A ZimaOS 1.2.2 installation that asked for the privacy statement, username and password again at every login was not performing a normal “factory reset” workflow. IceWhale support suspected that a required system-data partition had failed to format or mount during initialization.
The user solved the repeated first-run state by reinstalling ZimaOS from USB. That is the safest verified outcome from the thread. The manual filesystem command later posted by support was explicitly limited to a just-initialized system and could erase system-partition data if used in the wrong situation.
The Symptom Was Lost Initialization State
Each login returned the user to privacy acceptance and account creation, and changes from the previous session disappeared. That behavior points to persistent system state not being saved correctly rather than a deliberate reset option being triggered.
Support's initial theory focused on the eighth partition used by the installation. They asked for lsblk output to verify whether the expected /dev/nvme*n1p8 partition existed.
The Verified Fix Was a Clean Reinstall
The user reported that reinstalling ZimaOS by USB solved the repeated-login initialization problem. Current installation steps are documented in the current ZimaOS installation guide.
Before reinstalling any NAS operating system, disconnect or clearly identify data drives so the installer cannot be pointed at the wrong disk. The home server recovery checklist emphasizes identifying the boot disk and preserving readable data before destructive repair.
Why the Old Manual Partition Repair Is High Risk
Support also supplied an mkfs.ext4 command for the suspected partition, but with an important condition: it was only an option immediately after initialization. Formatting a partition destroys the filesystem that was there before.
Do not copy that command onto a current installation merely because the login screen repeats. Device names can differ, partition layouts can change across releases, and selecting the wrong block device can destroy data. On a non-fresh system, collect diagnostics and use current support guidance instead.
The Installer Has Changed Since 1.2.2
IceWhale said in the 2024 thread that the initialization method had already been improved to reduce this low-probability failure. Current ZimaOS releases are much newer than 1.2.2, so the old partition-specific repair should be treated as historical troubleshooting evidence, not a current standard procedure.
Frequently Asked Question
Does reinstalling ZimaOS erase my NAS data?
It can if you select or format the wrong drive. A reinstall may preserve separate data disks, but that is not a guarantee. Identify the OS drive and data drives first, verify backups, and follow the current installer prompts carefully.
