So the system failed to turn on this morning and I hadn't realized that since I formatted my desktop I didn't retain a copy of the unraid disk configuration screen.  I still have the disks plugged into the old motherboard.  before I unplug them, does unraid know the serial numbers of each disk that should be assigned to each slot in the config somewhere?  or is it done by a hardware address?  basically, am I screwed here or can I recover this (its not the same motherboard, new model ... old one isn't made anymore.)

So the system failed to turn on this morning and I hadn't realized that since I formatted my desktop I didn't retain a copy of the unraid disk configuration screen.  I still have the disks plugged into the old motherboard.  before I unplug them, does unraid know the serial numbers of each disk that should be assigned to each slot in the config somewhere?  or is it done by a hardware address?  basically, am I screwed here or can I recover this (its not the same motherboard, new model ... old one isn't made anymore.)

You are not "screwed"

 

unRAID does have knowledge of the disk serial numbers in the config/super.dat file.  It is the "superblock" for the array.

 

When you first connect everything to your new motherboard it really does not matter which port you connect which disk EXCEPT the array will not start if it can't figure out where you moved the drives.  Typically it will show the old and new model/serial number if you switch around disks.

 

So...  you can also use the knowledge that the parity disk does not have a file-system.  It will show as un-formatted if you accidentally assign it as a data drive.  Just leave the parity drive un-assigned at first.

 

Once you have all the data disks showing up you can assign the remaining drive as the parity drive, (and it does not matter initially which "data" drive is on which port, you can stop the array and swap their "disk" assignments on the "Devices" page later.)

 

DO NOT press the button marked as "restore" (if you have an older version of unRAID)  If you have a newer one DO NOT type the command to initialize a new disk configuration.

Thank you, that's a relief to here.  I have a mix of 500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB drives in my array.  I have 2TB drives, one of them is the parity (just unsure which).  Since I'm not restoring the array I assume that this will be ok as long as I follow your advice.  Thanks again, I have been losing sleep.

Thank you, that's a relief to here.  I have a mix of 500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB drives in my array.  I have 2TB drives, one of them is the parity (just unsure which).  Since I'm not restoring the array I assume that this will be ok as long as I follow your advice.  Thanks again, I have been losing sleep.

If you assign the parity drive as a data drive it will just show as "unformatted"  (DO NOT PRESS THE FORMAT BUTTON!!!!!) and DO NOT START THE ARRAY.

 

Joe L.

Gotcha.  I will not be formatting anything.