I upgraded from 7.2.7 to 7.3.2 and it failed. I am really worried, what exactly happened?

There's an apparent issue with the flash drive, try recreating it first, first backup the current one, then recreate it using the USB tool, confirm the flash drive boots with the stock install, and if yes, restore only the /config folder from the backup overwriting any existing files.

2 hours ago, JorgeB said:

There's an apparent issue with the flash drive, try recreating it first, first backup the current one, then recreate it using the USB tool, confirm the flash drive boots with the stock install, and if yes, restore only the /config folder from the backup overwriting any existing files.

I restored to 7.2.7 and re-did the update and it worked. No idea why it didn't work the first time. How do I know that the usb flash is failing?

If you see any more flash drive related errors logged, it may be failing; you can also try recreating it first as mentioned.

2 hours ago, JorgeB said:

If you see any more flash drive related errors logged, it may be failing; you can also try recreating it first as mentioned.

Im curious as im trying to understand the changes regarding to booting 7.3, what are the specifics of the partition detection and why some older installs dont boot when partitioned "incorrectly"?

17 minutes ago, MowMdown said:

Im curious as im trying to understand the changes regarding to booting 7.3, what are the specifics of the partition detection and why some older installs dont boot when partitioned "incorrectly"?

This seems unrelated to that; there are actual flash drive errors showing, when it's a partition provlem, Unraid still boots normally; just the GUI won't work, and there's a specific error logged by emhttp.

On 7/17/2026 at 9:57 AM, mans_ said:

How do I know that the usb flash is failing?

Syslog is the first indicator but only if you have persistent logging configured -- which most users don't.

Honestly though -- it's pretty much impossible to know a boot drive is about to fail while it's still actively serving as one.

By the time symptoms appear you're often already in trouble.

The more practical approach is two-fold.

First, check what you already have -- ChipGenius or Flash Drive Information Extractor will tell you what controller and NAND type is actually inside your current drive without disturbing it.

That tells you a lot about what to expect long term.

SanDisk being the exception since their controllers block identification tools entirely.

If you want to actively test the drive you'd need to run H2testw on it -- full write and verify cycle that surfaces marginal NAND.

Not practical for most people while it's the active boot device.

Not gonna lie, considering you got help on discord and here and then you run to reddit to complain: https://old.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/1uypt4x/quality_of_unraid_updates_is_a_joke/

That's pretty crappy behavior. Especially for something that may or may not be unraid's fault.

Edited July 20Jul 20 by MowMdown

On 7/20/2026 at 7:00 PM, MowMdown said:

Not gonna lie, considering you got help on discord and here and then you run to reddit to complain: https://old.reddit.com/r/unRAID/comments/1uypt4x/quality_of_unraid_updates_is_a_joke/

That's pretty crappy behavior. Especially for something that may or may not be unraid's fault.

Please stop being a teenager.

Digging up this old thread...I basically ran into the exact same issue upgrading from 7.2.x to 7.3.2 and it's probably my USB stick giving up the ghost.

tried unplugging and reinserting into the Internal USB header. It worked on the next reboot but unraid complained about a bad image and then subsequent reboots failed to detect the USB stick all together.

Tried front USB port, still nada,

took the USB drive and mounted on macOS and ran disk utility first aid and it did completed successfully. I did it multiple times and it strangely reported different number of files detected. Then I re-copied the 7.3.2 bz* files onto the USB drive and then tried booting with the stick in the rear USB port and it detected and booted and unraid mounted and booted successfully. I should retry the front USB port or the Internal port but at this point, I'm just happy it's booted and it's almost 3am so I'll kick the can to later me to deal with the USB drive.

I think I will start looking for a USB replacement. I thought this was a reliable Samsung BAR USB drive (bought the one that everyone recommends) but it's only been 4 years. Possibly the heat from the internal USB port might have had negative consequences. Anyone got a good replacement recommendation? I know a buddy went through the trouble of getting an intel octane drive and a PCIe adapter to boot from.... worth the hassle?

Thanks,

4 minutes ago, machineglow said:

I think I will start looking for a USB replacement. I thought this was a reliable Samsung BAR USB drive (bought the one that everyone recommends)

https://forums.unraid.net/topic/199642-psa-on-industrial-mlc-usb-boot-drives-mlc-nand-end-of-life-and-last-accessible-stock-final-call/

Edited August 24Aug 24 by Lolight

9 minutes ago, machineglow said:

I thought this was a reliable Samsung BAR USB drive (bought the one that everyone recommends)

Not everyone 😉

https://forums.unraid.net/topic/196967-unraid-boot-device-guide-usb-and-internal-boot-hardware-selection-and-risk-tradeoffs/

Oh jeez waking up find out I need to join a USB stick lottery is the last thing I expected. Thanks for the info. Stock and availability seem impossible in Canadian market.

Edited August 23Aug 23 by machineglow