Can't create new pool , greyed out

[avalon60]

I have a single WD Blue 2 TB for cctv media files. This was a replacement for a 1 TB which went bad after 7 years.
The 2TB disk went offline 2 days ago, so I opted to disconnect it. I then wiped it , once quick then long with a load of random 0's.
When I go to create a new pool with the same disk , the said disk is showing, but after clicking or selecting vdev, the only option I have is 'Stripe', which is highly discouraged.
The create button is greyed out

I have followed these instructions: https://www.truenas.com/docs/core/coretutorials/storage/pools/poolcreate/, but I can't select a data vdev.

Thanks

 

[samarium]

If it is only a single disk for creating a new pool, then it is effectively a stripe, 1 disk wide. Also, with only 1 disk, vdev mirror or raidz doesn't mean anything useful, since you only have 1 disk.

If you are trying to add the disk as a mirror to an existing pool, then that is an entirely different thing, and you should be very careful you don't create a situation that you don't want.

 

[avalon60]

Ok, thanks for that. So even though it says that a stripe vdev is discouraged, should I still go ahead and use stripe, then 'Force' to create the pool.

I have created the pool, and added the datasets ok, but after rebooting TrueNAS, the pool / single disk has gone Offline again as it did a few days ago. Does that mean the disk is faulty as it is fairly new

 

[samarium]

If you want to create a pool with one disk then stripe doesn't matter, just create the pool.

If you were going to create a 2 disk pool, and it was a stripe, then you would need to ask yourself if you wanted to create a stripe with no redundancy, or you really wanted to create a mirror and if so stop creating the stripe create a mirror.

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with a stripe, it is just that almost always that is not what you actually want.

Sounds like you you read some of the reference material and familarize yourself with ZFS pool structure, so you have a better background to understanding what you are doing.

 

[avalon60]

Yes I did create the pool and datasets, then rebooted TrueNAS. After it came back up, the new pool was OFFLINE again.
Does that mean there is a problem with the recently new disk.

Thanks

 

[samarium]

You should be able to import the pool if it is not imported, and it should stay imported. If not you will need to investigate the system messages/logs/alerts.

 

[Davvo]

Does that mean there is a problem with the recently new disk.

Possibily so. Please post the output of zpool status inside [CODE][/CODE] tags.

 

[avalon60]

Thanks, but I am returning it back to amazon and getting a replacement.
The first 1Tb WD Purple lasted 7 year, and this 2Tb Purple barely lasted 7 weeks, as it went offline twice in 2 days

 

[Davvo]

It might not have been the HDD's fault though.

 

[avalon60]

If it wasn't , I'll find out with the new one, and Ill be back here.
All I know it was fine until I installed the latest update to 13..0.U5.1

 

[Davvo]

It could have simply needed a zpool online poolname.
We will see.

 

[Arwen]

You said WD Blue in the original post. But later say Purple.

Some of the desk top type drives have spin down. Or aggressive head parking. Both can be problematic for ZFS & TrueNAS. In the case of spin down, TrueNAS likes to know about it and control it, (if I remember correctly, that is a feature I don't use). So having a drive spin down, (aka become unavailable for immediate reads or writes), would likely cause ZFS to consider the drive offline. Not a problem for a redundant pool, but a single disk pool would become unavailable.

As for the aggressive head parking, similar issue in that the drive is not immediately available. Though I would not have thought that it would cause offline problems.


In any case if you experience the same problem with your replacement drive, it is a function of the drive. Yes, your old drive worked, however it would almost certainly have different firmware than what is shipped with WD drives today.

 

[avalon60]

Ok thanks for that eplanation, and yes I did say Blue in my OP , but then said Purple, doh! The said drive is Purple and NOT Blue

If I experience the same symptoms with the new drive, do you have any suggestions on what a solution might be, because I fear I might have the same problem, but time will tell. The disk will only be used to hold cctv media files. Although the said disk is the best rated for cctv footage, it may not be for TrueNAS and ZFS

 

[Arwen]

Both spin down & head parking can be either time adjusted, or disabled altogether. In your case, with CCTV footage likely coming in a regular intervals, disabling both is probably best.

I normally use the Linux tool "hdparm" to adjust both. Don't really remember the FreeBSD version, (FreeBSD is the base OS in TrueNAS Core for those that don't know).

We can revisit this if the probably re-occurs with your replacement drive.

 

[avalon60]

My new 1Tb WD purple is now installed and I've setup the datasets with open ACLs, and all are smb shares. I have also added the path
/mnt/CCTV/xeoma.
The problem I have is that in my Linux desktop , although I can see the xeoma share folder or dataset, I can't open it. With all my other smb shares, I just click on a folder or dataset and it opens, but with xeoma, I am kept been asked for a username and password to access it.
Now I don't know if it is a TrueNAS problem or a Linux problem.
Aslo the CCTV program I use , xeoma, says : failed to create a directory for the archive (mnt/CCTV/xeoma)
It normally records or writes data to the said dataset .
I don't know what I have missed, and as as far as I know, I have set the datasets on the 1tb drive to the same permissions and user as my other shares on other pools.

Thanks

 

[Davvo]

Likely an ACL permissions issue. Try to apply recursively.

 

[avalon60]

I have set permissions to recursively on the /mnt/CCTV/xeoma dataset, but I still have the same problem as I keep getting the Authentication Required window, which says Connect As Anonymous, or Registered User. I click on the latter to input my linux username and password, but they don't work as it just keeps coming back to the same window.
With the initial 1tb disk , which failed after 7 years, all I had to do was to put in my linux password , and that was all.

Anything else I can do. I do have a backup of the earlier version : 13.0.U4, would restoring that solve the problem
Thanks

 

[Davvo]

It's not a matter of disks, and reverting to an older release isn't likely to fix things. You are settings your permissions wrong.

Try restarting the share.

 

[avalon60]

How do mean , restart the share , like delete it and then re add it?

 

[avalon60]

Ok I have solved it now, as I deleted the share, then added it again, but this time I went to Advanced options and enabled guest access.
Problem over now, and the disk or pool has not gone offline even after a reboot of Truenas. So it must have been something to do with 2Tb Purple disk.
thanks