ReadyNAS Ultra 6 and ST8000NM0055 on 4.2.28

Question

Not new to NAS units as I have a Synology and several Intel SS4200-E units, but new to the ReadyNAS.

Set up a 1TB drive in 1 after a factory reset, logged into Frontview and saw it was set up correctly. Ran some speed tests, set some preferences in the settings, and then wondered if my new Exos 8TB would be supported. I put the Exos in 3 and it was recognized at full capacity and the sync started:

	Sat May 30 18:59:18 CDT 2020	RAID sync finished on volume C. The array is still in degraded mode, however. This can be caused by a disk sync failure or failed disks in a multi-parity disk array.
	Sat May 30 18:50:10 CDT 2020	RAID sync started on volume C.
	Sat May 30 18:48:52 CDT 2020	Data volume will be rebuilt with disk 3.
	Sat May 30 18:47:44 CDT 2020	New disk detected. If multiple disks have been added, they will be processed one at a time. Please do not remove any added disk(s) during this time. [Disk 3]

SamirD · Answer

(Couldn't type anything after the table)

After just 10 minutes, the drive was indicating yellow and the status of the drive was now 'dead'. Being that the drive could be doa, I pulled it out and swapped in a 1TB WDC RE-series and after 4hrs the volume is now showing X-RAID2, 2 disks Redundant.

I've run another smart short test on the Exos (did one when I first opened it), and it passed the short test. I'm running a long test now and it should be done in 10 hours.

If the Exos passes the long test, besides removing the 2x 1TB and putting the Exos in and doing a factory reset, any other ideas on getting it to work, or why it was 'failed' by the ReadyNAS? I have SSH enabled so I can run some commands if you need to see dmesg or anything like that. Thank you in advance!

StephenB · Answer

Not sure what's going on with the ST8000NM0055.
&nbsp;
But I have two other comments:

4.2.28 is down rev firmware - the current version for the Ultra-6 is 4.2.31
There are volume limits with 4.2.x firmware.&nbsp; A volume can't expand over 16 TiB, and can't expand more than 8 TiB from it's starting size.&nbsp; If you want to use these larger disks, you should consider converting your NAS to run OS-6.&nbsp; If you do that, also upgrade the RAM to at least 2 GB.

SamirD · Answer

Thank you for the quick reply. :) &nbsp;&nbsp;I'm not sure either. :(&nbsp;I have 4.2.30 and 4.2.31 downloaded but after reading the changelogs, they don't seem to fix or add anything I need. &nbsp;I learned a long time ago with firmwares (on the FVS318N specifically), that if something works don't try to fix it. &nbsp;But if an upgrade might help the drive to work, I would be willing to try it.&nbsp;Yep, not worried about the volume limits as I can just use these larger drives jbod if it's a problem.&nbsp;OS-6, while it does seem to work well on the hardware, is still not designed for it whereas OS-4 was. &nbsp;As long as the unit works as a NAS in OS-4 (I don't need anything more), that's enough for me.&nbsp;I have a lot of spare DDR2 800Mhz ram (fastest the Atom D510 can take) and noticed using 'top' that on a large 800GB copy last night that the buffers do get used if they are there. &nbsp;I plan to try a set of 4gb modules and if they don't work install 2x 2gb modules. &nbsp;I plan to run memtester on them for a bit before calling it good as the reset button method of getting to the memory test is cumbersome by comparison. &nbsp;However if memtester won't test all the memory correctly, let me know so I will run the boot menu memory test instead.&nbsp;In times like now a NAS unit has become much more than that--more like a multi-use appliance. &nbsp;I really like just classic nas units that are literally just a nas. &nbsp;The Intel units are like that, but are limited to a total of 4x 4tb drives (on stock software) that must be in either raid1 or raid5 so the capacity there is limited to 8tb or 12tb. &nbsp;This is where the ReadyNas works better because if I can stuff 6x 16tb drives in here (each in its own raid1 pair if it allows it)--and that's a lot of storage. :) &nbsp;And the ReadyNas uses the same standard unix mdadm as the Intel, so a complete failure of the unit wouldn't render the data inaccessible and would probably be accessible in any modern linux with a quick transfer of the drives to a computer and booting a live cd.&nbsp;But my challenge is that I first have to get this 8tb drive to work. &nbsp;5hrs left on the long smart test with no errors so far--at this point I'm thinking the drive is fine. &nbsp;But I'll let it finish the test.&nbsp;Do you think factory defaulting the unit with the 8tb on 4.2.28 would get it working? &nbsp;I'm just testing this unit at this point, so there's no unique data on the volume. &nbsp;I could even upgrade to 4.2.30/31 and try it there as well. &nbsp;Thoughts?

StephenB · Answer

SamirD&nbsp;wrote:
I have 4.2.30 and 4.2.31 downloaded but after reading the changelogs, they don't seem to fix or add anything I need.

&nbsp;The fixes for the CVEs are worth picking up (the last one resolves a vulnerability related to WannaCry).
&nbsp;
SamirD&nbsp;wrote:
I plan to try a set of 4gb modules and if they don't work install 2x 2gb modules.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;

I'd leave the stock memory if you aren't planning to convert to OS-6, and aren't interested in installing your own packages on the NAS.
&nbsp;
Though if you happen to have the memory lying around, I guess there's no harm in using it.
&nbsp;
SamirD&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
But my challenge is that I first have to get this 8tb drive to work. &nbsp;5hrs left on the long smart test with no errors so far--at this point I'm thinking the drive is fine. &nbsp;But I'll let it finish the test.
&nbsp;
Do you think factory defaulting the unit with the 8tb on 4.2.28 would get it working? &nbsp;I'm just testing this unit at this point, so there's no unique data on the volume. &nbsp;I could even upgrade to 4.2.30/31 and try it there as well. &nbsp;Thoughts?

Doing a factory default with only the&nbsp;ST8000NM0055 in place is probably worth a try.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;

SamirD · Answer

Yeah, not worried about those things since I operate off the grid. &nbsp;Nas units don't get Internet access nor to the nas client machines.&nbsp;It's literally lying around. &nbsp;Plus, I saw how the OS4 did eat up all the buffers during that large copy so it would be interesting to see if the write caching expands to even more data.&nbsp;Factory default test will be what I will ultimately try then. &nbsp;The first thing I will try if the drive is good is to just put it in and see what it does with it. &nbsp;The current volume is a 1TB array which looks like it's running raid1. &nbsp;I'll probably add the ram first though as syncing or adding a new drive might be improved it is has more ram to work with.

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ReadyNAS Ultra 6 and ST8000NM0055 on 4.2.28

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