Gene, I just don't know where to start with finding relevant bits to quote from your text.
I find it unlikely that several of the drives you have bought should all be failed and dead. I'm concerned that you're prematurely jumping to conclusions and junking them. It's normal for the device nodes to change as you unplug and plug drives. They will increment through the alphabet until /dev/sdz turns into /dev/sdaa and so on. If you are referring to drives by the device node then this will confuse you and inevitably lead to a catastrophic error. You may be better off consistently using the links in /dev/disk/by-id/ which will be based upon the drive serial numbers. Maybe it would be best to put the 4 drives aside and try to get a stable working system before you mess with them again. This talk of not being able to reboot sounds like a more serious thing to get straightened out. Cheers, Andy -- https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting
