Corrupted database

StephanMPH · July 26, 2026, 11:21am

Hi,

For 2 days, HomeAssistant has been displaying “Defective system - data_filesystem_check_error”. I tried a repair from the console, without success.

I have little on my HomeAssistant, so I would like to suppress everything I have done and start from a blank instance.

How can I do it ?

ShadowFist · July 26, 2026, 11:58am

Wipe your system & reinstall HA from scratch.

checking12 · July 26, 2026, 1:23pm

Some info on the error

github.com/home-assistant/home-assistant.io

source/more-info/unhealthy/data_filesystem_check_error.md

5f17d11a0

---
title: "Filesystem check failed on the data partition"
description: "More information on what to do when a filesystem check fails on the Home Assistant data partition."
---

## The issue

At every boot, Home Assistant checks the integrity of its storage partitions. This check failed on the data partition, which means the filesystem is corrupted. Files may be missing, unreadable, or in an inconsistent state.

The data partition stores your configuration, automations, apps, and backups. This is most commonly caused by an unexpected power loss or a failing storage device (such as an SD card, USB drive, or eMMC).

## The solution

Try rebooting your system first. The filesystem check may be able to repair minor corruption automatically on the next boot attempt. You can reboot by going to {% my hardware title="**Settings** > **System** > **Hardware**" %}, opening the menu in the top right corner, and selecting **Reboot system**.

If the system is still accessible after rebooting, create a full [backup][backups] immediately and download it to another device before doing anything else.

{% my supervisor_backups badge %}

If the issue persists, you can wipe and reformat the data disk from the local terminal (a monitor and keyboard connected to your Home Assistant device) by running the command below. Note that this deletes all user data, automatically reboots your system, and reinstalls the Home Assistant components, so you will need to restore from a backup afterwards. If the underlying cause is a failing storage device, this may not resolve the issue permanently.

This file has been truncated. show original

StephanMPH · July 26, 2026, 2:40pm

Thank you.
I’m still surprised: the main cause is a power outage.
However, my NAS is protected by an inverter and I have not had any electrical problems in recent weeks. I don’t understand how a file is corrupted.
I thought I could delete the data without having to reinstall everything. I have a backup dating back 3 days before the appearance of the error message, but isn’t it running the risk of restoring a potential bug to come?

checking12 · July 26, 2026, 2:56pm

Not in this case if you ask me. If the backup is corrupted, you cant restore. If it inst corrupt, you fixed file system will handle it fine

ShadowFist · July 26, 2026, 6:34pm

Sudden power outages will do that to you. You probably had a warning saying something along the lines of “could not verify that the database was shut down cleanly”

If you still can, download your backup to a different device & do a full reboot (not restart) from the More Options menu like the doc says.

Hopefully that should be enough, otherwise you’re gonna have to start over & restore from backup.

StephanMPH · July 27, 2026, 10:42am

Thank you very much! It worked!
I no longer have an error message.
However, I hesitate because I arrived in this situation without a problem of power outage or problem with my NAS.
Can this be due to an unstable HACS module? Should I, in case of doubt, delete all formatting modules, which are not essential?

NavNav · July 27, 2026, 7:55pm

To narrow down the problem. Leave it running for a week or 2 and if there’s no problem then you know it’s power outage that caused the corruption and not the HACS modules.

ShadowFist · July 27, 2026, 9:02pm

Always a good idea to remove anything you don’t think you’ll be using in the near future, especially custom integrations.

Just make sure you have a backup in case you remove something which you’re actually using by mistake.

StephanMPH · July 29, 2026, 6:10am

Thanks everyone for your help!
I changed my backup destination (to my NAS, outside the VM).
I’ll see how my “repaired” configuration holds up over time.