It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:51 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]

Recent News:



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 7:24 pm 
Offline
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:55 pm
Posts: 6
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
I have an HP MediaSmart EX470 running WHS v1. I have upgraded the RAM to 2GB a year ago, but otherwise it is standard. My brother gave it to me when he upgraded his home server. I know little about it, except it worked great. I store all my photos and songs and research files on a set of network drives hosted by the server. I have mirroring turned on for all folders. I backed up my 2 desktops and one laptop routinely, and I tried to back up the server (until the contents grew too large) on a USB 2TB drive.

I have a 600GB WD system drive with SMART technology that was running fine.
I had a 1TB Samsung Drive that was the source of trouble.
I have two 2TB Seagate drives that have been fine.

I was at about 70% of the 5TB capacity with the data and backups and mirroring.

The Samsung Drive got a SMART error (bad sector). I realized it was the oldest drive, so I ordered two new Seagate 2TB NAS barebones drives from Newegg to replace the Samsung and have a spare.

I used the Console to remove the Samsung from the pool. That was successful. I ran CHDSK on it via the Console and that seemed to fix the bad sector problems. But in the meantime, my daughter turned off the ceiling fan by accident and the server gave me an overheating warning because there just wasn't enough room on the two Seagate drives without the Samsung drive, and the server was in overdrive when I was editing music files. So I shut down the server. I used canned air and a vacuum to clean any dust, then I added the Samsung drive that I thought was fixed back into the server and added it to the pool again, figuring it was fixed enough for a few days and I would replace it with one of the new Seagate 2TB drives when they arrived.

When I started up the server, I figured it might take a few hours for the Samsung to be added back in the pool since it took more than 90 minutes to get it out. The power LED came on blue. The network LED went to solid blue. The third LED blinked some alt red/blue then plain blue (like just over once per second), and continued to blink for hours, and then overnight, and then for two days. By that time the Seagate drives had arrived and I was thinking the Samsung wasn't really fixed. I tried shutting down the server, but no response. I tried using a paperclip to see an error message, but the two left LEDs stayed solid blue and the third just continues to blink, blink, blink (Poe's Raven came to mind...implacable Nevermore). So I forced a shutdown by holding power button down. Popped out the Samsung, popped in a new Seagate, and started up...

The same: solid blue power LED, solid blue network LED, initial red/blue alternating went to blinking blue and has stayed there. I cannot see the server on my network and the Console does not find the server responding. This time for another day and a half. I am patient, because I figured there is a lot of data, and a lot of moving around to organize again. Again, the paperclip pushed in to hit the button gets no response, no error flashes to decode.

I don't have the Recovery Disk (my brother didn't have one) and I don't think my backup of my server is sufficient...I relied upon the mirroring. I assume that the data is still there on the two good, original Seagate drives and the good WD system disk.

Should I wait longer? Or are things hung up? How can I get a Recovery Disk if I need one? Was it a mistake to replace the Samsung with the Seagate?

I really did not expect this kind of a problem, where none of the errors in the manual are present and a hot swap just didn't work. HELP!

Put the holiday back in my holiday weekend, please.


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  

Attention Guest: Remove this ad by Registering with the MediaSmartServer.net Forums. It's Free!
PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:20 am 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:10 pm
Posts: 5157
Location: Georgia, USA
Thanks: 86
Thanked: 704 times in 682 posts
So sorry for the long delay. The Health Light Blinking Blue means the server has not finished booting it could be getting hung up on the drive you indicated. You could try pulling that drive out and boot the server without it. The server if it boots up will report all sorts of errors but that will be due to the missing drive.

Kindly let me know where you are with your server and I will be more then happy to get you pointed in the right direction.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:34 am 
Offline
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:55 pm
Posts: 6
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
I am happy(?) to report that I have finally resolved the problem. The Samsung disc turned out NOT to be the major problem. It did have a SMART error and after I pulled it, fixed the bad sectors, it appears to be running fine. However, I have relegated it to an untrusted role in my desktop.

The server not only had the problem dealing with the problem Samsung, but in rebuilding the image with what was left, it overheated, and the shutdown and restart corrupted some files on one of the Seagate drives. I added a 2TB Seagate NAS drive to replace the Samsung and nothing. Fearful of losing it all, I shutdown the whole server, pulled one of the two Seagate drives and place it in my desktop to see if I could "see" it. By luck of the draw, I found it was completely unresponsive in the desktop, and figured I have a second bad drive. So I booted up the server with only the one good Seagate (I hoped), a replacement Seagate, and the Samsung (temporarily even though it was wiped in the repair process, I knew it HAD worked in the server). And the server booted fine, although it complained of a drive failing...the Seagate that was unresponsive still had an image in the server! The physical drives gave me blue or purple LEDs and I eventually added and rebalanced as best it could with this failed drive image giving warnings all over. Once I got the server responsive, I shut it down properly via software command.

I restarted, then took a leap and deleted the failed drive image. This worked, although I have about 30-40 file conflicts where I only have a partial file (most were images or mp3 files that I could "see" a partial image after much delay). In the end, I got two new 2TB Seagate NAS drives to work fine with the remaining working 2TB Barracuda. I now use the remaining barracuda as a server backup (I only have about 1.8TB of actual data, the rest was mirrored, and so 4TB of server disk is plenty). I have lost a few family vacation photos from several years back. I was able to rip my CDs to replace the MP3 files. And I'm ALMOST finished deleting the remaining conflict files (it takes forever for the system to prepare them for and delete them).

It's been two weeks, but almost any day, I hope to see the server status go back to green. ugh.
Lessons learned:
1. clean up your files and archive essential or irreplaceable files better;
2. have a replacement drive of sufficient size READY to replace a bad drive immediately; and
3. be prepared for a double-failure because it CAN happen (probably the failures were linked, and so the odds are higher than just two independent failures occurring at the same time!).

Thanks for the PM. That makes me feel better prepared in the future too.


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:19 am 
Offline
Max Contributor
Max Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:49 pm
Posts: 2226
Location: Casper Wyoming
Thanks: 81
Thanked: 256 times in 251 posts
Quote:
So I forced a shutdown by holding power button down. Popped out the Samsung, popped in a new Seagate, and started up...

The servers really need to be in a ready/steady state before trying to add a new drive.

I didn't see where you have the free SMART addin, you may have other bad drives.
If you can get access to it again with the bad drive out, I would get that installed, it is a must have IMHO.
http://www.dojonorthsoftware.net/dl/InstallHomeServerSMARTClassic.zip

Goodluck

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2016E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
:twisted: Fear the Cloud :twisted:


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 3:43 pm 
Offline
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:55 pm
Posts: 6
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Thanks for the tip about the SMART add-in. I did not know about it. I have now loaded it.
:cheers:


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 4:13 pm 
Offline
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:55 pm
Posts: 6
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
I currently have the following:

Advanced Admin Console Addin v 0.5.4
MSS Fan Control 1.0.0.9
GridJunction 1.6 (I have an APC UPS connected)
Media Connect Controller 0.2.0
and now Home Server SMART Classic 3.1.10.9

Note though: I only see the Western Digital system drive's full details. The three 2TB Seagate drives show up, but don't register as SMART.


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 3:57 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:10 pm
Posts: 5157
Location: Georgia, USA
Thanks: 86
Thanked: 704 times in 682 posts
There was a beta version of HomeServerSMART Classic that Matt worked on specifically to resolve the issue with drives not showing up its actually versions 3.2.2.17 which I helped test out. I suggest you download it from the following link: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13734

Hopefully that will resolve your issue with Seagate Drives not showing up. If they are connected USB its always hit or miss there with reading the SMART Info from the drives.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:21 pm 
Offline
Newbie
Newbie

Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2014 2:55 pm
Posts: 6
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Comp1962 wrote:
There was a beta version of HomeServerSMART Classic that Matt worked on specifically to resolve the issue with drives not showing up its actually versions 3.2.2.17 which I helped test out.

Hopefully that will resolve your issue with Seagate Drives not showing up. If they are connected USB its always hit or miss there with reading the SMART Info from the drives.


This beta version 3.2.3.17 did not work for me, but by following the threads, I found a version 3.2.3.26 which did work! And, of course, it showed that the remaining old Seagate Barracuda was critical and in pre-fail mode. :-(

Since I was able to go through all my data in the server and eliminate duplicate files, unneeded ancient backup files, etc, I was able to reduce the size of my actual data by a third. That means it all fits on the two new Seagate NAS disks and old WD system disk for now. I guess I go buy a couple more drives to be sure I am covered for the future too.

BTW, the two Seagate NAS drives and the WD drive are all internal (SCSI?) connected. I use an external WD 2TB drive with USB only on occasion to backup the system and some critical files. It isn't routinely connected, but stored safely until I use it.

I'm just hoping when I remove the failing Barracuda drive from the drive pool, it does so without problem or leaving/creating any problematic files!


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 7:22 am 
Offline
Max Contributor
Max Contributor
User avatar

Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:49 pm
Posts: 2226
Location: Casper Wyoming
Thanks: 81
Thanked: 256 times in 251 posts
You have found three things that are essential with servers:
1) SMART software to keep an eye on the drives, to catch them before they go out completely if possible.
2) Always have a couple extra 2tb drives on hand, harddrives are the cheapest they have been in a long time, a great time to grab a few.
3) Always have a backup outside of the server for the un-replaceable stuff. USB/Cloud/second server/something.

When I setup my first server I bought 5 extra drives, Just in case. I since have used them in my other servers but always have a few extra drives on hand.

Glad to hear you came out ok, some have not been so lucky, enjoy your server with the new knowledge to keep it running for years to come. :-)

_________________
[X510 CPU/RAM/All 2 TB Red's] [X510 CPU/Sync'ed Backup/All 2 TB Hitachi's]
[X510 /2 in box]
[X710 LIAN LI DIY W2016E] Stablebit Drivepool [EX-503 LIAN LI 5-bay USB3 External]
:twisted: Fear the Cloud :twisted:


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 9:32 pm 
Offline
Moderator
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 7:10 pm
Posts: 5157
Location: Georgia, USA
Thanks: 86
Thanked: 704 times in 682 posts
dbott,

Anytime you have a drive in question that your looking to replace its better to replace it as soon as possible especially if its condition continues to degrade. Hopefully the drive will remove without issue for you but its a long process and can take hours depending on how much data it has to move.

_________________
Exploring the possibilities!

Migrated from WHS2011 to WS2012E: HIGHLANDER

~ Norco 4220 Enclosure
~ Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
~ AMD Phenom II X4 995 3.2 GHz
~ 8 GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
~ 3 Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8


Top
 Profile  
Thanks  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 35 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group