Drive format issue

[SamHill]

I have been updating my ReiserFS to XPS file system.

I successfully replaced drive 3 and it updated correctly. Issue was, I didn’t change the format as it was still RiserFS.

I moved all the data off onto other drives and then when it was empty, I shut down the array, selected the drive 3 and chose the XFS format.

Once I started the array, it told me to format Disk 3 which I did.

It came up fine.

Moved everything from Drive 4 which was RiserFS as well, and moved it to the newly XFS formatted drive 3.

I shut down the array, selected the drive 4 and chose the XFS format.

Once I started the array, it told me to format Disk 4 which I did.

It came up fine.

Now Here is the issue.

Drive 2, which is my last RiserFS drive. I moved all the info onto the newly setup drives 3 and 4.

I shut down the array, selected the drive 2 and chose the XFS format.

Once I started the array, it told me to format Disk 2 AND Disk 4 as there is no known format.

 

 

I found this snippet if it helps:

Dec 27 17:32:27 Tower kernel: XFS (md4p1): Invalid superblock magic number

Dec 27 17:32:27 Tower root: mount: /mnt/disk4: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/md4p1, missing codepage or helper program, or other error.

Dec 27 17:32:27 Tower root:        dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call.

Dec 27 17:32:27 Tower emhttpd: shcmd (23097): exit status: 32

Dec 27 17:32:27 Tower emhttpd: /mnt/disk4 mount error: Unsupported or no file system

Dec 27 17:32:27 Tower emhttpd: shcmd (23098): rmdir /mnt/disk4

 

Any ideas?

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by SamHill

[SamHill]

I was using unBalance to move the info if that makes a difference.

Also, I dont know how to save and attach the log file, if that is needed.

 

Drive 2 will come up if I put the format back to riserFS, but it is empty.

Drive 4 that has about 1.5TB of data is still showing no format, but the drive has data on it still.

 

Thanks for any help.

[Gragorg]

You will need to post your diagnostic for someone to help you

[trurl]

Do not format.

 

Attach diagnostics to your NEXT post in this thread.

[SamHill]

2 hours ago, trurl said:

Do not format.

 

Attach diagnostics to your NEXT post in this thread.

Thanks. 

Not sure if I did this right. 

Let me know.

Thanks for the help, I truly appreciate it, as I would love to not lose the data.

tower-diagnostics-20231227-2242.zip

[JorgeB]

This may be a bug with unaligned partitions, if I understood correctly disk2 was not formatted yet?

 

 

[SamHill]

Correct, Disk 2 was the last drive I needed to format to XFS.

 

Disk 2 has been emptied to disk 4.

Disk 2 just needs to be formatted now.

The issue is Disk 4 was formatted to XFS, and was fine, until I moved all Disk 2's data on it.

Now, when I start the array to format Disk 2, now it shows Disk 2 AND Disk 4 needs a file system.

 

Disk 4 was a valid drive formatted as XFS until I moved Disk 2 content to it and stopped the array.

[JorgeB]

Ok, don't do anything else, I'm on the phone now, will post instructions in an hour or so.

[JorgeB]

Like mentioned I think this may be a bug with v6.12 and unaligned partitions, when disk4 was reformatted, it was formatted aligned but the filesystem is still unaligned, hence why it no longer mounts after a re-start/reboot.

 

Since disk2 is also unaligned and the same capacity we should be able to use that MBR to restore the correct partition layout for disk4, so first backup current disk4 MBR, just in case:

 

dd if=/dev/sdY of=/boot/disk4.mbr bs=512 count=1

 

Replace Y with correct disk4 identifier, as of last diags it was /dev/sdf

 

Now copy disk2 MBR to disk4:

 

dd if=/dev/sdX of=/dev/sdY bs=512 count=1

 

Replace X with disk2 letter, Y with disk4, as of last diags they were /dev/sdc and /dev/sdf respectively, but check because they can change, double check again you are using the correct command, dd can be dangerous.

 

This will take just a second, once it's done reboot and post new diags after array start.

 

 

[SamHill]

Thank you for the help.

 

I do have a spare 2TB drive and slot location if that will help with the process.

 

So I have a few questions.

 

Question 1

Is this the command to back up disk4 MBR?

       dd if=/dev/sdf of=/boot/disk4.mbr bs=512 count=1

Not sure how to find the disk4 identifier, but I haven't done anything since the diag but stop the array, so it should hopefully be the same.

How do I check what the identifier is? I have attached an image and highlighted what I believe are the identifiers.

Do I check with the array started or stopped. It is currently stopped.

 

Question 2

Where does the back up go?

 

Question 3

How do I implement those commands?

I assume I just type the commands in the terminal?

Do I have to start the array before doing these commands, or keep the array off?

 

Thanks again.

[JorgeB]

5 minutes ago, SamHill said:

Not sure how to find the disk4 identifier,

The identifier is what you have highlighted, and they are the same as before, you type (suggest copy/paste) the commands in the terminal window with the array stopped, so first:

 

dd if=/dev/sdf of=/boot/disk4.mbr bs=512 count=1

 

This will backup current disk4 MBR to the flash drive, then copy disk2 MBR to disk4 with:

 

dd if=/dev/sdc of=/dev/sdf bs=512 count=1

 

Now reboot and hopefully disk 4 will mount after that.

 

 

[SamHill]

Awesome. Thank you so much.

That seemed to work. Everything is fine. 

Now I can reformat my disk2.

 

Here is how I have been doing it. Is this the correct way?

I have been stopping the array

changing file system to XFS for the needed disk

Starting the array

Formatting the drive

stopping the array

then starting the array again to make sure its good

 

Just dont want another issue like this.

[JorgeB]

2 minutes ago, SamHill said:

Now I can reformat my disk2.

You can, but the same thing will happen again, format disk2, stop array, start array, disk2 should no longer mount, stop array, now copy the MBR the other way around, disk4 MBR to disk2, reboot and should be fixed.

[SamHill]

Sorry, here is the new diag, forgot to attach it.

tower-diagnostics-20231228-1043.zip

[JorgeB]

Looks good, I can see the partition is now unaligned again, and since it's mounting all should be OK, btw if you don't mind make a backup of the current disk4 MBR and attach it here, just in case I need it to help someone else with a 2TB disk and the same issue.

 

dd if=/dev/sdf of=/boot/unaligned.disk4.mbr bs=512 count=1

 

[SamHill]

No problem. 

I ran the command. I assume it is on the thumbdrive?

How do I access it. Do I need to shut it down and put the thumbdrive in a windows machine, or is there a way to access it another way?

[SamHill]

Think i found what your looking for.

unaligned.disk4.mbr

[SamHill]

31 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

You can, but the same thing will happen again, format disk2, stop array, start array, disk2 should no longer mount, stop array, now copy the MBR the other way around, disk4 MBR to disk2, reboot and should be fixed.

 So I would run the command below correct?

 

dd if=/dev/sdf of=/dev/sdc bs=512 count=1

[JorgeB]

Correct.

[SamHill]

All drives are on XFS now and okay. 

Thanks alot for the help.