I have used ReadyNAS Ultra 2 now for a few years and have never had any problems. But a few weeks ago, an HDD broke down. I have all the family's pictures on this device, from when the kids were young. But I have a ReadyNAS Duo too, which I do not use. It works very well so I thought I would use one of the HDD for my Ultra 2, which now only has a single working HDD that I can not access. So I moved over one HDD from RDN Duo to RDN Ultra with the alarm "Corrupt root". Can I make this work and if so, how? I really need to access my family pictures! I am worried.
Are grateful for all the help I can get !!
//PutteA
Model: ReadyNAS RNDU2000|ReadyNAS Ultra 2 Chassis only
So I moved over one HDD from RDN Duo to RDN Ultra with the alarm "Corrupt root". Can I make this work and if so, how?
Well, you can re-purpose a drive on the duo and use it in the ultra instead. But it needs to have something to sync to.
Have you tried booting up the ultra with only the good ultra disk installed? It should be in its original slot. If it fails to boot, what status does RAIDar give you?
I really need to access my family pictures! I am worried.
There are a couple of options:
If you use Windows you can install r-linux for windows, and try connecting one of the ultra drives to the PC (either USB or SATA), and see if that sees the files.
If that fails, you can try ReclaiME data recovery software (among others) and see if that works. It you see the files, you'll need to purchase the software to recover files.
Then I have to ask a question.I buy a RDN with 2 HDD in (Seagate 2TB) and mirrors these two so I have two similar copies if something happens.And then something actually happens.One of the HDD is broken. Then suddenly there are big problems to access the data on the healthy device. I do not understand the reason for having 2 units with the same data on if it is still impossible to access the data on the healthy if one breaks.Whats the point?
Now I have a RDN Ultra 2 with ONE working HDD with a lot of data on, and ONE RDN Duo with TWO working HDD, which is also empty.Do I have to go through your different steps, and may have to pay big money to access data on a 100% working Seagate HDD? As I said, what's the point?
So I have two working HDD in a RDN Duo, which is empty on data. It should be possible to use one of these in my Ultra 2 so I can get it started again.
Then I have to ask a question.I buy a RDN with 2 HDD in (Seagate 2TB) and mirrors these two so I have two similar copies if something happens.And then something actually happens.One of the HDD is broken. Then suddenly there are big problems to access the data on the healthy device. I do not understand the reason for having 2 units with the same data on if it is still impossible to access the data on the healthy if one breaks.Whats the point?
Normally the NAS will boot and run normally when one drive fails. But sometimes it won't.
Occasionally the disk failure locks the SATA bus, so the system can't function.
More commonly, the bad disk is corrupted by still responds, and the system tries to boot from it.
Sometimes the disk is fine, but the failure of the primary disk somehow corrupted the file system on the second. Then you are facing data loss.
And sometimes multiple disks do fail at about the same time (perhaps a second one fails during RAID resync).
On the whole, RAID redundancy is more about data availability than data safety. You can expand capacity and handle most disk failures while keeping the data available for users. Without RAID, the data is offline until it is restored - costly in a business, and annoying for home users.
But RAID by itself is not enough to keep your data safe. There are lots of scenarios where a RAID mirror won't protect your data. It reduces the odds of data loss, but that's all. The primary protection for your data is always a backup plan that backs up your data to one or more different devices - ideally one of those devices is remote (to provide disaster recovery - fire, theft, lightning, etc).
Do I have to go through your different steps, and may have to pay big money to access data on a 100% working Seagate HDD?
In the first two scenarios I mentioned above, removing the failed disk should allow the system to boot normally - did you try that? Power down for a few minutes before the boot, that sometimes makes a difference.
If not, R-linux for Windows is free, and if the data corruption is only on the OS partition of the disk it will let you access the data volume.
If that fails, then that generally means that the file system is corrupted on the second drive, even if it passes the disk diagnostic. That will require data recovery to get the data back.
