Problem with Storage Space

56Kruiser · 18 Dec 2018

My storage space is not loading. Below is a screen shot of the management screen:

I notice Warnings on 2 drives, but don't see how to tell what the warning is. They indicate 61% and 61% used, but I wouldn't think that close enough to be a problem with it starting. I found this in the error log:

Problem with Storage Space-capture-2.png

And this one:

Problem with Storage Space-capture-3.png

FYI...I found the system locked up, so hard shut down by holding the power button.

I found this article, and interest in if I should follow that guidance, and any other thoughts you can share.

In the meantime, I"m going to do a normal shutdown (writing this from that PC now) and see if it helps.

56Kruiser · 18 Dec 2018

There is a change in the management screen. I have found an error on Disk 6 in the log as well:

Problem with Storage Space-capture-5.png

Problem with Storage Space-capture-6.png

One of the disk errors is in there repeatedly.

Looks to me like one drive is definitely bad, and the other is near bad.

I suspect I need to get new drives, and investigate how to replace them.

Given the current status, which says "Reduced Resiliancy, check the physical drives section", I'm a bit surprised it did not come online. It appears to me I could bring it online if I go into Change Settings and select Bring Online. I presume the reason it did not come up automatically is a failsafe, and I would likely be better changing the drives first.

If I do that I would presume I should change the one there that is now showing the warning, and bring it online. Does that make sense?

dalchina · 18 Dec 2018

Hi, a great program to give the best instant analysis of drives is Hard Disk Sentinel (trial), periodically given away.

The textual description on the GUI is the best by far I've seen. Suggest you try it.

I also suggest anyone using Storage Space should run a program that continuously monitors the health of the drives and reports incipient problems. Free programs such as Crystal Diskinfo, HD Tune are possibilities.

56Kruiser · 18 Dec 2018

Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it.

Any idea if it might be possible to run a utility against the disk to repair it? Not sure if it being in a storage space would cause that to be non-feasible.

Heading out to check out the programs you suggested.

dalchina · 18 Dec 2018

I would guess, once you know more about the state of the disks, you will want to recover what you can. But hopefully you already have full backups, so that isn't an issue.

Repair- assuming they are all HDDs - isn't an option. If a file system is damaged, that's one thing (chkdsk). If a partition table is damaged, that's another- recovery is often possible. But if HDDs are losing an excessive number of clusters, there's nothing you can do but replace them. And that's just one failure mode of course.

56Kruiser · 18 Dec 2018

I downloaded Hard Disk Sentinel, and it showed one disk as unknown status. And it indicates that I've lost my mind. That's because it shows a 5TB drive...and I don't recall ever having a 5TB drive, let alone added to the list of drives.

However, the storage space is set up as 5TB with all the drives added together. So, I suppose that is what it is seeing. I am running a surface test on it now. Had to purchase the program to do that, but it's not that expensive.

When I go into Disk Management, it shows a 5TB drive offline. As I write this I'm becoming sure this is the storage space...I'm just surprised it shows up that way. I thought I had looked in Disk Management and saw all the drives that make up that space.

Quick question: Can I assume that the drives in the storage space are inactive and more or less safe from crash with the storage space not mounted? I just ordered an 8 GB drive to backup too. I was negligent about backing it up, as I was considering the redundancy in the storage space would cover me, thinking the likelihood of 2 drives failing at the same time was not strong.

I'm thinking I should ring the system down and leave it that way until I get the replacement drive and backup drive.

56Kruiser · 18 Dec 2018

Funny...on actually reading the title on that unrecognized status disk, it is titled Microsoft Storage Space. I was ust surprised to see it listed in the drive list.

56Kruiser · 21 Dec 2018

I am a bit confused.

I have loaded Hard Disk Sentinel, and it shows drives in the system, with Disk 1 shows Health 0%, and has a "predicted failure'...and talks about the bad sectors etc.

The other day when I load Storage Space Management, it showed 5 drives, with warnings on 2 of them. Today, it shows 5 drives and All OK.

In any event, I have a new drive (2 actually) to replace the bad one. But how do I know which drive is the bad one?

Is it as simple as getting my motherboard instructions out, and figure out which SCSi connector on the MOBO is "#1"?

Another point of note: the Storage Space Manager has a note of "Upgrade this pool to enable new features, such as optimizing drive usage and safely removing extra drives."

I've done a search on how to upgrade a storage space, and I find all kinds of stuff other than how to do that.

By the way, the event log on the PC has Event ID 52 warnings on Disk 6 and Disk 1.To add to the confusion, Disk 6 in Hard Disk Sentinel is the Storage Space.
Your thoughts and time appreciated.

dalchina · 21 Dec 2018

Hi, I've no personal experience with Storage Space I'm afraid, but one way to identify the particular disk might be to use the disk id.

If you look at the Information tab on HDS, you will find a serial number.
Hopefully you will be able to identify any particular disk using that.

Note that in some cases, HDS can even assess the connecting cables.. I've seen an example.

As you'll know, Event Id 52 is not good news:
Event ID: 52 Source: Disk

56Kruiser · 21 Dec 2018

Sorry, I'm blank. What is HDS?