[Share] Disks not detected, volumes and data disappeared, how I recovered

[AGiLiT]

I'm posting this in case anyone else experiences similar issues. Hopefully, this may shorten resolution for someone else.

What happened: I have an F4-425 Plus, configured with 4 HDDs in one storage pool with three volumes and an NVMe SSD as a separate storage pool with one volume. I shut down my NAS and plugged a TerraMaster DAS (DS-310) into a USB port. I restarted the NAS. All volumes (with all my data) disappeared except the one on the SSD. Although the lights on the front panel were all on, only two of the disks, disks 1 and 2 showed in the control panel; they show as system disks. Powering the NAS off and on had no effect; the two drives remained undetected and no volumes or data were present.

It took a couple of days back and forth with support via. email to get pointed in the right direction to solve this. Most of that time was getting the support files to TerraMaster and then back and forth just confirming that disks 3 and 4 weren't detected. I never got any information addressing what could be going on with the storage pools or volumes or whether I had hope of recovering the data. Ultimately, this is what I did to troubleshoot and resolve the issue:

1. With power on, remove Disks 3 and 4. Lights on front panel go out. Reinsert. Lights go on but disks not detected in Control Panel.
2. Power off, remove all 4 drives. Power on, reinsert all drives. 3 and 4 still not detected in Control Panel.
3. Power off. Put drives 1 and 2 in slots 3 and 4. Drives detected, but still no volumes from HDDs. Add drives originally in slots 3 and 4 to slots 1 and 2. All drives detected but still no data.
4. Power off. Return to original configuration of HDDs. Power on: all 4 drives detected, all volumes appear, and all data present.

I don’t think I ever checked earlier whether even when disks 1 and 2 were detected whether there was a storage pool utilizing them present. I suspect not.

[TMjack]

Based on the situation you've reported, this issue is indeed highly unusual. I will promptly coordinate with our testing engineers and R&D engineers to conduct an in-depth analysis and investigation of this problem. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your understanding.

[AGiLiT]

I have also described the steps I took in the email thread I have going with support. The last response I have received (from Clem) said the issue likely indicates a hardware or power supply problem and that I should either get a larger power adapter, or replace the entire set of products. I am using the power adapter that came with the unit. I am awaiting further followup to information I provided about it and other questions back to support before determining how to proceed. If you want to follow up directly, perhaps we could take this to private messages or through my email to work to final resolution.

Thanks.

[GevinKe]

You can follow Clem’s suggestion to replace the power supply or the device itself. Also, we’d recommend keeping in touch with us via email instead of the forum—since the forum is a public space, emails are way more formal and private.
As for the issue you brought up, we’ll have our test engineers try to replicate it based on your situation. Our main goal is to fix this problem for good, and we’ve already logged it in our system.

[AGiLiT]

Thanks; I am following up in email.