Disk Failure

My Cloud Home - Personal Cloud Storage My Cloud Home Duo
1

I really need help

My Cloud Home Duo Device is not working

  1. I was advised to replace Drive 1, which I bought new Drive from Western Digital
  2. I replace the Drive 1 with a brand new Drive but I get error “Disk errors were detected on disk 1”
  3. I was told to wait 48 hours for RAID to rebuild but since Friday and now nothing is working

What do I do?

2

Hi @jamesorior,

Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the WD Technical Support team for the best assistance and troubleshooting:

3

My Journey to Recovering My Files

Here’s how I successfully recovered my files:

  1. Purchased a WAVLINK Dual Docking Station:
  • This was my first step towards accessing my data.
  1. Connected Drive 1 from the My Cloud Home Duo:
  • I needed to interface directly with the drive outside its original enclosure.
  1. Utilised Ext2 Volume Manager:
  • This tool allowed me to assign a drive letter to make it visible in Windows Explorer. The drive uses an
    Ext4 file system, which is incompatible with Windows by default, explaining why it doesn’t appear when connected directly.
  1. Used Exterro FTK Imager to Access Drive Contents:
  • Initially, Western Digital support informed me that the drive had no volume, which was misleading. Thankfully, ChatGPT provided a clearer explanation that guided my recovery process.
  1. Considered EaseUS Data Recovery:
  • Although I initially opted for EaseUS Data Recovery, it didn’t retrieve the folder names as they were originally. After contacting EaseUS support, they quoted me $399 for assistance, despite having purchased the professional version.
  1. Dealing with Western Digital’s Recommendations:
  • Western Digital suggested using an external recovery service, which quoted a minimum of £600 for their services.
  1. Budget Constraints After Purchasing New Drives:
  • After investing in two new recommended hard drives that ultimately did not resolve the issue due to disk errors, my funds were limited.
  1. Self-Help Solutions:
  • With assistance from ChatGPT, various YouTube tutorials, and crucial information from Western Digital support about the Ext4 file system, I found a helpful video (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZnb7ocHbw) that was instrumental in my recovery efforts.

Successful Recovery:

  • It took 24 hours to recover all 1.6TB of my data, but I managed to retrieve all my files successfully.

Final Thoughts:

  • Based on this experience, I will steer clear of My Cloud Home Duo and similar devices in the future. A more transparent approach from the manufacturers about the file system and practical recovery methods would have been greatly appreciated.

I will start a refund process for the brand new drives

4

Thank you for the write up and you should certainly avail yourself of other NAS providers.

However, most reasonable users running RAID or not would have backed up their data on USB HDD before their equipment malfunction that would had cost them about £120, maybe less.

All the recovery options are available on Linux for free, all that is needed is a modest PC ( £50 to £100, used) that can plug in the SATA HDDs and run Linux.

The information is all free, without using Windows or paid software:

Resolution

Recover data using a PC

  1. Make sure your PC has sufficient drive slots for drive installation.
  2. Remove the drives from your Synology NAS and install them in your PC. For RAID or SHR configurations, you must install all the drives (excluding hot spare drives) in your PC at the same time.
  3. Prepare an Ubuntu environment by following the instructions in this tutorial.
  4. Go to the Files on the left bar and select Home.
  5. Right-click and select New Folder, and create one or more folders as mount points for accessing data.1
  6. Right-click on the new folder(s), click Properties, the parent folder with folder name is ${mount_point}.
  • Example: If the parent folder is /home/ubuntu/ and the folder name is Test, the mount point will be /home/ubuntu/Test/
  1. Go to Show Application in the lower-left corner > Type to search….
  2. Enter Terminal in the search bar and select Terminal.
  3. Enter the following command to obtain the root privileges.

sudo -i

  1. Enter the following commands to install mdadm and lvm2, both of which are RAID management tools. lvm2 must be installed or vgchange will not work.

apt-get update apt-get install -y mdadm lvm2

5

Here is a detailed procedure written a few years back (2021) for the My Cloud Home (not the DUO, but the process is the same) using another NAS running Linux to recover data from the MCH HDD:

6

Hi
You can check that the new drive is compatible and properly installed. Look for any firmware updates for your device. If possible, test the new drive in another system to make sure it’s not faulty. At this point, your best option is to contact Western Digital’s customer support directly. They can provide specific help for your device and situation, potentially diagnose the problem remotely, and guide you through more advanced fixes or start a replacement process if needed. If you have important data on the device, consider advance data recovery software as a backup plan. Keep pushing for a solution, and don’t hesitate to ask for a supervisor or escalate your case if you’re not getting the help you need.