But Since I Am Here.. Need To Set Up 8TB Drive

Michale · December 18, 2021 at 9:46 PM

I need some assistance with some very basic LINUX setup..

As the previous post indicated, I haven't got a lot of LINUX knowledge.. I haven't used LINUX since my FEDORA days..

What I want to do is set up an 8TB HD thru my KODI box.. Making sure it's "clean" and all that, I then want to copy the Data from a 4TB and a 6TB to the 8TB... The 4 and 6 aren't full so everything should fit..

Then I want to format and clean the 4 and 6 thru the KODI box and then copy all the data from the 8TB back to their respective drives..

I just need some hints and tips on how to get started.. I have read thru this...

9 Linux Parted Command Examples – mkpart, mkpartfs, resize partitions

... but it's hard to correlate what I read to what I need..

Any help would be most appreciated..

GDPR-7 · December 18, 2021 at 11:29 PM

could you tell what your "kodi box" is ?

e.g. is it a ~PC~ where you could connect at least 2 HD ?

Michale · December 18, 2021 at 11:31 PM

Quote from JoeAverage

could you tell what your "kodi box" is ?
e.g. is it a ~PC~ where you could connect at least 2 HD ?

Yes, sorry about that.. It's a Dell PC Desktop.. I originally have 3 HDs hooked to it.. An SSD that is the boot drive, the 4TB and the 6TB...

Now, I just have the SSD boot and the 8TB...

I found a link here....

Thread

Formatting and mounting 2. hard drive

I just installed LibreELEC after building an HTPC again.

Many years ago I used OpenELEC and networked storage, but this time around I went for a SSD bootdrive and a large HDD storage drive.

After installing LibreELEC though, I couldn't access the other HDD, it occurred to me that it wasn't formatted being brand new. I've messed around with it for an hour now, and I simply cannot find anything on the interwebs that I can make work.

If somebody could help, or point me in the right direction, that…

RockinEmu

March 24, 2017 at 8:37 PM

.... that I am trying to follow...

OK... I got a hiccup here..

parted -s /dev/sdb mkpart primary ext4 40s 100%

I am guessing because I am using a different size HD than the one in the other thread, I need to modify that line...

blkid

http://ix.io/3INF

mount

http://ix.io/3ING

dmesg

http://ix.io/3INH

It's kinda coming back to me now..

GDPR-7 · December 18, 2021 at 11:48 PM

you should check the disks with smartctl:

- adjust X with the correct drive letter -

smartctl -t short /dev/sdX

then

smartctl -a /dev/sdX

to see if the HD is fit, see:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.

watch out for the "critical" disk attributes

"bad sector" is a indicator to better throw away the disk ...

===

regarding "clean disk":

ATA Secure Erase - ata Wiki

be aware:

secure erase "irons" all data on the disk !!!

Michale · December 18, 2021 at 11:54 PM

Code

~ # smartctl -t short /dev/sdb
-sh: smartctl: not found

GDPR-7 · December 19, 2021 at 12:04 AM

wait, wait ,my fault

you need to install the addon "System Tools" first !

Michale · December 19, 2021 at 12:49 AM

OK I'll get on that right now..

Pastebinit..

http://ix.io/3IO5

Michale · December 19, 2021 at 1:41 AM

Aww right, I have to crash now.. Thanx so much for the assist..

I'll check in the morning..

Thanx again..

GDPR-7 · December 19, 2021 at 3:02 AM

the test didn't finished:

rebooted or suspended ?

at the end:
# 1 Short offline Interrupted (host reset)

AFAIK, some disks survive a reboot and the test continues, but ...

anyway, to me the disk seems good.

check the others too

hint:

you could run the tests at any time, even when the disk is filled with data.

this test was only to make sure to not copy/move data to a bad disk

nothings to thanks for.

just help another user the next time...

=> b-o-o-s-t community

**Klojum** · December 19, 2021 at 3:21 AM

No need to juggle with command line gobbledeegook (unless you really want to), use a bootable USB stick running GParted. You can format and check the 8TB drive properly with EXT4. A Ubuntu Live session on USB will also do with the "Disks" application. And you can use the File Manager for copying all necessary video files.

GDPR-7 · December 19, 2021 at 4:05 AM

yup, in an initial draft comment I had SysRescueCD (~800 MB) with GParted, Graphical File manager to format, FS-check, copy, ... in my mind...

I scratched that, cause live cd use some RAM and how could it influence long time copy/move of big data...

My intention was to provide a working solution without unthought surprises

I'm not sure if a graphical IF for smartmontools is available; couldn't find something on the GParted page

fsck != smartctl

coping data on bad disk causes bad data !

and a MC is available too,

all on board just some minor "command line gobbledeegook"

redhat (RHCE) taught me "do the simplest thing first" and KISS (keep it small and simple)

**Klojum** · December 19, 2021 at 6:18 AM

I always thought it meant Keep It Simple, Stupid...

Michale · December 19, 2021 at 10:30 AM

OK So, I know the drive is good..

How do I alter the command:

Code

parted -s /dev/sdb mkpart primary ext4 40s 100%

... to take into account the full 8TB of the drive??

Here is what I am seeing when I run the afore line..

Code

HOLODECK:~ # parted -s /dev/sdb mkpart primary ext4 40s 100%

Warning: The resulting partition is not properly aligned for best performance: 40s % 2048s != 0s

HOLODECK:~ #

wtuppa · December 19, 2021 at 11:26 AM

dann wohl besser für die Performance:

Code

parted -s /dev/sdb mkpart primary ext4 2048s 100%

das eine 1MB wird man wohl verschmerzen können.

Michale · December 19, 2021 at 11:49 AM

I appreciate that response.. But it's been a LONG time since my high school German and Google Translate was absolutely NO HELP..

wtuppa · December 19, 2021 at 12:06 PM

sorry, now explanation in English. I was in a german language forum before answering here.

for best performance on a HDD, the partitions should be aligned to some size, e.g. internal buffer of the HDD (most HDD have internal SDRAM cache of about 64-256MB for performance, aka read and/or write cache). Unaligned partitions are working, but should be avoided. So adjust the command to the initial offset of the partition to 2048s (equal to 1MB).

Michale · December 19, 2021 at 12:17 PM

Quote from wtuppa

sorry, now explanation in English. I was in a german language forum before answering here.
for best performance on a HDD, the partitions should be aligned to some size, e.g. internal buffer of the HDD (most HDD have internal SDRAM cache of about 64-256MB for performance, aka read and/or write cache). Unaligned partitions are working, but should be avoided. So adjust the command to the initial offset of the partition to 2048s (equal to 1MB).

Thanx for the reply...

Here is my parted PRINT data..

Code

(parted) print
print
Model: ATA ST8000DM004-2CX1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 8.00TB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name     Flags
 1      0.00TB  8.00TB  8.00TB               primary

(parted)

Display More

How exactly would I adjust the offset for my particular setup.. I am guessing the 512B/4096B has something to do with it, but it's just a guess...

I am embarrassed by my ignorance.. As I mentioned, it's been a LONG time since I played with Linux... Windows became my addiction I couldn't shake. heh...

Michale · December 19, 2021 at 1:07 PM

Apologies.. I re-read your comment and you spelled it out for me.. DUH...

Thanx so much for the help...

OK.. Making progress...

Ran all the parted commands with nary a hiccup...

Then the fsck.ext4 gave me this..

Code

HOLODECK:~ # parted -s /dev/sdb mklabel gpt
HOLODECK:~ # parted -s /dev/sdb mkpart primary ext4 2048s 100%
HOLODECK:~ # parted -s /dev/sdb name 1 'MEDIA'
HOLODECK:~ # fsck.ext4 -y /dev/sdb1
e2fsck 1.45.6 (20-Mar-2020)
ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block
fsck.ext4: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks...
fsck.ext4: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sdb1

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem.  If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
    e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
 or
    e2fsck -b 32768 <device>

HOLODECK:~ #

Display More

I am thinking that this means what Joe Average was talking about above?? That the HD has some bad areas??

But Since I Am Here.. Need To Set Up 8TB Drive

Formatting and mounting 2. hard drive

Similar Threads

Pi 4 + LE 10.0.1: Need help set custom EDID to fix audio white noise

NFS performance issue

Need help - USB SSD is mounted read only