Strange Failure on F5-221 w/3-disk RAID5

[TPiatek360T]

I've had a 3-disk RAID5 array set up for some time, working perfectly.

One day, I come home, and the server isn't working. I check the NAS, and find that when I log in, it wants me to perform a setup, just like the first-time I installed the drives. It indicates that 1 drive is bad, and 2 drives are good. If I proceed, it warns that it will delete all data on the drives - obviously unacceptable.

The existing drives SHOULD, as a RAID5, just work, allowing me to restore the original drive 1 that malfunctioned. But they're not, even though the NAS sees them, says they're healthy, etc.

So... what do I do? I can't just load the drives on a Windows PC to back them up, since Windows doesn't read the BTRFS Terra-master suggested (I'm regretting this choice now). I tried reading the device with a hard-drive duplicator, but likewise, it supports FAT variants, NTFS, etc., but not BTRFS.

I suppose I can create a Linux install, use BTRFS, then see if I can copy files off. Is that the only/best option?

Thanks for suggestions/advice!
Tim

[TMS]

Try to unplug the problematic disk and see if you can successfully enter the TOS system. If not, you can send an email to support(at)terra-master.com？our engineer will help you with this issue by remote session.

[TPiatek360T]

Thanks, I wanted to follow-up here - I sort-of fixed the issue. I installed TOS with the NEW replacement drive, then I turned the whole box off, installed the two old drives (RAID5 survivors), and THEN it saw them and was able to restore the RAID (starting with ONLY them didn't have the TNAS see them, only when they were added to the system later). I deleted the new storage pool for the new drive, and used it to repair the RAID, and after a day of repair, it's basically up and running!

Only problem now is I have no apps, the app store doesn't work, and I can't find tpk files to manually install them anywhere. That's not a storage problem, so best for another forum. Still, at least the NAS is functioning again, so I can back up all the data to be safe.

[TMSupport]

We have received your email, and will arrange a remote session for you.