Boot Volume Condition: DEGRADED One or more devices has been removed by the administrator.

[lolwutbucket]

Error:
Boot Volume Condition: DEGRADED One or more devices has been removed by the administrator. Sufficient replicas exist for the pool to continue functioning in a degraded state.

Hello,

I am trying to figure out what's happened on my FreeNAS-9.10.1 system, I haven't made any settings changes in at least two months. I have found that my boot volume appears "removed" and the state is "degraded". I am trying to research the error but mostly finding people with dead hard-drives in a pool that need rebuilt. This appears to be affecting my boot volume and I'm scared to touch anything or make a settings change without taking the proper precautions.

 

[rs225]

Do you boot from dual USB sticks? If so, it might be saying that one is removed or broken. If there are lights on your sticks, you might be able to see which one is not working.

 

[lolwutbucket]

That does sound familiar! So maybe I completely saved myself by having a hot backup. Unfortunately, they are the Sandisk Ultra Fit which don't appear to have any lights. They were put inside the case on internal USB ports, I don't see how it could be "removed", failure sounds more likely?

• Is there a way in FreeNAS to get the system to report which port has a failed drive attached?
  
• Am I safe to shutdown and service this? (I need to move the server in order to get to the internals)
• If I end up needing a replacement how do I "rebuild" the boot drive? I found the "replace" button.

 

[rs225]

If you can make a backup of your configuration, you should do so just in case things go wrong.

It sounds like you will have to shutdown and open the system. The only question is how you will determine which USB is the one that doesn't work.

 

[lolwutbucket]

Is the "Save Config" button under System -> General sufficient for a backup or is there a more thorough method?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Is the "Save Config" button under System -> General sufficient for a backup

Yes, that's the correct method.

 

[lolwutbucket]

Further investigating my system I may be able to get to the USB drives while the system is still running. I'm looking through the documentation but not finding an official mention of how the drive is being used while the system is running (OS loaded into RAM?). Could I pull one of the drives on the live system, it's a 50/50 chance that I unplug the faulty drive:

• No change, I found my "removed" drive
• I pull the online drive, what happens? Is it bad? Then I know it's the other drive...

 

[rs225]

Probably not a good idea. Even less of a good idea because accidents happen, and your system is on.