rn104 updated to 6.4.0 and possible solution to random lock-ups

[BrianL2]

Hi mbo,

Thanks for the correction. What if you break the teaming between the two NICs and keep it operating under gigabit speed? See if the problem is still being experienced.

Kind regards,

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

[mbo]

Hello,

Gigabit speed has never been the problem, I am running it on Gigabit and Teaming now without problem.

Don't you mean break the bonding and run it with jumbo frames because to me I get the problem when I enable jumbo frames.

Regards

Magnus

[BrianL2]

Hi mbo,

Yes that's right. Either you run it without the bonding or teaming of your NICs with jumbo frames enabled or just connect one of the ports directly to a PC for isolation. We have released the Beta Firmware version 6.4.1-T21 that addressed some of the issues reported here in the community, would you like to try it?

Kind regards,

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

[atreyu_ATR]

I am having the same lock up problem that everyone else seems to be having since upgrading to 6.4.0. To make my box stable I disabled the transmission and usenet clients.

Unfortunately, I don't have the space to copy everything off my nas to downgrade it. 

NetGear: Where are we at getting this issue resolved? is there a beta firmware I can / should try to fix my issue?

[atreyu_ATR]

I just upgraded my firwmware to 6.4.1-T29, and all was going well with transmission running for a few hours however after about 30 minutes of SABNZB running my RN104 froze up again. I'll attach logs shortly.

Please mods! is there any light at the end of this tunnel?!

[BrianL2]

Hi atreyu_ATR,

For the meantime, disable your add-ons (SABNZB and Transmission) and monitor the device if its becomes stable. If it is, I suggest that you report this issue to our support team for a ticket.

Kind regards,

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

[atreyu_ATR]

I have since upgraded to 6.4.1-T29 in the hope for more stability. When trasmission and SABNZB aren't running it seems to be stable. Last night i left it running with just transmission and it appeared to be stable, however when I woke up this morning, it had locked up. When im running SABNZB it can lock up within 30 minutes. It appears to be either.

Are there any newer beta's that I can try? or anything new on the horizon?

[smashman42]

This update has given me a lot of grief on my 104 as well.

Why on earth haven't Netgear pulled the OTA update to 6.4.0 when they know it's broken? Let people stay on 6.2.4 until 6.4.1 is known to not suck.

Disabling the esata and USB ports, thereby stopping people from backing up when everyone always makes such a big deal of 'RAID isn't backup' was brilliant if I do say so. And making the NAS virtually unaccessable with Windows PCs? I couldn't even cut/copy/paste files, just browsing in Windows Explorer was like I was using VNC over a 56k modem, not my own laptop on Wireless N. Machines on gigabit were no better off either. The only change from 6.2.4 was 6.4.0 so you can't blame this on anyone except Netgear.

Now I'm running 6.4.1-T29 with the antivirus disabled and can finally actually use the NAS again as intended, I think? I'm holding my mouth the 'right' way just in case. Still doesn't shut down properly though, hangs at the last minute so she's running 24/7 now instead of only when needed. Already had drive spin down and IPv6 disabled, jumbo frames is on and hasn't made a notable difference. I can change nothing except the antivirus and boom, she's unusable again. Pretty clear what's broken in my case I guess?

Transmission is and always was fine for me, it was the only thing apart from the web admin interface and RAIDar that did work initially. I use NTI shadow on my windows PCs to back them up and it was having a fit like someone else's drive image software was (Acronis?). The NAS is primary storage for our MythTV setup (using NFS over gigabit) and while it 'still worked', the CPU load was through the roof doing a single recording so the 'Wife Approval Factor' was in the toilet yesterday because she couldn't watch a show while it/another was being recorded like she usually could.

What the hell guys, how the hell did you let this one out in the wild?

[Calder]

How are your NICs configured? Are they bonded? Try unbonding them if they are. It helped me s little but did not fix the issue. It seemed to have freeze less. I've gone back to 6.2.5 but have left the NICs as standalone and only one is plugged in. I don't have a proper switch to use bonding anyway so no biggie for me.

[atreyu_ATR]

I have only ever been using 1 NIC. So that hasn't been the cause of my problem.

I have had less lock ups since, not running backups, and disabling SABNZB.

[smashman42]

Only ever been using one NIC here too, simple unmanaged gigabit switch so no point.

[guigui_bebert]

Hello,

I encounter the same locks up on my RN104, but from what I saw it happens when writting a lot of data on the NAS.

Unfortunately I followed Netgear support advice and factory resetted.

When backing up from NAS to local HDD via FTP (2.6TB) : all went good.

When trying to put the data back on the NAS via FTP it locked up after 280GB of 200-1200Gb files.

I then factory resetted (to have a clean system without corruption due to "violent" power off) and put it back to support mode because they asked fot it.

No add on activated and fresh RMAed (Support thought it could be hardware malfunction) and fresh intalled from T29 Beta (which was the last to date when I recieved the RMA unit).

I double checked my disks via RN104 integrated test and WD utilities tests => all still perfectly fine even after all the violent power off.

So maybe add-on itself is not the issue but rather the fact that add-on write a lot of data on the system (even temporary data).

This looks a lot like a memory overflow.

Only 1 Gb Network interface used in a IPV4 environnement. 

[Postman]

Hello,

thank you for the input.
What I actually do not understand is, that 6.4.0 is out for a month now and it is obviously extremely buggy but there is no official information from Netgear no recall or warning, simply nothing. The support guy treated me like an idiot who is not able to start the admin page. This one´s for sure Netgear: Never again!

I´m a software developer myself, bugs can happen no doubt about it, but dealing with those problems is also part of the story.

Regards,

Peter

[guigui_bebert]

Hello,

I opened a subject in the beta section:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Beta-Release/ReadyNASOS-6-4-1-T29-Beta-2-RN104-drops-out-w...

Here is a copy of what I discovered about the subject:

----

Netgear support explained me that my Raid configuration was faulty(due to violent power OFF maybe in version 6.2.5 lock up) and that a factory reset does not rebuild the raid conf --> fault is not corrected.

I should havec formatted my 4 disks using external format tool AND factory resetted the NAS.

the issue was apparently present in older version but lock up were no symptom before 6.4.0

I suggest you back up all your data, format all your disks and factory-reset your NAS.

AND

I was also very skeptical but here is the exact statement (translated, I'm french) from the support:

For internal analysis, my ticket number is 26034663

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Me:

    [...]

    So, you confirml that Factory Reset does not fully erase RAID configuration? Only data and system configuration?

    Otherwise my raid related issue would have been resolved after a factory reste and hardware change.

     To resolve my initial issue, I should have formatted my 4 disks and factory resetted the RN104?

Netgear Support:

    Indeed, Factory reset does not touch Raid configuration

    Concerning the solution, indded, formating your disks one by one and then formating the Nas could have resolved your issue 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

[laughingpalm]

OK, folks...after having read almost all the posts on this thread, I would really like to know what I should do with my RN104 that is having issues after upgrading to 6.4.

I really need this system to work reliably!  (BTW, my system only has 2 users on it, and <1TB of data on a 4TB system.)

I can't afford to have the unit spend 1-2 days on bootups or shutdowns (which is what happens now.)  I'm now way behind on my work because of this! (As I write this, I'm waiting on my unit to reboot - it's been "Booting..." for hours now.)

Should I go to a beta release, or should I go back to 6.2.5?

If I go back to 6.2.5, I'm unclear exactly how that should be done properly.  Can someone provide an exact step-by-step for someone who is only moderately techie?  I would really appreciate that.

I'm trying to keep from banging my head on the desk repeatedly....it messes up my tennis game. --sigh--

Thanks in advance,

Jim

[tripy]

I didn't tried the beta, so I cannot say, but what I've heard from this thread is that it's still buggy.

To roll back to the 6.2.5, you need to follow the instructions in the post marqued as solution: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS/rn104-updated-to-6-4-0-and-possible-solution-to...

As I have a RN104, I did re-install the 6.2.5 firmware: http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/29498

First, backup everything that is on the nas, and write down what users / groups / jobs / apps you have installed, because everything will be wiped out.

Once your backup is done:

1. To install those firmware, just login the nas web administration page, go to "system" -> "settings" -> "install firmware".
   You then choose the firmware you downloaded (first 6.4.0 beta) and reboot.
2. Once your nas have reboot, go back to the same page, and again "system" -> "settings" -> "install firmware", but choose the 6.2.5 firmware.
3. Then go again in the web admin page "system" -> "settings" -> "perform factory default"
   
   !!! This will basically wipe out everything you have on the nas, as well as users / shares / lun / jobs and any app you have installed.
   So be sure to backup and write down everything before hitting this button and then reboot again.
4. Once this is complete, you will need to recreate every lun / share / users / jobs that you actually have defined

And there you have it, your nas is back to 6.2.5.

[smashman42]

I'd try the betas or RC before downgrading. Doing a wipe and starting from scratch is a major pain.

Beta 3 is okay for me, I haven't tried the RC yet. Not fixing what ain't (too) broke.

[laughingpalm]

OK, I must be an idiot because I can't find any Beta downloads (3 or otherwise)...what am I missing?  And what is RC?

Jim

[tripy]

The betas are available in the forum section dedicated to them: https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Beta-Release/bd-p/readynas-beta-releases?topic-zoom=&sort-...

And RC usually means "Release Candidate", meaning it's probably going to be the version promoted as stable after testing, if everything is ok.

[smashman42]

They've got rid of the links for the previous betas so you'd have to use RC1 now.

RC =  Release Candidate, the level between beta and final. So in theory it should be better

You can get it here https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Beta-Release/ReadyNASOS-6-4-1-RC1/m-p/999457#U999457

[laughingpalm]

Thanks for the info & links, guys!

I downloaded & installed the RC1 file, and the NAS has been showing "Rebooting...See you soon" message for quite a while already.  I'm praying it's not another 18 hour+ ordeal to reboot this beast!

Jim

[StephenB]

---

@laughingpalm wrote:

I downloaded & installed the RC1 file, and the NAS has been showing "Rebooting...See you soon" message for quite a while already.  I'm praying it's not another 18 hour+ ordeal to reboot this beast!

---

Mine came up in a couple of minutes.

[wilch]

I have a RN102 and was having frequent lock-ups with jumbo frames enabled when copying 100G+ of backups.

Upgraded to 6.4.1 RC1 and have not had any problems so far after 300G+ of backups.

Just wanted to provide an update that 6.4.1 RC1 is currently working on my side with jumbo frames enabled.  I am getting approx 60MB/s write, with bit rot protection on as well as daily snapshots.

In case anyone would like to know, I am using a catalyst 3560 switch with the following MTU settings:

sw# show system mtu

System MTU size is 1500 bytes
System Jumbo MTU size is 9198 bytes
System Alternate MTU size is 1500 bytes
Routing MTU size is 9000 bytes

Best regards,

wilch

[laughingpalm]

Well, it looks like yet another extended reboot process...it's been over 18 hours and the RN104 is STILL showing the "Rebooting..." message!  The power light continues to blink, and the activity light flashes every now and then.

In the past, the system eventually reboots (or shuts completely down), so I hesitate to pull the power on it.  What do you guys think - should I just cut the power to it and restart it, or will that likely corrupt the file structure? (Running redundant RAID)

I'm hoping that when it does reboot, that the new beta firmware will be significantly improved and I won't have to fire bomb this mess and start over!!  My guess is that I won't be so lucky....

Jim

[smashman42]

6.4.0 did have a bug that stops the system from shutting down properly. I had mine hang on shutdown but it appeared it had completed everything and halted the system but just not actually shut it down, meaning I pulled the plug and it didn't even complain about needing a disk check on the next boot.

After that long you'd hope you'd be safe to pull the plug, the firmware update was finished in the web admin before you told it to shut down so you shouldn't brick it. At worst maybe you'd need a drive resync.

If you aren't comfortable pulling the plug wait it out I guess, I wouldn't have waited more than 15min myself.