ReadyNAS RN204 files not working after degraded disk recovery

[MattWall1]

Hi Everyone, 

I recently noticed that my ReadyNAS had the status DEGRADED and when I googled I found out that this is typically due to 

a disk failure. I only had 2 disks in a RAID1 configuration and from the Admin page I could see that DISK 1 had failed. (or so I think because Disk 1 was yellow and Disk 2 was green. Usually green means OK). 

I promptly went out and bought 2 new disks and I changed the failed one first. I let it re-sync and it later said that it had finished the  task, but that the disk was still DEGRADED. I then changed DISK 2 also and let it resync again. 

I could see all my files and I could also see that they appeard to be right sizes on disk.

However, now I have just noticed that when I download a file, whether a document or an image, although the file size indicates that it has downloaded the file, the file cannot be opened. It is like all files are the correct size, but somehow corrupt?

Have anyone had this issue? Any recommendations on how to fix, or is it even possible to fix? Below the error I get for a jpg file. 

Appreciate any help or suggestions.

Cheers, Matt

This is the error for a jpg file that appears the correct size

[StephenB]

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@MattWall1 wrote:

I changed the failed one first. I let it re-sync and it later said that it had finished the  task, but that the disk was still DEGRADED.

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It should have been redundant at that point.

One thing you could try:  power down and remove both of the current disks (labeling them by slot as you remove them).  Then insert the original (failed) disk 1 and see if the system boots.  If it does, then see if you can download the jpg sucessfully.

Assuming that all works, then immediately copy off your data.

[Sandshark]

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@StephenB wrote:

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@MattWall1 wrote:

I changed the failed one first. I let it re-sync and it later said that it had finished the  task, but that the disk was still DEGRADED.

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It should have been redundant at that point.

Unless you had two layers to the volume.  Did you at one time have smaller drives that you upgraded?  If so, there were two layers that needed to sync.  Unfortunately, the ReadyNAS reports a sync has completed when it finishes the first one, then goes on with the second.

But I'd expect it would be saying your volume is dead in that case.  So maybe the first new drive was just bad.

What happens if you remove both new drives and put in just the good one from the first set?  Don't try mixing that one and one of the new ones right now, as they won't be in sync and that could further confuse the NAS.

[MattWall1]

Thanks for the tip. 

I will try to only insert the bad drive and see if it boots up. If it works I'll copy the files to my computer temporarily, before 

I then try to sync with one of the good drives. I will let you know how I go. 

Cheers, Matt

[Sandshark]

You can try that, but I was recommending you try just the original good drive.

[StephenB]

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@Sandshark wrote:

You can try that, but I was recommending you try just the original good drive.

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You did.  But I'd recommended starting with the failed drive earlier in the thread (and would have then shifted to the second original drive if that failed to mount).

If the failed drive is still "sort of" ok, then it'd be advantageous to go as far back as possible.

[MattWall1]

Hi Sandshark, 

I think one drive is completely broken. It won't even show up in the ReadyNAS Volumes admin page. 

I tried with the drive that is "sort of" working. 

My shares appears in the desktop tray application on the PC, but they keep disconnecting and

when I try to syncronize with my PC no files are being transferred. although I can here the drive buzzing. 

When I went to login to the ReadyNAS admin interface I found that my old user/password did not work, but the 

default NetGear User/password worked and it logged me in with the wizard as if I was setting it up fresh. The unit also

displays "ReadyNAS is in safe mode". 

In "Volumes" I can see the harddrive, but it is marked in green = "Spare" and it says, "Select disk to create a volume"

I am not sure what my options are from here? I am contemplating to take the all or nothing approach and hit the 

hard drives with a hammer to see if I can squeeze out a little bit of life from them, unless anyone has a better idea?

Thanks for any advice. 

Cheers, Matt

[MattWall1]

One thing that I was wondering. If I have a RAID1 configuration with just 2 drives, could I plugin the drives in a normal PC and

see if I can use some standard disk repair programs to recover some of the data? Or is the data somehow scrambled because it was used in the ReadyNAS? Sorry if that is a stupid question. 

[Sandshark]

It's not "scrambled", it's just in a format a PC won't understand:  Linux BTRFS on top of MDADM RAID.  There are tools that may allow you to recover some of the files, but they aren't cheap.  There are free beta versions of BTRFS and MDADM for Windows, but I've not used them.

[MattWall1]

Ok, that was what I meant with "scrambled".  It is in a format not natively readable by a PC. 

Now even the "sort of" good drive is not even showing up under volumes. 

I have just lost a lifetime of photos. You'd think by investing in one of these you are safe, but from now on

I will instead use cloud backup solutions. 

Best Regards, Matt

[StephenB]

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@MattWall1 wrote:

Now even the "sort of" good drive is not even showing up under volumes. 

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Just to clarify:  did you attempt to boot up the NAS with the original (failing) drive installed by itself (other slot empty).  If that failed to boot/mount your volume, did you also attempt to boot up the NAS with the second original (good) drive also installed by itself?

If both of those failed, then it might still be possible to get your photos back - though it would cost.  ReclaiMe software is one popular RAID recovery package that supports BTRFS that has worked out for several people here.

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@MattWall1 wrote:

You'd think by investing in one of these you are safe, but from now on I will instead use cloud backup solutions. 

Equipment - including disks - can fail, and cloud backup isn't bulletproof either.  Generally you do need a backup plan in place to keep your data safe.  Personally I have backup NAS, but also use cloud backup for disaster recovery.