chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 I've just started with Unraid, using my old gaming computer as my server. I bought 4 8TB WD Elements and shucked them after running preclear on all of them, which gave no errors. I have the drive in a 4 drive MediaSonic ProBox connected via USB 3.1 Gen2 USB C (Model HF7-SU31C) to a StarTech 2-Port USB 3.1 PCIe card on the motherboard. I've tried to do a parity multiple times, each taking a couple of days with the size of the drives, but every time it seems to stop around 70-90% for no apparent reason. The drives still show as connected, but the parity process just pauses, and won't start again, it'll just move right into a Read-Check. I've attached the diagnostics from the latest attempt, but I'm just really not sure what's happened...if anything, it might be a blip in the connection that halts the entire process? If it's that, what can I do to prevent it? Is it possible that my setup just won't work with the size of the drives I have in the ProBox (simply due to the amount of time it takes)? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks tower-diagnostics-20200118-1220.zip Quote Link to comment
PeteAsking Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 This might be unrelated but in that setup check you are not using turbo write as it will slow down disk speeds overall as they are on shared bandwidth. If you are not using that feel free to ignore me Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 Just now, PeteAsking said: This might be unrelated but in that setup check you are not using turbo write as it will slow down disk speeds overall as they are on shared bandwidth. If you are not using that feel free to ignore me Not sure what you mean by Turbo Write...where is that setting? Quote Link to comment
PeteAsking Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 In disk settings make sure its set to read/modify/write (default) rather than reconstruct write. If you never changed this then its already set like that. 1 Quote Link to comment
trurl Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 Probably best if you don't attempt to use USB for your Unraid disks. Unreliable connections will be a constant cause of disabled disks and parity failures. Maybe if you wanted to run without parity you could get away with it. 1 Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 1 minute ago, PeteAsking said: In disk settings make sure its set to read/modify/write (default) rather than reconstruct write. If you never changed this then its already set like that. Got it. It was set on Auto, but I just changed it to read/modify/write. Thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment
PeteAsking Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 (edited) 5 minutes ago, chrisp1992 said: Got it. It was set on Auto, but I just changed it to read/modify/write. Thanks for the tip! No problem, since this wont change anything I am wondering if we can suggest some other way of fixing the issue. Is the parity drive separate or also in the USB enclosure? It would be better if the parity disk was on its own channel somehow rather than also being in the enclosure. (Even if just on its own in the other USB port). Edited January 18, 2020 by PeteAsking 1 Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 1 minute ago, trurl said: Probably best if you don't attempt to use USB for your Unraid disks. Unreliable connections will be a constant cause of disabled disks and parity failures. Maybe if you wanted to run without parity you could get away with it. Well that's unfortunate. I don't have a setup at the moment that can handle a lot of disks without the USB card, but you're probably right and I need to get a different setup for this. I mainly got it because it gave me hotswap ability without having to get a rack. Quote Link to comment
trurl Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 Hotswap isn't really that useful in Unraid, since you can't replace a disk without stopping the array anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, PeteAsking said: No problem, since this wont change anything I am wondering if we can suggest some other way of fixing the issue. Is the parity drive separate or also in the USB enclosure? It would be better if the parity disk was on its own channel somehow rather than also being in the enclosure. All 4 of the 8TB shucked drives are in the enclosure. My current case only has two HDD bays, and those are occupied by some older 1TB drives. I could perhaps swap two of the 8TB with the two 1TB drives, and then use the sata connected ones as my parity. Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, trurl said: Hotswap isn't really that useful in Unraid, since you can't replace a disk without stopping the array anyway. True. I was mainly wanting the hotswap ability for ease of access and removal, but I suppose most modern cases are easy enough to change. Quote Link to comment
PeteAsking Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 (edited) 2 minutes ago, chrisp1992 said: All 4 of the 8TB shucked drives are in the enclosure. My current case only has two HDD bays, and those are occupied by some older 1TB drives. I could perhaps swap two of the 8TB with the two 1TB drives, and then use the sata connected ones as my parity. Yes this would be better and also improve the speed of the disks as they will currently all run and be limited to the speed of the parity disk - in this shared bandwidth mode would possibly be a bottleneck. If you can move it to the SATA channel then likely speed will improve and possibly also fix your issue. You should test it as it avoids purchasing anything additional or new. Edited January 18, 2020 by PeteAsking Spelling 1 Quote Link to comment
Vr2Io Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 1 hour ago, chrisp1992 said: I've just started with Unraid, using my old gaming computer as my server. I bought 4 8TB WD Elements and shucked them after running preclear on all of them, which gave no errors. I have the drive in a 4 drive MediaSonic ProBox connected via USB 3.1 Gen2 USB C (Model HF7-SU31C) to a StarTech 2-Port USB 3.1 PCIe card on the motherboard. I've tried to do a parity multiple times, each taking a couple of days with the size of the drives, but every time it seems to stop around 70-90% for no apparent reason. The drives still show as connected, but the parity process just pauses, and won't start again, it'll just move right into a Read-Check. I've attached the diagnostics from the latest attempt, but I'm just really not sure what's happened...if anything, it might be a blip in the connection that halts the entire process? If it's that, what can I do to prevent it? Is it possible that my setup just won't work with the size of the drives I have in the ProBox (simply due to the amount of time it takes)? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks tower-diagnostics-20200118-1220.zip 205.41 kB · 1 download Jan 16 22:22:18 Tower kernel: usb 6-1.1: reset SuperSpeedPlus Gen 2 USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd Jan 16 22:22:18 Tower kernel: usb 6-1.2: reset SuperSpeedPlus Gen 2 USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd Jan 16 22:22:19 Tower kernel: usb 6-1.1: reset SuperSpeedPlus Gen 2 USB device number 3 using xhci_hcd You should try on other USB controller, i.e. onboard USB 3 gen 1. Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 2 hours ago, PeteAsking said: Yes this would be better and also improve the speed of the disks as they will currently all run and be limited to the speed of the parity disk - in this shared bandwidth mode would possibly be a bottleneck. If you can move it to the SATA channel then likely speed will improve and possibly also fix your issue. You should test it as it avoids purchasing anything additional or new. Just finished swapping disks, had to do the 3.3v taping and what not, but we're looking good now. Building parity, looks like it should only take 17 hours total instead of 1 day and 17 hours. Odd thing is that it's roughly the same speeds...around 125MB/s now whereas it was 117MB/s in the probox. Probably more consistent with direct sata connections. Appreciate your help!! 1 Quote Link to comment
PeteAsking Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, chrisp1992 said: Just finished swapping disks, had to do the 3.3v taping and what not, but we're looking good now. Building parity, looks like it should only take 17 hours total instead of 1 day and 17 hours. Odd thing is that it's roughly the same speeds...around 125MB/s now whereas it was 117MB/s in the probox. Probably more consistent with direct sata connections. Appreciate your help!! No probs. I hope it completes. Let us all know the outcome so we can all learn from it Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 2 hours ago, PeteAsking said: No probs. I hope it completes. Let us all know the outcome so we can all learn from it Well it's certainly slowed down...ETA is now 1 day and 4 hours from now. I'm guessing the heat has slowed it down - went to 72MB/s now. Quote Link to comment
PeteAsking Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, chrisp1992 said: Well it's certainly slowed down...ETA is now 1 day and 4 hours from now. I'm guessing the heat has slowed it down - went to 72MB/s now. No worries. The drives are running over USB so we will just have to be patient. Hopefully we can speak again in 24 hours time with some good news Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 1 minute ago, PeteAsking said: No worries. The drives are running over USB so we will just have to be patient. Hopefully we can speak again in 24 hours time with some good news Well the two parity drives are hooked up via sata. I've made the decision to get a bigger case that can hold the HDDs inside, and then also got a Sata expansion card. I bought this current small case because it was supposed to be quiet, and it's exactly the opposite. I'll come out even and with better performance overall 1 Quote Link to comment
chrisp1992 Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 14 hours ago, PeteAsking said: No worries. The drives are running over USB so we will just have to be patient. Hopefully we can speak again in 24 hours time with some good news It worked! Ended up speeding up a lot before I went to bed, finished early this morning. Quote Link to comment
PeteAsking Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 13 minutes ago, chrisp1992 said: It worked! Ended up speeding up a lot before I went to bed, finished early this morning. Cool, glad it worked out for you man. Hopefully it can work nicely in the meantime and when you upgrade to sata etc it all goes smoothly too. Enjoy the rest of the day running Unraid 1 Quote Link to comment
trurl Posted January 19, 2020 Share Posted January 19, 2020 Since you're new, and attempting to do this in a way that may cause problems, I thought I would mention. If you get a disabled disk, it is probably a connection issue, not a bad disk. And the "normal" way to fix a disabled disk is to rebuild it from parity. So another time-consuming process that might have problems with connections. That is why I mentioned the possibility of running without parity as long as you are using USB for your data disks. Do you have backups of anything important and irreplaceable? Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.