USB disks with non-unique serial numbers

TrueNAS General
1

Newbie here, I am setting up TrueNAS for the first time and I have a 4bay drive with 4 identical drives in it and when I try to create a pool it shows this error to start.

“Warning: There are 4 USB disks available that have non-unique serial numbers. USB controllers may report disk serial incorrectly, making such disks indistinguishable from each other. Adding such disks to a pool can result in lost data.”

If I continue and try to create the pool I get “The following disks were not found in system: sde,sdc,sdf.”

With these details, any ideas on how to get past this?

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/job.py", line 488, in run
    await self.future
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/job.py", line 533, in __run_body
    rv = await self.method(*args)
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/service/crud_service.py", line 261, in nf
    rv = await func(*args, **kwargs)
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/schema/processor.py", line 49, in nf
    res = await f(*args, **kwargs)
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/schema/processor.py", line 179, in nf
    return await func(*args, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/plugins/pool_/pool.py", line 569, in do_create
    disks, vdevs = await self._process_topology('pool_create', data)
                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/plugins/pool_/pool.py", line 274, in _process_topology
    verrors.check()
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/middlewared/service_exception.py", line 72, in check
    raise self
middlewared.service_exception.ValidationErrors: [EINVAL] pool_create.topology: The following disks were not found in system: sde,sdc,sdf.
2

use disks directly attached to the motherboard, no usb attached housings.

Post your details on your hardware.

2 Likes
3

Thanks what if I am using a small form factor PC I had and the only way I can add drives is USB?

4

It is not fit to install and use TrueNAS

The ZFS filesystem wants and needs direct access to the drives. Choose a different NAS operating system that doesn’t use ZFS.

3 Likes
5

I have seen ONE m.2 to sata HBA which may not be terrible & may service your purposes. Do you have a full m.2 slot available?

Not an outright recommendation, but it won't be USB

JEYI NVMe M.2 to 5 Sata Adapter

The USB thing will either outright not work, or lead to critical data loss eventually as ZFS needs direct access to the disks which is lost with that specific USB controller - basically the same thing that the error message you got is trying to warn you about.

Using the USB controller will result in bad times with TrueNAS and ZFS.

6

Another bizzare and not recommended path forward would be to run a Type 1 Hypervisor such as ESXi or ProxMox and pass the drives through. I don’t know how the TrueNAS VM will see these drives, will they be represented separately if you pass the USB controller through?

As I said, not recommended.

Unfortunately you need to proper hardware in order to utilize TrueNAS correctly.

1 Like
7

If your SFF PC has at least one free PCIe slot, you can use a SAS HBA (flashed to IT Mode) with external connectors and a seperate external SAS enclosure

8

I suspect that OP has a Mini-PC with, at best, one 2.5" slot and a PCIe slot without cooling (for GPU with blower cooler)…

9

I wrote this years ago in the old forum to cover questions about USB attached storage. It is not designed to stop anyone from using USB attached storage with TrueNAS. But, let you know what problems we know about, or can predict.

1 Like