zpool not degraded, but certain files cause transfers to hang

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

AveryFreeman

consummate homelabber
Mar 17, 2017
413
54
28
42
Near Seattle
averyfreeman.com
Hello,

I have a pool on a general file server with 6 x 2TB drives configured in a three-group mirror that are very old. The system, for all intensive purposes, appears to be working normally. The pool does not report as degraded.

However, I have been trying to move certain files using rsync and every time it gets to a certain folder it hangs. It's always transferring the same, or near the same (same folder), file every time it hangs.

Also du command hangs when gets to folder.

I have scrubbed the pool several times now and it does not appear to improve the behavior. I also have tested the drives individually using smartmontools and also taken them all out and individually tested each surface using HDDtools on a wintel machine. They all come back basically OK (just old).

Does anyone have any ideas for what I should do?
 

MiniKnight

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2012
3,072
973
113
NYC
Are you just trying to move the files once? I wonder if you can scp that folder over, verify the copied version works, then delete the source.
 

Linda Kateley

New Member
Apr 25, 2017
21
5
3
62
Minnesota
So if you think they are sitting in “rusty” block then just copy them, zfs will assign the files new blocks. Also you can replace in place the disks
 

Terry Kennedy

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2015
1,140
594
113
New York City
www.glaver.org
I have a pool on a general file server with 6 x 2TB drives configured in a three-group mirror that are very old. The system, for all intensive purposes, appears to be working normally. The pool does not report as degraded.
If the drives are old, how old is the operating system installation? What FreeBSD version is it running ("uname -a")?

You might want to try downloading a recent FreeBSD ISO or USB stick image and try booting that (in "live cd" mode) and seeing if it has the same problem or not. Caution: Do not use any commands that would modify the ZFS pool (like "upgrade") when running the newer image, or you may no longer be able to access the pool from your old system.