I tried unRAID for a while in a test system to solve my ever-expanding-need-for-storage problem, and all testing seemed to go well, so I purchased a plus license. Unfortunately, when it came time to migrate all my data across to the UnRAID box, I started running into problems. If I copy small numbers of large files, no problem. If I copy large numbers of small files, no problem. Its when I try copying large numbers of large files that the issues occur.

 

I have a folder I can use to reliably replicate the problem. It is my movies folder and contains about 5000 files that total around 830GB. I have given the server a fresh reboot and attempted the copy, which of course failed with the error "the network path could not be found" (on Windows 7) within a few short minutes. The syslog from this session is attached - it shows no entries after the error occured, suggesting that the server didnt know anything was wrong.

 

I have this same problem on a different set of hardware as well. I have tried 3 different network adapters and another complete motherboard, CPU and RAM. Only the Sii3114 sata controller has remained the same as I only have one.

 

UnRAID Server Specs:

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Motherboard: From a HP D530 desktop PC

CPU: Pentium 4 2.8GHz

RAM: 1GB DDR333

Network: On Board Broadcom Gigabit

SATA Controllers: Two ports onboard and Sii3114 (4 Port PCI SATA150 Controller)

Drives: 2x320GB Seagate, 2x250GB Seagate and 1x160GB Seagate.

 

On Board Port 1 - 320GB

On Board Port 2 - 320GB

Sii3114 Port 1 - 250GB

Sii3114 Port 2 - 250GB

Sii3114 Port 3 - 160GB

 

No cache drive at present.

 

Client PC Specs:

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Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.83GHz)

3GB DDR2-800

Gigabit Ethernet (don't remember what chip... if it's important, I'll find out)

Motherboard has Intel ICH8R Southbridge with 6 SATA ports. All drives run from this controller.

3x1TB Seagate HDD in RAID 5

160GB Stand Alone OS Drive

Windows 7 Ultimate x64

 

Could you guys please peruse my syslog and let me know if you see anything that could give a clue on how to solve this? unRAID would be my perfect solution if only I could solve this! If any more info is required please ask.

syslog-2010-09-26.txt

Are you copying to a user share or to a specific disk?

When the copy failure occurs, what is the state of the UnRaid server?  Can you ping it, does the web page still come up?  Or is it frozen and require a hard reset to bring it back?

 

If the former, is the share you are copying to available immediately after the copy fails?

 

in your Win7 machine, try

 

(a) Right click My computer

(b) click Manage

© click Services, scroll to "Routing and Remote Access"

(d) left click "Routing and Remote Access", click Properties

(e) click (General tab) and look for Startup type.

 

What does startup type say?

 

 

Simon: My test was copying to a user share but I have not confirmed as yet whether it also fails when copying directly to a disk share. I can run this test if you think it might be different?

 

Jazzysmooth: Server is still accessible by web when the copy fails.

 

GK20: Startup type is disabled.

 

 

I should say my testing up until now has been prior to the initial parity sync, so parity was invalid at the time of testing. Parity sync completed overnight and I have attempted another copy. At this stage it's been going for around 15 minutes without stalling. I will post updates when I know whether it is going to fail or not.

GK20: Startup type is disabled.

 

I should say my testing up until now has been prior to the initial parity sync, so parity was invalid at the time of testing. Parity sync completed overnight and I have attempted another copy. At this stage it's been going for around 15 minutes without stalling. I will post updates when I know whether it is going to fail or not.

 

 

This "network path is not found" is more an issue in client side than in unRAID, as long as you make sure samba in unRAID is working then that is enough for server.

 

As you can find online, in Windows this "network path was not found" is more like a generic problem, anything in the protocol stacks in Windows  went wrong could cause this problem. For example you can refer to this article.

 

http://randomtech.blogspot.com/2007/07/network-path-was-not-found-error-on-win.html

 

I know its been a long time, but in case anyone else comes across this issue I thought I would post my results.

 

After allowing parity sync to complete, I have had no problems whatsoever transferring files to my unRAID box. I do not know why, but the problem only comes up if parity is not valid.

 

I dont think this is right, I mean, the system should work reliably whether parity is valid or not, but simply allowing parity sync to complete solved my problem. Not a true fix IMO, but at least I am aware of this, dare I say 'bug', so I can be aware that I may have problems transferring large amounts of data if parity is invalid for any reason, and take appropriate action.