Forum Discussion
ReFS volume appears RAW (version doesn't match expected value) after Windows Update
I solved this by uninstalling KB5009557. The ReFS volume came back working as it should, instead of appearing as RAW.
Update: since even the February 2022 Windows Update bricks ReFS in the same way, and hints from Microsoft are that ReFS 1.x is no longer supported, we copied everything to new disks, upgrading ReFS from 1.2 to 3.4 in the process. Such a (manual) ReFS upgrade should be the solution that everyone needs, allowing to re-enable Windows Update.
Can't believe it's been this long and there still isn't a fix for this on 2019 when it's obviously an issue (whether MS wants to admit it or not).
The only fix so far for 2019 is to uninstall both KB5010791 and KB5009557. And then not run Windows Updates again until it's finally acknowledged and fixed.
Seems like a joke that "The Resilient File System (ReFS) is Microsoft's newest file system, designed to maximize data availability, scale efficiently to large data sets across diverse workloads, and provide data integrity with resiliency to corruption" is getting useless due to an until now unfixed MS Bug.
- Possible solution to fix this issue:
I wondered about the fact that only "removable" devices were affected.
So i changed the "devices.hotplug" value in VM config to "false".
This is dissabling the hotplug for the VM.
After starting the server 2019 my ReFS HD was back.
Simple to do and i do not see big side effects.
Hope it helps somebody.After almost attempting a FS repair, I found someone on reddit that mentioned your post. This saved me some headache. I tried to passthru a device and changed this option to TRUE. Changing it to FALSE and it came right back. Thank you.
Here is a new one, used external USB 2Tb drive with ReFS on Windows 10 for a year+ as some old CDs/DVDs backup
No issues
This PC has multiple OS installed (various 10, and 11)
It must have happened that I had the drive attached to 11 when some usual upgrade happened. And it also upgraded ReFS to version 3.9 (as confirmed by fsutil fsinfo refsinfo F: )
Now this dis is no longer usable in Windows 10 as per this: https://gist.github.com/0xbadfca11/da0598e47dd643d933dc
So the issue is not limited to Server 2012 etc
It is just a mess all together!And another update is coming:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-silently-updates-windows-11-refs-file-system-version-in-latest-canary-build/
Many thanks!
Disabling the hotplug in VMWare fixes the issue immediately
without the need of any reboot,
and even if updates are already installed.For those wondering how to disable Hotplug: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1012225
Thanks for the link and for taking the time to reply here a year after the post. Sorting by date to find a more current fix (and stumbling upon the VM specific notes) saved my butt.
The online tech community is what actually keeps the world going around.
I can confirm - this worked for me too. Followed this, adding devices.hotplug and a value of false. to our VM configurations in VMWare:
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1012225
17 Windows 2019 servers with ReFS volumes. All now updated through latest windows updates and stable.
stephc_msftMicrosoft
The main issue is there are various versions of REFS
ReFS v1 as used on Server 2012R2 and ReFS v3 used on later OS's
The Updated fix, for Refs on removable drives, only addresses the ReFS v3 case and does not (and never will) address the refsv1 case.
Note that some disks, even on later OS's might be using ReFS v1 if they were originally set up on earlier systems
And so the fix will not help on those disks on those systems
Since its mainly VMWare VM's that are affected, as they consider hotplug disks as removable, suggest using the vmware devices.hotplug solution described earlier
You can check the Refs version with
fsutil fsinfo refsinfo x:
(although cant do this if the drive is currently showing as RAW)
