Hiya everyone,
Long story short, due to the inbuilt backup filling up the eMMC it seems I had to reinstall ZimaOS. Reading some of the forum posts I thought I’d be able to re-enable the RAID 5 array however it seems like I may have been mistaken.
Would somebody please be able to confirm that the data is no longer accessible or able to be re-mounted at all? there’s a fair amount of time put into that so I’d like to recover if possible.
I’ve found some information here however it doesn’t seem to go into specifics: Recover data from RAID 5 array in case of Zima controller failure
May I also ask if there’s any array that can be remounted in the event of OS failure?
Thanks!
Short answer: your data is very likely still there.
ZimaOS is Buildroot-based, but it uses the Linux kernel with mdadm software RAID. RAID metadata is stored on the disks themselves, not on the eMMC, so reinstalling ZimaOS does not erase a RAID-5 array unless the disks were reformatted.
After a reinstall, ZimaOS does not automatically re-import existing RAID arrays, which can make the disks appear “new” in the UI even though the data is intact.
As long as all member disks are present and none were initialized or formatted, the array can usually be re-assembled and mounted again.
Important: do not create a new array or format the disks, as that will permanently destroy the data.
I believe your data is recoverable. I suggest pausing any disk actions and focusing on re-assembling the existing array rather than recreating it.
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Hi George, thank you very much for your reply and what a surprise too!
The data on the drives hasn’t been touched, I was looking for confirmation prior to doing that. All of the AppData for Zima itself was also migrated to the array.
For the time being I’ve powered off the NAS as for the life of me I couldn’t find a way to re-assemble the array. I’ll keep looking with the information you’ve provided and If I find a way I’ll let you know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Hi Shaun, welcome
Based on what you’ve described, reinstalling ZimaOS by itself does not automatically erase a RAID-5 array. As long as the disks were not reformatted or re-initialized, the data is usually still on the drives.
That said, ZimaOS currently does not provide a clear or supported way in the UI to re-mount or re-import an existing RAID array after an OS reinstall. This is where some forum posts can be misleading — recovery can be technically possible, but it isn’t guided.
To answer your questions directly:
- Is the data definitely gone? No, not based on what you’ve said.
- Can arrays be re-mounted after an OS failure? In principle yes (it’s software RAID), but ZimaOS does not yet make this easy or safe via the interface.
Because we can’t see the actual disk state, it wouldn’t be responsible to give step-by-step commands here, a wrong command can permanently destroy data. Powering the system off and not touching the disks was the right move.
I suggest emailing community@icewhale.org to get an official response for your specific setup. They’re best placed to advise safely when data recovery is involved.
I believe recovery may still be possible, but proceeding carefully and with official guidance is the safest path.
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Just one important detail so we don’t make assumptions.
When you say you reinstalled ZimaOS, can you confirm how that was done?
For example:
- via the Reset option in Settings, or
- by re-flashing / reinstalling ZimaOS from USB or ISO
Also, do you recall which ZimaOS version you were on at the time?
The reason this matters is that a settings reset and a full reinstall behave differently, especially around how storage arrays are detected afterward. Knowing this will help clarify what likely happened without risking any data.
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Hi George. No worries
It was reinstalled from the USB that was used to install ZimaOS originally onto the same eMMC chip.
You were right about the array still being present, I’ve been able to find it. I can see why you’d like me to contact IceWhale directly though.
I’m not 100% sure which version I started on but it would have been 1.4.X currently on 1.5.3 through an in-place upgrade
Thank you ever so much for your help so far!
That’s great news Shaun, really glad to hear you’ve found the array
Thanks for clarifying as well. Reinstalling from USB onto the same eMMC, then upgrading from 1.4.x to 1.5.3, lines up exactly with the behaviour you saw. It also confirms the data survived because the disks themselves were never touched.
I believe you handled this perfectly: stopping early, not formatting anything, and taking time to confirm before acting. That’s why recovery was possible.
With what you’ve learned, mainly so they’re aware of the user experience around reinstalls and RAID visibility, but at this point it sounds like you’re out of the danger zone.
You’re very welcome, and well done for sticking with it. If anything else feels unclear, ask before acting, that mindset saved your data here.
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I’ve sent an email as requested and will also comment on the feature request for this: [feature request] add option to attach existing RAID (assemble) · Issue #180 · IceWhaleTech/ZimaOS · GitHub
I’ll try and remember to update as and when I get replies, thanks again and have a good festive period
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Just to let you know this is resolved, this is resolved and my apps are up and running like nothing happened. Vicky from Zima Community was especially helpful with this.
I would provide additional details here however I believe because of the potential differences within raid I shouldn’t in the event of damage. As George mentioned earlier would recommend contacting community@icewhale.org.
If you’re like me and migrated everything to the array prior. Note you’ll need to re-name your migration paths for a moment while you migrate again to the array, then they can be copied back. The apps will need to be reinstalled through the store after the migration, they’ll then continue on like nothing ever happened.
This has left me with a very good impression of the community and would recommend!
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