Everything was running fine

I updated from 7.3.2 to 7.3.3
When it said to reboot after update, i did.

Nothing.

After attaching a monitor to the server, the Computer IS set to boot from USB in the bios and the usb device is found on boot. Have tied to reboot an all USB ports.. USB is recommended Samsung drive less than a year old.

I cant find in docs the way to trouble shopot this situaltion.

Will there be anything I can recover from the USB?

PLEASE PLEASE Can someone point me to where its documented how to troubleshoot this.

Pull the USB drive and plug it into a Windows PC first.

Look for a folder named config and copy the entire thing to your desktop immediately.

That folder contains your license key, array configuration, network settings, and Docker templates. As long as you have it your configuration can be fully restored.

If the drive is readable on Windows the issue is likely the bootloader rather than drive failure.

Download the Unraid zip for 7.3.3, extract it to the USB drive formatted FAT32 labeled UNRAID, then right click make_bootable.bat and run as Administrator.

Copy your saved config folder back onto the drive.

Also check whether there’s an EFI- folder with a trailing hyphen -- rename it to EFI if so.

If the drive isn’t readable at all it’s failed and you’ll need a fresh drive.

Either way -- when replacing the Samsung, that recommendation is outdated and the drive has a documented history of problems in Unraid.

Get a reliable drive as a replacement:

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

If the flash drive is still readdable, try recreating it as a first step, first backup the current one, then recreate it using the USB tool with 7.3.3, confirm the flash drive boots with the stock install, and if yes, restore only the /config folder from the backup overwriting any existing files.

@JorgeB @Lolight Thanks for the answers. Very much apreciated

So just to be clear.The ONLY folder that has all my settings docker, anything that is "mine" is in the config folder?
And Im assuming instructions the same on linux?

Correct

@JorgeB thanks.

Tried with installer on linux (7.3.2 latest with installer) No Boot

Tried a new brand USB Exactly the same samsung metal type and no boot also. I live far from stores and deliveries
Bios set to boot from USB. USB is first in bios drive order
Boot dialog sees the USB storage device but still cannot boot,
goes to a black screen with blinking curser top left just as after the update originally

Are you booting legacy or UEFI? Legacy boot requires running make_bootbale first. You can also test if the flash drive boots on another PC, if available.

UEFI. its the same results now as pre reinstall on both drives. I will test on another computer when I can. the next server wil def be NOT booting from USB.

Go into BIOS and check two things:

First, find Secure Boot and disable it if enabled.

Second, find CSM (Compatibility Support Module) and try toggling it -- if it’s enabled try disabling it or vice versa.

It really sounds like a UEFI/Secure Boot/CSM conflict rather than anything wrong with the drive or Unraid installation.

Also check whether the EFI folder on the drive has a trailing hyphen -- EFI- instead of EFI. If so remove the hyphen.

Cannot find anyCSM Or Secure Boot Probably too old.
EFI folser has no trailing -

I thought my bios was UEFI but it's probably legacy
Im using the Unraid creator. Whats make_bootable and how can i run it? (linux)

https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/getting-started/set-up-unraid/create-your-bootable-media/#finish-the-usb-setup

Thank you I was looking at the wron instructions I think

I will try this as soon as I'm back with the server.

You guys are being very helpful to me a noob.

thank you

Edited October 14Oct 14 by J1mB0b

@Lolight Ok this instruction here is beyond me (sorry, Im learning)
Linux: Unmount the USB drive. Then run sudo bash ./make_bootable_linux.
I dont seem to be able to run this command in an ummounted drive? "bash: ./make_bootable_linux: No such file or directory"

Edited October 14Oct 14 by J1mB0b

Do you have a Windows PC available? It's much easier to do it there, if not, post the Linux distro you are running

Linux mint.

On Mint you need to run the script from a copy on your PC, not from the flash drive. Once the drive is unmounted, the file on it is no longer there. That's why you got "No such file or directory".

The script unmounts the drive itself, so you don't need to do that first.

1. Plug in only the Unraid flash drive (unplug the other one), and wait for Mint to open it.

2. Open a Terminal and install the required tool (it may already be installed):

sudo apt install mtools

3. Check that the drive is detected with the correct label:

ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/ | grep UNRAID

It should show UNRAID -> ../../sdX1 (X is a letter). If nothing shows, the drive is not labelled UNRAID.

4. Copy the script to your home folder and run it from there:

cp /media/$USER/UNRAID/make_bootable_linux ~/

cd ~

sudo bash ./make_bootable_linux

5. When it asks Permit UEFI boot mode [Y/N], answer Y.

6. It should end with the Unraid OS USB Flash drive is now bootable and may be ejected. Remove the drive and try to boot the server.

If it boots with the stock install, put your backed-up config folder back on the drive, overwriting the existing files.

Thank you so much for the help

So it seems it partly worked untill the last step
It did unmount the UNRAID USB though

m44k@m44-LNX:~$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/ | grep UNRAID
m44k@m44-LNX:~$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/ | grep UNRAID
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 15 23:27 UNRAID -> ../../sda1
m44k@m44-LNX:~$ cp /media/$USER/UNRAID/make_bootable_linux ~/
m44k@m44-LNX:~$ cd ~
m44k@m44-LNX:~$ sudo bash ./make_bootable_linux
INFO: make_bootable_linux v1.4

INFO: The following device appears to be the unRAID USB Flash drive: /dev/sda
Permit UEFI boot mode [Y/N]: Y
INFO: unRAID USB Flash drive currently mounted to /media/m44k/UNRAID, copying temporary installer files to /tmp/UNRAID

To continue you may need to enter your admin password
sudo: /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/make_bootable_linux.sh: command not found

Edited October 15Oct 15 by J1mB0b
need to be complete and accurate

The first part of the script worked. The second part failed because the files copied from the flash drive are not marked as executable on Mint. Nothing was written to the drive yet, so it is safe to continue. You can run the last part manually:

1. Unplug the Unraid flash drive, plug it back in, and wait for Mint to open it.

2. Check which device it is now (the letter can change after you plug it back in):

ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/ | grep UNRAID

lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TRAN,LABEL,MODEL

The UNRAID line shows sdX1. In the lsblk list, sdX must be your USB flash drive (TRAN usb, with the size of the flash drive). This is important, because the next step writes to that whole device. If it is not clearly the flash drive, stop and post the output.

3. Copy the boot files and make them executable:

mkdir -p /tmp/UNRAID

cp -r /media/$USER/UNRAID/syslinux /tmp/UNRAID/

chmod +x /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/syslinux_linux /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/make_bootable_linux.sh

4. Run the last step. Use the device without the partition number, for example /dev/sda, not /dev/sda1:

sudo /tmp/UNRAID/syslinux/make_bootable_linux.sh /dev/sda

5. It should show Installing Syslinux bootloader, then Writing MBR, and end with the Unraid OS USB Flash drive is now bootable and may be ejected. Remove the drive and try to boot the server.

YESSS!!!!
It Boots
Wow you guys are awesome. I cant thank you enough
Lets hope when I swap my cofig file it all comes back

So I coppy My config, it still boots

but now the it says there is a disk missing in the array but the disk is it says is missing is running and it is seen by the bios . . I've tried different sata cables

Do I try and start the array anyway? is replace and rebuild drive the only option?

EDIT: Its the only drive on a seapate sata controller so i think thats the failure...checking

Edited October 16Oct 16 by J1mB0b

Please post the diagnostics

is this right?

media-diagnostics-20261017-0126.zip media-syslog-20261016-1225.zip

Don't start the array for now, and you don't need to rebuild anything. Disk4 is very likely fine. The problem is the Marvell controller it's connected to. The diagnostics show the disk link coming up, but the controller can't read the disk because the IOMMU (VT-d) is blocking it. This is a known issue with many Marvell controllers when the IOMMU is enabled.

The easiest fix is to connect disk4 to the free onboard Intel SATA port. You currently use 5 of the 6, so there's one free. Unraid identifies the disks by serial number, so changing ports doesn't change the assignments. After rebooting, disk4 should be back in its slot and you can start the array normally.

If you need more ports my recommendation would be to get a non Marvell controller, see https://forums.unraid.net/topic/102010-recommended-controllers-for-unraid/ , but if you'd rather keep using the Marvell controller, you can try disabling IOMMU using the kernel options or disabling VT-d in the BIOS.

Also, can you check the backup of your old flash drive: open syslinux/syslinux.cfg and post the append line. When you recreated the flash drive, only the config folder was restored, so if you had a custom option there before, like intel_iommu=off, it would have been lost. That would explain why it worked before.

So I moved some drives to diferent controllers so all the array is on the original onbourd controller.
AND IT WORKS.

Spare sata was in use with CD writer which I hardly use.

Thank you for you help
It gives me faith in humanity that you guys helped someone that you dont know, so much

Edited October 18Oct 18 by J1mB0b