How to recover files from the NAS drive itself?

[tupolev]

My drive (Buffalo Linkstation LS GL) greets me with a red LED after powering up and turns of again within a fraction of a second.
Is there a chance that the drive itself is still OK and what are the options for testing and file recovery, provided the disk is undamaged?

Any ideas?
Joerg

[Mijzelf]

Is there a chance that the drive itself is still OK

Yes. A fraction of a second is not enough to have tested the harddisk. So the primary problem is elsewhere, and it's certainly possible that the disk itself is healthy.

what are the options for testing and file recovery

According to the Wiki, the disk is a Sata disk, and is formatted XFS. Almost any modern Linux system can read XFS, You can connect your disk to a Linux system (by Sata, or using an external USB-Sata enclosure), and read your disk.
If you don't have a Linux box you can boot your PC from a Live Linux CD or -USB stick. (Not Puppy Linux, it doesn't support XFS).

For more specific support on your NAS failure I refer you to the Buffalo forum.

[novia]

There are many third party recovery software available to recover lost files from NAS drive. I have used NAS file recovery software to recover lost files from my NAS drive. This software also supports recovery of file from RAID0, RAID1 and RAID5 partitions. You can download free demo version to estimate recovery results. If you are satisfied with obtained results then you can use full version to save recovered files.

[tupolev]

I recovered the files eventually with a Knoppix life cd/usb http://www.knoppix.net/ free of charge. Just removed the linkstation HDD from the housing and connected it directly via sata/usb cable to a PC. Started Knoppix and voila, I had full access to the files.

[Jedeve]

@ Novia:

I downloaded this software REMO recover, but it can not access the NAS via the network...
Do I have to mount them into my PC via SATA?

I'm looking for recovering deleted files on a NAS Seenergy SVR304.
Don't know what OS or filesystem it uses..

Do you think that will work?

Regards Jakaob

[Mijzelf]

According to the firmware file the box runs an ancient Linux kernel:

Code: Select all

strings kernel | grep Linux
Linux version 2.6.15 (root@SEEnergy) (gcc version 3.4.4) #137 Fri Feb 17 13:29:49 CST 2012

So the box will probably use an ext2 or ext3 filesystem.

And no, you cannot recover via network, as the box serves files, not the filesystem. So you'll have to take the disk(s) out, and connect them to your PC using sata, or an usb-to-sata converter. If the files are in raid0 or jbod you'll have to connect both disks simultaneously, if it's raid1 or 2 seperate volumes, you only need to connect one disk at a time.

[Jedeve]

Many thanks to Mijzelf!

I burned the linux cd and managed to acces the disc and the files who where on.

Is there a way I can recover deleted files on those drives (RAID1) for instance by using recuva or other software (freeware)

Regards Jakob

[Mijzelf]

Have a try with PhotoRec.

[Jedeve]

Hello,

I'm facing some problems here. I downloaded Photorec but once I run Knoppix (from a live cd) I'm not able to extract this file...

So what would be the best way to setup this?
Do I have to install knoppix on a hard drive and download and install software to extract Photorec / Testdisk and run this software?

Or is there a other way: maybe a distibution with Potorec or other recover software (for deleted files) pre-installed?

Please advice....

[Mijzelf]

My experience with Knoppix is rather old, but I seem to remember it's Debian based. In that case you could just open a terminal, and type

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install photorec

to install photorec. Internet access needed, and you'll have to repeat after each boot. (The package is installed in ram)