NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Adding Used Second Disk Renders Setup Useless. How to Solve?
I have a ReadyNas 6 Pro running OS 6 (6.2.4) on a one disk (1TB), flex-RAID setup. I want to be able to have separate disk volumes (and of different sizes) and be able to add more in the future. In other words, JBOD. I understand this is possible but I ran into the following problem and I am quite surprised. But I am also a novice. Please help.
I wanted to add an already used disk (also 1TB) to the setup as a second volume by formatting it and adding it as a new volume in the UI. I powered down the system, added the second disk, powered up again and to my surprise the NAS could only be accessed through RAIDar. RAIDar in-turn appropriately states that the setup contains a dirty disk with a foreign OS but wants to reformat the setup, so also the initial disk, to fix the problem.
Then I figured I maybe have to add the second disk while the system is running for it to be setup as a separate volume, so I powered down, removed the second disk an powered up again. To my surprise the system responds in the exact same way. Foreign OS, dirty disk, reformatting will fix it.
So, as I understand it, I modified the first disk by adding the second one and powering up. I don't understand this and I can't find any similar problem described anywhere.
Could someone please explain:
Thank you so much for helping this eager to learn novice out.
FYI, so far I've used the following information to read up on before and after I went through this process but without being able to answer my questions:
I posted in the 'General issues with OS6 on x86 Legacy' section while this issue is probably not related to it being an 'OS6 on x86 Legacy' system. Feel free to move this post to a more appropriate destination.
I wanted to add an already used disk (also 1TB) to the setup as a second volume by formatting it and adding it as a new volume in the UI. I powered down the system, added the second disk, powered up again and to my surprise the NAS could only be accessed through RAIDar. RAIDar in-turn appropriately states that the setup contains a dirty disk with a foreign OS but wants to reformat the setup, so also the initial disk, to fix the problem.
Then I figured I maybe have to add the second disk while the system is running for it to be setup as a separate volume, so I powered down, removed the second disk an powered up again. To my surprise the system responds in the exact same way. Foreign OS, dirty disk, reformatting will fix it.
So, as I understand it, I modified the first disk by adding the second one and powering up. I don't understand this and I can't find any similar problem described anywhere.
Could someone please explain:
1. Why is the first disk modified by my process? (I'm assuming it's modified as I can't boot with it anymore.)
2. How to boot into my original one disk setup without having to reformat it and build it up all over again.
3. How to add subsequent (both new and previously used) disks when the intention is to run them as separate volumes?
Thank you so much for helping this eager to learn novice out.
FYI, so far I've used the following information to read up on before and after I went through this process but without being able to answer my questions:
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=74622
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22896
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22894/~/how-do-i-add-a-disk-to-my-readynas-os-6-desktop-storage-system%3F
I posted in the 'General issues with OS6 on x86 Legacy' section while this issue is probably not related to it being an 'OS6 on x86 Legacy' system. Feel free to move this post to a more appropriate destination.
4 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- When you add a disk you should add a disk with no partitions on it.
It should have booted up with the second disk you added removed. Not sure why that didn't happen.
Personally I think it is best to always wipe the disk when you remove it from your PC or NAS, even if you are intending to re-use it right away. You can do that with some form of secure erase/zeroing program, or by simply deleting the partitions (depending on data sensitivity and paranoia level...)mdgm wrote: When you add a disk you should add a disk with no partitions on it.... - Thank you both for such quick responses.
That it's best, or I should, add a disk without partitions I understand now. But is the ReadyNas OS unable to deal with unformated, previously used, disks? To a novice like me this seems like a strange restriction. Or is it possible but not recommended? If so, can you point me to a guide/post of some sort? I can't find any.
Regarding it not booting up anymore without the new disk being inserted, it's a mystery to me too. I've tried it several times and the NAS display states "Err Used Disks Check RAIDar" and the RAIDar message remains unchanged. Does anyone (else) know how to solve this? - When you added that second disk it didn't want to wipe the disk without prompting you so it gave that error. It detected that the disk was used.
After powering off removing the newly added disk and booting it again, one would have thought it should have completed booting.
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
