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Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Cyntalan
Aspirant

Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

I come in hopes to be saved from myself and that I didn't in fact lose it all.

 

I've had this NAS for a few years now, and it has done me well. I started with a 3TB and over the years I've started hitting capacity issues. So, I figured it was high time to move to 6TB. Bought a 6TB, slipped it into drive bay 2, saw it sync up, let it do its thing, then saw that it only gave me a 3TB drive in the 6TB space.

 

Welp, that wasn't what I wanted. So, just to be safe, I pulled the 6TB, and the 3TB stays accessible, could see the drive and its contents, though due to the loss of the synced drive, it says the data is degraded. Upon swapping out for just the 6TB, I got the same statement and treatment. No worries, I thought. Since I have the 3TB with my data still intact, I can just wipe the 6TB, build its own partition, put it back in with the 3TB, and copy it all over manually.

 

That's when the trouble began.

 

After wiping the 6TB, doing the whole DESTROY thing and FORMAT to make a new partition, and putting the 3TB in on its own again, the NAS would no longer boot. I was no longer able to access the drive. Minor panic set in. I swapped back to the 6TB, and now the NAS communicates but treats itself like it's brand new. Default login/password, asks me for email and all that stuff all over again. Well that's odd, I thought. I entered what I needed to to at least get back to the interface. I now have a blank 6TB drive again and everything looks all new. Weird, but whatever. So I decide that if the 3TB drive won't boot, I can at least still look at the files and copy it over to the 6TB as intended, nothing really lost as I didn't really make any special accounts or anything.

 

The 3TB drive's volume is now labelled as inactive and will no longer let me access it via the web interface.

 

I'm really hoping that I can still retrieve the data from the 3TB drive. If I could boot the NAS from that drive, I'd copy everything over bit by bit if I had to, considering my PC only has so much space. Alternatively, if I could force the activation of the 3TB drive, I would do it in other ways. I'm even willing to build a Linux live CD and try to manually plug in my 3TB drive into my PC just to read the data. Does anyone have any insight as to how I may get my data?

Model: RN102|ReadyNAS 100 Series
Message 1 of 23

Accepted Solutions
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Did you try booting to volume read-only mode?

 

On Linux you'd need mdadm for the RAID and btrfs-progs for the filesystem.

 

So you could try at your own risk e.g. (note if not logged in as the superuser you may need to preface commands with sudo)

To install mdadm and btrfs-progs if not already on the system:

# apt-get install mdadm btrfs-progs

To assemble the RAID

# mdadm --assemble --scan

In case it's a multi-layer data volume we should scan for BTRFS devices

# btrfs device scan

We should also check with md RAID device(s) correspond(s) to the data volume

# btrfs fi show

And try mounting it read-only

# mount -o ro -t btrfs /dev/md127 /mnt 

This working would assume things are in a good state which they may not be.


If it won't mount you can check dmesg for clues

# dmesg | tail 

View solution in original post

Message 21 of 23

All Replies
StephenB
Guru

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?


@Cyntalan wrote:

 

After wiping the 6TB, doing the whole DESTROY thing and FORMAT to make a new partition, and putting the 3TB in on its own again,


I don't completely follow your steps, but DESTROY applies to the RAID volume, not the disk.  So the DESTROY is likely the cause of your data loss.  FORMAT would apply to a specific disk.

 

What is a bit puzzling is why the 3 TB disk won't boot.  Normally it will boot without a data volume.


@Cyntalan wrote:

 

I've had this NAS for a few years now, and it has done me well. I started with a 3TB and over the years I've started hitting capacity issues. So, I figured it was high time to move to 6TB. Bought a 6TB, slipped it into drive bay 2, saw it sync up, let it do its thing, then saw that it only gave me a 3TB drive in the 6TB space.

 

XRAID provides RAID redundancy (protection against a "routine" single disk failure). In the case of a 2-bay NAS the volume size is the smaller of the two disks. The more general capacity rule is "sum the disks and subtract the largest".  

 

What you might have done here is switch to flexraid before you started, and then added the 6 TB drive as a separate volume.  Then you could have created temporary shares on the new disk, copied the data, and DESTROYed the original volume (and finally renamed the temporary shares to match the names of the original).

 

Once you made the mistake of inserting the 6 TB drive in XRAID mode, the only solutions were

  • back up the data, do a factory default and start over with the 6 TB drive
  • get a second 6 TB drive, and replace the 3 TB drive as well.

@Cyntalan wrote:

The 3TB drive's volume is now labelled as inactive and will no longer let me access it via the web interface. 

 

I'm really hoping that I can still retrieve the data from the 3TB drive. If I could boot the NAS from that drive, I'd copy everything over bit by bit if I had to, considering my PC only has so much space. Alternatively, if I could force the activation of the 3TB drive, I would do it in other ways. I'm even willing to build a Linux live CD and try to manually plug in my 3TB drive into my PC just to read the data. Does anyone have any insight as to how I may get my data?


If I'm following your steps correctly, then your best chance of getting the data back is to use Data Recovery.  I suggest connecting the 3 TB drive to a Windows PC and trying ReclaiMe, and see if that sees your data.  Doing the test is free, you'd only pay for the software if you actually recover it.

 

Another option is to use paid Netgear support (my.netgear.com).  They also offer a data recovery service ( https://kb.netgear.com/69/ReadyNAS-Data-Recovery-Diagnostics-Scope-of-Service ).  If the issue isn't what I think it is, they can possibly remount the data volume w/o data recovery - which would be less expensive.  The fact that the NAS is showing you the inactive volume is in your favor here.

 

Though this might not be the easiest thing to hear right now, the only way to keep your data safe is to back it up to at least one other device.

Message 2 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

I performed the destroy with ONLY the 6TB drive in place, which is how the 3TB drive still exists.

 

I talked with someone who knows far more about Linux than I and was able to get into the system with PuTTY, and I can see the partitions, but I am unable to mount them, as it reports the partition being a filesystem type 'linux_raid_member' which mount could not recognize based on what I DO know about Linux. That I could see the partition really led me to believe I could do something on my own, but frankly, I have no idea what.

 

I'll need to go hunting for a SATA cable, but I will give ReclaMe a try, but I have a feeling that it'll be easily possible for it based on my above observations in PuTTY, and if I can avoid the $200, I would like to try.

 

Message 3 of 23
bedlam1
Prodigy

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Since you can "see" your data another approach could be to format the 6TB to NTFS using your PC, obtain a USB caddy for that drive and attach to the ReadyNAS.

Then using Linux copy your Data folder to to the USB Drive (this will be in the folder /Media on the ReadyNAS)

For Linux noobs (like me) I can recommend a file manager called Midnight Commander, to install it using putty type:

apt-get install mc 

To open Midnight Commander type mc

You will be presented with a dual screen, in the left hand screen highlight your /Data folder in the right hand screen highlight /media folder, click on it and select

 USB_HDD_1 (the number 1 may be different)

Then highlight /Data on the left screen again and click Copy at the bottom of the screen and OK on the pop up

That should copy all your data to the 6TB USB Drive, this is your backup which you should disconnect (maybe by shutting down the Readynas gracefully first).You could connect it to your PC to check your data is there ok.

What you do next is up to you, factory default the ReadyNAS with only the 3TB or a NEW 6TB drive installed, setup your shares and settings, plugin the 6GB USB  to the NAS and reverse the above process, MC tutorial is HERE

Message 4 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

I can only see the partitions. I could not figure out how to mount the partition, however.

 

Message 5 of 23
bedlam1
Prodigy

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Are you logged in as user root with ReadyNAS password

Have you installed Midnight Commander

 

Message 6 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Yes, otherwise I can't even attempt to mount. The problem is that mount doesn't recognize the filesystem. Perhaps the command should be altered? My Linux knowledge is extremely limited, but the command I was using to get that far was 'mount /dev/sdb3/ /mnt'

Message 7 of 23
bedlam1
Prodigy

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Use Midnight Commander it is so simple for the "Linux/Debian Challenged"

Message 8 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Ok, I installed Midnight Commander, but am unable to understand how to access said drive. If navigating to /dev/sdb3 (the partition in question), it does nothing when I attempt to enter it.

Message 9 of 23
bedlam1
Prodigy

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

In putty type mc, then double click .. at the top (above /.cache)

Message 10 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Yeah, I've launched the file manager. In the right window, I am attempting to navigate to the drive in question but unsure how. I can move to the root level, then go to /dev, but within, while I see sdb3, it's in purple with a + next to it. Attempting to access it does nothing.

Message 11 of 23
bedlam1
Prodigy

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Follow my instructions in Message 4 above

Message 12 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

I guess I'm not totally following what the instructions say.

 

While I don't have a USB caddy, I should still at least be able to do part of what you're saying as a proof of concept before spending money on such a thing. Thus, I logged into root via PuTTY, installed mc, ran mc. As the volume is considered inactive, I do not actually see a /data folder. It is my understanding that unless it is mounted, it won't be able to.

Message 13 of 23
bedlam1
Prodigy

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

OK sorry I can't help further as "raw" Linux/Debian is not my forte, maybe you should explore around anything you can see (if anything) in MC

Message 14 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Thanks for the assistance nonetheless.

Message 15 of 23
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

You don't say what RAID configuration the unit was in, but I'll assume XRAID.  That being the case, you made several mistaken assumptions:

 

You can't put just one 6TB in place of a 3TB and have the volume expand.  What you got (3TB) is exactly as expected.  You would need a second 6TB for expansion so the extra 3TB has redundancy.

 

You can't add a 3TB drive to your single-drive 6TB system after you destroyed the initial volume.  The second drive needs to be at least as large as the first.  Normally, it simply wouldn't work (compliaing the drive is too small and/or "dirty") and you could remove the drive with it's contents still intact.  But if you did something, you may have made it unaccessable.

 

I don't see anything where you tried to re-boot with just the initially removed 3TB in the unit.  Unless you did something while it was together with the 6TB, it should boot and be accessible, though non-redundant.

Message 16 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

It was RAID1 so I'm assuming it was on X-RAID. With the destroyed volume, I had the 3TB removed at the time, so only the 6TB was affected.

 

As for the 3TB on its own, if that's all that's in when I bring it back online, it never boots.

 

Message 17 of 23
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?


@Cyntalan wrote:

Yes, otherwise I can't even attempt to mount. The problem is that mount doesn't recognize the filesystem. Perhaps the command should be altered? My Linux knowledge is extremely limited, but the command I was using to get that far was 'mount /dev/sdb3/ /mnt'


That’s not how it works

 

You’d need to check the state of the RAID using mdadm and start the RAID and then mount the RAID device. Doing things like this e.g. using SSH is done at your own risk. If you don’t know what you’re doing or make a mistake you can make problems worse.

Message 18 of 23
StephenB
Guru

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?


@Cyntalan wrote:

I had the 3TB removed at the time, so only the 6TB was affected.

 


Just to be clear, that's not 100% correct.  The NAS application has a persistent database, and when you DESTROYed the volume you also removed the volume/RAID-group information in that database as well as the share configuration (stored in the 6 TB drive's OS partition).  

 

And the 6 TB drive was also part of the configuration information that was stored on the 3 TB's drive's OS partition.

 

Something clearly went wrong when you tried to boot up the 3 TB drive by itself.  But what should have happened is that the NAS would have shown the volume as degraded, since it was expecting RAID-1 and there was a disk missing.

Message 19 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Status Update: I was finally able to get an extra SATA data cable and ReclaiMe easily discovered the btrfs filesystem and can read the data just fine. Now it's simply a matter of: is there a way I can read this data without spending $200? I tried a few different avenues so far: WinBTRFS drivers (Win 10 still does not detect it and I'm unsure how to as the documentation kinda confuses me) and an Ubuntu LiveUSB installation (to which it was unable to find and using mdadm I was still unable to mount it. It looked like it attempted to mount {saw the new multi-tier drive icon show up on the side bar for a moment or two} and gave up).

 

If I have to, I will just get the license for ReclaiMe, but since I'm not dealing with raw data recovery, it seems like overkill when it should be reasonable to just to mount it, seeing as there's no actual damage to anything, and frankly the NAS should still be able to read it, just as degraded. But maybe I'm wrong and I have no other choice.

Message 20 of 23
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

Did you try booting to volume read-only mode?

 

On Linux you'd need mdadm for the RAID and btrfs-progs for the filesystem.

 

So you could try at your own risk e.g. (note if not logged in as the superuser you may need to preface commands with sudo)

To install mdadm and btrfs-progs if not already on the system:

# apt-get install mdadm btrfs-progs

To assemble the RAID

# mdadm --assemble --scan

In case it's a multi-layer data volume we should scan for BTRFS devices

# btrfs device scan

We should also check with md RAID device(s) correspond(s) to the data volume

# btrfs fi show

And try mounting it read-only

# mount -o ro -t btrfs /dev/md127 /mnt 

This working would assume things are in a good state which they may not be.


If it won't mount you can check dmesg for clues

# dmesg | tail 
Message 21 of 23
Cyntalan
Aspirant

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?


@mdgm-ntgr wrote:

Did you try booting to volume read-only mode?

 

On Linux you'd need mdadm for the RAID and btrfs-progs for the filesystem.

 

So you could try at your own risk e.g. (note if not logged in as the superuser you may need to preface commands with sudo)

To install mdadm and btrfs-progs if not already on the system:

# apt-get install mdadm btrfs-progs

To assemble the RAID

# mdadm --assemble --scan

In case it's a multi-layer data volume we should scan for BTRFS devices

# btrfs device scan

We should also check with md RAID device(s) correspond(s) to the data volume

# btrfs fi show

And try mounting it read-only

# mount -o ro -t btrfs /dev/md127 /mnt 

This working would assume things are in a good state which they may not be.


If it won't mount you can check dmesg for clues

# dmesg | tail 

This solution ultimately worked. I created an Ubuntu LiveUSB, installed mdadm and samba, did the assemble step with mdadm which automounted the drive, and just used the Ubuntu GUI to connect to the smb server. From there I was able to just copy everything over to the 6TB by hand.

 

Dunno if this would be an issue for everyone or if it was just me, but the LiveUSB froze after about an hour or enough data transfer, so I think there was something weird occurring regarding the communication or perhaps the limitation of it being all in RAM was doing something over time with more data being pushed around, but while it took a couple days of transferring it all over piecemeal, it did the job eventually. Thanks for the assistance!

Message 22 of 23
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Disk volume no longer active - force activation?

So did you try the volume read-only boot menu option?: ReadyNAS & ReadyDATA: Boot Menu

 

If that worked that would have been a lot simpler than using a LiveUSB etc. though it's nice for you to know that there are steps that you can take using an ordinary x86 Linux machine to attempt data recovery (at your own risk).

Message 23 of 23
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