Recovering datasets, reinstall does not work

[dtom10]

Long story short, I tried to restore a config saved on 9.2.1.8 on a 9.3.1 latest updates. It wouldn't boot.

Reinstall of 9.2.1.8 from ISO fails with error 19 about the GPT table of da0. 9.3.1 reinstall works just fine. The problem is that an import of the zpool does not restore all datasets on 9.3.1

How do I freacking reinstall 9.2.1 on my usb stick???

I have configs of both 9.2.1 and 9.3.1.

I tried wiping the stick with dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/da0 bs=512 count=50

The root mount fails anyway.

Tried installing vanilla 9.3.1 and overwriting 9.2.1 and fails with error 19.

Is this some sort of freebsd retardness?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

The problem is that an import of the zpool does not restore all datasets on 9.3.1

How do I freacking reinstall 9.2.1 on my usb stick???

Reinstalling 9.2.1 isn't going to restore your datasets, which should be unaffected by upgrading or downgrading the OS. Or do you mean shares?

 

[dtom10]

Does this mean datasets are stored in ZFS not in the config? Is it important to have the drives in the same order one initially had them and created data on them?

I previously had 4X1Tb drives in a RAIDZ1 pool configuration. This was on 9.2.1.8. Since then I have replaced the drives with 4X3Tb and installed 9.3.1 from scratch. Everything fresh. Now i'm faced with the problem of getting data from those initial drives as I had some other unrelated problem.

How I did this. Took the 3Tb drives out, stuck the 1Tb drives in. Imported the zpool. I don't see all the data sets. It mounts some of the volumes but not all of them.

What can be seen I have copied over without any problems. I'm guessing there's something broke in there but need to look at ZFS level to find out what. All the drives are connected and working properly. The only doubt I have is whether i put them in the same order as they originally were, if that matters at all.

 

[dtom10]

Apparently the solution could be in the manual. Might be an issue of USB3 although that does not explain why 9.3.1 install works just fine.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Does this mean datasets are stored in ZFS not in the config?

Yes, but sometimes people confuse datasets with shares. The latter are stored in the config. Just checking.

Is it important to have the drives in the same order one initially had them and created data on them?

No, the order of connection of the drives is of no consequence.

Imported the zpool. I don't see all the data sets.

Start with the basics - a ZFS scrub - and please posts full details of your hardware, zpool status etc. Use CODE tags in your messages when posting any output from the system.

Might be an issue of USB3

What are you using USB3 for? If it's your boot device, try to move it to a USB2 port or disable USB3 in the BIOS. However, I doubt this is causing the issue of not seeing all your datasets when you import your original pool.

 

[dlavigne]

Regarding reinstalling 9.2.1.8, a 9.3 install writes GPT stuff to the disk that needs to be nuked before a non-GPT (eg 9.2) reinstall. Something like Active@ KillDisk should do the trick.

 

[dtom10]

I blame USB3 for not being able to install 9.2.1.

Initial h/w config was 4X1TB mixed drives (1 Seagate, 1 WD Black, 2X WD green), HP Microserver Gen8 with 6Gb of ECC memory.

Now I have 16Gb of ECC memory, the same box and trying to access all the data from the above drives. I'll do the scub but the drives are fine and not much happened meanwhile they were not in use.

I did wiped the first 50 sectors with dd just to make sure.

Code:

gpart show da0

confirmed there's nothing there