Solved Storage Threads

[INL]

A recent power outage knocked out my Linkstation Pro Duo 2TB v3  (configured with RAID1 mirroring)

I used the TFTP procedure to boot (LAN not WLAN!), and reloaded the firmware v3.

The web GUI then appeared in Japanese - I have switched this back to English.

However, I cannot see any of my data, and the webGUI reports the drive as empty.

Needless to say I didn't expect to lose my data (or "firmware" for that matter) from this RAID configuation due to a simple power outage. Am I missing anything?

[Drizzle]

I just experienced the exact same thing, power out, TFTP, reload the firmware, japanese nad everything is gone.

The drive was configured as RAID1 before and now it apears to be RAID0, needless to say I'm more than pissed off as this was the data storage and backup for a large project...

my trust in Buffalo linkstation is gone  but would be very happy for a chance of saving the data...

[PCPiranha]

When you loaded the firmware did you force the update?  Take me through how you updated the firmware.  Also understand that any electronic device can fail as a result of a power outage.  The best thing you can do to prevent data loss is to back up the data elsewhere as well.

[Drizzle]

Yes the update was forced, it was the only way of getting it done...

The problem with backup was that this was the backup...

[PCPiranha]

Did you check the option to rebuild partition table?  That will delete that data on the unit.  If you did not, I doubt that the update itself caused the data loss.  It would most likely be file corruption.

[Drizzle]

The procedure was 

1. One lousy power out and could not get into the web ui, (at this point the share still showed)
2. Then rebooted the linkstation using the switch in the back
3. Nothin, could not even see it in EM mode
4. Took a laptop an configured it to 192.168.11.1
5. Swithed a CAT-5 LAN cable between the laptop and the linkstation
6. tried if it could be seen with NASNavigator, pinged or anything... no dice.
7. Power on with the FUNC button pressed and a PC configured with the TFTP server running at 192.168.11.1
8. Had to press the func button once more in order to get it to work
9. Then when the Linkstation pro duo booted it was recognized by NASNavigator at some strange IP address (i don't remember it on the top of my head)
10. Run the LSupdater.exe with the LS-WTGL-V3_FwUp_309 update and forced it to 192.168.11.150 (as it would not work with the other IP address the NASNavigator showed)
11. It failed
12. Apparently sometning or a part of it worked because when i...
13. Rebooted the Linkstation onto my home network where it was given a IP address by the DHCP server and was recognised by the NASNavigator
14. Run the udate again using the DHCP given IP address and this time it was an success
15. after the success it was possible to get into the WEB interface with the standard admin password combination
16. Language was in Japanese, changed it to English (which was not that easy i might add as Japanese characters are not exactly my strong point)
17. HDD in Raid 0 mode
18. All data lost...
19. sniff...

[PCPiranha]

So you didn't actually perform the force firmware update?:

http://forums.buffalotech.com/t5/Storage/FAQ-2-of-3-Force-Firmware-update-procedure-please-read-this...

If this is your backup then why don't you just get your files back from the original source?

[Drizzle]

I actually did do the force update as it would not work with the IP address the NASnavigator showed.

I did configure the INI file with the debug option and gave the 192.168.11.150 IP address, the update went almost through but it complained something about not being able to verify the update as it could not access the NAS after it was loaded.

This was the backup and a repository for quite a bunch of files we have in our project. As it was the INCREMENTAL backup source we no longer have the possibility to go back to a certain date which is a much wanted feature when doing configuartion testing on large systems.

Is there any way of rescuing the data or does the update actually reformat/repartition the drive as it appears to have done?

[PCPiranha]

If you selected rebuild partition table then there is not too much can do as it does a complete format.  You can try contacting a data recovery company (like drivesavers, www.drivesavers.com).

Even if you were doing incremental backups it is still a good idea to back that up (if past versions of files are still important to you).  As with any storage device the only way to ensure the sanctity of your data is to have it backed up in multiple different locations.  I believe the IT standard is 3 backups?  I could be wrong on that number..

[INL]

My steps the same as Drizzle's. I'm pretty sure I didn't check the rebuild partition table option. Surely a power outage wouldn't destroy _all_ the data on _both_ the drives? The drive wasn't in use at the time - I've noticed the drive seems to click away even if nothing else is plugged in on my network - any way to get it to power down / wake-on-LAN - ie get the heads away from the disc?

I guess we are saying my back up is lost...