What changed?
Power, controller replacement, drive movement, firmware, a rebuild, or an attempted import may explain why current metadata differs.
Controller and system triage
Preserve what the controller reports before asking it to change the array.
A foreign configuration, missing virtual disk, blocked rebuild, degraded group, or unmountable pool is evidence about the current storage state. ADR uses that evidence to identify the safest recovery path before an import, clear, rebuild, initialization, or forced mount changes it.
If possible, photograph the exact messages and record the controller, server or NAS model, RAID or pool type, drive count and sizes, bay order, replacements, and sequence of events.
Record firstCapture screens, logs, slots, and events
Preserve membersKeep original identity and bay order
Separate status from truthHealthy hardware may hold conflicting states
Recover outside the controllerWhen it cannot present the array safely
Hardware RAID controllers
Choose the controller family and the message closest to what you see.
Controller labels describe what the firmware can assemble at that moment. They do not prove that every member is current, that parity is trustworthy, or that the proposed action is safe for recovery.
Dell PERCForeign configuration after reboot or controller changePreserve the complete member set and compare the reported configuration before importing or clearing it.Review Dell PERC guidance →
HPE Smart ArrayVirtual drive missing after power lossRecord the logical-drive, physical-drive, cache, and configuration state before creating or importing anything.Review missing virtual drive →
HPE Smart ArrayPhysical drives appear, but no logical volume existsDrive detection alone does not establish the original array geometry, membership, or write state.Review HPE volume guidance →
LSI / Broadcom MegaRAIDRebuild will not start, stalls, or failsKeep both the original member and partial target; each may contain data needed for reconstruction.Review MegaRAID guidance →
NAS and ZFS systems
A healthy disk display does not prove that the pool, volume, filesystem, or shares are healthy.
Choose the platform and symptom. Preserve pool topology, member identity, labels, transaction history, and the current mount or import evidence before repair.
QNAP
A member disappeared after an update.
Separate a detection problem from RAID membership or metadata changes before replacing the drive or starting automatic repair.
QNAP firmware eventDisk missing after a firmware updateRecord the bay, member identity, storage-pool status, and update sequence before changing the configuration.Review QNAP guidance →
QNAP recovery serviceThe NAS, pool, or volume needs technician reviewReview ADR's recovery path for business-critical QNAP and other multi-disk NAS systems.Review NAS recovery →
Synology
The drives look healthy, but the expected data is not available.
DSM can report healthy hardware while the RAID group, volume, filesystem, or shared-folder presentation is degraded or inconsistent.
RAID groupDegraded although no drive is marked failedIdentify which member left the active set and why before beginning repair.Review degraded-group guidance →
Missing dataSynology reports healthy, but the data is missingPreserve the mounted state before creating shares, restoring files, or changing the volume.Review missing-data guidance →
Empty sharesDisks are healthy, but shared folders are emptyDetermine whether the expected filesystem and share path are actually being presented.Review empty-folder guidance →
TrueNAS, FreeNAS, and ZFS
The disks are detected, but the expected pool will not mount or import.
Preserve vdev topology, GUIDs, labels, transaction groups, the original member, the replacement, and every command already attempted.
TrueNASPool is detected but will not mountDo not force an import until the topology, labels, and current pool state are understood.Review TrueNAS mount guidance →
TrueNAS SCALEPool will not mount after drive replacementKeep the original and replacement member while the vdev identity and resilver history are evaluated.Review SCALE guidance →
FreeNAS / legacy ZFSPool will not mount after a member was replacedPreserve the original topology and both member states before another import or replacement.Review FreeNAS guidance →
What controller triage establishes
The goal is not to make the warning disappear. It is to identify the best recoverable storage state.
Which members belong?
Serial numbers, bays, headers, timestamps, and configuration generations help establish the original set and its write history.
Can the controller be bypassed?
When the system cannot present the array safely, ADR can work from separately connected members and protected images.
Before accepting the proposed repair
Send ADR the controller screen and member details.
An ADR technician can review what the system reports, what changed, the current member state, custody requirements, and whether recovery can begin without bringing the failed array online.