Recently I bought a couple of 2TB drives to replace a couple of smaller drives in my UnRaid array.  First, I replaced my 1TB parity disk with one of the 2TB drives with no issues.  Then I replaced one 500GB data drive (disk 2) with the other new 2TB disk.  After the system "rebuilt" the drive , I noticed that the drive was "red balled" but I could never really figure out why.  Everything seemed to work; I could see the new drive with all the data rebuilt on it, but I wasn't comfortable having that red dot next to the drive.  So, after reading a number of posts, it seemed that the reason why the drive was red balled was most likely a write error during the rebuild and the only way to try to get rid of it was to rebuild the drive.  So, here's what I did:

1. Shut down the array.

2. "unmounted" the disk

3. Tried restarting the array, but nothing seemed to get it to restart.

4. Rebooted the server (I think this may have been my big mistake).

5. When the UnRaid server rebooted, the array came up, but the new 2TB drive came up as unformatted and the array started rebuilding the parity from the other 4 drives in the array.

So, now i have a big problem, i think.  How do I get the array to recognize the new HD with the data on it and rebuild the parity disk or, more likely, put this old 500GB disk drive (I still have the original 500GB HD with all the data still on it) back into the array and have the parity rebuilt to it's original state? 

 

I'm running UnRaid 4.5.3 with six hard drives in the array.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Recently I bought a couple of 2TB drives to replace a couple of smaller drives in my UnRaid array.  First, I replaced my 1TB parity disk with one of the 2TB drives with no issues.  Then I replaced one 500GB data drive (disk 2) with the other new 2TB disk.  After the system "rebuilt" the drive , I noticed that the drive was "red balled" but I could never really figure out why.  Everything seemed to work; I could see the new drive with all the data rebuilt on it, but I wasn't comfortable having that red dot next to the drive.  So, after reading a number of posts, it seemed that the reason why the drive was red balled was most likely a write error during the rebuild and the only way to try to get rid of it was to rebuild the drive.  So, here's what I did:

1. Shut down the array.

2. "unmounted" the disk

3. Tried restarting the array, but nothing seemed to get it to restart.

4. Rebooted the server (I think this may have been my big mistake).

5. When the UnRaid server rebooted, the array came up, but the new 2TB drive came up as unformatted and the array started rebuilding the parity from the other 4 drives in the array.

So, now i have a big problem, i think.  How do I get the array to recognize the new HD with the data on it and rebuild the parity disk or, more likely, put this old 500GB disk drive (I still have the original 500GB HD with all the data still on it) back into the array and have the parity rebuilt to it's original state? 

 

I'm running UnRaid 4.5.3 with six hard drives in the array.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First... 4.3.5 has a MAJOR bug which will allow you to accidentally format ALL your disks... please keep your fingers off the "Format" button unless ONLY a drive that is expected to be un-formatted is present.  If the array shows ALL your drives as un-formatted after rebooting, it WILL reformat ALL your drives if you press the format button. 

 

You should have Stopped the array by pressing  "Stop"

Use the "devices" page to un-assign the drive with the red-indicator.

Go back to the main page and press "Start"

Press "Stop" once more

Use the "devices" page to re-assign the drive that had the red indicator.

On the main management page, press "Start" to re-start the array.  The drive with the red indicator will be re-constructed from parity and the other data drives.

 

Note that none of what I wrote used the term "unmounted" .  What did you do/type when you unmounted the disk?

 

As I said, keep your finger OFF the format button.  If you pressed it, or if you pressed the button labeled as "restore" please let me know, as those would be very bad in your situation.

 

On yes... did I mention upgrade to the newest 4.6rc1 release of unRAID.

 

A disk that has a "red" indicator is one where a write to it failed.  On a brand new drive is is frequently a loose connector.

Unless you fixed it, the odds of the drive with a "write" failure magically working once more is slim.

 

When a drive is un-assigned, or has failed, or has been disabled because of a "write" error, unRAID treats them identically.  It simulates the drive by using parity and the other remaining data drives to re-construct the data on the failed/disabled drive dynamically.

 

It is good you still have the 500Gig drive.  It might be the only way to get back the data on it. 

 

For further help post a syslog.  Instructions under "Troubleshooting" in the wiki

 

Joe L.

Yep, understand the format button problem and I have stayed far, far away....

 

First, you are correct, I should have said unassigned and not unmounted.

 

Ok, right now, I started UnRaid, assigned disk 2 (the new 2TB drive) and started the array.  Disk 2 is now listed as unformatted where all other disks are shown correctly , but the array automatically starts a parity sync where is looks like it's rebuilding the parity disk from the 4 drives it recognizes.  So I can't believe that I can "rebuild" the 2TB drive from the array.

 

If I put the old 500GB back into the array, won't the array write over the drive erasing all the data?

Yep, understand the format button problem and I have stayed far, far away....

 

First, you are correct, I should have said unassigned and not unmounted.

 

Ok, right now, I started UnRaid, assigned disk 2 (the new 2TB drive) and started the array.  Disk 2 is now listed as unformatted where all other disks are shown correctly , but the array automatically starts a parity sync where is looks like it's rebuilding the parity disk from the 4 drives it recognizes.  So I can't believe that I can "rebuild" the 2TB drive from the array.

 

If I put the old 500GB back into the array, won't the array write over the drive erasing all the data?

A parity sync and a re-construction of a drive will look nearly identical.  Which drive is being "written" to?  (You should see "writes" incrementing on the management console on one of the drives.)

The parity drive is getting written to.  I let it run overnight and the parity drive had 898,357 writes to it but the "unformatted" new 2TB drive had 827,214 reads, 1 write and had 46,914 or so errors.

The parity drive is getting written to.  I let it run overnight and the parity drive had 898,357 writes to it but the "unformatted" new 2TB drive had 827,214 reads, 1 write and had 46,914 or so errors.

Post a system log.  Attach it to your next post.

Instructions under "Troubleshooting" in the wiki.

 

Joe L.

OK, I've attached the syslog.

 

Now, the new 2TB drive is dead.  Major ratcheting going on, so now I know what the deal with the red ball was.

 

So, can I just put the old 500GB data drive back into the array?  What steps do I need to do to ensure that I do it correctly.

syslog.txt

OK, I've attached the syslog.

 

Now, the new 2TB drive is dead.  Major ratcheting going on, so now I know what the deal with the red ball was.

 

So, can I just put the old 500GB data drive back into the array?  What steps do I need to do to ensure that I do it correctly.

Yes, but th array will complain since it is smaller. You'll need to set a new initial disk configuration by typing

initconfig

after logging in as "root" via telnet or on the system console.

It will prompt you for a response.  Answer

Yes

(exactly three characters, capital "Y", lower case "es")

Any other response will be considered as "no"

 

After performing that step which immediately sets a new initial disk configuration and invalidates the parity calcs performed on the prior disk configuration you can press "Start" to start the array.  It will begin a full parity calculation.  You'll not be protected from a second disk failure until it completes.

 

 

OK, first, I really appreciate the help, but I'm stuck once more. 

 

I've put the original 500GB HD with the data back into the array, booted, have all blue dots by all six drives.

 

I've telneted into the UnRaid box, logged in as root and get this:

 

Linux 2.6.32.9-unRAID.

root@unRaid:~# initconfig

-bash: initconfig: command not found

 

I tried with a space:

root@unRaid:~# init config

Usage: init 0123456SsQqAaBbCcUu

 

Help very muchly appreciated.

 

 

OK, first, I really appreciate the help, but I'm stuck once more. 

 

I've put the original 500GB HD with the data back into the array, booted, have all blue dots by all six drives.

 

I've telneted into the UnRaid box, logged in as root and get this:

 

Linux 2.6.32.9-unRAID.

root@unRaid:~# initconfig

-bash: initconfig: command not found

 

I tried with a space:

root@unRaid:~# init config

Usage: init 0123456SsQqAaBbCcUu

 

Help very muchly appreciated.

You have an older version of unRAID then.  In your version you probably will have a button labeled as "restore" on the web-management console.  (You'll need to check the box under it to enable it) It is an initialize configuration button.  The button was replaced by the initconfig command in 4.5.3 ( I think )

On my web screen I have the following two options:

 

buttons being []

 

[refresh] [start] Start will record all disk information, bring the array on-line, and start Parity-Sync (if parity is present). The array is immediately available, but is unprotected until Parity-Sync completes.

[restore] Restore will initialize the stored array configuration; all drives will appear as New, but data disk contents are not affected.

[check box] I'm sure I want to do this

 

So, I want to restore and not just start?

John L -

 

Upgraded to 4.5.6, did the telnet thing and started the array.  Parity is rebuilding with the old 500GB drive in the array.  Looks like you saved me.  Thank you so much.  You're been a great help!