smartd.conf empty

[SteffanCline]

I have a Dell R710 with an internal USB from which I boot up with FreeNAS 9.3.1. There are 6 - 2TB HDD attached to an H700 raid controller.

I try to start smartd and it just fails. I then use the ssh console to look at the errors and see an issue with the smartd.conf. So, I look in there and it's empty. There are no drives to be checked.

Am I blocked from using smartd because of the H700 controller?

I'm no FreeBSD guru but I looked in /etc/fstab and only see the boot and the swap space. I try using mount and I see all volumes for the Fibre Channel etc but nothing that shows the main RAID for storage.

Suggestions?

 

[dlavigne]

Anything in /var/log/messages when the start fails?

 

[SteffanCline]

I posted earlier that the smartd.conf file was empty which led me to check the file.

From /var/logs/messages:
Feb 13 09:48:42 nas notifier: Starting smartd.
Feb 13 09:48:42 nas smartd[12764]: Configuration file /usr/local/etc/smartd.conf parsed but has no entries (like /dev/hda)
Feb 13 09:48:42 nas root: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/smartd: WARNING: failed to start smartd
Feb 13 09:48:42 nas notifier: /usr/local/etc/rc.d/smartd: WARNING: failed to start smartd

 

[BigDave]

Am I blocked from using smartd because of the H700 controller?

The controller you are using is not giving FreeNAS DIRECT access to the drives, this is why smart cannot "see" them.
RAID controllers are not supported under FreeBSD/FreeNAS.
Under the hardware section of the forum, see this link for information regarding the supported Host Bus Adapter
hardware that has been successfully used for FreeNAS

 

[DrKK]

I want to reiterate what Dave has said. Hardware RAID is a ***recipe for death*** with FreeNAS. All RAID functions are handled by FreeNAS. If you have a piece of hardware that provides a RAID functionality, and this is not completely disabled (or, in many cases, it's possible to reflash the controller), then what you have is a time bomb.

 

[SteffanCline]

I can easily wipe this NAS and start over. I can't just take out the H700 RAID controller but I think I can just delete the RAID in the BIOS. Shouldn't that allow all drives to be seen individually as a pass through?

 

[DrKK]

No idea. Are there no SATA ports on the motherboard itself?

 

[SteffanCline]

It's an R710. I'll have to dig into the user manual to check for the details. The server is down at the data center. When I put this together, I missed the section on the hardware RAID. I had already set it up as RAID 6 for safety.

 

[SteffanCline]

I've read mixed comments. Some say to use RAID0 on each drive to allow passthrough and others say to use the specific controller. Is there a perfect answer?

I saw this and am wondering if this is the better solution.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-9240-8i...785550?hash=item464665c58e:g:-dIAAOSwUdlWczxD

 

[SteffanCline]

Bought it and will flash. Need to find the URL for the correct firmware. Anyone have it handy? Is it possible to plug it into the R710 and boot from a USB drive to install the firmware on it?

 

[Ericloewe]

've read mixed comments. Some say to use RAID0 on each drive to allow passthrough

Who the hell ever said that? That is a horrible idea.

 

[DrKK]

Who the hell ever said that? That is a horrible idea.

Indeed. Show us who said that.

 

[SteffanCline]

I got it from scouring the archives. I can find the specific links if really necessary. I also saw it on a few different blogs when researching whether or not the h700 supported pass through.

 

[Mirfster]

Nope, never use a H700. Initially tried to muck around with it and not even close to worth the time.