Trying to recover data from RAID-1 disk.

I have a Terra-Master 2-drive NAS enclosure which is (was?) configured for RAID-1. It is no longer operational (probably my fault following an attempted software update). I am trying to recover the data by connecting one of the disks to my MiniMac M4. So far, so good. I opened the Disk Utility and DU sees the drive, per the attached screen-shot. My instructions tell me that I should now mount the drive. How do I do this? I see there is a "Mount" selection but it is greyed out. I ran the First Aid utility and the apparently completed OK. I also checked the Partition utlity. This told me that there was 299MB used, but I am sure there is a lot more than that. I have also attached the disk "Info".

Does it look as if I can proceed to Mounting but need further instructions (hardware is not my strong point) or have I meta brick wall?

Mac mini, macOS 15.4

Posted on Apr 28, 2025 08:04 AM

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6 replies

Apr 28, 2025 09:54 AM in response to den.thed

Thanks, Den. I'm "pretty" sure but not absolutely certain they were RAID-1I seem to remember thinking that RAID-1 made sense in terms of simplicity - but then I'm working with an 86-year-old brain.

As an alternative, assuming I do have RAID-0, could I connect both drives to my miniMac or to a PC? I was using a single disk because I only have a single USB-SATA cable, but that is easily fixed. I dread having to deal with Terra-Master support - they have never been very helpful in the past and don't seem interested in dealing with someone who is just guddling along with minimum competence.

Another option might be to buy a new enclosure, either ethernet or USB. What has put me off this idea is that anything I have read suggests that the first thing that happens setting up a RAID system is that it wipes the disks clean. Is it possible to avoid this?

Thanks again for your quick response.

Apr 28, 2025 11:01 AM in response to frank1209

From your screenshot, there appears to be four partitions on the drive which apparently are not accessible by macOS or they would have been mounted. Some NAS systems use a Linux or BSD OS which can use one of multiple file systems and/or utilities to allow for RAID....none of which macOS can understand natively. The NAS is using a network protocol (most likely SMB) to allow other devices to access the shares so it doesn't matter to your devices how the NAS itself configures those drives & file systems. Without knowing how the NAS internals work, no one here can help you.


You are going to have to contact TerraMaster support for assistance. Unfortunately they believe in hiding all information from the public so I cannot even access the user guide for any of their NAS systems. That should be a huge red flag. I guess you can try posting on the TerraMaster forum as well.


Good luck.


Apr 28, 2025 05:36 PM in response to frank1209

If the NAS is using Linux and the BTRFS file system for the RAID, then connecting the drive to a Linux system may allow you to access the data. However, if the NAS uses any other setup for the RAID features, then the volume may not be accessible without some Linux & command line knowledge.


If you have access to a Windows PC, then you could try booting that PC using a Knoppix Linux USB stick to see if you can view the contents of one of those partitions. Knoppix has access to the BTRFS file system and many others. Knoppix can also boot older non-USB-C Macs as well. Macs and some PCs may be a bit tricky trying to boot Knoppix externally, but it will boot most systems.


This is a bit of a long shot.


FYI, you should also have a backup of any important data on that NAS in addition to backups of your computer and all other external media (including the cloud). Plus RAID is not a backup, although a backup device can utilize RAID to try to ensure the backup is available at all times even when one of the drives fails & needs to be replaced (assuming any RAID type other than 0).

Apr 28, 2025 05:52 PM in response to frank1209

In no particular order…


If the volume was RAID-0 and not RAID-1, then you need both storage devices working, or roughly half your data is gone.


Some of those TerraMaster boxes are running a Linux variant, and the file system used can potentially be BTRFS or EXT4, neither of which are supported by Mac.


TerraMaster will know the details of their hardware better, and you’ll likely need to identify the model to them. They may have a firmware recovery path available, too.


Trying to access a RAID array from a different system can potentially corrupt the RAID storage volume, too. Particularly if the other system tries to write to the storage.


If the data is valuable, maybe work with a data recovery service? Or with the NAS vendor, if less valuable.

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Trying to recover data from RAID-1 disk.

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