TS410 - Disk almost full, where are the files?

[Blackout]

hi, I hope you can help, I have a TS-410 Turbo....ie 4 drive bays. I use my TS-410 as JBOD...single drives.

Drive 1 recently failed.

I pulled out drive 2, 3 and 4. I took the opportunity to put in a brand new (bigger) Drive 1, do a complete system reset, and firmware update. My TS-410 is up and running again, nice and clean. All good. Time to re-insert some of my other drives, which are not faulty, and still full of data as single drives.

When I put back in Drive 2, and share it (2TB drive)....I cant seem to re-share the old folders and files I had on it?? I cant see them anywhere? I don't know what I am doing wrong. When I "share" the single drive 2, it shows up without any folders. But interestingly, the 2TB drive only has 45GB or so space left to share! so I know that the rest of the space is my old files and folders. but I cant seem to see them or select them to share in QFinder or File Explorer. it thinks my 2TB drive is only a 45GB drive size? and the rest of my previous data is "ignored" but still there and taking up space?

How do I see my files again on my old disks when I re-insert them?

many thanks,
Blackout

[Don]

When you create the shares you need to specify the existing folder names.

[schumaku]

I use my TS-410 as JBOD...single drives.

Definitively not the same - if you had one JBOD volume before - only one file system was mounted, spanning the complete JBOD volume. Here what the QNAP Storage Manager - Volume Management says:

JBOD (Just a bunch of disks): JBOD is a collection of hard drives that does not offer any RAID protection. The data are written to the physical disks sequentially. The total storage capacity is equal to the sum of the capacity of all member hard drives.

In any case - avoid non redundant storage configurations like ebola or the pest. Suspect this might be to late now.

[Don]

I use my TS-410 as JBOD...single drives.

Definitively not the same - if you had one JBOD volume before - only one file system was mounted, spanning the complete JBOD volume. Here what the QNAP Storage Manager - Volume Management says:

JBOD (Just a bunch of disks): JBOD is a collection of hard drives that does not offer any RAID protection. The data are written to the physical disks sequentially. The total storage capacity is equal to the sum of the capacity of all member hard drives.

In any case - avoid non redundant storage configurations like ebola or the pest. Suspect this might be to late now.

Correct. If it was JBOD then you need all 4 drives to get your data. If they were single drive then the data is there.

@Blackout, which was it?

[Blackout]

thank you for the responses!

damn. now you have me doubting myself! all 4 drives were separate and not in any raid configuration. i had 2Tb, 2Tb, 2Tb and 1.5Tb. (i thought just now the only option in this case back with Firmware 3.6 was JBOD.).

Once each drive filled up, that was it. the 4th drive only had 1.5TB of space. it all adds up to being Single Drive.

Further, i could pull out Drive 2, 3 or 4 and put a new one in (to upgrade size) and just format the drive and march on just fine. Share that drive and the others would be ok with their existing data files. But the problem has started since i lost Drive 1 and since i did a firmware update.

so it was fairly clear to me from behaviour that each drive was separate....? it must have been Single Drives.

so this drive 3 that i am trying to see the files on must have the data. it seems the Qnap knows there is data there because it is showing it as almost full?

Kind Regards,
Blackout

[Blackout]

When you create the shares you need to specify the existing folder names.

hi Don, but i cant see the existing folder names when i am creating the share? am i supposed to guess what they were on the drive?

[Don]

Well if you don't remember the names you used last time then use a terminal session to look at the drive to see what folders are on the drive.

[Blackout]

hi Don, i am a musician, i have no idea what a "Terminal session" is? please let me know. is this the only way?

im quite shocked that the Qnap software cant see the files or folders that are on a hard drive and users have to try and remember or "guess" what their folders used to be to re-connect with them? doesnt seem user friendly to me...

Kind Regards,
Darren.

[Don]

According to you, you did a system reset. So there is nothing left to remember. You wiped out all the configurations. It is your system and your data so yeah I would expect you to know how it was set up.

I suggest you enlist someone who is tech savvy to assist as using a terminal session involves installing software on your PC (assuming you are using Windows), understanding the disk structure, and entering Linux commands. You can also ask this person to explain why single disks are a bad idea if you value your data and don't want to lose it. You could also open a ticket with QNAP support and have them assist.

[Blackout]

hi Don, thanks.

if i do a "windows system reset"...reformat windows, it doesnt mean that my drive D is now "lost" unless i remember by heart the folder names.

seeing as my Qnap was set up as single disks, i assumed that the data that was on the drive, was the data on the drive, regardless of a system reset. i understand things are different with Raid, etc but sheesh.

I understand the importance of backing up, thanks. actually the QNAP 410 is my backup.

my comment still stands, that this does seem very non-user friendly, that you cant see the folders or any data on a single drive system.

[schumaku]

Different from Windows, we have a redundant storage of configuration, firmware, and application - spread over all internal HDD. Disputable what is supposed to be better.

Afraid, I have no idea on how previously used single HDD volumes (nor groups of RAID disks) can be re-integrated - never cared about, because the internal disks are not intended as moveable or transportable storage.

If these HDD used to be single HDD volumes - and no RAID building or formatting happened on these - most likely the data is still in place. The question is on how to add these to the storage management again.

To get things turning here instead of wasting time on philosophical differences - wonder what the Storage Manager -> Volume Management does show now on your NAS.

And similar - what shows

[~] # mount
...

[Don]

if you were to reinstall Windows the data on your "D" drive would not be lost however you would have to recreate any shares as the new OS would not know what you had shared previously. Same issue on the NAS. You did a complete system reset which wiped out the configuration information which included what was shared where. When you insert a disk into a new system how is it supposed to know what to automatically share with no prior configuration information.

Most of the NAS functions revolve around shared folders. This is not a standard Linux install. It is modified to meet the needs the QNAP specifies. The data is probably there and the OS can see it, you just don't know how to see it without it being shared. Kindly contact QNAP support for assistance in recreating your shares.

[Blackout]

hi all, thanks again for your posts.

i know how to create a share. done it plenty of times. but as far as i can see (in firmware 4.11) the only options to create a share under Storage Manager/Privalege Settings/ Shared Folders are to:

"create folder" or
"Create ISO Share".

would be nice to be able to select here "select existing folder" on the current drive?

please see the attachment? surely this is where an existing folder would be shared? but theres no option to select an existing folder. just constantly create new ones.

Cheers,
Blackout

[schumaku]

surely this is where an existing folder would be shared? but theres no option to select an existing folder. just constantly create new ones.

Yes, create a new shared folder - under Advanced, you find the field to enter a custom path.

In case you can't find the path when browsing (hint: click into the input field), we need to know the current volume status and/or the output of the mount command.

[Blackout]

ahhh...I see schumaku!!! let me try that! thank you!!!