All existing data on this device will be OVERWRITTEN when array is Started

[xupal]

Well I think I made a huge mistake so this is my last resort.

 

I initially added all of my drives.  I got a message saying unmountable: Unsupported partition layout.  All of the drives that I added were empty with the exception of one that had pictures, movies, software etc.  As soon as i started the array it started writing to the two parity disks.  I wasn't sure if this was reading from my 2TB drive or not.  I let it do its thing for 8 hours and it finally completed.  I stopped the array, unmounted the 2tb drive, and then restarted the array.  It gave me a message saying the drive was missing but I can emulate it.  I clicked yes start the array and then clicked format drives assuming it would not format the 2TB drive as it was now unmounted.  When I try to add it back to the array it says that all data will be overwritten when array is started.

 

Is there anyway to recover this?  Did I actually delete the data? 

[itimpi]

2 hours ago, xupal said:

Well I think I made a huge mistake so this is my last resort.

 

I initially added all of my drives.  I got a message saying unmountable: Unsupported partition layout.  All of the drives that I added were empty with the exception of one that had pictures, movies, software etc.  As soon as i started the array it started writing to the two parity disks.  I wasn't sure if this was reading from my 2TB drive or not.  I let it do its thing for 8 hours and it finally completed.  I stopped the array, unmounted the 2tb drive, and then restarted the array.  It gave me a message saying the drive was missing but I can emulate it.  I clicked yes start the array and then clicked format drives assuming it would not format the 2TB drive as it was now unmounted.  When I try to add it back to the array it says that all data will be overwritten when array is started.

 

Is there anyway to recover this?  Did I actually delete the data? 

I assume by "Unmounted" you mean you changed the drive to "Not Assigned" before restarting the array? If the 2TB drive was then showing as "missing" you should be OK and it was only the "emulated" drive that was formatted.   

 

If so you should be able to mount the drive externally to the array using the "Unassigned Devices" (UD) plugin.   Assuming you want this drive to later be used in the array you can now copy all the files off it (to the array?). 

 

When you later attempt to add it back into the array to take the place of the "missing" drive Unraid will rebuild it (erasing any current contents) to whatever is showing as on the "emulated" drive as all the rebuild process does is make a physical drive match the emulated one.

[trurl]

Go to Tools-Diagnostics and attach the complete Diagnostics ZIP file to your NEXT post in this thread. 

[xupal]

4 hours ago, itimpi said:

I assume by "Unmounted" you mean you changed the drive to "Not Assigned" before restarting the array? If the 2TB drive was then showing as "missing" you should be OK and it was only the "emulated" drive that was formatted.   

 

If so you should be able to mount the drive externally to the array using the "Unassigned Devices" (UD) plugin.   Assuming you want this drive to later be used in the array you can now copy all the files off it (to the array?). 

 

When you later attempt to add it back into the array to take the place of the "missing" drive Unraid will rebuild it (erasing any current contents) to whatever is showing as on the "emulated" drive as all the rebuild process does is make a physical drive match the emulated one.

I booted back into windows after posting this and my data is all there still.  I figured I couldn’t use UD as I didn’t have it assigned anymore.  I started getting mixed up after abandoning freenas yesterday and jumping into unraid.  I started looking into it again this morning and I was able to mount the drive with UD.  I’m going to start copying the data over shortly.  I don’t really want to use the drive anymore because it started showing errors once I opened it in unraid (windows never indicated any problems)  Once I get the data off of it I’ll probably just get rid of it.

 

 

one last question.  I have a 1TB HDD that is currently unplugged because I ran out of sata cables.  Once I get everything off of the 2TB drive, will it be a problem if I unplug it and plug in the 1TB drive?  It will recognize that the drive is different.

[itimpi]

1 hour ago, xupal said:

one last question.  I have a 1TB HDD that is currently unplugged because I ran out of sata cables.  Once I get everything off of the 2TB drive, will it be a problem if I unplug it and plug in the 1TB drive?  It will recognize that the drive is different.

No problem.   Unraid recognises drives by their serial number (and also tracks the size as a confidence check) and not by how they are connected.  You can safely move drives between SATA ports if needed and Unraid will still recognise them in their new positions.  One point to note, however,  is that if you do not need the space it might be worth not plugging the 1TB drive in yet.   Each drive added is another point of potential failure and also a consumer of power.

[xupal]

1 hour ago, itimpi said:

No problem.   Unraid recognises drives by their serial number (and also tracks the size as a confidence check) and not by how they are connected.  You can safely move drives between SATA ports if needed and Unraid will still recognise them in their new positions.  One point to note, however,  is that if you do not need the space it might be worth not plugging the 1TB drive in yet.   Each drive added is another point of potential failure and also a consumer of power.

I wasn't planning to use it in the array, I just need to get the rest of my data off of it.

 

Thanks for the help!