Question, why is it when I do a device list it shows everything as sdx and sdx1. Why is that does when running a command on the device, such as a pre-clear, does it matter if you pick the sdx or sdx1?

 

Here is a log of what I am seeing.

 

 

root@PhenixNAS:~# ls -l /dev/disk/by-id

total 0

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Oct  3 08:23 ata-SAMSUNG_HD103SI_S210JDWSB20772 -> ../../sdb

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct  3 08:23 ata-SAMSUNG_HD103SI_S210JDWSB20772-part1 -> ../../sdb1

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Oct  3 08:23 ata-SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2HGJ1BZ835455 -> ../../sda

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct  3 08:23 ata-SAMSUNG_HD204UI_S2HGJ1BZ835455-part1 -> ../../sda1

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Oct  3 08:23 ata-ST31500341AS_9VS1GGHV -> ../../sdc

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct  3 08:37 ata-ST31500341AS_9VS1GGHV-part1 -> ../../sdc1

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Oct  3 08:23 scsi-SATA_SAMSUNG_HD103SIS210JDWSB20772 -> ../../sdb

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct  3 08:23 scsi-SATA_SAMSUNG_HD103SIS210JDWSB20772-part1 -> ../../sdb1

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Oct  3 08:23 scsi-SATA_SAMSUNG_HD204UIS2HGJ1BZ835455 -> ../../sda

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct  3 08:23 scsi-SATA_SAMSUNG_HD204UIS2HGJ1BZ835455-part1 -> ../../sda1

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Oct  3 08:23 scsi-SATA_ST31500341AS_9VS1GGHV -> ../../sdc

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct  3 08:37 scsi-SATA_ST31500341AS_9VS1GGHV-part1 -> ../../sdc1

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Oct  3 11:15 usb-_Patriot_Memory_07781FA80151-0:0 -> ../../sde

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct  3 11:15 usb-_Patriot_Memory_07781FA80151-0:0-part1 -> ../../sde1

 

 

"sda" represents the entire drive.

 

"sda1" represents the part of the drive holding the first partition.

 

"sda2" would be the second partition (if it existed) "sda3" would be the third partition.

( unRAID data disks only ever have 1 partition)

 

When pre-clearing a drive you use the entire drive, not a partition, so you would use /dev/sda, not /dev/sda1.

 

When performing some very specific file-system maintenance you might be asked to use a command on the first partition but that would be rare,  and usually only on a disk not part of the unRAID array.  (not already assigned to the array)

Gotcha. Kind of what I was thinking but wasn't sure.