Hi Everyone,

 

I decided to try to backup a few things today and I had the bright idea of backing up my unRAID USB boot drive, a Lexar Firefly 4GB.  Big mistake.

 

So I attempted to take a disk image with it plugged into my main Windows PC, and it got about 5% through at 1-3MB/s until it crashed the imaging program and the LED on the key went crazy.  I removed the key and now whenever I plug it into any USB socket nothing happens.

 

I've tried it on multiple machines, and nothing appears in the system logs nor is there any indication that the drive is actually drawing power.

 

Is there anything I can do to get back my working unRAID server?

 

Thanks

Hi Everyone,

 

I decided to try to backup a few things today and I had the bright idea of backing up my unRAID USB boot drive, a Lexar Firefly 4GB.  Big mistake.

 

So I attempted to take a disk image with it plugged into my main Windows PC, and it got about 5% through at 1-3MB/s until it crashed the imaging program and the LED on the key went crazy.  I removed the key and now whenever I plug it into any USB socket nothing happens.

 

I've tried it on multiple machines, and nothing appears in the system logs nor is there any indication that the drive is actually drawing power.

 

Is there anything I can do to get back my working unRAID server?

 

Thanks

 

Put it into your Windows machine and run Chkdsk on it. 

Thanks for the reply. 

 

Unfortunately the drive no longer appears under Windows when inserted.

Get another Flash Drive.  If you have purchased a license from LimeTech, send an e-mail with an explanation of what happened and some proof of your purchase. 

Get another Flash Drive.  If you have purchased a license from LimeTech, send an e-mail with an explanation of what happened and some proof of your purchase.

 

But what about the data on my array, is it recoverable?

Yes.

So once I have a new flash drive with an appropriate license, will unRAID automatically recover the array configuration?  Any customisations have definitely been lost, right?

So once I have a new flash drive with an appropriate license, will unRAID automatically recover the array configuration?  Any customisations have definitely been lost, right?

 

As I recall, this depends on which version you are running when you boot up.  So to answer your question, you need to state the version you will be using. 

 

But in any case, it will be possible to recover your data.  You will have to setup everything else.  A real hassle if you had a complex setup.

As I recall, this depends on which version you are running when you boot up.  So to answer your question, you need to state the version you will be using. 

 

But in any case, it will be possible to recover your data.  You will have to setup everything else.  A real hassle if you had a complex setup.

 

I'll be using whatever the latest stable version is, so likely 4.7.  (This is the same version as I was previously using too.)

As I recall, this depends on which version you are running when you boot up.  So to answer your question, you need to state the version you will be using. 

 

But in any case, it will be possible to recover your data.  You will have to setup everything else.  A real hassle if you had a complex setup.

 

I'll be using whatever the latest stable version is, so likely 4.7.  (This is the same version as I was previously using too.)

No version of unRAID will be able to know your disk configuration if booted from a new flash drive unless you restore to it a saved copy of your config directory.

 

In the absence of those files (in the config directory) you will need to re-assign your physical disks to their respective logical slots in the unRAID array.  Hopefully you have a saved screen-shot, or syslog, or written listing describing which disks are assigned to the various slots in the array. 

 

The only really critical disk when reassigning is the parity disk.  You should NOT reassign it initially, but only assign the data disks.  If you can then start the array and see all your data, and all the disks mount correctly, you can then assign the parity disk.

 

If any disk you think is a data disk does not mount (shows as unformatted) DO NOT FORMAT IT, as it is likely the parity disk.  Seek help here.  There is a MAJOR bug in 4.7 that will incorrectly re-write the MBR on disks to where they are not recognized as being formatted.  This bug only surfaces when replacing the flash drive, or when starting fresh with no files in the config folder.    This re-write seems to occur if the default alignment in settings is different than actually used on the disks.  Again, seek help here. 

 

Do not re-format or re-partition the disks... (You'll only complicate the effort of getting ll your data back)  If drives show as unformatted, KEEP YOUR FINGERS OFF THE FORMAT BUTTON.!!!!!!  You'll feel really dumb when you specifically requested the data on the disks be erased by re-formatting them if you press that button.  You data is safe if you do not, as there is a utility to fix the MBR and subsequently allow the disk to be mounted.

 

Joe L.

In the absence of those files (in the config directory) you will need to re-assign your physical disks to their respective logical slots in the unRAID array.  Hopefully you have a saved screen-shot, or syslog, or written listing describing which disks are assigned to the various slots in the array. 

 

The only really critical disk when reassigning is the parity disk.  You should NOT reassign it initially, but only assign the data disks.  If you can then start the array and see all your data, and all the disks mount correctly, you can then assign the parity disk.

 

If any disk you think is a data disk does not mount (shows as unformatted) DO NOT FORMAT IT, as it is likely the parity disk.  Seek help here.  There is a MAJOR bug in 4.7 that will incorrectly re-write the MBR on disks to where they are not recognized as being formatted.  This bug only surfaces when replacing the flash drive, or when starting fresh with no files in the config folder.    This re-write seems to occur if the default alignment in settings is different than actually used on the disks.  Again, seek help here. 

 

Do not re-format or re-partition the disks... (You'll only complicate the effort of getting ll your data back)  If drives show as unformatted, KEEP YOUR FINGERS OFF THE FORMAT BUTTON.!!!!!!  You'll feel really dumb when you specifically requested the data on the disks be erased by re-formatting them if you press that button.  You data is safe if you do not, as there is a utility to fix the MBR and subsequently allow the disk to be mounted.

 

Joe L.

 

Thanks for the in-depth reply, Joe -- it's really helpful.

 

I just realised I could mount the file containing the 5% of the data that was actually saved before the drive died and it turns out I was able to grab the following files that were in the /config/ directory:

• shares/Other.cfg
  
• shares/Storage.cfg
  
• shares/usb.cfg
  
• disk.cfg
  
• drift
  
• go
  
• ident.cfg
  
• network.cfg
  
• Pro.key
  
• secrets.tdb
  
• share.cfg
  
• super.dat
  

 

if I copy all of them plus a new Pro.key to a fresh 4.7 install on a new USB stick, assuming none of these files are corrupt, would I have a working and pre-configured server?

Yes, with those files the array should just start. You probably will have no issues at all.  If you had cleanly stopped the array before copying the config directory, you might not even need a parity check on restart.

That's perfect!  Thanks for your help everyone.