Hi! First time on the forums, been reading quite a few threads to get the answer to this problem but I couldn't find one so I wanted to ask for some help.

 

One of the drives in my Unraid array (Array of 3 data drives and 1 parity, all WD except the one that's giving me errors), started throwing read errors. I tried to unassign the drive and re-assign it but Unraid was not happy with it so I decided to assign it to a different slot (it was originally Disk3 but I reassigned it to Disk 4) and I did a clearing and a format over the drive. I thought I could just format it like that, unassign it from Disk 4, reassign it to Disk 3, and rebuild, but now when I try to unassign it from Disk 4 and assign it to Disk 3, it tells me that that there are "Too many wrong and/or missing disks!" even though Disk 4 should be completely empty. Now the contents of Disk 3 should be on the Parity so I (hopefully) didn't lose all my data on the drive but I don't know what to do. I thought about going into "Utilities"  and doing a "New Config" but I also read that it invalidates the current parity. I want to use the same disk, rebuild it with the data that was originally on it (by using the data on the parity) and continue to use the server with the same set-up.

 

What should I do? Please help!!

 

Thanks!

 

P.S. I'm using version 6.2.4

I've been doing a little more reading and I'm wondering if the following method would work (partially copied from unRAID's "shrink array" page):

 

1.)Take a screenshot of array assignments, especially the parity drive.

2.)Go to Tools then New Config

3.)Click on the Retain current configuration box (says None at first), click on Disks 1-3, then click on close

4.)Click on the box for Yes I want to do this, then click Apply then Done

5.) Return to the Main page, and check all assignments. If any are missing, correct them. Unassign the drive I am removing. Double check all of the assignments, especially the parity drive!

8.)Click the check box for Parity is already valid; make sure it is checked.

9.) Start Array

 

Question is, if I follow the steps above, will it rebuild my Disk 3 using the data from the parity?

I'm not quite clear on what you have done, but don't do a new config yet, post a screenshot of the current array main page and the diagnostics zip.

I'm not quite clear on what you have done, but don't do a new config yet, post a screenshot of the current array main page and the diagnostics zip.

 

Please see the attachments for the screen shots of the main page and the diagnostics zip! Thank you!

tower-diagnostics-20170112-2209.zip

Screen_Shots.zip

OK, let me see if I understand what you did:

 

-you unassigned disk3

-reassigned it as disk4

-started array, disk was cleared and then you format it

 

If this is right you have 2 options:

 

1) the much simpler solution is to get a spare disk, assign it to disk3 slot and let unRAID rebuild it, old disk needs to remain in slot4 during the rebuild.

 

2) if old disk3 was formatted in the new slot, parity was updated and you can't just remove it, you could use the shrink array procedure, then a new config trusting parity and then a rebuild, this is much more complicated, would really advise to go with option 1.

 

And next time ask before you do something like this that makes things worse.

And next time ask before you do something like this that makes things worse.

 

That's exactly what I did.

 

I will try to see if I can get another drive but, my unRAID key is an "unRAID Basic" key and I already have 6 devices attached (Parity, Disk 1, Disk 2, Disk 3, Boot USB, Cache SSD). If I buy another drive, will it let me add it to the array?

 

If I go with option two, would my steps from my second post/reply be correct?

 

I've been doing a little more reading and I'm wondering if the following method would work (partially copied from unRAID's "shrink array" page):

 

1.)Take a screenshot of array assignments, especially the parity drive.

2.)Go to Tools then New Config

3.)Click on the Retain current configuration box (says None at first), click on Disks 1-3, then click on close

4.)Click on the box for Yes I want to do this, then click Apply then Done

5.) Return to the Main page, and check all assignments. If any are missing, correct them. Unassign the drive I am removing. Double check all of the assignments, especially the parity drive!

8.)Click the check box for Parity is already valid; make sure it is checked.

9.) Start Array

 

Thank you so much for your help, jonnie.black! Really appreciate it as I have some important data on it and I'm the family IT guy lol.

There's another thing you can do, start the array and copy all data from the emulated disk3 to disk4, copy disk to disk, not disk to share, after that you can do a new config and re-sync parity.

And next time ask before you do something like this that makes things worse.

 

Will do! As noted in my original post, 'twas my first time asking. Thought I could fix it on my own. Now I've learned that it's not as simple as I thought. Also, I'll try using the "How to Search the Forum" methods you've linked.

 

There's another thing you can do, start the array and copy all data from the emulated disk3 to disk4, copy disk to disk, not disk to share, after that you can do a new config and re-sync parity.

 

That sounds like a safe option. I'll give that a shot. When I do a new config, that will void my current parity, correct? And when I start a new config, will I assign the drive to Disk 4 (where it is now) or Disk 3 (where it used to be)? Also, probably a dumb question but, how do I copy disk to disk from an emulated disk?

That sounds like a safe option. I'll give that a shot. When I do a new config, that will void my current parity, correct?

 

Yes

 

And when I start a new config, will I assign the drive to Disk 4 (where it is now) or Disk 3 (where it used to be)?

 

Whichever you prefer.

 

Also, probably a dumb question but, how do I copy disk to disk from an emulated disk?

 

You can use midnight commander (mc on the console), copy from /mnt/disk3 to /mnt/disk4

 

You can also enable disk shares (settings -> global share settings) and copy using your desktop from \\tower\disk3 to \\tower\disk4, this will be slower as the copy will be done over lan.

And next time ask before you do something like this that makes things worse.

 

Will do! As noted in my original post, 'twas my first time asking. Thought I could fix it on my own. Now I've learned that it's not as simple as I thought. Also, I'll try using the "How to Search the Forum" methods you've linked.

 

There's another thing you can do, start the array and copy all data from the emulated disk3 to disk4, copy disk to disk, not disk to share, after that you can do a new config and re-sync parity.

 

That sounds like a safe option. I'll give that a shot. When I do a new config, that will void my current parity, correct? And when I start a new config, will I assign the drive to Disk 4 (where it is now) or Disk 3 (where it used to be)? Also, probably a dumb question but, how do I copy disk to disk from an emulated disk?

Sometimes you have to be patient, everyone isn't in the same time zone. For me it was already well after midnight when you asked the first time and still well before sunrise when you asked the 2nd time.

 

For the approach johnnie.black is suggesting, after copying you would move the disk back to slot3, and since you won't have a disk4 anymore you will have to rebuild parity.

 

I always just use mc (Midnight Commander, google it) to copy/move within the server. If you aren't comfortable with that there are other ways but I think mc is actually the simplest since you don't have to install anything else and you don't have to get other computers on the network involved.

 

johnnie.black beat me to it but I am posting this anyway since I already typed it. Maybe between the both of us it will make sense.

Thank you to both of you!!

 

I just started the copying process. I SSH'd using terminal (since the unRAID machine is not plugged into a monitor/keyboard/mouse set up) and I used the following command:

 

nohup cp -rfv /mnt/disk3/* /mnt/disk4

 

I used mc to make sure I was copying from the right disk to the right destination but I decided to go with nohup so I don't have to leave my laptop open/running overnight. (But please let me know if my approach to copying the files is wrong!)

 

Sometimes you have to be patient, everyone isn't in the same time zone. For me it was already well after midnight when you asked the first time and still well before sunrise when you asked the 2nd time.

That's definitely true, I didn't really think about that. I sorta freaked out when it happened since it was my first time really troubleshooting on unRAID and I've been having a busy week.

 

I'm assuming that when I make a new config, I will follow basically the same steps as the "Shrink Array" wiki (link: https://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Shrink_array) but do I check the box of "Retain current configuration" or do I set it up as totally new? Or is my understanding of the procedure after the copy is done, completely wrong?

...my unRAID key is an "unRAID Basic" key and I already have 6 devices attached (Parity, Disk 1, Disk 2, Disk 3, Boot USB, Cache SSD). If I buy another drive, will it let me add it to the array?

 

FWIW, the Boot USB doesn't count towards your device limit.

 

FWIW, the Boot USB doesn't count towards your device limit.

 

I didn't know that haha. Thanks.

I just started the copying process. I SSH'd using terminal (since the unRAID machine is not plugged into a monitor/keyboard/mouse set up) and I used the following command:

 

nohup cp -rfv /mnt/disk3/* /mnt/disk4

 

Looks OK to me.

 

 

I'm assuming that when I make a new config, I will follow basically the same steps as the "Shrink Array" wiki (link: https://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Shrink_array) but do I check the box of "Retain current configuration" or do I set it up as totally new? Or is my understanding of the procedure after the copy is done, completely wrong?

 

You can retain current config, then just unassign disk4 and reassign to slot3 (if you prefer, it will also work as is), start array to begin parity sync.

I'm assuming that when I make a new config, I will follow basically the same steps as the "Shrink Array" wiki (link: https://lime-technology.com/wiki/index.php/Shrink_array) but do I check the box of "Retain current configuration" or do I set it up as totally new? Or is my understanding of the procedure after the copy is done, completely wrong?

Just to make sure we are all talking about the same procedure since there are more than one at that link. You will follow the procedure for The "Remove Drives Then Rebuild Parity" Method

 

At step 7 of that procedure, it say "Unassign the drive(s) you are removing." In your case, you will actually be removing the emulated disk3. If you don't want to leave slot3 empty you can unassign disk4 then reassign it to slot3.