diff --git a/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/needle_map.go b/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/needle_map.go
index c1b84358c..b173eb47f 100644
--- a/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/needle_map.go
+++ b/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/needle_map.go
@@ -178,7 +178,11 @@ func (nm *NeedleMap) Put(key uint64, offset uint32, size uint32) (int, error) {
 	return nm.indexFile.Write(nm.bytes)
 }
 func (nm *NeedleMap) Get(key uint64) (element *NeedleValue, ok bool) {
-	element, ok = nm.m.Get(Key(key))
+	if nm.m != nil {
+		element, ok = nm.m.Get(Key(key))
+	} else {
+		element, ok = nm.fm.Get(Key(key))
+	}
 	return
 }
 func (nm *NeedleMap) Delete(key uint64) error {
@@ -202,5 +206,8 @@ func (nm *NeedleMap) ContentSize() uint64 {
 
 // iterate through all needles using the iterator function
 func (nm *NeedleMap) Walk(pedestrian func(*NeedleValue) error) (err error) {
-	return nm.m.Walk(pedestrian)
+	if nm.m != nil {
+		return nm.m.Walk(pedestrian)
+	}
+	return nm.fm.Walk(pedestrian)
 }
diff --git a/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/store.go b/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/store.go
index 161b855e3..d9e94ee56 100644
--- a/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/store.go
+++ b/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/store.go
@@ -118,7 +118,9 @@ func (s *Store) loadExistingVolumes() {
 					if s.volumes[vid] == nil {
 						if v, e := NewVolume(s.dir, vid, CopyNil); e == nil {
 							s.volumes[vid] = v
-							log.Println("In dir", s.dir, "read volume =", vid, "replicationType =", v.replicaType, "version =", v.version, "size =", v.Size())
+							log.Println("In dir", s.dir, "read volume =", vid, "replicationType =", v.replicaType, "version =", v.version, "size =", v.Size(), "frozen?", !v.IsWritable())
+						} else {
+							log.Println("ERROR loading volume", vid, "in dir", s.dir, ":", e.Error())
 						}
 					}
 				}
diff --git a/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/volume.go b/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/volume.go
index d694f27ba..9a7c33a42 100644
--- a/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/volume.go
+++ b/weed-fs/src/pkg/storage/volume.go
@@ -36,7 +36,14 @@ func (v *Volume) load() error {
 	fileName := path.Join(v.dir, v.Id.String())
 	v.dataFile, e = os.OpenFile(fileName+".dat", os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0644)
 	if e != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("cannot create Volume Data %s.dat: %s", fileName, e)
+		if os.IsPermission(e) {
+			if util.FileExists(fileName + ".cdb") {
+				v.dataFile, e = os.Open(fileName + ".dat")
+			}
+		}
+		if e != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot create Volume Data %s.dat: %s", fileName, e)
+		}
 	}
 	if v.replicaType == CopyNil {
 		if e = v.readSuperBlock(); e != nil {