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Forum Discussion
guysmithuk
Apr 20, 2026Aspirant
Swapping disks from failed unit
hi i i have a readynas duo v2 with 2 raid drives the unit has failed suddenly- the light flashes regardless of one or two or no drives so i think its a dead unit. i have brought a new unit of the ...
StephenB
Apr 20, 2026Guru - Experienced User
guysmithuk wrote:i have brought a new unit of the same type
Can't be really new, since the Duo v2 was replaced in 2013.
There are a lot of folks who mistakenly think they have a Duo v2, when they actually have something else. That's on Netgear, their branding wasn't well considered.
The Duo v2 says ReadyNAS Duo v2 on the front panel. The original Duo says ReadyNAS Duo on the front panel. Ignore any other labels you see. Note if you don't see "Duo" on the front panel, then you have something else (perhaps an Ultra 2 or a Pro 2).
Anyway, first put in a scratch disk, and do a basic install. Check that the firmware is current (5.3.13 for the Duo v2, 4.1.16 for the older Duo v1). Once checked, I suggest powering down and migrating the disk to the second bay. Then make sure it boots. If you fail to do this, then the replacement could install old firmware on the disks.
After that, you can just migrate the disks with the NAS powered down.
guysmithuk
Apr 20, 2026Aspirant
thanks for the reply.
definitely v2!as it’s on the front panel
and yes - the unit i’m getting is second hand.
by scratch disk do you mean a new hard drive?
once i have done this and it boots with a new disk- do i try disk 1 or 2 from the old machine first?
guy
- guysmithukApr 20, 2026Aspirant
or did you mean move the scratch disk from bay 1 to 2 just to check it boots?
guu
- StephenBApr 21, 2026Guru - Experienced User
guysmithuk wrote:
by scratch disk do you mean a new hard drive?
It can be any working hard drive you have - keep in mind that it will be reformatted.
guysmithuk wrote:
did you mean move the scratch disk from bay 1 to 2 just to check it boots?
Yes. Just to make sure the new unit is working.
Note this maybe could have been a failing power brick. So before trying any of that you could try using the replacement's power brick with the failing Duo.
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