NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Failed Drive Replaced, Recync Complete, But Volume Is Still Degraded
My RN312 has been working fine for many years. Just recently, one of the 4TB WD Black drives indicated a failure. I removed the failed drive and replaced it with a newer 4TB WD Black drive with the...
BtrieveBill wrote:
I hesitate to do that because I'm not sure where the RN312 keeps its brain.
Everything is on the disks - config files are stored in the OS partition, any apps are installed to a hidden folder on the data volume.
BtrieveBill wrote:
The SMART data shows that the last failure on that drive was in 2022, but that it is showing 53 pending sectors
Personally I would have replaced that disk. Generally I consider replacement when the bad sectors move into the 20s.
BtrieveBill wrote:
I copied all of the data off of the volume to my new Synology NAS, so I have no fear of losing anything.
Good.
One option is to save the config files, do a clean install on new disks, and then restore the config. Personally I'd use Seagate Ironwolf or WD Red Plus. If you use desktop class drives, make sure they are not SMR. Most desktop drives in the 2-6 TB range are now SMR.
A second option is to try cloning the disk to a replacement drive. Then power up the NAS with that drive installed. Delete all the files and snapshots, and restore the files from the Synology. After that hot-insert a second drive (ideally new) and wait for it to sync. That would preserve your configuration and the OS partition (assuming they are not damaged).
A majority of the data on this volume is a backup of other data from other devices that is refreshed on an automated schedule via Beyond Compare. As such, just about everything does exist elsewhere. I've learned my lessons over the years -- before I did ANYTHING with this system, I copied all of the data off of the volume to my new Synology NAS, so I have no fear of losing anything.
It is possible that a file has been mangled with the lost block, but that is always a risk. Beyond Compare can also perform a byte-wise comparison if I want, which can identify and fix a damaged file if it is truly a backup in the first place, and fix that up, too.
I will try the disk tests to see if that buys me anything. The SMART data shows that the last failure on that drive was in 2022, but that it is showing 53 pending sectors
2022-05-06 00:45:58 WDC WD4003FZEX-00Z4S WD-WCC5D0015414 0 0 0 -1 -1 53 53 0
Conversely, the "failed" drive was showing 548 pending sectors before it choked to death on 03/17/2024.
To that end, do you recommend simply replacing BOTH drives at the same time, and reinitializing the RAID? I hesitate to do that because I'm not sure where the RN312 keeps its brain. I don't want to have to reset the OS itself, and I have some special security rights set up for a few of the shares to allow its use as backup and as a FTP upload target while preventing abuse. Is there a step-by-step guide to replacing both drives at once to help limit the potential issues?
BtrieveBill wrote:
I hesitate to do that because I'm not sure where the RN312 keeps its brain.
Everything is on the disks - config files are stored in the OS partition, any apps are installed to a hidden folder on the data volume.
BtrieveBill wrote:
The SMART data shows that the last failure on that drive was in 2022, but that it is showing 53 pending sectors
Personally I would have replaced that disk. Generally I consider replacement when the bad sectors move into the 20s.
BtrieveBill wrote:
I copied all of the data off of the volume to my new Synology NAS, so I have no fear of losing anything.
Good.
One option is to save the config files, do a clean install on new disks, and then restore the config. Personally I'd use Seagate Ironwolf or WD Red Plus. If you use desktop class drives, make sure they are not SMR. Most desktop drives in the 2-6 TB range are now SMR.
A second option is to try cloning the disk to a replacement drive. Then power up the NAS with that drive installed. Delete all the files and snapshots, and restore the files from the Synology. After that hot-insert a second drive (ideally new) and wait for it to sync. That would preserve your configuration and the OS partition (assuming they are not damaged).
Well, the excitement is now over. After agonizing over it for a while, I really didn't want to start all over, since the Plex software wouldn't be able to reinstall with the new firmware. (stupid me for patching.) So, I opted to pull the "good" drive and replace it with the failed-sync "bad" drive, just to see what would happen. Since the system partition was good, it started up and maintained all of my settings, as you foretold, but the volume was unusable. No worry -- I had a backup! So I purged the "bad" volume, recreated a new one (adding a second replacement drive in the process), and created a new RAID array. Am now in the process of copying my data back and resyncing the volume. Will know more in 20-30 hours!
Thanks again for your time, efforts, and suggestions. You are greatly appreciated!
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
