Hi, I have a ZFS stripe setup. I know, right—stupid! I completely forgot that I striped it, and earlier I encountered an issue.

Unfortunately, I admit I made a mistake. It contains the only copy of some important memories from my child , birth, birthdays, and significant life milestones. I know, again, I’m stupid. I forgot I striped it because I’ve been busy with life.

As a father and a fellow data enthusiast, I’m pleading for any hope or guidance on how to remedy this situation. I feel like I’ve lost a part of myself and my son. Any assistance would be deeply appreciated. If repair is possible, I am more than willing to pay.

I’m desperate—VERY desperate. Even if there’s a risk, I would cherish any data I can recover. I hope you can help, as I’m feeling lost, broken, and truly down right now.

Tried ChatGPT and tried all his version of -F(Force Command) nothing seems to work :(

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by adamgwaps

Try cloning the disk with ddrescue, then try importing the pool with the spare; disconnect the bad disk first, if it still doesn't import, post the output from zpool import

On 7/28/2025 at 7:54 PM, JorgeB said:

Try cloning the disk with ddrescue, then try importing the pool with the spare; disconnect the bad disk first, if it still doesn't import, post the output from zpool import

Hi my replacement drive just arrived, again i am sorry i am not that techie and i am already afraid i might damage some important data what is the best command i can run using this ddrescue? any help will be appreciated Thanks!

See the link above, if you don't know the device identifiers to use post the diagnostics and let us know which disks are the bad one and new one.

On 10/19/2025 at 5:13 PM, JorgeB said:

See the link above, if you don't know the device identifiers to use post the diagnostics and let us know which disks are the bad one and new one.

Hi @JorgeB sorry for the late reply i just placed the replacement drive and just started the ddrescue using the command ddrescue -f /dev/sdd /dev/sds /boot/ddrescue.log im now halfway and i just remembered the destination drive is a brand new disk and remains unformatted, will ddrescue take care of it? or should i restart?, My existing file system is ZFS will i be able to just import it after? or do i need to format it first before running ddrescue? Thanks!

Edited November 4, 2025Nov 4 by adamgwaps

You don't need to format, the clone will include the original filesystem.

6 minutes ago, adamgwaps said:

My existing file system is ZFS will i be able to just import it after?

It may depend on what ddrescue can salvage from the bad disk. Once the clone is done, disconnect the old disk, leave only the clone and the other pool member connected, and post the output from zpool import

29 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

You don't need to format, the clone will include the original filesystem.

It may depend on what ddrescue can salvage from the bad disk. Once the clone is done, disconnect the old disk, leave only the clone and the other pool member connected, and post the output from zpool import

Ah now i can wait in peace. Sure, i will get back to you when i have the results this is a 20tb and i guess it will take some time and thanks for the fast reply appreciate it!

Edited November 4, 2025Nov 4 by adamgwaps

Sounds good, also grab a screenshot from ddrescue when it finishes and post that to show how much it recovered.

19 hours ago, JorgeB said:

Sounds good, also grab a screenshot from ddrescue when it finishes and post that to show how much it recovered.

Hi @JorgeB Did it fail or is this normal? omg what happened?

Looks like the disk drop offline, reboot/power cycle the server and try again. Check the sdX names, since they can change, then use the same log file (/boot/ddrescue.log) and it will resume.

16 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Looks like the disk drop offline, reboot/power cycle the server and try again. Check the sdX names, since they can change, then use the same log file (/boot/ddrescue.log) and it will resume.

Got it i read online that i should use -D if i encounter this error should i or should i proceed with your recommended command? Thanks again for the fast reply @JorgeB

I would try again using the same command.

1 hour ago, JorgeB said:

I would try again using the same command.

Hi again @JorgeB i did and it resume to this is this correct? or should i start over? is this is normal?

Edited November 5, 2025Nov 5 by adamgwaps

17 minutes ago, adamgwaps said:

i did and it resume to this is this correct?

2 hours ago, JorgeB said:

then use the same log file (/boot/ddrescue.log) and it will resume.

2 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

  20 minutes ago, adamgwaps said:

i did and it resume to this is this correct?

  2 hours ago, JorgeB said:

then use the same log file (/boot/ddrescue.log) and it will resume.

@JorgeB I meant i think while running ddrescue the disk identifier changed and it my have copied from another drive thus tainting the data and now that i reboot and it returned it may resume but the data cloned may be from another drive when the id changed and it resumed now to the correct drive thus the rescue data may not be reliable anymore(sorry if i cant explain it clearly)

58 minutes ago, adamgwaps said:

I meant i think while running ddrescue the disk identifier changed

I did say

3 hours ago, JorgeB said:

Check the sdX names, since they can change

If the names changed, it's best to start over.

1 minute ago, JorgeB said:

I did say

If the names changed, it's best to start over.

@JorgeB asside from changing the ddrescue log file location is there anything else i should do?, do i need to format the destination drive or can i just start over just change the log file directory?

If you change the log file name, it will start over; no need to do anything else.

Just now, JorgeB said:

If you change the log file name, it will start over; no need to do anything else.

@JorgeB Perfect! I will redo it now then again i will update this thread if anything happens and again thanks for the fast reply!

Hi @JorgeB it did it again i think the drive is the culprit it seems it reset by itself i think it is safe to resume now.(Just an Update)

Edited November 6, 2025Nov 6 by adamgwaps

Yep, just try resuming.

Hi @JorgeB it restarted again and changed drive letter and again i resumed. (Just another Update)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you @adamgwaps .

How big is your disk, 20 TB?

4 hours ago, googleg said:

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you @adamgwaps .

How big is your disk, 20 TB?

Yup here is the smart of the failed drive.

Just another update