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I have looked for similar questions and I probably don't know the proper phrases to find an equivalent question if it exists here on SU. I have seen a couple questions from 6-plus years back that just died without answers. I see that there are services and software available, but know a lot of the software out there on a random Google search is radioactive.

I'm trying to resolve my nephew's abject panic and help fix his problem. His QNAP TS-421+ NAS just died without warning. It is displaying what appears to be a common (or at least known) failure mode (something to do with the clock), and it won't complete POST. He's completing his doctorate so has seven years of information related to his degree and has a huge OSMC/kodi media collection on the system. He lives more than 1000 miles away from me, so I'm not much help with putting hands on the system.

Meat of the question:

Is there a safe way to read the data from one of the drives from each pair, or will he have to create a "new" array (with data already on it) on a different system? Suggestions? Is there a way to "introduce" windows 10 to a transplanted RAID 1 pair, or is there a way to do it in Linux? I know writing to a RAID 1 drive is different than reading. His only desire is to read data from the drives - he'll copy the contents to the new NAS. Once he has verified a good copy, the old arrays will no longer be necessary and the drives will be repurposed. He is a college student living on student loans and an internship that barely pays, so money is very limited.

More info that may help describe available tools/limitations:

He has two RAID 1 pairs (one 6TB and one 10TB) on the QNAP. He has a new (replacement) Synology NAS and larger replacement drives on the way. He knows that he can't put the RAID drives into the Synology without losing all data.

He has a desktop system currently running Windows 10. It has free SATA ports and drive bays, and he's more than familiar with booting to a live Linux image if that's the better approach. He also has SATA-to-USB3 adapters (capable of supporting 10T), too. He has an AA degree in computer network engineering so isn't a noob, but left CNE/IT because it really isn't his jam. This is included simply to name possible equipment/operating systems he has available to work with.

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  • I wouldn’t expect data recovery to be possible with process you describe, if the data is that valuable. The first thing he should do is create 1:1 copies of the drives.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 2, 2023 at 4:06
  • The plan should've been derived before buying a new NAS - if it's a hardware issue then it would very likely be solvable by just moving the drives to a new QNAP NAS. The drives are probably mountable in Linux. Do not create a new array on them, you want to assemble an existing one.
    – gronostaj
    Commented Jun 2, 2023 at 5:30
  • @gronostaj - He already has a plan, which will be using a new NAS and rsync to mirror the drives instead of creating RAID 1 arrays. His goal is overall redundancy, not instant duplication. The issue with the QNAP is very well known in the community, and QNAP reuses to acknowledge it. He refuses to give a company who denies well-known problems with their systems any more of his money.
    – Chameleon
    Commented Jun 3, 2023 at 4:52
  • @ramhound - we already planned to clone the disks, and the first is in process now. Since your first recommendation seemed to assume a hardware failure, I was trying to tell you that the problem is not that the drive(s) failed. The LPC clock chip on the motherboard is experiencing a known failure, where it draws too much current and (presumably) begins throttling, which prevents the system from booting. I understand not wanting to set someone up for failure, but your choice to not render any assistance because he doesn't take the extra steps you recommend seems pretty rude.
    – Chameleon
    Commented Jun 3, 2023 at 20:53
  • @Chameleon - I made no such assumption. I am choosing to not offer additional assistance because of your response to my initial comment. I have chosen to walk away from this discussion. I cannot help your friend.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Jun 3, 2023 at 21:18

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