Hallo there, I have a problem similar to what davidburchett52 describes. However, I douldn't figure out how that part of the problem was solved.My device is a ReadyNAS Ultra 4 Plus running OS 6.9.1 and initially had 3×WD60EFRX (3 6TB Red WDs) A couple of weeks ago the NAS wouldn't boot. I isolated the problem in one of the disks, which is the newest! When I removed the defective disk the NAS booted reporting a degraded array. So I shut it down, and obtained two new WD80EFAX, but when I installed them and booted expecting to add them to the volume and start the recovery, the system reported that no volumes existed! Confused, I removed the new disks and booted again, but this time the system didn't report a degraded array, and still reported no volumes existed. Any insights would be appreciated.

It is likely that one of the other drives has dropped out. Turning the unit off was probably not the best first step, updating your backup was. Then, the drives are best added with the NAS on. But if a drive was on the verge of failure and failed at power-up, it likely wouldn't have survived a re-sync, either. If another drive did drop out, there is a small chance you can recover some (maybe even most) of your data by cloning the bad one. Which is the bad one is best determiined with vendor's tools. Unfortunately, I don't believe you can buy a Netgear data recovery contract for a legacy NAS running OS6.

Sandshark wrote: Unfortunately, I don't believe you can buy a Netgear data recovery contract for a legacy NAS running OS6. I've gotten mixed responses on this (some Netgear folks told me when it was first offered that it would be available on legacy NAS running OS6, but folks here who wanted it couldn't seem to get it). It'd be useful if this were clarified by one of the mods ( JohnCM_S or Marc_V ).

Thanks for your replies, Sandshark and StephenB. I just finished checking the three original disks using the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS.The quick test returned no errors for three disks.Extended media test also returned no errors for disk #2 which I had originally suspected, as in my previous post. I concluded it must be a hardware error with the ReadyNAS.So with all original disks removed, I inserted the two new disks in two slots in the NAS, including one in slot #2 which disk I had originally suspected.The NAS wouldn't boot! I tried the new two disks in several slot combinations, but still the NAS wouldn't boot, until I removed one disk and inserted the other in slot #1 and powered on, at this point the NAS performed a factory reset, initialised Raid-X, created a volume and completed the boot! I'm still unable to access the web GUI, neither with my old password, nor the default admin:netgear1 So, with the NAS still running, I inserted the other new disk in slot #2, and to my surprise it was detected as indicated in the LCD display, and data synching is now taking place.I will wait until it finishes, and reboot. (it's running too slow taking into consideration that it's a an empty volume) Now,What does a factory reset mean in this case, other than resetting networking configuration?If I remove the new two disks, can I re-insert the old ones safely? Will the old array settings be correctly identified from themselves, or is part of it lost due to the reset?Could it have been all caused by corrupted configuration or another glitch?

gharbeia wrote: I'm still unable to access the web GUI, neither with my old password, nor the default admin:netgear1 The default for OS6 is admin:password, not netgear1. gharbeia wrote: (it's running too slow taking into consideration that it's a an empty volume) The fullness of the volume isn't relevant. RAID creates a virtual disk, and the file system runs on top of that. All the blocks are being synced, including free space. gharbeia wrote: If I remove the new two disks, can I re-insert the old ones safely? Will the old array settings be correctly identified from themselves, or is part of it lost due to the reset? The operating system is on the disks (along with the settings). A factory reset (or factory install) creates a new operating system on the disks, and an empty data volume. That's all it does. So if you put back your original disks, your original problem will come back. gharbeia wrote: Could it have been all caused by corrupted configuration or another glitch? Perhaps. It's hard to say what caused it. If you could get the log zip file to Netgear, they could give you more information on what happened. But I don't think you've ruled out a failure with one of the original disks. The quick test in lifeguard is more of a confidence test than a diagnostic. Even the non-destructive media test has its limits - I've had disks that passed that test, but failed when I ran the destructive write-zeros test. BTW, why did you choose lifeguard for dos instead of lifeguard for windows? Just curious.

Thanks for your explanations, StephenB.I chose Lifeguard for DOS because we're a Linux household. I have no access to Windows machines. Preparing FreeDOS boot media is easy.Marc_V was kind enough to offer to take a look at the logs, and I sent them to him in a private message. I hope we can learn something that can help us.

No volume exists (another case) | NETGEAR Communities

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Sandshark
Sensei - Experienced User
Jul 02, 2019
It is likely that one of the other drives has dropped out. Turning the unit off was probably not the best first step, updating your backup was. Then, the drives are best added with the NAS on. But if a drive was on the verge of failure and failed at power-up, it likely wouldn't have survived a re-sync, either.

If another drive did drop out, there is a small chance you can recover some (maybe even most) of your data by cloning the bad one. Which is the bad one is best determiined with vendor's tools. Unfortunately, I don't believe you can buy a Netgear data recovery contract for a legacy NAS running OS6.
- StephenB
  Guru - Experienced User
  Jul 02, 2019
  Sandshark wrote:
  
  Unfortunately, I don't believe you can buy a Netgear data recovery contract for a legacy NAS running OS6.
  
  I've gotten mixed responses on this (some Netgear folks told me when it was first offered that it would be available on legacy NAS running OS6, but folks here who wanted it couldn't seem to get it).
  
  It'd be useful if this were clarified by one of the mods ( JohnCM_S or Marc_V ).
- gharbeia
  Aspirant
  Jul 02, 2019
  Thanks for your replies, Sandshark and StephenB.
  
  I just finished checking the three original disks using the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS.
  The quick test returned no errors for three disks.
  Extended media test also returned no errors for disk #2 which I had originally suspected, as in my previous post.
  
  I concluded it must be a hardware error with the ReadyNAS.
  So with all original disks removed, I inserted the two new disks in two slots in the NAS, including one in slot #2 which disk I had originally suspected.
  The NAS wouldn't boot!
  
  I tried the new two disks in several slot combinations, but still the NAS wouldn't boot, until I removed one disk and inserted the other in slot #1 and powered on, at this point the NAS performed a factory reset, initialised Raid-X, created a volume and completed the boot!
  
  I'm still unable to access the web GUI, neither with my old password, nor the default admin:netgear1
  
  So, with the NAS still running, I inserted the other new disk in slot #2, and to my surprise it was detected as indicated in the LCD display, and data synching is now taking place.
  I will wait until it finishes, and reboot. (it's running too slow taking into consideration that it's a an empty volume)
  
  Now,
  What does a factory reset mean in this case, other than resetting networking configuration?
  If I remove the new two disks, can I re-insert the old ones safely? Will the old array settings be correctly identified from themselves, or is part of it lost due to the reset?
  Could it have been all caused by corrupted configuration or another glitch?
  - StephenB
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jul 02, 2019
    gharbeia wrote:
    
    I'm still unable to access the web GUI, neither with my old password, nor the default admin:netgear1
    
    The default for OS6 is admin:password, not netgear1.
    
    gharbeia wrote:
    
    (it's running too slow taking into consideration that it's a an empty volume)
    
    The fullness of the volume isn't relevant. RAID creates a virtual disk, and the file system runs on top of that. All the blocks are being synced, including free space.
    
    gharbeia wrote:
    
    If I remove the new two disks, can I re-insert the old ones safely? Will the old array settings be correctly identified from themselves, or is part of it lost due to the reset?
    
    The operating system is on the disks (along with the settings). A factory reset (or factory install) creates a new operating system on the disks, and an empty data volume. That's all it does.
    
    So if you put back your original disks, your original problem will come back.
    
    gharbeia wrote:
    
    Could it have been all caused by corrupted configuration or another glitch?
    
    Perhaps. It's hard to say what caused it. If you could get the log zip file to Netgear, they could give you more information on what happened.
    
    But I don't think you've ruled out a failure with one of the original disks. The quick test in lifeguard is more of a confidence test than a diagnostic. Even the non-destructive media test has its limits - I've had disks that passed that test, but failed when I ran the destructive write-zeros test.
    
    BTW, why did you choose lifeguard for dos instead of lifeguard for windows? Just curious.

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