How to recover data on disk after FreeNAS installation

[Silverwolf0]

I used this guide :

https://m.windowscentral.com/how-to-set-up-freenas-home-file-server

Step by step to turn my old pc into a file server. There was already 2tb of data on two drives there. I thought I was just setting up some superficial parameters for FreeNAS when I went through the wizard and added volumes, thinking it would allow my existing drives with data to be accessed. Never saw a format button and not sure if it's suppose to destroy your data or not. I eventually gave up trying to get it to work as I could access the smb but didn't see anything inside. I reinstalled windows on an unimportant ssd and tried to access the two drives with data but it doesn't show up in windows explorer and under disk management, each drive has a 2gb partition and another partition with the remaining storage. Can't use any option besides deleting the partition as disk management doesn't understand the partition. Is my data screwed forever?

 

[garm]

Short answer is Yes, it’s gone.

The complicated answer is that your data is most likely still on the plates but your partition index is destroyed. With recovery software you might be able to get some (if not all) of your data back, but the is by no means a simple task.

If there where anything important on the disks then stop what you are doing and find a data recovery service in your area.

If you can recover from backup then set up FreeNAS proper and read back the data to your new shiny pool.

 

[Silverwolf0]

I was able to recover everything using testdisk by restoring the ntfs partition and rebuilding the boot sector. Honestly want to bitch slap the developers for the zero warning when I added a volume that it would erase my data. No warning at all. It's braindead obvious someone who wants to create a file server most likely already has data on their disk. Over 9 million+ for home users right on their front page. Sounds like they purposely want to fuck people over. Gives you a wizard that destroys your data in the first few clicks. Just fucking sad. Volume is usually just a name and even less applicable when using a different platform and you don't even mention you are switching it to zfs right in the fucking wizard. No zfs at all. And of course when you search for "file server how to" in google the top ten results are shit half-ass guides for FreeNAS saying how EASY it is and 9 out of the 10 steps is clicking next next next. Not a single one mentions data destruction. Just click add volume and add your disk! EASY PEASY.

Watch the flood of apologists saying I'm an idiot and I should have KNOWN all this. From all the free and paid pieces of software I've used this is by far the least ethically sound, by both its developers and users. You really question the integrity of it all when other help threads end with the same sarcastic tone of "I got screwed before too when I first started and now it's your turn."

 

[Jailer]

Watch the flood of apologists saying I'm an idiot and I should have KNOWN all this.

I'll be the first. Read the documentation and you wouldn't have this issue.

 

[garm]

Take a breath, have a cookie and read the manual.

When you created the volume you where told your data would be lost. And nothing in the manual will lead you to believe you can use disks with preexisting data in an for FreeBSD alien file system.

 

[Jailer]

When you created the volume you where told your data would be lost.

Not only told, it's a click through warning. You have to acknowledge it before you can continue. And he still failed.......

 

[garm]

But you are right ^^ it is easy too fail in the beginning when using a purpose built application and you are not familiar with the design philosophy of it, or its underlying tech.

I for one set up too few datasets in my first build and are now stuck with a pool that is almost full and needs to be expanded, but datasets are harder then they need to be to move around sins it’s set up with one big bucket full of unrelated content ^^

 

[joeschmuck]

@Silverwolf0
You got very lucky that you were able to recover your original data, we rarely see success stories like that here.

Additionally you have read the above follow-on postings and while you may not like what you are reading, the developers do take the time to install warning messages. I recall a day when we didn't have them but that was many years ago.

If you would like to use your NTFS formatted drives with FreeNAS, you can do that but you will need to do a lot of reading on how to do this and you do need to make a vdev/pool as well on different drives, or should I say that you should make the vdev/pool on an available empty drive.

 

[cr6zed]

I read this and had to reply.
Warning or not...
A. When you set up a new OS (of any kind) and there are ‘data’ disks or storage or VALUABLE data you are so desperate to hold on to that life is over if you lost it...
B. You don’t trust or know from experience that an OS ( of any kind) can and will/may/might take over/write over, wipe, etc...

Why give the OS a chance to do so. Disconnect your valuables. If anything, it will either ask you where your starage is or it will have a skip button to set it up later (which means you will have RTFM on how to set up storage post install).
It isn’t about warnings. It is about how cautious you are with your valuable data. Giving an OS any chance to access your hdd uncontrolled is irresponsible, neigh, almost carmic.

And again, like others have said... RTFM!
Do you go rushing into a minefield without a map? No. You did. You had your legs blown off and are walking around on prosthetics. Is all your data intact? Can you be sure?

By the way, RTFM stands for Read The Friendly Manual. And the ‘F’ doesn’t really stand for Friendly.