Tried to repair faulty UNRAID USB and now can't log into web UI

[theseus]

I was getting errors in my unRAID web UI informing me that the boot USB was read only. I figured the USB drive was going faulty so I powered down the server, removed the USB drive to attempt to clone it onto new hardware. I inserted the USB into both a macOS and Windows machine and both devices could not read the contents of the USB drive. I then tried to spin up my server again to backup the USB's contents via the unRAID UI and then I was prompted with an error saying something to the words of "Read only". I could not log into the web UI of unRAID.

 

I spun down the server, removed the USB again and this time attempted to do a Disk Repair via macOS's Disk Utility. It completed successfully. I inserted the USB back into the server, booted it and it seems to boot OK as the command prompt shows the server's local IP address and says "Ares login:" as it normally does. The "Read only" error from earlier was not present. No computers or phones in my house can connect to the server. I can ping the server's internal IP address, but I cannot connect to it. How do I navigate around this issue?

[Frank1940]

Log in at the command line prompt on the console (monitor and attached keyboard).  The type the following command:

 

diagnostics 

 

That should write the file to the boot drive.  Look the monitor to see where they file will be found on the flash drive.    Now push the power switch for about one second.  That should shut the server down.  (If it does not, then push the switch for five or six seconds and that will force a shutdown.  Upload the entire file in a new post in this thread.

 

 

[theseus]

Things are going from bad to worse. I spun down the server to attempt to boot into safe mode (not sure if that would have done anything). Upon restarting the server, I just get a black screen and it doesn't seem to be doing anything at all now.

 

1 minute ago, Frank1940 said:

That should write the file to the boot drive.  Look the monitor to see where they file will be found on the flash drive.

Unfortunately I read your post after spinning down the server and now I can't seem to get the system online at all. Not sure if this would have worked since the USB already appeared to be on its way out as the unRAID UI was throwing up errors stating that it was "Read only". As stated in my original post, both my macOS and Windows machines could not read the contents of the drive anyway. macOS's Disk Utility somehow managed to run OK on the drive and Windows Explorer hangs and eventually crashes when I attempt to view the contents of the USB.

 

Looks like I may need to create a new bootable USB. Reading the unRAID documentation, it states this for those in my situation:

Quote

To ensure no data loss after the server is booted, you will need to make sure you assign each disk to the array / cache exactly as it was prior to the failure. It is also a good idea to keep a screenshot of your drive setup, anytime you conclude a major change in the configuration of your Unraid server, for example, after the initial setup, or after adding/removing drives. If you do not know which disks were assigned where, create a post in the forum for further assistance.

As stated in the last sentence of the above snippet of the documentation, I unfortunately do not have any backups or photos of my drive configuration.

[theseus]

OK, so after a short wait, I tried booting again and I managed to get the to command line.

 

During the unRAID boot, it got a ton of errors stating the following:

Quote

critical medium error dev sad

A quick Google search pretty much states that this means the USB is faulty (which we already know).

 

I managed to get a copy of the diagnostics file on the USB (despite the numerous errors stating it's READ only) however as stated in my earlier post, none of my computers can read the contents of the USB so I'm at a loss on what to do.

 

[theseus]

Update time. I managed to resolve this issue (I think) by just biting the bullet and recreating a new bootable USB with the UNRAID USB creator tool. I was running 6.12.8 which is strangely not available as an option so I visited https://www.unraid.gutt.it/ to download a copy and created a new USB.

 

Fortunately I believe I managed to mount my drives as they were previously (my parity is the single largest drive and the other 7 drives are assigned from biggest to smallest) and it appears I'm up and running without issue.

[Frank1940]

Make a backup copy of the boot drive.   (  On the   MAIN   tab,  Then look for   'Boot Device',  Then click on 'Flash'.   In the "Flash Device Settings" section, click on the "FLASH BACKUP"  button.)  It is a good idea to do this periodically or whenever you make changes to your Unraid configuration.

 

I think I would also run a parity check if one was not done after you created the new flash drive.