Christopher (Drashna)

As you've posted a ticket about this. Yes, it does look like there is an issue with this controller. But there isn't a known issue with this card.

If you don't mind beta versions, Alex has added this to the newest built of DrivePool. Wiki (DrivePool_CultureOverride): http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.X_Advanced_Settings#DrivePool Download (450): http://dl.covecube.com/DrivePoolWindows/beta/download

Unfortunately, there is not a setting to do that currently. But I did submit the feature to Alex, so it may be added in the near future.

Okay, we'll look into that, but in the meanwhile, could you get the error reports from the system, just in case? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_for_WSS_Error_Reports

We don't have an option for that actually. We follow the OS. I've "bugged" this request, as there should probably be a way to do this.

Unfortunately, this does sometimes happen. Especially when it has to move a LOT of files out of the pool. Could you grab the error reports and open a ticket at http://stablebit.com/Contact ? WHS2011: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Error_Reports Windows: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Error_Reports Also, the best way is as doug says. Use the File Placement Limiter to clear out the drive. That will cause DrivePool to empty it, and to avoid using it at all. Once that's done, you should be able to remove the drive in seconds.

If you notice the little red arrow on that drive. That shows the "target" for the balancing. It basically means it's acknowleging the setting, but it's not quite there yet. Also, do you have balancing set to "immediate"? Or ?

Nope, not quite. The Pool file duplication is basically the "root" folder, and the settings get inherrited down. Unfortunately, right now, there is no "per folder placement" option. However, that is on our To-Do list for the future. For now, it's basically one disk at a time, or all over the place. No half and half. Though if you do want to fill one disk at a time, check out the ordered file placement Balancer. It fills one disk to "capacity" (well, to what DrivePool is told is the max, which is 90% capacity by default), and then starts to fill the next disk. If you have duplication enabled, that's basically two disks at a time. https://stablebit.com/DrivePool/Plugins

Yes. Specifically, the data and the pool metadata are stored on normal NTFS volumes. As long as the computer can read the drives, then DrivePool will recognize the disks are part of a pool. And actually, for testing, I have one set of pooled disks that I just move between systems. I've never had any issues with them doing that.

Running it on an SSD is a great option. It really does make a difference. As for moving over... you'd just need to install DrivePool and then move the disks over. (there is a little bit more, but that's basically it).

Randym888, Thanks for the follow up. There does appear to be an issue with the newer beta builds and measuring. That may be the cause of the issue you were seeing. But thank you for letting us know about the issue, and the followup. Regards

Hmm, something odd is definitely going on here. What version of StableBit Scanner are you using? And what OS? Also, on the plus side, it is generating errorReports when this is happening (on my system). This means that it is crashing, and is reporting where it's going wrong. So if you could collect those and open a ticket at http://stablebit.com/Contact and upload the error reports? WHS: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_for_WSS_Error_Reports Windows: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_for_Windows_Error_Reports

I'm sorry that you've had issues with the contact system. If that happens in the future, please contact me directly: christopher (at) covecube.com I've also answerd the ticket that you were eventually able to create. However, as I've not been able to reproduce the issue, I think something is going wrong here. (details in the ticket).

Seeing as the use cases for the tool are very limited... That's definitely understandable.

Download the beta version on a client computer. Copy the installer to a shared folder on the server. Log into the server (http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q7200705) and then run the installer. If you have a version of DrivePool installed already, you will want to uninstall that first. This may require you to reboot. If so, do that and log back in After it's installed, you'll want to do the same with "WSS Troubleshooter" if it doesn't automatically "rebuild" your shared folders. RUn it and select the "Rebuild DrivePool Shares" option. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Utilities

well, it seems you found a very odd bug. On the "Scheduler_LimitToDaysofMoth" setting, delete the 4 commented lines (92-95) re-save the file and start the service. That will stop the error.

That is odd that it didn't "fix" the shares automatically. Also, for the future, if you need it, the "WSS TroubleShooter"s "Rebuild DrivePool Shares" option will do that automatically for you. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Utilities And yeah, it can definitely survive the update process. It can also survive a reinstall, or moving the pooled drives to another machine!

Which beta version were you using? The 2.1.0.432 Beta that's on the official download page, right?

John, Were these disks empty whey you added them to the pool? If not, that *could* be why. But if you could enable tracing (http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Log_Collection) and try to reproduce the error, that will allow us to see exactly what is going on.

Yes and no. The data is scattered between all the different disks. So to ensure that you get ALL of your data, yes you want all the disks attached. Absolutely. Well, sort of. If you're copying to other disks, then yes, that would be fine. However,if this is all on the same disks.... I would recommend against it as WHSv1's Drive Extender can be very finicky.

Both 1.3 and 2.x are actively maintained. Either can be installed on WHS2011, but I'd recommend sticking with 1.3. It's a lot more tightly integrated with the Dashboard, and provides a more smooth interface. In theory, the Pool drive should have come back with the same drive letter and not needed to have the shares recreated. However, that may have needed an additional reboot to get done. But as long as everything is working.

Well, glad that it's working out for you, aside from the BSODs.... Actually, could you upload the dumps from these? Both the MEMORY.DMP file, and the contents of the minidump folder? Both should be in C:\Windows\. While I know the issue looks to be relaated the Marvell chipset (probably used by your controller, or the enclosure), I would like to be 100% certain. Use the following link to upload the files: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_System_Crashes

I'm glad to hear it. Both the backups (no such thing as too many backups), and that everything is holding up fine.

Please don't change the folder names. In part, that is how we identify each volume in the pool. Altering it can be catastrophic. And the reason that the folder names are so long is that we use GUID's for identifying the pool parts. For the most part, these are very unique and the chances of a duplicate is next to none.

Thank you