A bakery franchise in Northern Ireland contacted Belfast Data Recovery after their Synology DiskStation (8 x 12TB disks) failed to boot following a firmware upgrade. The reported issues included:
- The firmware upgrade completed successfully but the NAS system would not boot afterward.
- The system was no longer recognised on the network, making data inaccessible.
- The NAS contained business-critical till data, accounting records, and operational files.
- No backup was available, making professional data recovery essential.
Since firmware corruption in NAS systems can cause RAID metadata loss or OS boot failures, a forensic RAID reconstruction approach was required.
Our Expertise in Synology DiskStation Recovery
With 25 years of experience, Belfast Data Recovery specializes in:
✔ Recovering data from failed Synology NAS devices after firmware corruption
✔ Forensic RAID reconstruction to bypass NAS OS failures
✔ Advanced NAS data recovery using Acelabs PC3000, DeepSpar, RapidSpar, DFL-SRP, and Atola Insight Forensic tools
Diagnosis & Recovery Process
Upon receiving the Synology DiskStation drives, our engineers conducted a detailed forensic assessment. The key findings included:
- The firmware update caused a corruption in the NAS OS, preventing system boot.
- RAID metadata was missing or altered, making the file system unreadable.
- The hard drives were physically intact, meaning logical RAID recovery was possible.
To successfully recover the client’s bakery franchise data, we implemented a multi-step forensic RAID recovery strategy:
Step 1: Drive Cloning & Data Preservation
- Used DeepSpar Disk Imager to create sector-by-sector forensic clones of all 8 RAID drives.
- Applied adaptive read techniques to extract maximum data from degraded sectors.
Step 2: RAID Reconstruction & Metadata Repair
- Used Acelabs PC3000 RAID Edition to analyse and rebuild the RAID configuration parameters (disk order, stripe size, and parity layout).
- Reconstructed the original RAID structure manually, bypassing the NAS firmware failure.
Step 3: File System Repair & Data Extraction
- Repaired damaged Btrfs (Synology) file system structures to restore lost directories.
- Extracted and validated till records, accounting data, and critical business documents.
Step 4: Secure Data Transfer & Future Protection
- Conducted final validation checks to confirm all recovered files were intact.
- Successfully transferred the restored data to a secure high-performance external RAID system, formatted for business use.
- Provided guidance on RAID backup best practices and firmware update precautions.
The Result
We successfully recovered 99.4% of the bakery franchise’s lost files, including:
✅ Till records, transaction logs, and customer orders
✅ Accounting files, payroll data, and supplier invoices
✅ Operational files, franchise agreements, and business reports
The bakery franchise was able to resume normal operations without financial disruption.
Why Choose Belfast Data Recovery for Synology NAS Hard Drive Recovery?
✅ 25 Years of Expertise – Specialists in RAID & NAS firmware recovery.
✅ Forensic RAID Reconstruction – Restoring data even after NAS OS corruption.
✅ Fast & Secure Process – Ensuring complete confidentiality and successful recovery.
If your Synology NAS has failed after a firmware upgrade or OS corruption, contact Belfast Data Recovery today for expert RAID and NAS data recovery services!