Unassigned Devices - Managing Disk Drives and Remote Shares Outside of The Unraid Array

[Masterwishx]

@dlandon if i have smb share in unraid mounted from my main comp for backup unraid, and lets say i have my main comp offline or shutdown . 

the share in unraid still shows as mounted but nothing is mounted and i cant unmount my remote share by command?

or what kind of instuction for it?

(i mean if smb remote share in unraid is disconnected or goes offline)

Edited June 25, 2021 by Masterwishx

[comet424]

what does the user script option do  in the Gear Settings?

i figured  it ran one of my scripts   either choosing the word "Name" or "Script  

so when the drive got mounted it run that script but it never did

 

i ended up  copying the code in my user script and then adding it to the "ADD" spot when you do the default Script.. so that when the SSD is mounted  it will auto run the script

 

but was curious what the user script option does?

 

[dlandon]

1 hour ago, comet424 said:

what does the user script option do  in the Gear Settings?

i figured  it ran one of my scripts   either choosing the word "Name" or "Script  

so when the drive got mounted it run that script but it never did

 

i ended up  copying the code in my user script and then adding it to the "ADD" spot when you do the default Script.. so that when the SSD is mounted  it will auto run the script

 

but was curious what the user script option does?

 

[comet424]

so does that mean if the cron is running every hour say on  "move files to SSD"  that it will show up on the assigned device?  and if so where do you see it.. as i know the LOG for user scripts ...  so i totally not sure what that option is or where it displays it..  least for me its kinda confusing 

as the script i have moves files to the usb SSD  every hour .. but where do you see the running status?  does it pop up a notifcation or something?

[dlandon]

30 minutes ago, comet424 said:

so does that mean if the cron is running every hour say on  "move files to SSD"  that it will show up on the assigned device?  and if so where do you see it.. as i know the LOG for user scripts ...  so i totally not sure what that option is or where it displays it..  least for me its kinda confusing 

as the script i have moves files to the usb SSD  every hour .. but where do you see the running status?  does it pop up a notifcation or something?

[comet424]

oh so it will show  RUNNING 

where the Mount/Unmound Icon is for that specific UD

gotcha   i didnt know and i couldnt figure it out 

 

thanks  i not that smart sometimes 🙂

[mgutt]

Feature Request:

Make Destructive Mode default and/or make greyed out format button more self-explaining.

 

This is a repeating question in the german forums as the user is not able to directly understand the reason for the greyed out button.

[dlandon]

51 minutes ago, mgutt said:

Feature Request:

Make Destructive Mode default and/or make greyed out format button more self-explaining.

 

This is a repeating question in the german forums as the user is not able to directly understand the reason for the greyed out button.

It's pretty clear in the first post in UD;

To format a disk:

• Destructive Mode must be enabled.  You will need to install the 'Unassigned Devices Plus' plugin to enable Destructive Mode.  UD Plus will install the 'parted' package needed for formatting and deleting partitions.
• Disk must have all partitions removed.  Unmount the disk, click on the '+' icon next to the serial number, and click on all red-X to delete partitions.
• If the disk has been precelared and shows a grayed 'Format' button, click on the '+' icon next to the disk serial number, then click on the red-X to delete the preclear status file.

and in the Help:

To format a disk:

• Destructive mode must be enabled.
• Disk must have all partitions removed. Unmount disk, click on the  icon,, and click on all  icons to delete partitions.
• If the disk has been precelared and shows a grayed 'Format' button, click on the  icon, then click on the  icon to delete the preclear status file.

I guess it's too much to ask people to read.  Because of the requirements to enable the 'Format' button, it is a challenge to let users know there is a problem.

 

What I might look into is enabling the 'Format' button and then telling them what they need to do to format a disk if it's not already been done.

[mgutt]

Just now, dlandon said:

It's pretty clear in the first post in UD;

A user and for sure a German user, does not read in the (English) forums while using Unraid.

 

3 minutes ago, dlandon said:

I guess it's too much to ask people to read

It's hard to read an English help text, if you a) don't speak English and b) don't know how to display it.

 

7 minutes ago, dlandon said:

it is a challenge to let users know there is a problem.

I don't really understand why typing the word "yes" isn't challenging enough, but this is your design decision. I think an user-interface should be self-explaining.

 

P.S the same is valid for the +-button. The question regarding "missing partitions" is recurring as well.

 

I propose to collapse it by default (changeable through the settings) and to solve the format button issue: Link it with the UD settings page as follows:

http://tower/Settings/UnassignedDevicesSettings#:~:text=Destructive%20Mode

 

 

[dlandon]

1 hour ago, mgutt said:

A user and for sure a German user, does not read in the (English) forums while using Unraid.

Browsers have a page translation capability.

 

1 hour ago, mgutt said:

It's hard to read an English help text, if you a) don't speak English and b) don't know how to display it.

The Help text is translated:

Zum Formatieren eines Datenträgers:

• Muss der Partitionierungs Modus aktiviert werden.
• Alle Partitionen müssen vom Datetnräger gelöscht sein. Datenträger auswerfen, auf die Seriennummer klicken und auf alle  Symbole klicken um die Partitionen zu löschen.
• Wenn der Datenträger Precleared wurde und einen grauen 'Formatieren' Knopf anzeigt, auf das  Symbol klicken, danach auf  Symbol klicken um die Preclear-Status-Datei zu löschen.

 

As far as displaying the Help text, that's really something they need to learn for Unraid in general as it applies everywhere.

 

1 hour ago, mgutt said:

I don't really understand why typing the word "yes" isn't challenging enough, but this is your design decision. I think an user-interface should be self-explaining.

Sorry, what I meant is for UD to check all the conditions and make it clear to the user what needs to be done.

 

I'm working on a solution that will display a dialog when then a user clicks the format button and a format can't be done.

 

1 hour ago, mgutt said:

I think an user-interface should be self-explaining.

I agree, but a user has to take some responsibility to read and understand how a plugin works, especially UD with all it's capability.

 

The reason for the destructive mode is to be sure users don't make a mistake and accidently delete data.  We'd never hear the end of that if it was too easy to delete data.

 

1 hour ago, mgutt said:

P.S the same is valid for the +-button. The question regarding "missing partitions" is recurring as well.

Defaulting this enabled is not in the best interest of all users.  There is a Tool Tip shown when a user hovers their mouse over the '+'.  It looks like it has not been translated.  I'll look into why it hasn't.

[mgutt]

25 minutes ago, dlandon said:

There is a Tool Tip shown when a user hovers their mouse over the '+'. 

The users don't understand that they needed to click on the button at all. I don't think the tool tip solves this. Maybe the first mount button is renamed to "partitions" and this collapse the partitions, so you could remove the + button at all?!

[dlandon]

19 hours ago, mgutt said:

The users don't understand that they needed to click on the button at all. I don't think the tool tip solves this. Maybe the first mount button is renamed to "partitions" and this collapse the partitions, so you could remove the + button at all?!

This is an issue for the first time users.  Once they understand how it works, it shouldn't be an issue.  This has been this way for a very long time and the old timers are used to it.  I'm reluctant to make that kind of change.  It will be confusing to the old timers.

 

Probably the best solution is to set the show partitions to default 'On' when a new disk is installed.  They can then set the 'Show Partitions' 'Off' to not show the partitions.  This will help the new users, and old timers can just set it to 'Off' if they don't want to see the partitions.

Edited July 8, 2021 by dlandon

[hawihoney]

7 hours ago, dlandon said:

Probably the best solution is to set the show partitions to default 'On' when a new disk is installed.  They can then set the 'Show Partitions' 'Off' to not show the partitions.

 

+1

 

[dlandon]

21 hours ago, mgutt said:

The users don't understand that they needed to click on the button at all. I don't think the tool tip solves this. Maybe the first mount button is renamed to "partitions" and this collapse the partitions, so you could remove the + button at all?!

I read through the German post about UD and think I owe you an explanation on why I have decided to do things differently than your suggestion.  You commented that I was not receptive to your ideas.  I am, but I have to consider all users and not just a few and the technical considerations.  It is not a good idea to make changes just to accommodate a small group of users, at the expense of others.

 

The following are the reasons your idea would be difficult:

• The '+' button shows partitions so you can manage them.
  • Rename mount point by clicking on the existing mount point.
  • The mount point becomes a browsing link when the partition is mounted.
  • You can unmount/auto mount each partition individually.
  • If the 'Mount' button was turned into a 'Partitions' button to show the partitions, how do you unmount the disk?
  • If the '+ button is removed, the above functionality would be lost.

I've made a change so the partitions are shown when a new disk is installed.  It can then be turned off if desired by changing the device Settings.  This gets you what you are looking for and does not cause issues with existing users.

 

As for the 'Format' button not being enabled:

• The Destructive Mode was implemented so users don't accidentally format a disk.  Accidental data loss would be an issue.
• Formatting a disk with UD requires a partitioning package that is installed with UD plus.  Why install a package that is not required for all users and used only infrequently?
• There is a confirmation when formatting a disk.  You have to enter 'Yes' to confirm the format.

I have changed the 'Format' button to be enabled at all times and the following dialog shows if the Destructive Mode is not enabled:

 

I think this is the best solution all things being considered.

 

Before you consider me un-cooperative or dismissive, please take the time to understand my reasoning behind the decisions.  I realize you feel that your ideas are the best, but I need to consider all aspects of any changes:

• How does it affect other users?
• Backwards compatibility?
• Is it in line with LT direction?  Yes, I do coordinate closely with LT with any changes to UD.
• Minimize data loss.
• Consider any security issues.

[dlandon]

New release of UD.  Notable changes:

• No one has reported it yet, but I have found that my Windows 10 share would not mount.  The issue seems to be related to IPv6.  The suggested solution is to turn off IPv6 on the Unraid server.  I didn't feel that this was a good answer and implemented a fix so the Windows 10 share mounts using IPv4.  Existing Windows shares will work as they are.
• The 'Format' button is enabled at all times and if Destructive Mode is not enabled, a dialog will remind the user to enable Destructive Mode.  There has been confusion as to why the 'Format' button is grayed out.
• Because of some confusion about partitions on disk devices, the 'Show Partitions' switch will now default to enabled on new devices.  This will show all partitions.  You may see this on disks where it did not act this way before.  Just go to the device Settings and turn off the 'Show Partitions' switch.

[mgutt]

1 hour ago, dlandon said:

It is not a good idea to make changes just to accommodate a small group of users, at the expense of others.

My suggestion didn't reflect my personal needs, it was a feedback as moderator of the German sub forums. If it was only a small group I wouldn't have posted it.

 

I wasn't able to test it, but regarding your changelog I think you covered the problems with the new version perfectly. We will see in the next days if some long-time users don't like it 😅

 

Next step is to get more attention for this feature request as it is another thing which happens frequently to new users.

[Ptolemyiv]

Hi all,

 

I can't seem to work out why any remote SMB or NFS share mounts (a synology NAS I use for critical backup) will not show the mount button enabled under Unassigned Devices section of the Main page. If I click log then nothing appears.

 

It used to work and when I add the share with user name / password I get a "Success!" pop-up window.

 

My best hunch is if perhaps accessing an external share counts towards my unraid disk limit? (I only did basic version since I physically can't fit more than 4 drives + 2 SSDs in my case) 

 

If this is the case, it is fine and I will upgrade but wanted to check this was definitely the issue before I pay more to potentially be disappointed! I did check the FAQ and saw it say that all drives that appear as linux drives other than the flash drive will count but I am not quite sure if SMB/NFS shares appear as such (I assumed they were mounts within an existing share)

 

Thanks for the guidance! Overall am loving unraid.. has been a bit of a game-changer from underpowered Syno world..

[itimpi]

43 minutes ago, Ptolemyiv said:

My best hunch is if perhaps accessing an external share counts towards my unraid disk limit? (I only did basic version since I physically can't fit more than 4 drives + 2 SSDs in my case) 

No - only physical drives attached to the server at array start time are counted.

 

There should be something in the logs indicating why you cannot mount.

[dlandon]

1 hour ago, Ptolemyiv said:

Hi all,

 

I can't seem to work out why any remote SMB or NFS share mounts (a synology NAS I use for critical backup) will not show the mount button enabled under Unassigned Devices section of the Main page. If I click log then nothing appears.

 

It used to work and when I add the share with user name / password I get a "Success!" pop-up window.

This is generally because the remote server is not responding to a ping.  The device ball and 'Mount' button will be gray when UD cannot successfully ping the remote server.  If you hover your mouse over the device ball, it will say the remote share is offline.

 

Remote shares do not count in the total number of devices allowed by your license.

[Ptolemyiv]

1 hour ago, itimpi said:

No - only physical drives attached to the server at array start time are counted.

 

There should be something in the logs indicating why you cannot mount.

Sorry for dumb question but which logs should I check and what is easiest way of doing that? If I click the log icon on the right of the row for this share under unassigned devices it is just blank

 

And thanks both for confirming on other question re license

[dlandon]

7 minutes ago, Ptolemyiv said:

Sorry for dumb question but which logs should I check and what is easiest way of doing that? If I click the log icon on the right of the row for this share under unassigned devices it is just blank

 

And thanks both for confirming on other question re license

The syslog is the log to check.  The log on the right side of the device row is the log from the device script that you setup to run when the device is installed.

[Ptolemyiv]

25 minutes ago, dlandon said:

The syslog is the log to check.  The log on the right side of the device row is the log from the device script that you setup to run when the device is installed.

Ok thanks.

 

Anyhow, you were right - as soon as I enabled ICMP protocol and the unraid IP, it immediately shows as green.. thanks for saving me some time!

[theangelofspace15]

updating my pcie nvme does not get detected.

[dlandon]

6 hours ago, theangelofspace15 said:

updating my pcie nvme does not get detected.

You'll have to provide more information about the specific problem.

[Johnyb62]

 Is there a way to change the ownership / access rights of a share on an Unassigned device?

I've got a 40Gb USB drive attached which I used as the Temporary Download Folder for SABnzbd (docker).  Although the d/l works ok, sab reports 'Cannot change permissions of /incomplete-downloads/temp'.  When I look at the owner of the folder its root, but I don't seem to be able to change that via chown -R nobody:users /mnt/disks/tempdrive/temp, nor does newperms /mnt/disks/tempdrive/temp make any difference. Any ideas?   Suppose I could change Sabnzbd docker to run as root, but hoping there's another way. Thanks