Any chance of adding a script named (something like b-preclear.sh ) which would be used  to pass the arguments onto /usr/local/bin/preclear_binhex.sh   The reason for this request to eliminate the manual entering of  /usr/local/bin/preclear_binhex.sh  into the  noVNC terminal window whenever the shell command stack gets emptied.  (I never can seem to be able to find those notes where I have scribbled the information that I NOW need...) 

 

OR

 

put the preclear_binhex.sh in the present working directory which appears to be   '/ ' 

 

OR   

 

a link from the pwd to the location where the shell program is stored

Any chance of adding a script named (something like b-preclear.sh ) which would be used  to pass the arguments onto /usr/local/bin/preclear_binhex.sh   The reason for this request to eliminate the manual entering of  /usr/local/bin/preclear_binhex.sh  into the  noVNC terminal window whenever the shell command stack gets emptied.  (I never can seem to be able to find those notes where I have scribbled the information that I NOW need...) 

 

OR

 

put the preclear_binhex.sh in the present working directory which appears to be   '/ ' 

 

OR   

 

a link from the pwd to the location where the shell program is stored

It's already on the path, for the lazy type 'pre' and press tab to auto complete, cant get simpler than that [emoji16]

 

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

4 hours ago, binhex said:

It's already on the path, for the lazy type 'pre' and press tab to auto complete, cant get simpler than that

 

 

🙄 Now,  I do feel a bit stupid .  First, for missing the obvious solution (using the path) in my request and second, for not trying to see if just typing the scripts name to see if you had already addressed the issue. (I got 'fooled' by the listing of the actual file location in some of the reports.  Looking back through the thread, I can see several times that folks were already using the 'short' version...)   

 

I have a couple of 320GB drives here that I could use for testing but things have been hectic here for the past ten days and I have not had time to actually try it out.  (Quick test results while gaining experience... )  I also have a couple of cold spares-- 3TB and 6TB drives --that I could also use if some specific issue with large size drives needed investigating.   

 

By the way, back in the dark ages, there was a WIKI for using Joe L.'s original preclear script.  I suspect that all of the various 'switches' that are referenced are still available.  You can find it here:

 

      https://wiki.unraid.net/Configuration_Tutorial#Preclear_Hard_Drives

 

OF course, a lot of it was devoted to using Screen which this Docker version eliminates!   In this WIKI, there is a step for getting the syslog output from his script.  Is this step still useable?

 

Quote

 

Step 7 After all preclears have finished to save your results, at the prompt on Vterm 1 (Alt-F1) type

grep preclear /var/log/syslog | todos >> /boot/preclear_results.txt

This will save all the relevant lines from the syslog to the preclear_results.txt file on your flash drive.

 

 

9 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

OF course, a lot of it was devoted to using Screen which this Docker version eliminates!   In this WIKI, there is a step for getting the syslog output from his script.  Is this step still useable?

you can see the preclear start (smart results before run) and preclear finish (smart results after run) and the preclear report (basically whether it passed), all this info is stored in a folder in '/config/preclear_reports' which gets created for you as part of the run of the script.

 

obviously if you have email notification turned on you also get emailed all this info as well.

 

so in answer to your question, i dont think there is any other info you could need here, so i think looking through syslog is of little/no use.

Edited October 3, 20196 yr by binhex

I run the preclear on the 320GB disk twice yesterday.  (What a blessing to have a small disk for this type of testing.  Most of time, I have used a 3TB drive...)  

 

The first time was a single pass just to see if everything was all right.  I appeared to be.  So I decided to run a test that more typically would be my testing sequence in qualifying a disk for use in my array.  I used the following command line (If you type   pre     and hit the <TAB> key it will fill the script's name automatically!):

preclear_binhex.sh -A -c 2 -M 4 /dev/sdd

=================

For the benefit of those who are trying to learn how to use the script, I will break this down for you:

 

   -A     Start the partition on sector 64 (not sure this now required but it won't hurt anything!) 

 

  -c 2  Run two cycles of pretesting on the disk.  You can specify any number of cycles with the number.  (be sure you note the <space> between the c

           and the number!) 

 

  -M 4  Send e-mail using the Unraid e-mail notification settings.  The number can be between 1 and 4 with '1' generating the least number of e-mails

          and '4' generating the most!  

 

 /dev/sdX  This parameter specifies the disk that the script will doing the preclear on.  To find the 'X'  in this last parameter run the following command:

preclear_binhex.sh -l 

While you will probably only have a couple of disks on this list, it is still a good idea to know the last four digits of the serial number of the disk you want to preclear just for peace-of-mind.  

=====================

 

I found that using the parameter of 4 for the email setting is probably overkill (most folks would probably be happier with a '2' or '3'), these reports are concise and short.  The final report (e-mail) is much more detailed and will provide the history of the disk during tests including a summary at the very beginning.  The following is the redacted summary: 

========================================================================1.19

== invoked as: /usr/local/bin/preclear_binhex.sh -A -c 2 -M 4 /dev/sdd

== WDCWD3200AAJS-XXXXX   WD-WCAT1DXXXXXXXXX

== Disk /dev/sdd has been successfully precleared

== with a starting sector of 64

== Ran 2 cycles

==

== Using :Read block size = 1000448 Bytes

== Last Cycle's Pre Read Time  : 1:05:46 (81 MB/s)

== Last Cycle's Zeroing time   : 1:03:28 (84 MB/s)

== Last Cycle's Post Read Time : 1:53:35 (46 MB/s)

== Last Cycle's Total Time     : 2:58:08

==

== Total Elapsed Time 7:02:34

==

== Disk Start Temperature: 36C

==

== Current Disk Temperature: 36C,

==

============================================================================

 No SMART attributes are FAILING_NOW

 

 0 sectors were pending re-allocation before the start of the preclear.

 0 sectors were pending re-allocation after pre-read in cycle 1 of 2.

 0 sectors were pending re-allocation after zero of disk in cycle 1 of 2.

 0 sectors were pending re-allocation after post-read in cycle 1 of 2.

 0 sectors were pending re-allocation after zero of disk in cycle 2 of 2.

 0 sectors are pending re-allocation at the end of the preclear,

    the number of sectors pending re-allocation did not change.

 0 sectors had been re-allocated before the start of the preclear.

 0 sectors are re-allocated at the end of the preclear,

    the number of sectors re-allocated did not change.

============================================================================

 

This summary is then followed by the Initial SMART report and the Final SMART report.  

Edited October 4, 20196 yr by Frank1940

5 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

The first time was a single pass just to see if everything was all right.  I appeared to be.  So I decided to run a test that more typically would be my testing sequence in qualifying a disk for use in my array.  I used the following command line:

preclear_binhex.sh -A -c 2 -M 4 /dev/sdd

=================

You probably don’t need the -A flag with the recent changes that @binhex has made.

https://github.com/binhex/documentation/blob/master/docker/faq/preclear.md

Scroll down to the notes section near the bottom of the page.

 

TLDR; It is now the default behavior.

14 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

I run the preclear on the 320GB disk twice yesterday.  (What a blessing to have a small disk for this type of testing.  Most of time, I have used a 3TB drive...)  

i got myself a nice 250GB maxtor :-), again thank god i didnt chuck it out!. 

 

thanks for the post, a good explanation for any preclear script newbies, glad its working well for you, oh and btw nope you dont need to specify the -A flag anymore thats all sorted for you automatically.

I know the -f flag uses the faster preclear script. Don’t really know anything about the script other than the fact that it is indeed faster. What are the cons of using this flag?

 

Just now, wgstarks said:

I know the -f flag uses the faster preclear script. Don’t really know anything about the script other than the fact that it is indeed faster. What are the cons of using this flag?

 

none :-)

22 minutes ago, wgstarks said:

I know the -f flag uses the faster preclear script. Don’t really know anything about the script other than the fact that it is indeed faster. What are the cons of using this flag?

 

One of the reasons that I like using the preclear scripts is that I want to get somewhere near 80-100 hours on a new disk before I add it to the array.  (For those who are wondering why I might want to do this Google 'Bathtub curve'.  A hard disk is a perfect example of a complex system which has this type of failure behavior.)   For this reason, I always use the longer running script.  But if you are just checking a 'older but good ' drive to see that it is really in that state, I could see the use of the faster script. 

14 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

I could see the use of the faster script. 

just to be clear here, the 'faster script' is actually the same file, just with modifications by bjp999 to improve efficiency, resulting in slightly faster preclear times.

 

there is the train of thought that using the faster option actually stresses the drive more thoroughly, as it does the same operation as it would without the -f flag but it just takes less time doing it. The -f flag as far i understand it does NOT do any less thorough checks than without the -f flag (as in no steps skipped), so personally (and it is all a matter of personal preference of course), i always use the -f flag, even on brand new disks, the choice is there.

Edited October 4, 20196 yr by binhex

Run a preclear cycle using Unraid version 6.8.0-rc1 completed successfully with no issues as expected.  

Edited October 13, 20196 yr by Frank1940

Run a preclear cycle using Unraid version 6.8.0-rc1 completed successfully with no issues as expected.  

Thanks for confirming [emoji16]

Sent from my CLT-L09 using Tapatalk

Eating my own dog food here, got a WD My Book for a good price (looks to be HGST Helium drive) and got it connected via usb 3 and running preclear on it, so far so good! :-).

I  have put together a Tutorial for using the binhex-preclear Docker.  It is intended for first time users and any user who might not be comfortable using the command line. 

Binhex-Preclear Docker Tutorial.pdf

Sub'd - thank you greatly.  This will come in handy when a system update breaks the gui plugin.

From the binhex-Preclear FAQ:

Quote

 

Q5. Can i preclear multiple disks at the same time?.

A5. Yes this is possible, you simply create an additional 'tab' in the 'Xfce terminal' and then run the script again against the additional named drive.

 

This should be enough information for the experienced Linux user but it leaves much to be desired for the many folks who do not fit this description.  I will attempt in a brief manner to fill in  the gaps.  First, start the binhex-Preclear WebUI.   Now click on File in the Terminal Toolbar and you see get the following:

 

 

Now click on the 'Open Tab' in the drop-down list:

 

Notice that we now see two tabs directly beneath the Toolbar.  These are two independent terminal sessions.  We can switch between the sessions by clicking on the tabs.  We will be running a preclear session in each tab on different hard drive.  We can use the instructions in this Tutorial to set up each session:

     https://forums.unraid.net/topic/83465-support-binhex-preclear/page/4/?tab=comments#comment-789518

 

This is one session running:

 

And here is the second one:

 

Both sessions will send out e-mail notices (You can separate the e-mails by the device designation-- /dev/sdX) and multiple preclear sessions run at approximately the same speed as a single session would.  You can run more than two sessions (each one is a separate tab) but I am not sure what the upper limit on terminals/tabs that you can open.  (I have opened 6 sessions/tabs but I don't have that many drives available for testing!)   However, each session will require a certain fixed amount of memory to run in and this could become a problem. 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 20196 yr by Frank1940

On 11/21/2019 at 11:22 PM, Frank1940 said:

but I am not sure what the upper limit on terminals/tabs that you can open.  (I have opened 6 sessions/tabs but I don't have that many drives available for testing!)   However, each session will require a certain fixed amount of memory to run in and this could become a problem. 

i would expect the number of tabs that you can open to be a VERY large number, i opened 20 and then got bored :-), i dont have 20 drives to preclear so i cant check memory consumption, but i dont expect it to be high.

1 hour ago, binhex said:

i would expect the number of tabs that you can open to be a VERY large number, i opened 20 and then got bored :-), i dont have 20 drives to preclear so i cant check memory consumption, but i dont expect it to be high.

I can remember that back in olden times when @Joe L.'s script was the only game in town, it could become a problem.  But at the same time, there were a lot of people who were running Unraid with a single GB of RAM.  A server with 4GB's  was the high end.  Today, while 2GB's is the official minimum requirement, it not uncommon to see setups with 32GB, 64GB and even a few with 128GB.  

7 minutes ago, Frank1940 said:

I can remember that back in olden times when @Joe L.'s script was the only game in town, it could become a problem.  But at the same time, there were a lot of people who were running Unraid with a single GB of RAM.  A server with 4GB's  was the high end.  Today, while 2GB's is the official minimum requirement, it not uncommon to see setups with 32GB, 64GB and even a few with 128GB.  

indeed!, looks like i got a couple of customers running this container at the mo (see preclear plugin support), so hoping i get some feedback from them, it certainly is working fine for me, currently running another preclear on wd my book external enclosure, for anybody interested here is the stats for the previous drive:-

 

Model: WD My Book 8TB

Drive shucked: WDC WD80EZAZ (WDC HGST Ultrastar He10)

Connection: USB 3.0 via standard included cable

Max temp during preclear:- 36 Celcius

Time taken (single run):- approx 48 hours

3.3v pin issue present: Yes (fixed with Kapton tape).

Notes: The only other thing worth mentioning is that this drive seems to have odd spacing for the screw holes at the bottom of the drive, they are non standard.

Edited November 26, 20196 yr by binhex

was 90% finished the clear and we had a power outtage, any way to resume instead of starting over?  really don't want to start from the beginning, lol..

Edited November 28, 20196 yr by xman111

8 hours ago, xman111 said:

was 90% finished the clear and we had a power outtage, any way to resume instead of starting over?  really don't want to start from the beginning, lol..

90% of which stage though? if you are sure it 100% completed the pre-read stage then you can start with the 'write' of zeroes to clear the disk by using the -W flag, this wont resume but it will reduce the time to finish:-

 

preclear_binhex.sh -f -W /dev/sdX

 

ya, it was writing zeros i think..  it had a list that had about 10 dones.   I can't really remember as I wasn't expecting the power to go out so i didn't really think much of it.   Great program though, thanks man! 

Just reporting a successful (but long) 3-cycle preclear of a Seagate 8TB archive drive.

Triggered with:

/usr/local/bin/preclear_binhex.sh -f -c 3 /dev/sdd

It's been a few years since I last precleared a drive, and this docker was very easy to use, thanks for making it available!

I remember using the script directly before and I was never really sure I had managed to get the right version of it from the forum threads.

My thanks to @binhex for this docker, and to @Frank1940 for the great tutorial.

I was able to preclear three 10TB Seagate BarraCuda Pro's simultaneously before shucking them from their plastic prisons. Took 80 hours, no errors. (At first it was super slow, but then I realized I had two of them in USB 2 ports, gah!) I only ran one pass, good enough for me, but I understand the logic for running more.  The email status updates are a slick feature.

 

preclear_binhex.sh -f -c 1 -M 4 /dev/sdX