had no problems.  Is it safe to assume that even if 1.12 was not correct, that unRAID properly formatted the drives anyway?

 

Not sure - but it may have just been fixing this ...

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=4068.msg140029#msg140029

[aiden]

So I think I've looked everywhere for a more thorough explanation, but I can't seem to find it.  What does version 1.13 fix about the GPT partitions?  The notes just say...

 

Edit: Aug 28, 2011  1.13 - Deployed correct fixed GPT version...  (1.12 was actually a 1.11 version variant... Sorry)

 

I have used 1.12 to preclear 5 3TB drives and have had no problems.  Is it safe to assume that even if 1.12 was not correct, that unRAID properly formatted the drives anyway?

 

Not sure - but it may have just been fixing this ...

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=4068.msg140029#msg140029

 

Yeah I read that post, but wasn't sure if it was the same issue.  I encountered the same error with -t, but assumed it was just a glitch since I had just finished preclearing.

[Mailman74]

OK I ran my first pre clear and have no idea what the report means. Just asking if someone would look at it and let me know how the pre clear came out. Thanks

preclear_wd.txt

[Joe L.]

OK I ran my first pre clear and have no idea what the report means. Just asking if someone would look at it and let me know how the pre clear came out. Thanks

Your disk looks great.  Good luck with your server.

 

Your copy of the pre-clear script is one version old.  Current is 1.13

(You should always download and use the current version as I constantly improve it.  The 1.12 version will not clear a 3TB drive properly, the 1.11 and 1.13 version will.)

[SSD]

The 1.12 version will not clear a 3TB drive properly, the 1.11 and 1.13 version will.)

 

Did you mean 1.12beta and 1.13 will correctly preclear a 3TB drive?

[madburg]

The 1.12 version will not clear a 3TB drive properly, the 1.11 and 1.13 version will.)

 

Did you mean 1.12beta and 1.13 will correctly preclear a 3TB drive?

That seems to be the case, 1.12beta shows up as 1.11 in the emailed status reports for all the ones I did.

[Joe L.]

The 1.12 version will not clear a 3TB drive properly, the 1.11 and 1.13 version will.)

 

Did you mean 1.12beta and 1.13 will correctly preclear a 3TB drive?

yes.  The 1.12 (non-beta) however was actually the 1.11 version.  (I had accidentally uploaded the wrong file)

 

so... 1.12beta will clear a 3TB drive

1.13 also will clear a 3TB, and it fixes a different bug in knowing the default partition alignment set if you do not specify "-a" or "-A"

[ought]

I have been setting up my UNRAID server over the weekend, just a simple one with 2 2Tb drives at the moment, but, having set them preclearing on Saturday morning using screen the first pre-clear stopped after 4 hours, and the second is still going almost 48 hours later, and has only complete 20%!

 

I restarted the first preclear again and it is running even slower.

 

I am going to have to just give up I think.

[Joe L.]

I have been setting up my UNRAID server over the weekend, just a simple one with 2 2Tb drives at the moment, but, having set them preclearing on Saturday morning using screen the first pre-clear stopped after 4 hours, and the second is still going almost 48 hours later, and has only complete 20%!

 

I restarted the first preclear again and it is running even slower.

 

I am going to have to just give up I think.

As an alternative to giving up, you might want to post a system log for analysis See here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=9880.0

 

Odds are very high there is something wrong.  If you "give up" you will not have good results regardless of which NAS you load on those disks.

 

It sounds as if errors are being logged filling and using all available memory.    It could be anything from incorrectly set up memory (wrong voltage. timing, or clock speed), wrong BIOS settings, to a bad disk.

 

Joe L.

[ought]

I have an HP Proliant Microserver which came set-up, I just had to put the drives in.

 

I have been reading a little more since my posting and have noticed a couple of things. Firstly I did not use the -A command, and secondly the drives were running at between 8 and 9MB/s which must be slow.

 

Could the 2 be linked?

 

And another thing (thanks for the reply ;o)  ), I tried to set up the email alerts, the test was fine, but when I tried to do it for the preclear using:

 

./preclear_disk.sh -M 4 /dev/sdX ("root" email address)

 

It would not accept the email address I entered. What should the root address be?

 

Thanks ;

[Joe L.]

I have an HP Proliant Microserver which came set-up, I just had to put the drives in.

 

I have been reading a little more since my posting and have noticed a couple of things. Firstly I did not use the -A command, and secondly the drives were running at between 8 and 9MB/s which must be slow.

 

Could the 2 be linked?

No.  If you did not use any "-A" or "-a"' then the default alignment is used as you set in your unRAID configuration.  It has ABSOLUTELY no impact when clearing a disk as it only is involved once you create a file-system on it AFTER configuring it in your array.  It simply determines if the disk partition will start on sector 63 or sector 64.  Even that is only meaningful on one specific model/brand of drive... (That one drive works perfectly fine with either partition start sector, but works slightly faster if the partition starts on a 4k alignment (sector 64 instead of 63).)

 

And another thing (thanks for the reply ;o)   ), I tried to set up the email alerts, the test was fine, but when I tried to do it for the preclear using:

 

./preclear_disk.sh -M 4 /dev/sdX ("root" email address)

 

It would not accept the email address I entered. What should the root address be?

 

Thanks ;

If you have not installed and configured mail, this option is un-usable.  If you did, then "root" IS the e-mail address for "root" (usable IF you configured it to be forwarded to you), otherwise, use YOUR e-mail so they get sent to you.

 

Also the "-m e-mail" should follow the -M option if you want it sent to an alternate mail address.

./preclear_disk.sh -M 4 /dev/sdX

will mail to "root" by default since you did not specify any alternative.

./preclear_disk.sh -M 4 -m "[email protected]" /dev/sdX

will send to [email protected]

 

[ought]

Thanks again for the reply. I did manage to set up the whole email system and run a successful test, so that should be cool now I understand the commands ;o)

 

And I guess I just (just?) need to find out why the drives are running so slowly. Could it be anything to do with having them set as ahci?