If the hash changed, that usually means the data changed. So how is it possible the attachments still exist, but the files have different bits? Was it a distributed file system? Is XFs hash reliant on the exact metadata (creation date and modification date)?
I have no firsthand knowledge of this specific event, but I do have firsthand knowledge regarding the target insight of this particular question. I have three examples from other related systems and a final SQL example, all, as mentioned, firsthand.
But first I will start with what I understood to be described which is modestly different than the premise you are operating from.. Your premise seems to be that the hash became a new value within the table altogether. That is not what I understood. I interpreted the explanation as the data within the table structure became misaligned- like, say, your Excel Spreadsheet table of your 'Favorite Laughs and the Laughers who Laughed Them' , organized with 6 columns of descriptive categories, plus the basic bio data of the laughers themselves (a linked table, obviously, as a single laugher can have multiple laughs, and I should know), and nearly 800 rows of non-repeating entries, became rendered both mute & moot by your souless Ex, who, having a different opinion on the tembre of a few chuckles and haws, began a willy-nilly delete-fest not of rows nor columns, but of cells., thus shifting part of this column north, of its rightful seat, and these cells left, becoming misaligned to their respective columns, only for this one and that one to shift north yet again..
So you see, if my ID field and your Hash field were linked at the beginning, undoubtedly some of my IDs have new hashes, and some of your hashes have no IDs.
Another way in which I have witnessed this which is possibly more accurate, at least in some ways, to this event, is with music on a usb drive that plugged innto a car stereo I had once many moons ago. This was maybe welll, that part's not relevant, this part is: I would be listening to some B of H from the drive when I turned the car of off. When I turned it on it would start playing some DP. Turn it off while listening to NC, turn it on to JC. Then one day I'm listing to DPwhenallofthesuddenitsnotDPbutNC. Like someone had spliced one tune directly into another. By the time I caught on nearly ever tune on the drive had some form of corruption. I did not invest a great deal of energy into the cause, but evidence suggested it was related to how the system 'spun up' and the folder depth of the last played tune as there was some consistency in the track numbers of the spliced tunes, but pnly the barest pattern in the artists spliced.
But look at the time! I'm afraid I've exhausted my example quota for the day... Hopefully this helped. And if it didn't help, hopefully it didn't hurt. And if did neither, please check your pulse!
Sol Long, and Star Wide!
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Realizing I am prone to the TLDR-tag, I wanted to draw attention to this comment/request/idea I pitched previously:
I, like many have here I'm sure, possess a couple, 4, or more thousand gigs of site-worthy content dating from yesterday back to the midteens or so.
Is there a donation station planned? Or perhaps a better, easier to manage option- those of us so willing and able inventory our goodies, gawdies, and lawdies-help-me-jeebus! in a format easily interpreted and accessible to All Ye Lewd Powers That Be, and you let us know, ahem... When & Where to Stick It!
I am happy to help in any way I can.