Cant boot zimaboard 1664 - failed - rescue mode

Insight & Feedback
1

I have a zimaboard 1664 with 1 8TB drive, i migratede everyhting to the drive, i no little about linux, so i powered it off, and apparently when it came back on, it stop working and came to the rescue screen. It seems it doesn’t load the ethernet and nothing happens. I have containers, nextcloud, plex, etc installed. but the unit doenst boot.
I checked chatgpt and it says that the ethernet is not loading and that is what is creating the problem.
I want to resolve this, the quickest way.

i cant log in using ssh, only direct to the zimaboard. I have no backup of the OS, what can i do ?

2

is there a way to download the software or initialize everything again. it sucks that i can access the data, and would really dislike to loose my data and configuration.

3

I suggest the fastest recovery is:

  1. Try “System Restore” from the Rescue screen first. In most cases it restores only the ZimaOS system/boot partition and your 8TB data drive (and AppData/containers) stays intact as long as you do not format anything.
  2. If System Restore won’t run or gets stuck, the quickest fix is a fresh ZimaOS reinstall from USB, then re-import/mount the 8TB drive and point AppData back to it, Plex/Nextcloud containers usually reappear once the old volumes are detected.

Your data is very likely still safe, the OS just isn’t booting correctly.

4

yes, i tried doing the restore from a USB. However, i think i lost all the configuration files for the other apps I had. But, since, they were moved to the 8TB they may be restorable ? My guess ? is there a way I can move the containers I created. Is it safe to keep theo operating system and apps on the zimaboard or transfer them as I did to the hard disk ?

5

On ZimaOS the apps (Plex, Nextcloud, etc) store almost everything inside the AppData folder on the storage drive, not inside the OS itself. So if you migrated AppData to the 8TB drive earlier, a USB restore or reinstall only rebuilds the OS and the apps will look empty until AppData is pointed back to the old location.

What i suggest (fastest recovery)

  1. Boot into the new working ZimaOS
  2. Make sure the 8TB drive is mounted and do not format it
  3. Locate your old AppData folder on the 8TB drive (usually something like /media/yourdrive/AppData)
  4. In ZimaOS Apps settings, set AppData location back to that old AppData folder
  5. Reboot

In most cases the containers and configs reappear once ZimaOS sees the old AppData again. If they do not automatically show, reinstall the same apps and map them to the existing folders and volumes on the 8TB.

For your last question, i suggest keeping the OS on the ZimaBoard internal storage, and keeping AppData and your media on the 8TB drive. This makes recovery easy and avoids the OS being tied to the same disk as your data.