PreClear after adding to array

[tech960]

So far I'm loving this product. After throwing in 3 WD gold 12tb into a quick array, then filling one (Fill-Up method) I discovered the preclear script. No Parity drive at the moment, but plan to add soon.

 

Question, am I able to remove a drive from the array and run a clear on it, and add it back, without losing data. I would like to clear out the 2 new drives that are empty, but i don't know if Unraid adds any data to the 2nd and 3rd drive that is required.

 

I've read that with v6 you can preclear a drive already mounted in the array, but I have yet to figure out how to get the preclear script Icon to show up. Maybe I can only do it manually via cmd line?

[trurl]

There are a lot of reasons you would lose that data trying what you propose, but the most basic one is the lack of parity.

[JonathanM]

2 hours ago, tech960 said:

 

I've read that with v6 you can preclear a drive already mounted in the array

Can you point to the source for that? It's completely wrong, and needs to be corrected.

[tech960]

3 hours ago, jonathanm said:

Can you point to the source for that? It's completely wrong, and needs to be corrected.

I will look for the link when I get home from work, I might still have the tab open.

 

Am I able to take a drive out and convert it to a parity drive? At that point, maybe I will be able to pull the 3rd drive out and preclear it, and stick it back in? Thank you for the replies.

 

Edit: only 1 drive has data, the other 2 are brand new and empty.

Edited November 26, 2019 by tech960

[trurl]

Personally, I would just skip the preclear since you have already created an array. Just run Extended SMART test on each disk (will take several hours) and then post diagnostics so we can take a look at your SMART reports.