How to read TNAS single hard drive on Windows 11 using USB 3.1

[beagle062]

I just purchased a Terramaster F2-424 for my fist NAS.

I insert two (2) hard disk drives (HDD). A 12TB HD & a 4TB HD. Both hard disks are configure as BTRFS single drives.

So here is my question.
1. I am running Windows 11 on my PC
2. If I take one of the single drives out of my TNAS, say the 4TB HD
3. Place the HD into a USB 3.1 hard drive enclosure
4. Can I read the files written to the hard drive by the TNAS?

So far, the answer is no because I do not know enough about Linux file systems to understand how to make it work.

I used Windows Disk Genius software which can see the disk partitions on the hard drive from TNAS. However, the filesystem is empty. There are no files.

I get the similar results using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). WSL can see the disk partitions on the TNAS hard drive. However, There are no files.

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To summarize my questions
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1. How do I read a TNAS single hard drive (removed from Terramaster F2-424) on my Windows 11 PC connected by a USB 3.1 hard drive enclosure?

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Bonus Question #1
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1. What If I had two (2) disks in a raid1 mirror set?
2. How do I read a TNAS raid1 hard drive (removed from Terramaster F2-424) on my Windows 11 PC connected by a USB 3.1 hard drive enclosure?

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Bonus Question #2
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1. What If I had four (4) disks in a raid10 set?
2. How do I read a TNAS raid4 hard drive (removed from Terramaster F4-424) on my Windows 11 PC connected by a USB 3.1 hard drive enclosure?

Thank you for any recommendations or advice.

[Gremlin]

As far as I know BTRFS <---> Windows == No. (Whichever way you try it)

[beagle062]

Hi Gremlin,

Thanks for the reply.
Sad to hear that BTRFS <---> Windows == No

What if I ran a Linux VM?
Would BTRFS <---> Linux work?

[Gremlin]

I suspect that the difficulty with reading TNAS formatted drives under Linux VM is with how they were formatted and mounted. {volumes mounted on Pools -- little fleas on bigger fleas etc. }

If it were that easy how come it has not been mentioned before? Given the number of issues there have been with "broken" file systems I would have thought that would be an obvious route to take.

I use MiniTool Partition Magic and, like you, I can identify partitions but cannot read them, even with the built in explorer function. (ext4 maybe but certainly not BTRFS.

All to do with logical volumes and don't forget the first 3 partitions are (typically) raid1 arrays (even if only a single disk) related to the operating system and boot/init.

[TMzethar]

Some individual customers are known to have implemented reading BTRFS/EXT4 filesystems from a Linux vm.
You need the mdadm tool to assemble the md (even if there is only 1 disk), then the LVM tool to recognize the pv-vg-lv and then you can activate and mount the lv to the specified directory to access it.
If your Linux vm lacks the mdadm and LVM tools, you can install them with the apt command.

[beagle062]

Thanks to all for your replies.

I found a really good, detailed internet article on How to mount any Linux filesystem in Windows 11.

I am working with the procedures in the article below

How to mount any Linux filesystem in Windows 11.
Mount anything that Linux supports to Windows 11.
https://medium.com/nerd-for-tech/window ... 3a60aebb05

I will post back to this forum when (not if) I succeed.

[dbs-sticky]

Did you succeed? I need to do the same thing.