Can I add a "Device is disabled, contents emulated" disk back in to the array?

[Homerr]

I'm new to using unRAID.  I've been building my array the last week or so and just got all my data on the array (Parity+11 drives+cache).  I haven't run a full parity check yet, and there is still data on the Cache disk to move in to the array with Mover.

 

I noticed on of my drive bays was what looked like at an odd angle (in a Norco 20 bay case) so I pressed on it and unRAID immediately popped a red X on Disk 8 with "Device is disabled, contents emulated" when I hover over the X.  I tried powering down, reseated the drive/cage, powered back up, started the array, and still it shows a red X.  Disk 8 is nearly maxed with data.

 

What should I do? 

[Squid]

I'm new to using unRAID.  I've been building my array the last week or so and just got all my data on the array (Parity+11 drives+cache).  I haven't run a full parity check yet, and there is still data on the Cache disk to move in to the array with Mover.

 

I noticed on of my drive bays was what looked like at an odd angle (in a Norco 20 bay case) so I pressed on it and unRAID immediately popped a red X on Disk 8 with "Device is disabled, contents emulated" when I hover over the X.  I tried powering down, reseated the drive/cage, powered back up, started the array, and still it shows a red X.  Disk 8 is nearly maxed with data.

 

What should I do?

Ideally you should post your diagnostics, which will include the SMART report for that disabled disk, for people here to analyse if the drive should be replaced (it was disabled in the first place because a write operation to the drive failed)

 

But, if you truly believe the disk is A-OK and it was a cabling issue, then to rebuild the emulated disk back onto the physical disk (no way around this because a write did fail, which means that the contents of that disk are not up to date) here's how you do it.

 

Stop the array

Set the disk to be not installed

Start the array

Stop the array

Set the disk to be the appropriate disk

Start the array

 

unRaid will now commence the rebuild operation.

[garycase]

You indicated you haven't run a parity check => but you DID do a parity sync, correct?    i.e. you DO have an assigned parity drive.

 

Assuming that's the case, you have a couple of options ...

 

(1)  You can replace the failed drive with a new drive and let the system do a rebuild onto the new drive.    This will work as long as parity is definitely good -- it SHOULD be, but without having checked it after your initial sync you simply haven't confirmed that.    Note that you will still have the old ("failed") drive available to try and read if the new disk doesn't rebuild correctly.   

 

(2)  You can ASSUME the "failed" disk is really good and that you just unseated it.    If you think this is the case, I'd attach it to another PC and confirm you can read the data okay => you could boot to a DVD/CD-based Linux distro so you can read the file system okay, and just browse it a bit to get a good feel for it.    I'd also run a disk test on it (non-destructive so no data is changed) using a manufacturer's test (e.g. WD's Data Lifeguard).        If you're confident it's good, you could simply do a "New Config" on your sytem including this disk and either let the parity disk rebuild OR check the "parity is already valid" box ... which would NOT do a new parity sync.    The latter SHOULD be okay IF (an important IF) you have done NOTHING else on the system since this happened.

 

#1 is the safest approach.

 

[garycase]

Squid suggested what I'd call approach #3 => same as #1 except that you're rebuilding onto the original "failed" disk.

 

This works too; but has the disadvantage that if anything goes awry in the rebuild you don't have the original disk to recover your data from.

 

I'd suggest using #1 => if the original disk is indeed fine, then you'll have a spare disk (always a good idea, so you can immediately replace a failed disk in the future).

 

... either way, when you're done, be sure to do a parity check 

[Homerr]

Thanks Squid and Gary for the tips.  Yes, I do have a parity disk.  Just haven't run a parity-check since all data moved on (I ran one about a week ago with only 3-4 disks in the system then).

 

I'll get another disk tomorrow and try Gary's #1.

 

I'd still like to verify data per #2.  I already hooked it up to my Win10 PC, I could see it in under Disk Management.  I didn't do anything, couldn't see it in Explorer (wasn't sure if I would).  It's been 7-8 years since I've booted up a Linux distro off a DVD, any one in particular I should seek out?

[Squid]

You indicated you haven't run a parity check => but you DID do a parity sync, correct?    i.e. you DO have an assigned parity drive.

 

Assuming that's the case, you have a couple of options ...

 

(1)  You can replace the failed drive with a new drive and let the system do a rebuild onto the new drive.    This will work as long as parity is definitely good -- it SHOULD be, but without having checked it after your initial sync you simply haven't confirmed that.    Note that you will still have the old ("failed") drive available to try and read if the new disk doesn't rebuild correctly.   

 

(2)  You can ASSUME the "failed" disk is really good and that you just unseated it.    If you think this is the case, I'd attach it to another PC and confirm you can read the data okay => you could boot to a DVD/CD-based Linux distro so you can read the file system okay, and just browse it a bit to get a good feel for it.    I'd also run a disk test on it (non-destructive so no data is changed) using a manufacturer's test (e.g. WD's Data Lifeguard).        If you're confident it's good, you could simply do a "New Config" on your sytem including this disk and either let the parity disk rebuild OR check the "parity is already valid" box ... which would NOT do a new parity sync.    The latter SHOULD be okay IF (an important IF) you have done NOTHING else on the system since this happened.

 

#1 is the safest approach.

You can't do #2.  Because a write to the drive failed, the data contained upon the disk is invalid, and at the very least, something is corrupted, so merely doing a new config is going incorporate that corruption into the array.  The disk was disabled...

 

Feel free to run the tests on another computer all you want, but once you're satisfied that the disk is OK, rebuild onto itself.  Don't do a new config.

 

[garycase]

It's not at all clear that the disk has any issues => when it was moved and UnRAID then disabled it, the write FAILED ... but in this case that very well may mean nothing was actually written.    So there's a reasonable chance the disk is just fine -- but once UnRAID marks it as failed, it can't be simply added back.

 

I would NOT rebuild it onto itself ... doing that eliminates any chance of recovering data from the disk just in case parity isn't in fact good and a rebuild results in corrupted data.    That's why I suggested rebuilding onto a new disk as the best alternative.

 

As for checking the disk on another system =>  any system that can read the disk's file format would be fine for looking at the disk.   

 

The most direct way is to install fsproxy on a Windows machine, which will then let you directly read your XFS formatted disk.

http://nadrin.github.io/fsproxy/wikka5bf1.html?wakka=HomePage

 

Another way to do it from within Windows with to use a virtual machine with a copy of Linux -- here's an example using Ubuntu within Virtual Box:  https://medium.com/@matteocontrini/how-to-read-an-xfs-drive-on-windows-with-virtualbox-and-linux-942d74f4644f#.957kv2ir8

 

Finally, a bootable Knoppix DVD will let you directly read the files without bothering with any Windows software.  http://knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

 

 

[Homerr]

I've been sick a few days and I'm just getting back to this. 

 

I did get two WD 3tb drives in the meantime and they are available and just out of the box.

 

I tried FSProxy, didn't seem to want to mount the drive.  Ubuntu/VirtualBox I got lost.  Knoppix worked and the file manager could see the 2tb Samsung in question, but didn't want to mount it either (it would mount the C: drive of the PC I was using just fine)...something about checking the log file...again I was a bit lost in this OS.

 

Does any of this change the approach to take?

 

unRAID is sitting at a stopped array state currently.

 

p.s.  The SMART on the Samsung is all green except a warning ! on "UltraDMA CRC Errors".

[garycase]

I'd still just do #1 => I think that's the "safest" approach; and it leaves the original drive still available for data recovery in case something goes awry.

 

[Homerr]

It looks as though it rebuilt successfully with no data loss. 

 

Event: unRAID Disk 8 message

Subject: Notice [uNRAID] - Disk 8 returned to normal operation

Description: WDC_WD30EZRZ-00Z5HB0_WD-WCC4N3XAJSJ4 (sdg)

Importance: normal

 

Event: unRAID Parity sync / Data rebuild

Subject: Notice [uNRAID] - Parity sync / Data rebuild finished (0 errors)

Description: Duration: 12 hours, 43 minutes, 18 seconds. Average speed: 87.4 MB/s

Importance: normal

 

Thanks for all the help. 

[garycase]

Glad all's well.

 

Assuming you have an available SATA port, you may want to consider adding a 2nd parity drive so you'll be better protected against any future failures.  The distinct advantage dual parity provides is that if you have a 2nd drive fail while you're rebuilding a drive the rebuild will still complete successfully.

 

[kysdaddy]

Hello,

I am having an issue similar to this but not exact.

I am looking to replace a bad disk, but cab't get unraid to let me. 

The disk is showing "Device is Missing (Disabled) contents emulated"

I stop the arary but cant seem to get Unraid to allow me to do anything with the drive.

I am sure that I am just missing something but can't seem to find it

 

Thanks

 

[JorgeB]

2 hours ago, kysdaddy said:

The disk is showing "Device is Missing (Disabled) contents emulated"

I stop the arary but cant seem to get Unraid to allow me to do anything with the drive.

Not quite clear what you mean, please try to describe better what you're trying to do, also post the diagnostics: Tools -> Diagnostics

[kysdaddy]

OK, I finally managed to get Unraid to let me rebuild that drive, now I am back at the starting point.

My array is good, I removed the 5 smaller drives by using "New configuration" now when I try to add the new 2TB drives, they show up in "Unassigned Devices"

 sdq        ST320004CLAR2000_9WM5ZXP1 00009143TTZP     INSERT

 

I have Preclear installed but when I open preclear it does not see the drives.

 

I am at a loss, I did some searching and read that the "insert" might mean that the device is being seen as an SD Reader. But the drive information is 100% accurate.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Chas

tower-diagnostics-20200518-1821.zip

[kysdaddy]

I just noticed that these drives show up as ST320004CLAR2000 rather than ST3200444SS as it states on the label. I guess that I should have said that these are "Reconditioned" drives. Is my issue that the firmware has been flashed on these? is there a wau to flash the original firmware back on them? 

I have reached out to the seller but don't know what to ask.

 

[JorgeB]

9 hours ago, kysdaddy said:

I have Preclear installed but when I open preclear it does not see the drives.

You'd need to post on the appropriate preclear support thread, not sure preclear supports SAS devices.

[kysdaddy]

On 10/29/2016 at 9:01 PM, Squid said:

Ideally you should post your diagnostics, which will include the SMART report for that disabled disk, for people here to analyse if the drive should be replaced (it was disabled in the first place because a write operation to the drive failed)

 

But, if you truly believe the disk is A-OK and it was a cabling issue, then to rebuild the emulated disk back onto the physical disk (no way around this because a write did fail, which means that the contents of that disk are not up to date) here's how you do it.

 

Stop the array

Set the disk to be not installed

Start the array

Stop the array

Set the disk to be the appropriate disk

Start the array

 

unRaid will now commence the rebuild operation.

Sir, you have helped me many times, I was hoping to get your advice once again.

Today this disk turned "disabled emulated" this is on a remote device so I may not be able to do anything for a while but hoped that you'd take a look at the smart info and advise if you think that the drive is toast or my be renabled.

 

Thank you sir

Chas

tower-diagnostics-20200712-1231.zip

[MarshallU]

I had this same issue happen to me today - one drive shows up as disabled - contents emulated.

I'm attaching the SMART report here so someone can review it. It shows "Passed" on the overall health assessment.

Parity check was performed 3 days ago with 0 errors.

Any help would be appreciated! This is the first time I have come across this situation in Unraid.

ST4000VN008-2DR166_ZDH7GQYQ-20200830-1326.txt

[JorgeB]

12 hours ago, MarshallU said:

Any help would be appreciated!

Please post the complete diagnostics: Tools -> Diagnostics, ideally before rebooting.

[MarshallU]

Here you go:

usreymedia-diagnostics-20200831-1128.zip

[JorgeB]

10 minutes ago, MarshallU said:

Here you go:

It happened before this last boot, so we can't see what what caused it the diags, but the disk does look fine so you can rebuild on top, suggest replacing/swapping cables before doing it to rule them out if it happens again to the same disk.

[MarshallU]

Thank you, I will try that!
The disk has a three year warranty of which only 1 year is used - so if worse comes to worse I am covered for a replacement.

Thanks for looking over the data!

[Maddeen]

Hi there,

 

sadly I got the same error after some rebuilding.

I got a new CPU + board + RAM and I need to reboot a lot of times due to bios settings.

 

The first tries nothing happens, but now - as I finished my bios settings - the disk shows the message

 

Device is disabled. Contents Emulated

I attached my diagnostics. Can someone please help me out?

Thanks in advance. 

 

 

 

 

v1ew-s0urce-diagnostics-20201024-1614.zip

[trurl]

Since you rebooted before getting diagnostics, we can't tell anything about why the disk was disabled. Also, those diagnostics are without the array started so there are many things we can't tell about your situation, most especially whether or not the emulated disk is mounted.

 

Start the array and post new diagnostics.

[Maddeen]

ahh.. ok. I deactivated "Auto Array Start" due some problem in the past when a cache drive is not available and the array just started.

And now I was not sure wheather or not it's a good idea to start the array - just wanted to wait for some replies 

 

Here is the new diagnostic file - in the meantime a runned a SMART test - everything fine.
he mentioned HDD is just a couple of months old.

 

Thanks for your help, @trurl 

 

v1ew-s0urce-diagnostics-20201024-1858.zip