ReadyNAS NVX Pioneer RNDX400E; Can't Create Backup prior to Replacing Failing Drive

Question

Apologies for not finding this if others have already posted solution.

SETUP: Model:	ReadyNAS NVX Pioneer Edition [X-RAID2]
Firmware:	RAIDiator 4.2.28
Memory:	1024 MB [6-6-6-24 DDR2]

ReadyNAS NVX Pioneer RNDX400E

4 Bay, 4 x 2TB Samsung HD204UI HDDs
WD 8TB My Book Desktop External Hard Drive, USB 3.0 - WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN

NOT using Linux.

SITUATION:
#2 HDD failing and must be replaced.
Resyncs everytime ReadyNAS powers down (per my config to poweroff on failure).
I missed the notifications because I had a simultaneous PS failure and UPS failure.
- Resolved the PS failure with a new one
Replacement (Refurbed) same model Samsung HDD arriving in 2 days
Hadn't learned my lesson that RAID is not a backup until reading the forum posts. Will solve that with your help!

GOAL:
Replace #2 HDD but only after first connecting just-delivered 8TB WD USB HDD and perform complete Backup of all Shares. USB HDD must be readable on my Windows machine.

PROBLEM:
Shows that the USB HDD is in NTFS format but doesn't allow me to create a backup job. When I try to select path to a folder on the selected share, it just hangs up (pls see photos) and won’t illuminate the “Test connection” button.

Thanks in advance for your help!

StephenB · Answer

ISvevo&nbsp;wrote:
Replacement (Refurbed) same model Samsung HDD arriving in 2 days

The size of the replacement needs to match, but the model doesn't need to match. Personally I would have purchased a new drive.
&nbsp;
ISvevo&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
PROBLEM:Shows that the USB HDD is in NTFS format but doesn't allow me to create a backup job.&nbsp; When I try to select path to a folder on the selected share, it just hangs up (pls see photos) and won’t illuminate the “Test connection” button.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Not sure what is going on.&nbsp; But I do have a suggestion.&nbsp; Your new USB drive is USB-3, but your old NAS only does USB-2.&nbsp; Normally you'd get much faster speeds if you connect to the drive to a PC that is connected to your network using ethernet.&nbsp; Even using WiFi might get you better speeds. Note that your failing (or failed) disk will slow down the backup speed.
&nbsp;
In any event, I suggest doing the backup over the network.&nbsp;Although with some pain you can use a NAS backup job, I suggest instead that you use a backup utility on the PC. FreeFileSync is a free one.&nbsp; You could also just do drag-and-drop, but I'd suggest going with a more robust utility instead.
&nbsp;
It is possible that the failing drive is causing your problem.&nbsp; If you are certain that it is the only failing drive in the system, you could also just pull it now and try again.&nbsp; But I'd try shifting the backup to the PC first - at the very least that will give you more visibility into what's going on.&nbsp;

ISvevo · Answer

@StephenB Thanks!&nbsp; I left it alone long enough to have it finally show the share, but it still wouldn't allow me to get to test connection option, and now it shows that share as "Empty" which it isn't.&nbsp;I put that effort on hold and took your advice for direct connection to the laptop and ethernet to the LAN using FFS.&nbsp; It took several attempts, but I think I’m close to having a backup to the USB drive of the key data.&nbsp;&nbsp;The #2 Drive is now showing this:&nbsp;“Thu Mar 11 08:39:03 CST 2021&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Detected increasing ATA errors on disk 2[SAMSUNG HD204UI, S2H7J1CZA02139] 628 times in the past 30 days. This often indicates an impending failure. Please be prepared to replace this disk to maintain data redundancy.”&nbsp;Absolutely concur on the Refurb vs New but I read on many posts here that the hot swap replacement should be the same model, and given how old these are (since purchased) I'm not smart enough to know the compatibility of this ReadyNAS to accept new.&nbsp;&nbsp;I do have a brand new HDD which I purchased about the same time I built the ReadyNAS.&nbsp; It’s a 2TB SATA/64MB Cache/WD20EZRX.&nbsp; Do you recommend I try it vice the used HDD I bought but haven’t opened yet and could return?&nbsp; &nbsp;If so, do I hotswap while the machine ReadyNAS is powered up or do I power it down, swap and then power up?&nbsp; I’m just antsy about hot swapping onto a powered bus.&nbsp;Once the hard drive swap has been completed and that drive has been rebuilt, I’ll tackle getting the ReadyNAS to recognize the USB HDD connected directly to it.&nbsp;&nbsp;Thanks for your ongoing assistance!ISvevo

Sandshark · Answer

"Green" drives such as your&nbsp;WD20EZRX are a poor choice for RAID.&nbsp; There is no need for the drives to be matched, and NAS-purposed drive are a good choice.&nbsp; BUT, the current WD Red line is SMR, which is also a poor choice for RAID, so you should stick with the Red Plus, Red Pro, or Seagate Ironwolf.&nbsp; Enterprise drives will also work, but there is little need for the additional cost with your NAS.

ISvevo · Answer

Sandshark &nbsp;Thanks for the advice, especially to avoid SMR drives for RAID.Am still plugging away at getting all shares onto the USB HDD per StephenB 's guidance.&nbsp; #2 HDD in ReadyNAS continues to amass failures and is now resynching again.I am on borrowed time:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Thu Mar 11 22:24:43 CST 2021&nbsp;&nbsp; ATA error count has increased in the last day. Disk 2: Previous count: 36 Current count: 742 Growing SMART errors indicate a disk that may fail soon. If the errors continue to increase, you should be prepared to replace the disk.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Thu Mar 11 22:21:41 CST 2021&nbsp;&nbsp; Detected increasing ATA errors on disk 2[SAMSUNG HD204UI, S2H7J1CZA02139] 743 times in the past 30 days. This often indicates an impending failure. Please be prepared to replace this disk to maintain data redundancy.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Thu Mar 11 22:21:29 CST 2021&nbsp;&nbsp; System is up.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Thu Mar 11 22:13:08 CST 2021&nbsp;&nbsp; The disk on channel 2 has failed. Shutting down the system to prevent possible data loss resulting from additional failed drives.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Thu Mar 11 21:43:02 CST 2021&nbsp;&nbsp; The disk on channel 2 has failed. The NAS will automatically shutdown in 30 minutes to prevent possible data loss resulting from additional failed drives.&nbsp;Will this plan work?:- Use the Green drive as an interim to stabilize the RAID while I determine upgrade capacity.&nbsp;- What is the largest HDD I can put into the RNDX400E?&nbsp; I've seen 4TB from other users but not sure how old theirs are compared to mine&nbsp;- What is your opinion on the reliability of the diskless bay which I purchased several years ago?&nbsp; It is home use and I have it set to spin down when not in use and it is on a UPS.&nbsp; I've replaced the fan and the PS&nbsp;- I've seen this unit listed with "EOL" at the end on this site.&nbsp; Does this mean End of Life and NetGear is going to cease supporting software/BIOS for it?&nbsp;&nbsp;- I'd like to upgrade to 4TB per bay min (the Seagate IronWolf 4TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 5900 RPM 64MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage – Frustration Free Packaging (ST4000VN008) seems the right price point on TB/$) and then get a 12TB USB HDD to connect directly to it (understanding this unit is only USB 2.0 and slow, but use that for incremental backups) and tackle the original problem I started out with.&nbsp; However, buying 4x4TB drives would mean I’m hoping to get another 4 years out of the unit before having to abandon it.&nbsp; Is that a reasonable expectation?Thanks!

StephenB · Answer

ISvevo&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
- I've seen this unit listed with "EOL" at the end on this site.&nbsp; Does this mean End of Life and NetGear is going to cease supporting software/BIOS for it?&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Netgear stopped manufacturing the NVX NAS quite a while ago (I believe back in 2011).&nbsp; The final firmware is 4.2.31, and was released in 2017.&nbsp; You can still get paid support via my.netgear.com, but there won't be any new software releases for it.
&nbsp;
The NVX is a bit different from other 4.2.x systems, in that it uses a 32 bit architecture (Pro and Ultra are 64 bit).&nbsp; The Pro and Ultra can be converted to run OS-6 firmware - but the NVX can't be.
&nbsp;
ISvevo&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
- What is the largest HDD I can put into the RNDX400E?&nbsp; I've seen 4TB from other users but not sure how old theirs are compared to mine
&nbsp;

Netgear stopped updating the HCL for your NAS long ago.
&nbsp;
I don't think there is a hardware limit on the disk size (there definitely isn't with the Pro and Ultra).&nbsp; But there are expansion limits. You can't expand over 16 TiB (volume size not raw disk capacity), and you can't expand a volume more than 8 TiB over it's original size.
&nbsp;
I believe that if you did a factory default with 4x8TB drives, it would work and you'd get a 24 TB volume.&nbsp; That would cost about twice as much as 4x4TB (based on current US Amazon pricing).
&nbsp;
ISvevo&nbsp;wrote:
Am still plugging away at getting all shares onto the USB HDD per StephenB 's guidance.&nbsp; #2 HDD in ReadyNAS continues to amass failures and is now resynching again.
I am on borrowed time:

One option is to simply pull Drive 2.&nbsp; The risk is that if another disk fails the volume will completely fail, and you'd lose data.&nbsp; But that could happen anyway, because you don't have RAID protection during a resync.
&nbsp;
ISvevo&nbsp;wrote:
However, buying 4x4TB drives would mean I’m hoping to get another 4 years out of the unit before having to abandon it.&nbsp; Is that a reasonable expectation?

Hard to say...
&nbsp;
If I'm right about when it was discontinued, your NAS would be 14-16 years old in 4 years. We have seen some posts here from folks owning ReadyNAS about that age that are still working - but of course those early models aren't the same platform.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Another aspect is the age of the software.&nbsp; The encryption/TLS is dated, which at some point will result in https not connecting (unless you keep an old browser running exclusively to connect to frontview).&nbsp; You already need to manually enable SMB 1 on the PCs, and at some point that option will go away.
&nbsp;
Though you could potentially move the drives to a new NAS, (reformatting them) - so the drive investment might not be wasted.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
ISvevo&nbsp;wrote:
then get a 12TB USB HDD to connect directly to it (understanding this unit is only USB 2.0 and slow, but use that for incremental backups)

You could alternatively connect the USB drive to a PC, and do incremental backups over the network.&nbsp; That would be faster if the PC is connected to the network with ethernet (and might be faster even if connected with wifi).