I needed to switch off my UnRaid NAS, so I used the GUI to "Stop" the array, then logged in using Telnet and did a shutdown -h now

 

I daresay the system had been up for months, if not over a year. No errors reported on any hard drive.

 

Now It now won't reboot  I get VFS: Insert root floppy and press enter.

 

So I tried to reboot in the "no pluggins" mode whatever that is, and it got to a similar point and just hung.

 

Please help - I don't want to be an expert user or do anything fancy, I just want a NAS where I can dump my files!!

Put the flash in your PC and let it checkdisk.

Put the flash in your PC and let it checkdisk.

 

Thanks, but no errors were found, and the problem persists :-(

What happens if you "press ENTER"?

What happens if you "press ENTER"?

 

Kernel panic.

 

OK, here's the thing. I have a second USB that I can boot from, completely new, as supplied by LimeTech. And it boots the system, but of course there is no configuration information so it doesn't know the system name or more importantly that the disks are already formatted and make an array.

 

Question: are there some config files I can copy from the old USB to the new to transfer that information over? Than maybe I'll be able to boot up on the new USB using the old config.

 

(what sucks about  this situation is that it appears that my old USB has somehow got 'corrupted' just through nothing.)

 

 

 

 

 

Update: I copied the 'config' directory from the "bad" USB to the new one, and hey presto, the array is back up.

 

I ordered some additional USBs and I'll be making multiple copies of the new "known good" one!

 

So for anyone else having this issue, I hope you have a backup too.

Update: I copied the 'config' directory from the "bad" USB to the new one, and hey presto, the array is back up.

 

I ordered some additional USBs and I'll be making multiple copies of the new "known good" one!

 

So for anyone else having this issue, I hope you have a backup too.

Couple critical items, which you may or may not be aware of.

 

If you back up your USB over the network, be sure the array is stopped before you make a backup. Also, be VERY careful to keep up with what disks were installed when the backup was taken, if you change any of the array disk members, old backups should be deleted and a new backup made, so as not to corrupt data if you restore a backup with the wrong set of disks defined.

 

The USB serial number is directly linked to your license file, so if you use a new USB key, the old license file will not work until it is updated with limetech. The latest versions of unraid will mostly automate this for you, if you have a need to use an old version of unraid with a new USB key, you will need to get in touch with limetech to have them manually void the old license file and issue a new one based on the new USB.

Update: I copied the 'config' directory from the "bad" USB to the new one, and hey presto, the array is back up.

 

I ordered some additional USBs and I'll be making multiple copies of the new "known good" one!

 

So for anyone else having this issue, I hope you have a backup too.

Couple critical items, which you may or may not be aware of.

 

If you back up your USB over the network, be sure the array is stopped before you make a backup. Also, be VERY careful to keep up with what disks were installed when the backup was taken, if you change any of the array disk members, old backups should be deleted and a new backup made, so as not to corrupt data if you restore a backup with the wrong set of disks defined.

 

The USB serial number is directly linked to your license file, so if you use a new USB key, the old license file will not work until it is updated with limetech. The latest versions of unraid will mostly automate this for you, if you have a need to use an old version of unraid with a new USB key, you will need to get in touch with limetech to have them manually void the old license file and issue a new one based on the new USB.

 

Thank you. Duly noted, and good to know.