SOLVED REPLACING FAULTY DRIVE invalid vdev specification, use ' -f' to override the following errors

[Storms]

Hi guys,

I was having a problem trying to replace a 'faulty' drive. So I offlined the device, shutdown the system, replaced the physical drive with a new one, went back to the UI and clicked 'Replace', selected the new device and hit OK, that is when I was getting the following error on screen:
freenas manage.py: [middleware.exceptions:38] [MiddlewareError: Disk replacement failed: "invalid vdev specification, use '
-f' to override the following errors:, /dev/gptid/76009f3c-699d-11e4-afd9-bcaec524bbb5 is part of potentially active pool 'nas', "]

This error flashes on and off quite quickly on screen, if you miss it go and look at /var/log/messages

SOLUTION
OK so what I had been doing wrong, was that I didn't 'Wipe' the new device before hitting the 'Replace' button.
So the solution is to 'Wipe' the new device before you replace (from the 'View Disks' screen) then you'll have a nice green healthy system again.

Storms

P.S. this shouldve gone in the other 'freenas vs nas4free' thread but that has been locked :(

PPS I would like to edit my review in the other thread if the mods would allow it. as this puts a different slant on things

 

[danb35]

Glad you found a solution to the problem, and the fact that you were trying to use a previously-used disk does explain what was going on. IMO, FreeNAS is a little too careful about not re-using previously-used disks, but if it were easier to do so we'd probably have people complaining about how FreeNAS hosed their data without warning (whether there was actually a warning or not, see https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/alert-required-when-trying-to-add-disks-to-raidz.24163/) or something.

I think you'll find that if you now boot from a new USB stick, and restore your config file, you'll still have a "green" system.

 

[Storms]

Glad you found a solution to the problem, and the fact that you were trying to use a previously-used disk does explain what was going on. IMO, FreeNAS is a little too careful about not re-using previously-used disks, but if it were easier to do so we'd probably have people complaining about how FreeNAS hosed their data without warning (whether there was actually a warning or not, see https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/alert-required-when-trying-to-add-disks-to-raidz.24163/) or something.

I think you'll find that if you now boot from a new USB stick, and restore your config file, you'll still have a "green" system.

yes you are right. After that problem was fixed I tried adding a new USB stick again and everything worked fine.

In light of this development I would have modified my review but unfortunately the mods have locked the thread!

 

[danb35]

Perhaps if you PM @joeschmuck and ask, he can reopen the thread for you to update.