RAID Volume Directory

I recently had a near melt down of an 8-disk RAID 5/0 volume. A G5 Mac running OS X Server 10.4.11 is the host.
These are Seagate drives that were struck with Seagate's firmware bug.
4 drives fell out of the volume, but after flashing all 8 drives in the RAID, 2 of the 4 failed drives came back. I have replaced the 2 drives that failed with new and the volume has rebuilt itself. Whew!
I am maintaining 2 backups with Retrospect 8 and another nightly sync with Carbon Copy Cloner.
Both Retrospect and Carbon Copy Cloner are reporting corruption with the same few files. These are unimportant files and deleting them is all I want to do. But I am unable to delete them.
One file is an old copy of iPhoto. When I try to empty the Trash I receive a "files are in use" message.
The other files are contained within a few deeply nested folders. When I click on those folders in the Finder they just disappear, however they do return by the next day. This folder disappearing is limited to these few folders. The rest of the RAID really seems to be healthy,
I suspect directory corruption due to bad blocks/sectors on the media.
I want to use Disk Utility to verify & repair the volume. I also want to use the HighPoint RAID tools to scan & map out the bad blocks on the media.
And here is where I am not sure on how best to proceed. Which should I do first?

I'd try deleting the files in Terminal. It doesn't care if the Finder thinks the file is busy. That might allow you to delete iPhoto anyway...
After that, I'd probably try Disk Utility first, followed by the RAID Tools.

Similar Messages

Strange thing I've never seen :can't view the file in raid volume in finder

I have the three 500GB additional internal SATA drives and raid them together.
It was working fine for a while. Now, I can not access to the files in the raid volume.
Raid is not broken and the computer can access to the files. but when I double click the volume to see the files, the screen went blue for 0.1 second and the window closed. The same thing happen if I try to navigate to the volume from other volume's window. Please somebody help me!!

Either the RAID is corrupt and the directory needs repair which sounds likely, and the file may be.
If it is your boot system you'll need to boot from another volume for some repairs.

Our XServe-RAID volume does not mount anymore...

Our XServe-RAID volume does not mount anymore.
On /var/log/system.log I could find the following.
Feb 22 09:52:29 ogre kernel: jnl: open: journal magic is bad (0xf433f != 0x4a4e4c78)
Feb 22 09:52:29 ogre kernel: hfs: early jnl init: failed to open/create the journal (retval 0).
It appears the the journaling is badly screwed.
I tryed to disable the journaling with no success.
Here is what I get.
ogre:/var/log root# diskutil disablejournal disk2s3
The selected journaling request does not appear to be valid
After some googling I foud this :
--- QUOTE ---
The more serious problem occurs when the contents of the journal file are corrupted in such a way that the operating system does not proceed to mount the volume. Fortunately, this problem is extremely rare (I have seen three reports of corrupted journal files at the MacFixIt Forums and Apple Discussion Forums since journaling was introduced).
Starting the journaling process is one of the first things that happens when a volume is recognized by the operating system. There appears to be no way to intervene in single-user mode before the journal file is examined. A message about �bad journal magic� appears. Unfortunately, every tool that can turn off journaling requires that the volume already be mounted.
If the Macintosh can boot under Mac OS 9, dealing with a corrupted journal file involves restarting under Mac OS 9 and using a utility (such as our free TechTool Lite 3.0.4) to make visible these two invisible files at the root level of the volume:
/.journal
/.journalinfoblock
Once these files are made visible, they can be deleted. Mac OS 9 does not support journaling, and recognizes nothing special about these files. Neither of these files can be seen in Terminal or in single-user mode in Mac OS X, because they are considered part of the disk directory.
If the Macintosh cannot boot under Mac OS 9, but the drive has Mac OS 9 drivers installed, the drive can be put into a Macintosh that can boot under Mac OS 9, or an ATA/IDE drive can be put into a suitable FireWire enclosure.
The possibility that you may need to remove these two journaling files under Mac OS 9 is a good reason for making sure that all volumes you use have Mac OS 9 drivers installed. The drivers must be installed when the drive is formatted.
--- [END] QUOTE ---
Well, my disk is part of a RAID 5 matrix.... so the solution proposed does not work.
Does any one of you has any idea ?
XServe Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I've seen an article about volumes not mounting and was wondering if this relates to your problem;
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1239224&#1239224
The thread doesn't refer to journalling but may be of use?
HTH

Raid Volumes Randomly Dismounting

Okay first a warning .. this is going to be a long post!
Overview: When my raid is connected through my Fibre Channel Switch it randomly dismounts.
Specifics:
Xserve G5 (10.4.7) with the LSI Dual-Channel 2GB Fibre Channel PCI-X HBA & Fibre Channel Utility 2.0
Xserve RAID - Each side with its own Raid 5 , hot spare - no masking & latest firmware
Exabyte Magnum 224 FC
Qlogic Sanbox 5200 Series (12 port) - Latest Firmware (configured with two zones (port not WWN) ; Zone 1: Port 1 HBA, Both Xraid | Zone 2: Port 0 HBA, Exabyte
Background : This used to ALL work! Recently we began to experience drastic slow downs when writing to the raid and common sense not working free space, which was the problem, was the last thing I checked. Before that though I tried swapping cables, replacing the raid controller, redoing zoning, straight connect - Obviously none of this was the issue. *note here: at this point I am using an identical Fibre Channel Card in my Xserve from my G4 - a careless maneuver broke the Apple installed card whilst it was laying on a table.*
When I got things working (made room on the volume) I happened to be in a configuration the circumvented the switch.. raid directly into the host and things , as said, worked fine. The next night I took the systems down to put everything on the switch again to allow a back-up to be ran. Now is when the current behavior begins. Randomly and without recognizable patterns both raid volumes would dismount from the host. Checking Raid Admin shows the volumes as being in order and all lights are green.
This time I fear my switch has gone and after time spent with Qlogic (and zilliions of different configurations) a new switch is sent out in the mean time back to a straight connection and things are working fine. New switch arrives, is configured, and immediately problem persists. Qlogic/Apple suggest the midplane on the raid is bad (even though it works straight through). I happen to have a brand new in box XRAID (with current firmware) so I set that up put in the drives from the old raid and the problem persists again when plugged into the switch. Direct to host things work fine.
So I read some documentation on Apple and Fibre channel and made a few changes to HBA ports and Switch Port Settings and came to the following scenario... Volumes stayed mounted through an entire work day, but after a brief time into a backup the volumes unmounted.
Here is some more specific info about my exact setup as it last failed...
ZONE 1 (zoned by port not WWN)
Switch Ports 0, 1, 2
HBA Port 1 into Switch Port 0
Raid into Switch Ports 1, 2
All ports are identifying themselves to switch as switch topology
HBA port configured as Topology: Point-to-Point, Speed: 2Gb/s
SW Port 0 configed as State: Online, Speed: auto, Type: Detect, I/O Stream Guard: Enable, Device Scan: Disable
SW Port 1, 2 configed as State: Online, Speed: auto, Type: Detect, I/O Stream Guard: Auto, Device Scan: Enable
ZONE 2 (zoned by port not WWN)
Switch Ports 8, 9
HBA Port 0 into Switch Port 9
Exabyte into Switch Port 8
Port 8 identifying as Loop topology, 9 as switch
HBA port configured as Topology: Auto, Speed: Auto
SW Port 8 configed as State: Online, Speed: auto, Type: Detect, I/O Stream Guard: Auto, Device Scan: Enable
SW Port 9 configed as State: Online, Speed: auto, Type: Detect, I/O Stream Guard: Enable, Device Scan: Disable
I realize that some of these settings, particularly those on the HBA are different between ports, but we have tried virtually every combination (I think)
Around the time of the backup job system.log on the host has these entries:
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 5 (External Bus Reset) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: External Bus Reset for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is down for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 8 (Loop State Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Loop Initialization Packet for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 9 (Logout) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is active for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 6 (Rescan) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 5 (External Bus Reset) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: External Bus Reset for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is down for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 8 (Loop State Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Loop Initialization Packet for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 9 (Logout) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is active for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 6 (Rescan) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 5 (External Bus Reset) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: External Bus Reset for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is down for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 8 (Loop State Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Loop Initialization Packet for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 9 (Logout) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is active for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 6 (Rescan) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 5 (External Bus Reset) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: External Bus Reset for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is down for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 8 (Loop State Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Loop Initialization Packet for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 9 (Logout) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is active for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:41 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 6 (Rescan) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 5 (External Bus Reset) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: External Bus Reset for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is down for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 8 (Loop State Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Loop Initialization Packet for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 9 (Logout) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is active for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 6 (Rescan) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: I/O error.
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 5 (External Bus Reset) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: External Bus Reset for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 7 (Link Status Change) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:55:42 files kernel[0]: FusionFC: Link is down for SCSI Domain = 3.
Mar 7 17:55:50 files kernel[0]: s3: I/O error.
=======
Then followed by a ton of various I/O errors
=======
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: I/O error.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: I/O error.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: I/O error.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: FusionMPT: Notification = 6 (Rescan) for SCSI Domain = 3
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: I/O error.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: I/O error.
=======
Finally by media not present errors which end the log
=======
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk5s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: jnl: dojnlio: strategy err 0x6
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: jnl: end_transaction: only wrote 0 of 8192 bytes to the journal!
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: jnl: close: journal 0x4c21bb4, is invalid. aborting outstanding transactions
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:42 files kernel[0]: disk4s3: media is not present.
Mar 7 17:56:45 files kernel[0]: jnl: close: journal 0x4c21c98, is invalid. aborting outstanding transactions
And that folks is it.. I'm up for any and all suggestions, questions, comments etc.. I'm absolutely desperate here!
Please, please does anyone have any ideas what's going on here.
Thanks,
James Nierodzik

Hi Roger, thanks for the reply.
Throughout the battles I did try cables that were not in the scenario to no avail so I don't think it's a cablling issue though I suppose it still could be.
Well into the backup was last night's failure point.. days previous, when through the switch, it had failed at periodic points throughout the day. I could not tie those periods to greater than normal I/O demand though.
As for cooling the components are kept in a well circulated room that is kept 24x7 at 62 degrees with an alarm on the cooling unit so I am about as certain as can be that cooling is not a factor.

How can I convert the volume directory into a single file installer?

How can I convert the volume directory into a single file installer? I would like to hide all the miscillaneous files that I don't care for and be able to have the installer double click a single file and have it automatically install.

On the second prompt screen when prompted 'What kind of self-extracting Zip file file do you want to make?'
Are you choosing the second option (self-extracting Zip file for software installation)?
I have a word file that I created to help me remember - is there anyway to email it to you?

Can't enable ACLs on a RAID volume

Hi all,
I have OSX 10.4.11 running on an Xserve G5 ppc. There are 2 Xserve RAID volumes attached by fibre channel.
I've been having issues recently with permissions: some users are creating or modifying files/folders and other users in the same group are then unable to access them. Viewing the permissions shows that group access is set to 'None'. I can correct this in the 'Sharing' section of WGM but that doesn't resolve the underlying issue.
I want to use ACLs to control access to data on the 2 RAID volumes, one of which also contains the users' network accounts. Unfortunately the 'Enable Access Control Lists' tick box is greyed out so I cannot activate them. On the other RAID volume all three tick boxes are available.
Why might this be?
John.

Found the answer. The volume was not correctly formatted. I copied the data, reformatted the volume, copied back the data and enabled ACLs.

UCSM 2.1 Local disk configuration policy and raid volumes

Hi!
If i use Any configuration as local disk configuration policy and do the raid settings directly to the RAID-cards, am i able to have two raid volumes on C-series under UCSM management?
What i would like to do with C240M3 with 6 local disks: 2 disk raid1 and 4 disk raid0
So i would use:
"Any Configuration—For a server configuration that carries forward the local disk configuration without any changes."
As UCS servers Raid guide indicates:
"Maximum of One RAID Volume and One RAID Controller in Integrated Rack-Mount Servers
A rack-mount server that has been integrated with Cisco UCS Manager can have a maximum of one RAID volume irrespective of how many hard drives are present on the server. "
Is this paragraph limitation of GUI not able to set several volumes or hard fact without "Any configuration" workaround?

I did some testing about this issue:
Changed Local Disk Configuration to "Any Configuration"
Two virtual disks can be created from Raid card's WebBIOS
These disks are visible to RedHat Installation.
UCSM shows Any configuration for the Storage Local Disk policy
Actual Disk Configuration has faulty information - WebBios is the only place to check the RAID status?
Next step: I'll do the same for the production

Mounting Xserve Raid Volumes

I'm relatively new to Xserve RAID and I hope this isn't a topic that's already been covered.
If I unmount (or eject) a RAID volume, how do I re-mount it. Other than rebooting the system.
The RAID volumes don't appear in /etc/fstab. Where exactly does the system store the volume which are to be mounted at boot.
Thanks..
-- Bob

You might see the volumes in disk utility, and you can remount them from there.
Otherwise, you could unplug and re-plug the cable, and they'll show up, if you have physical access.

Resize raid volumes?

Hello,
I have a raid 5 (hardware) on my pro. With two raid volumes. Now i have change of mind with the size of those volumes. I know i can resize partitions, but is there also a way that i can resize a partion and give the free space to a diverent raid volume? (so can i resize the raid volumes?)
Thank you for the help
Edgar

Unless the RAID software you are using permits it, then no. While the RAID is in tact you cannot alter the volumes that make up the array. You first have to delete the array which will in turn delete the data stored on the array.
This is one of the main reasons why RAIDs should be structured with drives, not partitions on drives.

OSX Lion Disk Utility won't verify/repair RAID volumes

SInce I upgraded to Lion (now at 10.7.4) I can't use the Disk utility to verify or repair the disk catalog (disk first Aid) on apple soft RAID volumes. These volumes were created in 10.6 use the Apple RAID feature of disk utility.
I have one striped and one concatenated volume - neither will work. Press the button and the progress bar flashes for a fraction of a second, then nothing. no error, no message in the window - just no repsonse. Works fine on non raid volumes in the same disk enclosure -Firmtek Seritek/5PM, with seritek 2ME4-E sata card.
Not sure I really want to recreate and recopy the drives....
Any ideas? Seaches haven't turned up this specific issue.

A quick search in these forums for permissions or *permissions problem* reveals many posts the past four months.
In a nutshell, repairing permissions w/Leopard takes anywhere from 10-40 minutes, depending on what's installed and what's contained in /Library/Receipts/bom/. The repair permissions operation has changed in Leopard. The stalled progress bar is an unresolved bug (they haven't figured out how to make it work whilst it's checking or rebuilding the a.receiptdb, in /Library/Receipts/db/. To see what's really going on, open that folder in a Finder window, select list view, launch Disk Utility, select your boot volume, and click on repair permissions. Watch the Finder window flash files that are being read and checked against the current a.receiptdb file. That's what's taking all the time and freezing the progress bar. Once that's finished, the progress bar starts moving and the permissions are being checked and repaired. Also note, that you won't get any *they were repaired* message back for any that are noted to be incorrect.

Apple DU vs SoftRAID's drivers for RAID volumes, performancewise?

Hi,
For some time I have been using SoftRAID's (http://www.softraid.com/) drivers (v. 4.0.7) for an OS+apps SSD and my users' accounts on a 2*2TB RAID0 (WD Caviar Blacks) volume. At present the User volume is about 50% full (2 of 4TB).
I am considering to make the users' accounts volume a 2*3TB RAID1 (Hitachis) for safety reasons. My questions to the knowledgable people in this forum are:
1) I am aware that a RAID1 will be slower than a RAID0 volume. But will an Apple DU RAID1 or a SoftRAID RAID1 volume likely be faster?
2) Using SoftRAID's drivers on disks/volumes prohibits use of some troubleshooting utilities such as iPartition, DriveGenius, etc. Hence, is it adviseable to put SoftRAID drivers also on non-RAID volumes, such as my SSD boot volume?
I am hoping somebody with experience in these things can advise.
Thanks.

Softraid always worked with TTPro and Disk Warrior, and never needed the others, and I wouldn't let iPartition touch someone else's.
Apple mirror I rate as weaker, doesn't use a stripe read, doesn't alert to I/O errors. don't they mention in features their implementation of mirror rebuilds and faster background rebuilds when needed?
Personally, a good backup sets and clones. Mirror if you use three rdives so even under a failure you still have two and it can do background rebuild. Otherwise, dont' use mirror. 3TB mirrors are huge long and slow to copy. Really think you need to worry about hardware drive failure, huh?
I've used SoftRAID from 2.2.1 days a decade ago. They support is one of if not the best I have had the pleasure to deal with and help me through as well as given me an education.

802.11n Base using USB Raid Volumes?

Hi All,
Got the new Airport base station, pulled out the old one, factory defaulted my three other Airport Express base stations, and then joined them as WDS extenders. All is good. Won't be testing throughput yet all I am still all PPC.
Bought the new base station for the USB disk sharing as I have computers all over the home and this was going to be great to facilitate sharing!
Before it arrived, I purchased a new USB eBOX-U Eight (8) drive enclosure from Firewire Depot (as reviewed by AMUG).
Very nice box for $265. Loaded six new 400GB (newegg.com @ $105/ea.) and a couple of old misc. drives. Formated top two as raid 0, next two as raid 0 and then mirrored the two together (I just went through the worst hard disk crash I've ever had with a stripped 0 volume, I never want to go through this again - 100% data loss).
Anyways, last 2 400GB drives as mirrored raid.
Fire the puppy up and for an overnight backup device, it's perfect. I couldn't use it for encoding video but for going to bed and letting my computer backup cheaply and safely, I am delighted!
So now I'm ready for the new Airport base station, I can share these massive, safe drives over the wireless network and get all of my computers backed-up.
Nope.
The base station refuses to recognize the Macintosh-formated arrays, it only sees one drive and that unusable.
Any ideas? I can't find any prohibitions to such a configuration.
JP
G5 Quad Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Why doesn't the new base station support Mac software RAID volumes? I can't believe there aren't more people up in arms over this missing functionality. A Mac product not supporting a Mac software configuration? Seems downright silly.

Xserve RAID volume maintenance

A new client has an Xserve RAID (firmware 1.5) in which the first 7 drive modules are populated, and configured into a 1.01 TB Level 5 array. This array has been in use for (estimated) 2.5 to 3 years (based on the power-on hours of the component hard drives). As far as my client knows, no maintenance has been performed on the RAID volume. Should we be using the First Aid feature of Disk Utiliity or something like Disk Warrior on this volume? The Xserve RAID is connected (via Fiber) to a Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) running Mac OS X Server 10.3.9. Please advise.

Are they having problems with the RAID that you think requires maintenance?
FWIW I've got several XServe RAIDs in my network, some of them the same age as this one, and I've never done anything to it in terms of maintenance or housekeeping.
If you're not having problems with it, I wouldn't worry.

Recurring "Invalid volume directory count" error

Hi everyone!
I'm hoping that someone can shed some light on this issue, because I'm just about to lose my mind trying to figure it out!
I manage a small companies' network of approximately 35 Apple Macintosh computers. All the computers are newer 2009 or later MacBook Pros and 2009 or later iMac running Mac OS 10.5.8 or 10.6.6.
A small number of computers persistently report one or more "Invalid Volume Directory Count" errors whenever I perform a Verify Disk check in Disk Utility roughly once per month. The errors are always easily corrected by booting the computers from their system CDs and then performing a Repair Disk and/or executing an fsck command in single user mode. Unfortunately, the problem recurs the very next time I check the affected computers' disks.
One particular user whose computer had always exhibited this problem recently received a new 2010 MacBook Pro 15, and now THIS computer exhibits the problem as well! Even more baffling, and just to be certain I avoided copying any damaged Library component from the old computer's drive, I didn't use the Apple Migration Assistant to migrate this user's hard drive to the new computer; rather, I performed a clean installation of all the applications and then copied his data to the new user account. Once again, Disk Utility reported the same error the very next time I performed a Verify Disk scan on the new computer's drive.
All staff use the same applications, and most of the other computers do not exhibit this problem.
I'm completely stumped by this problem! HELP
Message was edited by: psiciliano

Hi Thomas!
Thanks for your advice!
I doubt that the drives are dying for the following reasons:
1. The computers are fairly new
2. I do check the SMART status every time I perform monthly diagnostics, and the affected units' drives always report back ok
As for backing them up, I will certainly attempt do so more frequently.
I have to believe that the problem must be caused by the way in which the affected users handle their computers; although when I ask them, they always assure me that they properly shut down and/or restart their computers.
As for the possibility that a program may be causing the issue, since everyone in this company uses the same software, I would expect this problem to affect considerably more systems than it presently does.
I will continue to troubleshoot this problem and (hopefully) discover its cause once and for all.
It's these sorts of problems that will one day do me in...career-wise, anyways.
Pietro

Migrating RAID volume disks between T2000s

I understand that migrating RAID volumes between T2000s is not supported, as specified in http://docs.sun.com/source/819-2549-12/ontario-volume_man.html which states "Volume migration (relocating all RAID volume disk members from one Sun Fire T2000 chassis to another) is not supported. If this operation must be performed, please contact Sun Service.". If I understand this correctly, it is because the LSI hardware RAID controller writes some controller-specific or system-specific information to the disks when it creates a RAID volume.
I need to move disks between T2000 systems, and I do not need to preserve data on the disks. Is it sufficient to simply remove the RAID volume from the disks (i.e. raidctl -d), then move them to the new T2000 system? There has been some suggestion within my company that the disks need to be completely reformatted, but I haven't been able to locate any requirement to reformat the disks in either Sun documentation or these forums.

I don't believe we came to a conclusion on this issue. I will check with my team and get back to you. We may have an opportunity to rebuild a T2000 system in the next few weeks, and, if so, we'll gather the data and report back.

RAID Volume Directory

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