But...I can unassign the "bad" drive...check the box, do the re-build...and my data should be intact on the remaining 5 drives, instead of the array of 6?

If you do not set a new initial configuration your data will be intact on all 6 drives, one being suimulated by reading all the others.

 

If you un-assign the failing disk, after taking any files off of it you might want, and type "initconfig" on the command line, it will be removed from your array and when you next start the array a new initial parity calculation will occur on the remaining data drives.   When it is done you'll have an array of 5 data disks instead of 6.

 

When the replacement disk arrives, you can add it as a new disk.  It will not have any data on it.

 

Joe L.

 

Sorry, this is where you guys lose me a bit; with this whole simulated drive. I don't want to leave this "bad" drive in the array. My 6 drives were like ~5T, and I only had ~2.5-3T used. So I have plenty of room left. I want to "re-build" the data that was within that 6-drive array, down to the 5 good drives, and then just take the 6th out.

 

I can't do that without manually copying the data off of it?? How do I even do that at this point, and get that data back within the array??

 

CD

1. Go to the devices page and set the failed drive to unassigned.

2. Go to the main unRAID page and you can press start. There might be a check box saying you are sure. Make sure it says something about starting with a disk missing.

3. Go to the shares page and set the disks to export read/write.

4. On your Windows or Mac explore the network and you will find all the disks including the missing one.

5. Copy or move any files from the missing drive to other drivers where you'd like them to be.

 

Now, you need to get rid of the drive.

1. Go to the unRAID management page and stop the array.

2. Log-on at the console (monitor and keyboard) or telnet to the server.

3. Type initconfig.

4. Answer Yes.

5. Update the main unRAID management page. All disks should show blue I believe (or all green but the parity blue maybe).

6. Press the start button and let the parity build complete.

 

You can stop the array and power down and remove the drive whenever it's convenient.

 

Peter

 

1. Go to the devices page and set the failed drive to unassigned.

2. Go to the main unRAID page and you can press start. There might be a check box saying you are sure. Make sure it says something about starting with a disk missing.

3. Go to the shares page and set the disks to export read/write.

4. On your Windows or Mac explore the network and you will find all the disks including the missing one.

5. Copy or move any files from the missing drive to other drivers where you'd like them to be.

 

Now, you need to get rid of the drive.

1. Go to the unRAID management page and stop the array.

2. Log-on at the console (monitor and keyboard) or telnet to the server.

3. Type initconfig.

4. Answer Yes.

5. Update the main unRAID management page. All disks should show blue I believe (or all green but the parity blue maybe).

6. Press the start button and let the parity build complete.

 

You can stop the array and power down and remove the drive whenever it's convenient.

 

Peter

 

 

Peter, I went to devices, and unassigned the "bad" drive. But back at Main, I have Refresh and Start...and no check box...and it says Start will bring the array back online (array will be unprotected). Should I proceed?

 

CD

1. Go to the devices page and set the failed drive to unassigned.

2. Go to the main unRAID page and you can press start. There might be a check box saying you are sure. Make sure it says something about starting with a disk missing.

3. Go to the shares page and set the disks to export read/write.

4. On your Windows or Mac explore the network and you will find all the disks including the missing one.

5. Copy or move any files from the missing drive to other drivers where you'd like them to be.

 

Now, you need to get rid of the drive.

1. Go to the unRAID management page and stop the array.

2. Log-on at the console (monitor and keyboard) or telnet to the server.

3. Type initconfig.

4. Answer Yes.

5. Update the main unRAID management page. All disks should show blue I believe (or all green but the parity blue maybe).

6. Press the start button and let the parity build complete.

 

You can stop the array and power down and remove the drive whenever it's convenient.

 

Peter

 

 

Peter, I went to devices, and unassigned the "bad" drive. But back at Main, I have Refresh and Start...and no check box...and it says Start will bring the array back online (array will be unprotected). Should I proceed?

 

CD

you should proceed.

 

Joe L.

OK, I've brought the array back online using 5 HDDs...and I'm in the process of copying the info from the "bad" disk onto others. Can I run a SMART report on the other drives still in the array, with the array active?

 

CD

OK, I've brought the array back online using 5 HDDs...and I'm in the process of copying the info from the "bad" disk onto others. Can I run a SMART report on the other drives still in the array, with the array active?

 

CD

yes you can.

Sorry fellas; I shouldn't be asking build questions in a support thread. Retracted 

 

CD

1. Go to the devices page and set the failed drive to unassigned.

2. Go to the main unRAID page and you can press start. There might be a check box saying you are sure. Make sure it says something about starting with a disk missing.

3. Go to the shares page and set the disks to export read/write.

4. On your Windows or Mac explore the network and you will find all the disks including the missing one.

5. Copy or move any files from the missing drive to other drivers where you'd like them to be.

 

Now, you need to get rid of the drive.

1. Go to the unRAID management page and stop the array.

2. Log-on at the console (monitor and keyboard) or telnet to the server.

3. Type initconfig.

4. Answer Yes.

5. Update the main unRAID management page. All disks should show blue I believe (or all green but the parity blue maybe).

6. Press the start button and let the parity build complete.

 

You can stop the array and power down and remove the drive whenever it's convenient.

 

Peter

 

 

OK, I've copied all the data off the "bad" drive...moved it to a "good" drive (I moved it from the disk4 share..."bad" disk...to the disk5 share, even though the information is sorted by user shares. Shouldn't matter, as long as I moved it over the same way, right?). So now...by doing the initconfig, I "re-set" the parity and array...so that all drives appear as "new" again ("new" to the array, but with data)...and then pressing start will, in fact, rebuild the array...now with 5 drives in place, instead of 6?

 

Do I understand it correctly?

 

CD

Yes, you've got it.

 

Peter

Yes, you've got it.

 

Peter

 

OK, done. So far so good (well, at first I wasn't sure why my initconfig didn't seem to take. When I retried it, I was like maybe the Y in Yes needs to be capped? Sure enough  ). So...all blue disks; before I start the "re-config", can I move a disk up into the blank space of the "bad" removed disc? Or will that some how mess up the data in re-config?

 

CD

Move the disk on the devices page and do an initconfig again. If you have a parity build running just stop it first.

 

Peter

Move the disk on the devices page and do an initconfig again. If you have a parity build running just stop it first.

 

Peter

 

Cool; thanks Peter. I hadn't started yet.

 

CD

OK...while my parity is rebuilding, maybe I could learn more about reading useful information from the SMART report. Here is the report from my other, old, old, 500G...like the one that went "bad".

 

What's this tell me, and why?

 

CD

SMART-2.txt

It looks fine. Nothing special to note that I see.

 

Peter

OK fellas, all appears to be resolved. Thanks for the stellar help!

 

CD