(SOLVED) Random Newbie Questions


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Hi all, spent the past few days messing around with Unraid and loving it so far.  I do have a couple newbie questions that I can't find answers to:

  1. When adding a parity drive to the array does it matter what format the drive is in?  If the drive has data on it what happens to it?
  2. Should I be concerned my  root\mnt folder is empty.?  The cache, disks, user, and user0 folders are under root\media, which I didn't created and  isn't listed in user shares.
  3. What happens if you accidentally copy files from user/movies to user0/movies?
Edited by Mike G
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28 minutes ago, Mike G said:

When adding a parity drive to the array does it matter what format the drive is in?  If the drive has data on it what happens to it?

Parity drives have no format, just an array of bits.  If the drive you select for parity is formatted it will be blown away. Any data goes bye-bye, or over-written by the parity data.

 

31 minutes ago, Mike G said:

Should I be concerned my  root\mnt folder is empty.?  The cache, disks, user, and user0 folders are under root\media, which I didn't created and  isn't listed in user shares

I don't know the answer to that one, as my stuff is under /mnt/user/...  

Perhaps user shares have been moved to /media/ on newer versions, but again, IDK. Sorry. 

 

33 minutes ago, Mike G said:

What happens if you accidentally copy files from user/movies to user0/movies?

copy = duplication so there would be two sets of "movies" folders and files. 

../user/movies

../user0/movies

 

I'm lazy, only have one user, so I couldn't tell you if the file and/or group permissions are changed as part of the copy process. 

 

I hope the info helps. 

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1 hour ago, Mike G said:

Should I be concerned my  root\mnt folder is empty.?  The cache, disks, user, and user0 folders are under root\media, which I didn't created and  isn't listed in user shares.

 

Give us a screenshot so we know what you mean here.

the only possible location for the cache, disks and user is under /mnt

 

You can also post the diagnostics zip from Tools | Diagnotics so people can see what's under the hood and be better informed to provide help.

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5 hours ago, Jcloud said:

 

6 hours ago, Mike G said:

What happens if you accidentally copy files from user/movies to user0/movies?

copy = duplication so there would be two sets of "movies" folders and files. 

../user/movies

../user0/movies

 

/mnt/user is the combined view of all the array disks + cache pool

/mnt/user0 is the combined view of all the array disks

 

Both paths are just a different view of the actual files that really only exist on the disks.

 

So, what would happen depends on the exact source and destination path. It's entirely possible to corrupt files if you copy a file on top of itself.

 

6 hours ago, Mike G said:

Should I be concerned my  root\mnt folder is empty.?  The cache, disks, user, and user0 folders are under root\media, which I didn't created and  isn't listed in user shares.

 

This sounds like you are using a docker file manager to view your system, which only has a limited view of the actual unraid file system, mostly you are looking at the contents of the docker container, probably with the /mnt folder in unraid mapped to /media inside the docker.

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9 hours ago, ken-ji said:

 

Give us a screenshot so we know what you mean here.

the only possible location for the cache, disks and user is under /mnt

 

You can also post the diagnostics zip from Tools | Diagnotics so people can see what's under the hood and be better informed to provide help.

 

3 hours ago, jonathanm said:

/mnt/user is the combined view of all the array disks + cache pool

/mnt/user0 is the combined view of all the array disks

 

Both paths are just a different view of the actual files that really only exist on the disks.

 

So, what would happen depends on the exact source and destination path. It's entirely possible to corrupt files if you copy a file on top of itself.

 

 

This sounds like you are using a docker file manager to view your system, which only has a limited view of the actual unraid file system, mostly you are looking at the contents of the docker container, probably with the /mnt folder in unraid mapped to /media inside the docker.

 

Sorry, I should have mentioned I"m looking at the file structure using the Krusader Docker.  All the other posts I read people say their shares are mapped to /mnt, but mine's empty, just wanted to make sure I won't run into problems in the future...

Edited by Mike G
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10 minutes ago, Mike G said:

All the other posts I read people say their shares are mapped to /mnt, but mine's empty, just wanted to make sure I won't run into problems in the future...

If you don't get your head around what is happening, you very well could get into trouble.

 

Think of the docker as a whole other computer, with it's own OS and file system. It doesn't have any connection to the actual file system in unraid until you configure one, in the edit screen. Open the edit screen for the krusader docker and take a look at the host path. Underneath in an orange looking font is /media, and it's identified as container path. That means whatever path in unraid you put into the host (unraid) field, will show up mounted in /media when you are working with the krusader docker.

 

If you want to see what unraid's file system actually looks like in total, you can type mc at a console prompt and look around using that.

 

I wouldn't start moving files around except using a network connection to your shares until you get a handle on where files actually are in the OS. A unique file on an array drive will show up at 3 different spots in the /mnt tree, and it's actually only the one file, the other 2 spots are just convenient organizational views, but if you delete any one of them, it's gone. File manager programs operate without that knowledge, so if you tell it to move a file from one of the views (/mnt/user) to another type of view (/mnt/user0) you could easily be telling it to copy a file back on to itself, which immediately destroys the file.

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9 hours ago, jonathanm said:

/mnt/user is the combined view of all the array disks + cache pool

/mnt/user0 is the combined view of all the array disks

 

Both paths are just a different view of the actual files that really only exist on the disks.

 

So, what would happen depends on the exact source and destination path. It's entirely possible to corrupt files if you copy a file on top of itself.

 

THAT, I did not know. Sorry, for giving out bad info.

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9 hours ago, jonathanm said:

If you don't get your head around what is happening, you very well could get into trouble.

 

Think of the docker as a whole other computer, with it's own OS and file system. It doesn't have any connection to the actual file system in unraid until you configure one, in the edit screen. Open the edit screen for the krusader docker and take a look at the host path. Underneath in an orange looking font is /media, and it's identified as container path. That means whatever path in unraid you put into the host (unraid) field, will show up mounted in /media when you are working with the krusader docker.

 

If you want to see what unraid's file system actually looks like in total, you can type mc at a console prompt and look around using that.

 

I wouldn't start moving files around except using a network connection to your shares until you get a handle on where files actually are in the OS. A unique file on an array drive will show up at 3 different spots in the /mnt tree, and it's actually only the one file, the other 2 spots are just convenient organizational views, but if you delete any one of them, it's gone. File manager programs operate without that knowledge, so if you tell it to move a file from one of the views (/mnt/user) to another type of view (/mnt/user0) you could easily be telling it to copy a file back on to itself, which immediately destroys the file.

 
Heh now i feel stupid.  The container path in the Krusader docker was "/media" i guess I just named it as suggested by the docker.  Thanks all for help!
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1 hour ago, Mike G said:
 
Heh now i feel stupid.  The container path in the Krusader docker was "/media" i guess I just named it as suggested by the docker.  Thanks all for help!

 

Don't feel stupid, the relationship between container path and host path trips up MANY people trying to get dockers in general to work as they expect. Now that it's clicked for you, many of the details that cause so many support issues in the docker support areas will be no issue for you to work through.

 

Once you get it, it feels simple and intuitive. Before it clicks, it's totally baffling and difficult to grasp. Kind of like cresting a hill.

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One more important point to make with regards to corruption of files is to never copy from a disk share to a user share or vise versa, you could zero length any files copied. It's a long standing issue with unraid, there is a discussion regards this buried away somewhere on the forum.

 

I actually hide disk shares to prevent me being stupid and accidentally doing this.

 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

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On 6/14/2018 at 10:55 AM, jonathanm said:

I wouldn't start moving files around except using a network connection to your shares until you get a handle on where files actually are in the OS. A unique file on an array drive will show up at 3 different spots in the /mnt tree, and it's actually only the one file, the other 2 spots are just convenient organizational views, but if you delete any one of them, it's gone. File manager programs operate without that knowledge, so if you tell it to move a file from one of the views (/mnt/user) to another type of view (/mnt/user0) you could easily be telling it to copy a file back on to itself, which immediately destroys the file.

 

2 hours ago, binhex said:

One more important point to make with regards to corruption of files is to never copy from a disk share to a user share or vise versa, you could zero length any files copied.

I think I said that, but your wording is more succinct. ;D

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