Hi,I am new to the forums and totally new to the Netgear ReadyNAS products so excuse me if I do something wrong. I looked at the FAQ but couldn't find a prompt answer to my question.I bought a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo last Friday and received it on Saturday. During the weekend I ordered two Western Digital CaviarGreen 2TB 64MB SATA hard disks. They came in these afternoon so when I got home from work I attached them to the two things that go in to the NAS and turned the nas on and ran the RAIDar.Now, the disk that's in slot 1 works fine and is recognized by the NAS and gives a green light. The slot 2 keeps blinking and on the RAIDar it gives a yellow ball on the left that means "warning or dead".Does this mean that the new disk is dead or that there's maybe something wrong with the NAS? Do I need to configure something first before the second drive works?Thanks in advance.Gary Miller

Additional information:I just put the one disk is and it now says Corrupted Root.

What version of RAIDiator (operating system) are you running. It will show up on the first page of Frontview (configuration application) as well as in the right hand column of RAIDar (ReadyNAS discovery application that runs on the PC). BTW - the two things that go in the NAS and hold the drives are called trays. Since it is new and has no data, I would do a factory default with just the drive in slot 1. For temporary use, you do not have to put an empty tray in slot 2, just set it to one side with the questionable drive to one side.The factory will wipe the drives of all data, reinstall the OS from the flash drive and install the default configuration.To perform an OS Re-install or Factory Default, this is managed via the Reset button on the back of the chassis.Locate the reset pinhole.ReadyNAS Duo/NV/NV+: the pinhole is next to the USB port in the back.Get a straightened paper clip and depress the hidden switch in the pinhole while the power is off, and then power on the ReadyNAS.After 5 seconds you will get the first flash of the LED's for the OS Re-installAt 30 seconds you will get the second flash of the LED's for the Factory Default.If it still gives you a corrupt root error, you should call Netgear Technical Support. You have 90 days of free telephone support from the date of purchase. When you open a case with them, note the case number, and then edit your first post in this discussion and add the case number to the header.

Thanks for your reply. While waiting for answers I tried several things and now I am pretty sure I messed up the whole NAS. I made a case with the new problem:I got a Corrupt Root error with one of the disks in the NAS. These were new disks and the NAS is new as well. I browsed the forums and found several things I could do to maybe fix this. This included a OS reinstall and a TFTP boot recovery. I think it went wrong with the last part cause now, no matter if I reset it or not, the blue led keeps blinking and the drive led blink every 2-3 seconds. I kept the NAS like this the whole night and it kept doing the same thing when I woke up this morning. RAIDar doesn't recognize the NAS. I made my problem worse by trying to solve it cause it was working with one of the disks.

Boot Recovery should only be done if tech support or a Jedi recommends it.If just one of your disks was having problems it could perhaps have been a bad disk or simply needed to be hooked up to a PC and have the partitions deleted off it.

mdgm wrote:Boot Recovery should only be done if tech support or a Jedi recommends it.If just one of your disks was having problems it could perhaps have been a bad disk or simply needed to be hooked up to a PC and have the partitions deleted off it.Did not know that. The disk that was bad had no partitions on it as it was new. I hooked it up to a PC later to check if it was corrupt but it worked fine. I had no clue about the boot recovery but that probably messed up my ReadyNAS Duo. I hope the Netgear support can help. Otherwise I will return the product.

Readynas DUO: Second WD20EARS drive never works.

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PapaBear1
Apprentice
Aug 02, 2011
I would remove one disk and attach it to an SATA port on the motherboard of a PC and remove the partitions (disk management in Windows will do it nicely). Then start the Duo with the other disk in bay 1. If you have not upgraded to 4.1.7, do so and perform a factory default. Once it has booted and settled down, hot add the second drive in bay two.

Post back with the results.
lmr052
Aspirant
Sep 04, 2011
Hi Ranson,
I have an almost exact replica of your system (mine is RND2000 Duo (V4.1.7) with two Caviar Green 'WD-20EARX' 2TB disks) and have it working. My set up was complicated by the NAS Duo power supply dying within a couple of minutes of start up meaning my drives were in the process of being configured. Once I received my NAS back with a new power supply, I did the following, noting that my NAS was at firmware V4.1.7 - so you may need to upgrade first.
Connect the drive to your Windows PC
Downloaded WD Lifeguard from the Western Digital site
tested my drives (both were OK)
performed a quick write zeroes (at the start and end of the drive)
Using windows administrative tools, (this is a bit hazy - am not sure of the exact steps) check the properties on the raw volume and you get prompted for the boot record type, choose the second for larger drives, NOT the MBR option.
Install one drive in bay 1 of the NAS (closest to the switch and USB socket)
Press the reset button on the back next to the rear USB sockets for factory default
Power up and monitor using RAIDar

My system now booted fine and initialised OK and then I could configure my system. Once it was working fine, I put in the second drive in bay 2 and the NAS worked properly, recognised the second drive and started synchronising.

So.. it can be done, but only after I wiped the drives and reset the boot record. Regards, Richard

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Readynas DUO: Second WD20EARS drive never works.

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