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- create the shares and backup from medias2 to new volume medias2.1
- turn off the NAS
- remove old disk 3 "medias2" and put back my "medias1" volume I previously removed
This last step usually works, but I also usually do it in two steps. This time I forgot and did not boot a first time after removing the old disk 3 "medias2"
Now, my healthy volume "medias1" doesn't mount and I have this message:
Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
It detects the volume name medias1, but refuses to mount
Please any help so that I can remount it without a restore ?
I avoided the external USB because internal backup/restore is much faster and I get the checksums from BTRFS
This is really urgent. Hope it can be fixed
I am comfortable using SSH and advanced linux commands by the way, but I couldn't find any clue in the logs
I removed all disks, factory reset, boot without disks in new GUI, setup password
That was a waste of time. The NAS boots from the disks, and a factory reset formats the disks and does a fresh install of the system. The volume configuration is saved on the OS partition on the disks.
So to start over, you'd need to do a factory reset the disks installed. Then switch to flexraid and destroy the volume (which you can do while it is syncing).
On the original issue, the NAS simply isn't designed to handle the remove disks/reinsert disks sequence you've been using. While you obviously did find a path that worked, you've been playing in the cracks of the piano. A better path would be to format a USB drive as btrfs, and enable checksums on that drive using ssh. Then use backup jobs to copy the data. Or just don't worry about the checksums.
I'd also suggest re-considering the use of volume encryption. It clearly factors into the problems you are having. IMO, the security benefit is small - it only defends against the threat of someone physically stealing the NAS (or just the disks) w/o stealing the key. If someone has the entire system (including the key), they can do an OS reinstall to reset the admin password, and access all the files through the network.
Alternatives to volume encryption include setting up veracrypt or vhd/vhdx containers on the NAS. These IMO offer stronger security, since they also defend against network access threats. The main downside is that you'd only be able to access the encrypted files from one machine at a time.
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
I did not use export as I read about its issues
I also understood that we can change disks after NAS off from one unit to another
So, I just changed from one unit to same unit. And things went fishy
I put back the old medias2 volume disk, same error message to remove the inactive volume. The disk shows the volume is there, that data is encrypted, but refuses to mount
I even put back the very first medias1 volume I had around and it did not mount with same message.
Looks like the NAS does not accept any disk from another unit (well, or from its self). I don't want to pull out any other working volumes since it seems that that part is really buggy.
So, is there a way I can get it mounted without a whoel restore. Restore would be from an NTFS and I really wanted to keep the BTRFS checksums during migration
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
On further testing this morning:
I put a new formatted disk in slot 3: what happens is that the NAS gets stuck at looking for encryption key for that slot and never finds it. I have to wait for the time-out of 10mn
Same was happening when I insert the medias1 volume I want to recover.
Seems like the NAS now has an issue with that slot whatever disk I put in there.
I will wait for it to timeout, format the new disk and create a new volume not encrypted inside the NAS FrontPage, try to reboot and see if the issue is fixed. Clean up any mess in the fstab if there is one and try to reboot with the medias1 I want to get back online.
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
Ok, I narrowd it and could get the volume active.
I basically followed instructions in another thread to fix teh bug where the NAS was insisting to look for the encryption key of the non exitsing volumes:
- check systemd-journal.log to see which volume is causing the problem
- delete volume
- create new volume with the same name and encryption enabled
- delete new volume
- create new volume with the same name without encryption
Now, my medias1 volume shows this error:
Volume: Failed to activate encrypted volume medias1-0. Insert an external storage device with the encryption key for this volume and reboot to activate the volume medias1-0
As you see, it got some how renamed from medias1 to medias1-0 !
I tried to rename the pass key on the USB flash, but it doesn't work and same error not finding the key
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
I removed all disks, factory reset, boot without disks in new GUI, setup password
Poweroff the NAS
Reinstall 4 disks
Boot NAS
Now all my volumes refuse to get the password from the USB key:
Volume: Failed to activate encrypted volume data-0. Insert an external storage device with the encryption key for this volume and reboot to activate the volume data-0
Volume: Failed to activate encrypted volume medias1-0. Insert an external storage device with the encryption key for this volume and reboot to activate the volume medias1-0
Volume: Failed to activate encrypted volume medias2.1-0. Insert an external storage device with the encryption key for this volume and reboot to activate the volume medias2.1-0
Well, I am done with a complete restore which would take me a few days...
How can one move from one NAS to another if the moving to same NAS after a factory reset is broken ?
Please help me recover my data and mount teh encrypted volumes
I removed all disks, factory reset, boot without disks in new GUI, setup password
That was a waste of time. The NAS boots from the disks, and a factory reset formats the disks and does a fresh install of the system. The volume configuration is saved on the OS partition on the disks.
So to start over, you'd need to do a factory reset the disks installed. Then switch to flexraid and destroy the volume (which you can do while it is syncing).
On the original issue, the NAS simply isn't designed to handle the remove disks/reinsert disks sequence you've been using. While you obviously did find a path that worked, you've been playing in the cracks of the piano. A better path would be to format a USB drive as btrfs, and enable checksums on that drive using ssh. Then use backup jobs to copy the data. Or just don't worry about the checksums.
I'd also suggest re-considering the use of volume encryption. It clearly factors into the problems you are having. IMO, the security benefit is small - it only defends against the threat of someone physically stealing the NAS (or just the disks) w/o stealing the key. If someone has the entire system (including the key), they can do an OS reinstall to reset the admin password, and access all the files through the network.
Alternatives to volume encryption include setting up veracrypt or vhd/vhdx containers on the NAS. These IMO offer stronger security, since they also defend against network access threats. The main downside is that you'd only be able to access the encrypted files from one machine at a time.
Note, I just noticed I did an OS reinstall, not factory default
Same issue if you tried to do that with no disks installed. The OS reinstall does a partial reinstall of the OS onto the disks, and also resets a few configuration settings.
Wired because it was staten everywhere that we can migrate from one NAS to another by taking out disks from one unit to the other !
That feature is about moving all the disks to another NAS (in your case, also moving the encryption key). Not about dismounting/remounting individual volumes. Moving individual volumes is possible, using the export function - though it isn't well documented, and I suspect not that well tested.
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
Still why we cannot turn offline a volume, put it outside the NAS; then import it later ?
These things are making me moving to FreeNAS
All this was done while setting up my new FreeNAS system. I am going to run both NAS at same time. But if moving disks / volumes is still not supported, the use of the NAS is really limited. I understand I cannot just move one disk from a volume, but moving a whole volume is possible on other systems outside Netgear if I am not wrong
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
Unless they were specifically for encrypted volumes. the posts you read must have been for a different situation. You cannot export the main volume (data in your case) and then try to make it into a main volume again. Those users probably incorrectly assumed the whole volume was trashed when it simply couldn't work as the main volume. Export is intended only for secondary volumes like your media ones. An exported volume can only be imported into a NAS that already has an active main volume. Export is for exactly what you did or moving it to another NAS and has worked wonderfully for me doing just that, though I never use encrypted volumes. It does what you are asking, it puts the drive "offline" and makes the NAS "forget" it ever existed, allowing it to later be re-imported top the same or another NAS (by simply booting up with it installed).
BTW, medias1-0 is the name of the MDADM volume your media1 BTRFS volume resides on. When it shows up as if it were a volume name in the GUI, it usually means you've trashed the BTRFS volume. All the things you continued to do after this happened may have have caused that.
Here is you last hope, but I have never done it with an excrypted drive, and you may have trashed the volume. If you did read something expressly concerning encryption and export, then it likely won't work. But I don't think you have a lot of other options. I have successfully used this process to import a not-exported volume into a "new NAS" that was really the same NAS but after a factory default without that volume because the old one was trashed. But nothing was encrypted, and that could be a big wrinkle.
With the encryption key installed, boot the NAS with just the medias1 drive. This will convert it into a main volume, meaning it will get empty users and apps directories. They will not get mounted once the NAS is re-integrated into one with an existing main volume, at least if you use the procedure that follows to do so, but just be aware they are there and give it time to do so. If the NAS won't boot or doesn't mount the volume, you've trashed the volume or this just doesn't work with an encrypted volume, and your SOL.
Assuming the volume mounts, now is your opportunity to back up anything you need to. But best not on yet another drive you put in the NAS, via USB or to another device on the network. If you do choose to backup to another drive you put in the NAS, be sure to EXPORT it if you ever expect to re-mount it. Since I also don't know if the next step works with an encrypted volume, failure to back up may mean saying goodbye to the files.
DESTROY any volumes other thanmedias1 (that the NAS shows as "missing"). Then EXPORT medias1.
Boot the nas with the data and medias2.1 volumes only. DESTROY any volumes other than those that the GUI shows as missing.
Power down and insert the medias1 drive. Then power up with the encryption key installed.
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
Sadly, I have tried that with the 3 volumes, i could get past the inactive volume issue, but encryption key cannot be loaded. It keeps looking for it and asking to reboot with the encryption key on a usb drive, which is sadly already the case
Usually i go usb backup in btrfs. But i found internal backup much faster. Well, i lost 10x the time i wanted to spare.
I factory reset and i am restoring from network.
I will try to export an encrypted volume on an empty slot next time. Thank you and hopefully i have a backup. Just hope the disk doesn't fail during restore...
And from that point, if I have now to factory reset just to fix that silly bug, can I do it properly this time: turn off the NAS, pull out all the 4 disks, factory reset the NAS, turn it off, put back the 4 disks in same order, turn on the NAS ?
Re: Remove inactive volumes to use the disk. Disk #3.
I don't know why you think doing a factory default is done"properly" without the drives installed. Doing one without drives does nothing. A factory default wipes the drives, downloads and installs the (pre-existing) OS fresh from flash to the drives, and re-creates a volume. After that, your NAS boots from the drives, not the flash (except a quick look to se you aren't trying to use the boot menu), so your problem is on the drives.
An OS re-install may fix the issue, so you at least don't have to go through volume creation again.
However, for your info, I did properly init and format the drives in windows, so they were completely cleaned up
Which is also not a particularly useful thing to do, though likely not related to your problem. The drives must be formatted by the NAS, as it uses a Linux style format, not Windows. The best thing you can do is remove any partitions already on the drive before using them. Using vendor tools to test the drives can prevent frustration in not knowing why the NAS has a problem with a drive, but likely would not have helped here.
Since you have started another thread on the other issue, I'll let it be answered there.
