Flash Drive Issues

[nickp85]

Can someone tell me what's a good flash drive for this 24/7 operation that Unraid demands?  A buddy of mine and I each bought a Samsung 32 GB Fit cheap on Amazon.  We've already both had it fail inside of 2 years and replaced by Samsung.  I'm now getting my second failure (reformat and copy config folder seems to have saved it for now) and wondering if I should just go buy another flash drive that is better suited for 24/7 operation.  Anyone have any recommendations?  I was reading an article about the SanDisk Ultra Fit as well and that it's pretty good in ESXi servers as long as you don't buy 32 GB.  Perhaps that's my issue, 32 GB drive?  Maybe I need to go smaller?

 

Open to suggestions here, just want stability without the periodic flash drive failures requiring either new drive or reformat/reload.

 

Thanks

[Squid]

Kingston DTSE9 last forever and indestructible. And very reliable

 

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[trurl]

3 hours ago, nickp85 said:

this 24/7 operation that Unraid demands

Unraid actually accesses the flash drive very little. The Unraid OS doesn't run from the flash drive, it runs in RAM. The OS is unpacked fresh from the archives on flash at boot, and it runs completely in RAM. Changes you make to your configuration in the webUI are also written to flash so they can be reapplied at boot, but other than that flash isn't accessed that much.

 

Many people have found that those extra small flash drives often die, I think due to overheating. And there is no good reason to use a USB3 flash drive since there is no real advantage to the extra speed in this application, and that extra speed often means extra heat.

 

Having said that, I have been using a Sandisk Fit (USB2) in my server for several years without problem. I have also used the Ultra Fit USB3 in other applications, and they do get noticeably hot, so I don't recommend those.

[nickp85]

Unraid actually accesses the flash drive very little. The Unraid OS doesn't run from the flash drive, it runs in RAM. The OS is unpacked fresh from the archives on flash at boot, and it runs completely in RAM. Changes you make to your configuration in the webUI are also written to flash so they can be reapplied at boot, but other than that flash isn't accessed that much.

So it seems when you login to the admin GUI it seems to read config files on the drive because when the drive dies all my GUI configs are messed up (e.g. theme settings) and I’ve got httpd errors all over the place on the page. That’s how I know the drive had a hiccup.


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[nickp85]

So I have some older USB2 flash drives laying around including a SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4 GB, a Corsair Flash Voyager 16GB and a Patriot Xporter 4GB... all in working condition but all many years old.  Worth it to switch to one of those over the overheating Samsung that keeps dying or spend the $10 and buy a new USB2 drive like that Kingston?

 

Thanks

Edited September 18, 2019 by nickp85

[trurl]

I don't remember if it was mentioned. Are you booting from a USB2 port? USB2 ports are often more reliable for this, regardless of which flash drive you use.

[nickp85]

9 minutes ago, trurl said:

I don't remember if it was mentioned. Are you booting from a USB2 port? USB2 ports are often more reliable for this, regardless of which flash drive you use.

My motherboard only has 2 USB controllers.  I am passing the one that uses the front USB ports and most of the rear through to a Windows 10 VM (for plug and play of USB devices) and that leaves the other controller for Unraid.  The second controller only has 2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports on the back, one USB A and one USB C.  I have the unraid stick in one of those.

 

I did spend the $5.99 last night to order the Kingston USB2 drive that Squid recommended and will probably just switch proactively.  The Samsung one I've using when taken out of the tower is very hot to the touch so that's probably what's causing the failure.

 

Thanks

[nickp85]

Well shucks... I got the new Kingston stick and copied everything over only to find that I'm like 2 weeks from the 12 months since my last Samsung USB stick failed.

 

Can someone help me complete the registration?  I submitted a request on the website. @limetech?

 

Thanks in advance!

[nickp85]

Sorry to be a pain but now I went to put my old Samsung drive back in until someone could help me transfer my license and it’s not working again, complaining about bad blocks.

 

help! I need to transfer to my new Kingston stick

[trurl]

Do you have a backup of flash? All you need is the config folder to copy to a new install.

[nickp85]

1 minute ago, trurl said:

Do you have a backup of flash? All you need is the config folder to copy to a new install.

I need someone at Unraid to reset my registration. I’m 2 weeks away from being able to do it myself (had to replace failing stick last October). I got the machine booted with new stick and have my config file but it won’t start the array due to invalid key which as I mentioned I can’t replace on my own

 

even tried reimaging the old stick again and it’s dead dead so I have no server until Unraid helps me with the license

[Squid]

Delete the trial.key file on the new flash from the config folder , along with super.dat (which you backed up from the original) and you should be able to register it as a new trial. Reassign your drives and your fine.

 

 

As far as no response from limetech, bear in mind that it is a weekend.

 

Sent from my NSA monitored device

 

 

 

 

[nickp85]

29 minutes ago, Squid said:

Delete the trial.key file on the new flash from the config folder , along with super.dat (which you backed up from the original) and you should be able to register it as a new trial. Reassign your drives and your fine.

unfortunately this did not work.  Removed the two files as instructed but when booting up it still says invalid key and shows my name and previous dates I replaced my key.  Just a note I was able to pull the whole config file off the old stick before it died so I copied the whole directory to the new stick.

[Squid]

Is there another .key file?

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[nickp85]

I see a plus.key, tried deleting that and the trial.key and now it just says I have a missing key and need to purchase one.  I'm a little leary to delete that super.dat cause it seems to have removed other configs.

[Squid]

Then just use another flash drive you've got kicking around. Set it up, register it as a trial and you're basically in business until limetech sorts out the transfer

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[nickp85]

I’m not sure that helps. I’ve got dockers, VMs with hardware passthrough, all sorts of stuff. A fresh stick without any configs would put me back to square 1.

 

I think I’ve identified a terrible single point of failure in Unraid. A dead USB stick with the inability to get a new key on demand if it’s been less than 12 months.

[Squid]

I dont know about that. The flash is used primarily as a copy protection scheme in unraid (not unheard of in the software industry).

I'm still using the exact same flash drives I was in 2012 for unraid (except for one which was physically damaged)

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[Squid]

27 minutes ago, nickp85 said:

A fresh stick without any configs would put me back to square 1.

But you've got a backup 

[nickp85]

I really do understand everyone is busy and it’s the weekend but I have to imagine fixing my registration is a really quick process. My server has been down for over 24 hours and it’s my sole source of media content, tv and runs my Windows 10 PC. I really need to get this thing up and running so can someone please help me fix the license as soon as possible today?

[Squid]

As stated, grab another stick set it up as trial. Copy over the config folder sans super.dat and the key files and assign your drives

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[nickp85]

Just now, Squid said:

As stated, grab another stick set it up as trial. Copy over the config folder sans super.dat and the key files and assign your drives

Sent from my NSA monitored device
 

Doesn’t work, I lose my configs

[Squid]

Then somewhere along the line you did something wrong. The only config you lose is the disk assignments which is to be expected and necessary

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[nickp85]

How about Unraid give a paying customer a little support rather than me having to jury rig something to start another trial? Sorry, getting a bit frustrated here. Unraid has been a great product these last two years and the community is awesome but this is shaping up to be a fatal flaw if a customer can not recover from a dead USB drive within 12 months without waiting days or jury rigging something to bypass the licensing requirements.

[nickp85]

@Squid tried your method again and it’s telling me all existing data will be OVERWRITTEN when the array is started.

 

yeah, definitely not what I want...