Any additional tips on replacing a failed hard drive? 8.0.4

[TonyToews]

This post is lengthy but most of it is a copy of the instructions from the manual relevant to my version of FreeNAS. Note to lurkers. Ensure you are using the instructions relevant to your version of FreeNAS as mine hasn't been updated for a while.


It would appear that one of my five hard drives has failed. I received the following in a SMART error email.

Device: /dev/ada4, failed to read SMART Attribute Data
And an hour later
Device: /dev/ada4, unable to open device

As I'm awaiting a replacement hard drive I'm now getting the following daily.

NAS1 kernel log messages:
+++ /tmp/security.fzQL0cEo 2013-06-17 03:01:01.000000000 -0600
+xptioctl: pass driver is not in the kernel
+xptioctl: put "device pass" in your kernel config file
<above two lines repeated many times snipped>
+swap_pager: I/O error - pageout failed; blkno 2097185,size 4096, error 6
+swap_pager: I/O error - pageout failed; blkno 2097186,size 4096, error 6

The manual for 8.0.2 states the following:

10.8.9 How do I replace a bad drive?
A. It is recommended that you first upgrade to latest version of 8.0.2 to make sure that your system is not affected by previously known bugs. You will also need access to the FreeNAS™ system to replace the hard drive and to run some commands from the FreeNAS™ console.
If you are replacing a disk that is a member of a RAIDZ1 or RAIDZ2:

1. Determine the device name and serial number of the disk that needs to be replaced as described in FAQ 10.8.8.
2. Shut down the system, pull out the failed drive, and replace it with a new disk of the same size or larger into the same port.
3. Power-on the system. At this point the RAIDZ will be in a DEGRADED state and the disk will be listed as Unavailable.
4. From the command line type zpool replace tank ada7 where tank represents the pool name and ada7 represents the device name.
5. The pool will begin re-silvering. This can take a long time (many hours); be patient and let it finish. You can check the status of the resilvering with zpool status -v. Once the resilvering finishes, zpool status -v will still say DEGRADED.
6. Type the command zpool detach tank /dev/ada7/old, replacing tank and ada7 with your pool name and device name. Check the status again and the DEGRADED and /dev/ada7/old should be gone and the pool state should be ONLINE.
7. Type the command zpool export tank. This will prepare the specified pool for an auto-import of the disk.
8. From the GUI go to: Storage -> Volumes -> Auto Import. Your disk should now show in the drop-down menu.
9. Should the disk not appear in the drop-down menu, make sure that you are running the latest version of FreeNAS™ upgrade if you are not. If you are running the latest FreeNAS™, try backing up your configuration from System -> Settings -> Config -> Save Config. Then, reset the configuration to the factory defaults using the Factory Restore button, and try the auto-import again. Once your disk is imported, you can return to your saved configuration using the Upload Config button.

Any additions to the above list?

I'm no longer able to see the web page, service unavailable, so to lookup the serial number I'll have to reboot the NAS. Or is that a bad idea?

 

[survive]

Hi TonyToews,

I assume you need to shutdown the box to swap the drive, so what I would do is save your config before you power the box off, pop in a new USB key with 8.3.1-p2 on it, boot that and replace your drive under the latest release. There have been a *ton* of fixes & improvements between 8.0.2 & 8.3.1.

Once the drive has been reslivered just upload your config & get on with life.

-Will

 

[TonyToews]

So replacing a failed hard drive is much easier in 8.3.1? You don't need to follow the instructions? Or are the instructions now part of the Web GUi? Ahhhh, reading the relevant section of the 8.3.1 shows that in that version replacing the hard disk is all GUI driven. Nice. Thank you for the suggestion.

I've been a bit wary of upgrading the OS just in case.

 

[TonyToews]

Took a long time to reboot on the new 8.3.1p2 USB key. However the failing hard drive no longer appears on the list of hard drives at all. Furthermore the volume no longer exists. I'm going to see if Auto Import Volume works properly. Sure hope it doesn't screw anything up.

A bit later. Auto Import shows me my two shares on the volume. So now I'm going to power down, replace the hard drive and hope it'll allow me to add the fifth hard drive back to the volume. If I have my terminology correct.

 

[TonyToews]

Finally got around to pulling the hard drive. The power connector was severely charred and came off as I gently pulled it. Parts of the hard drive circuit board are charred black. Strange after being in service for over a year.

Given that FreeNAS couldn't see the hard drive to do a proper shutdown/close out/dismount/whatever is there anything special I should do?