Christopher (Drashna)

I'm glad to hear it! And yeah, all the settings are preserved, as these are not removed when you uninstall the software. That, and duplication information is stored on the pool itself.

Yeah, HighPoint uses higher end Marvell chipsets, IIRC. These generally require the "unsafeDirectIo" option to be turned on to be able to see the SMART data. And as for the SMART data, the disk must be passed through to the system directly. HighPoint's management software calls these disks "legacy" disks. And no, StableBit Scanner won't be able to see the SMART data from a RAID array or a JBOD array (not sure which you used), as that information is not passed on by the controller. However, you can view the individual disks' SMART data by using the web management software for the controller. As for StableBit DrivePool and how it works, it stores files on normal NTFS partitions, in a hidden folder named "PoolPart.xxxx" (where the "xxxx" is a string of letters and numbers called a "GUID"). Then when you view the contents of the pool, it lists the corresponding locations on the pooled disks. And when you access files, it basically redirects the IO operations to the pooled disks instead. It's a file based system, where as RAID is a block based system. The main difference is when it comes to recovery. A DrivePool disk, you can recover with any utility that can read NTFS. For a RAID.... it depends on what type of array you created. And what tool you're using. And the Pool is like a RAID 10 array. It's "striped" or can span many disks. However, you can enable file duplication (aka file mirroring) on a per folder basis. But one that you can move to any system, regardless of the disk controller(s) in use (the same cannot be said of RAID, actually). However, the thing is, since StableBit DrivePool is using the normal disks, you will not see some of the incredible speeds that you would with a RAID array (especially with a higher end system). Though, we do have a few options to help with that. The first being "Read Striping" which basically does what it sounds. Except that it is definitely more complicated than that. The other is the "SSD Optimizer" balancer (it's optional, so you must download and install it yourself). This uses "feeder" disks for writing to the pool, and then migrates the data off of the "feeder" disks. If you want, there is a fully featured, 30 day trial for both products. If you don't like StableBit DrivePool, you can empty out the files via the "PoolPart" folders if you want.

That could definitely be why. I've not paid for the plexpass, as I've never had any real luck with Plex

You are very welcome! And I'm glad to hear that it's working perfectly now! If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask!

Reinstall DrivePool. Ideally, uninstall it and reinstall it. Specifically, during the install process, it looks for the essentials experience role files. If they're not there, no tab. If they are there, it installs them. So reinstalling works. And no need to deactivate.

Sure, definitely. There are a couple of ways to do this, but I'll list the recommended method: Install the 2.5 beta "WHS" version. Install the 2.5 beta "Windows 7" version on your desktop. No license needed for this version (unless you want to). Then use the Remote Control version. These don't matter what version you use (desktop vs WHS), as long as they're the same version number.

You are very welcome. And hopefully, you'll be able to at least "drop" the config file onto the system.

Okay, so it's most likely a hardware issue then. Unfortunately, there are a lot of things it *could* be, and not very easy to tell. It could be the power supply. If that is experiencing issues, it could definitely cause that, and should be rather simple to replace. It could be the controller card in the system. I'm not sure which chipset it's using, but some do have issues like this. Especially under heavy load. It could be the cable. It could be the enclosure it self. Looking at reviews on newegg, it does seem that the card included is a Silicon Images based card (the sil3132 chipset specifically). I have experience with this chipset, and to be honest, this is most likely your issue here. A lot of the reviewes on this enclosure, and on the cards that use this chipset tend to agree with this, as well. I would recommend replacing the card with something else that ... well works better. Such as this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816124044

The "Configsections" and "system.diagnostics" sections need to remain. However, anything in "ApplicationSettings" or "UserSettings" can be removed safely. And actually, I've attached a sample config file with the bare minimum of what you'd need. Scanner.Service.exe.config

Larsp, That looks pretty good, and like it should definitely work. Though, like you said, it may take a while depending on the size of your pool.

Okay, that's what I thought. In that case, then it may be best to enable "UnsafeDirectIo" for StableBit Scanner on your system. Just as a warning, the setting can cause issues. Up to and including crashing the controller and BSODs. However, in most cases where this setting needs to be enabled, there hasn't been any issues reported. We just wish to err on the side of caution. To enable the setting, either use the following link to configure the file: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Advanced_Settings Or use this download link for a prebuilt file (taken from my system, actually): https://www.dropbox.com/s/0krodbweqz1rrc4/Scanner.Service.exe.config Once the file is in place (as in, in "C:\Program Files (x86)\StableBit\Scanner\"), you'll need to restart the "StableBit Scanner Service" using "services.msc", or you'll want to reboot the server. Once that is back, you should get the SMART data from the other drives on the Marvell controller. (actually, I had to use this config with my HighPoint RocketRAID card which used a Marvell chipset as well)

Okay, well, I'll see about clarifying that in the documentation then. But yeah, this lets you create the file anywhere, basically. Point it at a path that you want, and you're set. Very good for those that are ... on the OCD side, such as myself. As for what can be removed, most of it. I'm not sure how familiar with XML you may be, but anything not in the same "sections" can be removed. However, if you're not very familiar with XML, I would recommend leaving everything. Also, just in case you need any of the other settings later on, as well.

Which version of StableBit Scanner are you using? Also, what path are you using? Also, the value should look like: <value>C:\running.txt</value>

First, do you have StableBit Scanner installed as well? I ask, because in rare circumstances, it can cause issues. However, I suspect that the issue here is that the eSATA box is getting overwhelmed. The controller for it is probably crashing. Right before, or as it does that, it's causing read errors, because.... well, the controller is crashing and no longer sending intelligible data to the system. What eSATA tower are you using specifically, and what controller are you using for the eSATA port on the system?

Are both of these 4TB drives connected to the Marvell controller? If so, that may be why. Could you download the Direct IO test program? http://dl.covecube.com/DirectIoTest/ Run it on the system, and select one of the disks not showing SMART data. There will be two sections, one for "WMI" and one for "DirectIO". Make sure that "SMART Attributes" has a green checkmark next to it in one or both of these boxes. I'm guessing that the "DirectIO" box will have a red "X" instead of a green checkbox. If this is the case, check the "UnsafeDirectIo" box. That should update it. Let me know if that causes it to show a green checkmark next to SMART Attributes in the "DirectIO" section.

So you don't see ANY SMART data now? And do you have the Intel chipset/RST drivers installed, or are you using the generic Microsoft AHCI drivers? (You can check in device manager)

dbailey is right, a lot of times, the specific drivers can make a lot of difference. I'd recommend backing up the system, and then install the drivers. See if it boost performance, or makes the system unstable. That way, you can roll back, if you need to.

I'd recommend encrypting the system disk first. Just to make sure that works. Once that's done, encrypt the data drives. I believe there should be an "unlock automatically" option. Check that, and then you'll be good to go. And as for losing data, I definitely understand. Worst case here, make sure you have a backup of the important data. Also, make sure you have the recovery keys stored in a safe place. Print them out, and tab it to the inside of the top lid, if necessary (the top of the case slides off actually, so you could put the recovery key there)

Okay. Well, the shared folders, it may be generating new metadata (thumbs.db) and changing the folder dates. Though, it may not be. Just a possibility.

@mr_yellow, yup, that's a consideration. However, that's why I recommended the server backup stuff. It appears to take care of that.

If you followed the link above, it resets all the settings for StableBit Scanner, which means that you'll need to reactivate the license. That is most likely what you saw happening. As for which version to use, I'd say wait a couple of days and see if everything settles down. If it does, then feel free to upgrade to the beta version (or stay on this one for now). Also, what specific drives were having the issue? And what controller card (or motherboard) were they attached to? Actually, if you could click on ... any drive in the system, select "SMART Details" and check the "submit to bitflock" option, and then give me the BitFlock ID that it generates, that would be greatly appreciated.

Apparently, I can't view that thread. Even after logging in. At best, we could add it to the FAQ. Having it notify you in DrivePool would be problematic. And ironically, if they used XBMC's approach and did all this linking in their database instead on the file system, there wouldn't be an issue at all.

Not a problem! And yes, we definitely support BitLocker. However there is a config file change you need to make to enable proper support for it. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Advanced_Settings And you need to set "BitLocker_PoolPartUnlockDetect" to "True" However, just note, that the disks will have to be unlocked before the pool is accessible. If this is an issue, then you'll need to encrypt the system disk as well. Once you've done that, you can tell the system to automatically unlock the data drives after it boots. And obviously, we recommend encrypting the system disk for that reason. However, to encrypt the system disk, you'll want to have a TPM module installed on your motherboard. Depending on the board, it may or may not support the module. If it does, you can find them online for very cheap (usually less than $20). Otherwise, you may need to do this: http://www.groovypost.com/howto/enable-windows-8-full-disk-bitlocker-encryption-without-tpm/

If you're using Windows Server 2012 Essentials, why not use the server backup feature. If you have a backup, boot from the install disk and pick the repair option. If you have the backup disk connected, it will see that and let you restore the backup images to a new drive. I used this to migrate from a 500GB HDD to a SSD actually. You'll want to shrink the partition first to be the right size and run a backup, but it should work. And this shouldn't affect StableBit DrivePool at all. Other than maybe drive letters, or if you mess around with the pooled disks (make absolutely sure nothing happens to them!)

The features are identical for the build number. We've just moved to using the same number instead of different ones. The only between the two versions is how they install, and the UI. The "WHS2011" uses the dashboard, and the "Windows 7" version uses a stand alone UI. Aside from that, they're identical. The Smart_NoWmi should work with either version, just fine. But as for the issue you're seeing, it sounds like something didn't get upgraded right. You should completely uninstall StableBit Scanner and reinstall it. Either version would be fine. It's up to you which version to install.