Hi yesterday all was good, today all 5 disks dead... Raidar report Helaty I dont think is is the disks that makes this issue, can it be the NAS box HW? What are my options?

You are saying that everything works - including access to the web ui and the shares? If that's correct, then the first thing to do is create (or update) your backup. Then power down the NAS, and remove the disks (labeling them by slot). Then test them in a windows PC using LifeGuard. You can connect them with either SATA or a USB Adapter/Dock. If you have a spare disk (not in the array), you can also try doing a factory install in the NAS while the disk tests are running. If that is successful, then try powering up the NAS with that disk in each of the 6 slots. That will test the SATA interfaces in the chassis.

While I never had them all do it at once, I had a Pro6 with a mix of 7200 and 5900 RPM drives running OD4.2.something that would occasionally have one or more go "dead" even though all were actually fine. I would remove each, renisert, let it re-sync, and all was fine for a while; then it would happen again. I turned off drive spin-down, and it fixed the problem. I later upgraded to OS6.0, and had no problems, even with spin-down enabled. I came to the conclusion that differing spin-up times were confusing the NAS; but I dont have hard evidence, just circumstantial.

Thanks for reply StephenB, Yes everything works, and i have 100% backup. But this error must be from the OS not the disks, so I was hoping to find a less hardware intensive solution. New info for you guys, I did open the NAS 14 days ago, removed all disks, to clean out dust etc. When i rebooted 2 out of 5 disks did not kick in. I removed the 2 and pluged them one more time, then all 5 kiked in, and SMAR showed Healty.

Hi Sandshark, thanks for reply I will try to remove on HDD at a time, see whats happening. This shall be done with power on? You write "running OD4.2" is that the firmware? I run the latest RAIDiator 4.2.31. I dont think i can upgrade it to OS6? I have had this running for years, with spin down enabled, no problem at all. Disk 1-3 is WDC WD40EFRX-68WT0N0 3726 GB - 5400 rpm Disk 4-5 is WDC WD2002FAEX-007BA0 1863 GB - 7200 rpm 4-5 is older than 1-3

Yes, I meant OS4.2, not OD. That's the firmware family for legacy Intel NASes. I switched to OS6 well before the version you are on. I noticed the drive speed difference from the screen capture you provided, which is why I offered my experience of something perhaps similar. Yes, you should remove and replace the drives one at a time with power on. Give the NAS time to report the removal before re-inserting. Each will need to re-sync, so total time is going to be a lot. Actually, you can switch to OS6 on an Ultra6. You have to re-format the drives and you lose any Netgear support (including paid support), but not forum support. There are a lot of positives about switching to OS6. It's more modern and kept up to date and has fewer expansion limitations. A big one is if your NAS dies, or you just want to upgrade to something faster, you can move the drives right into a new OS6 based NAS and just keep trucking. No having to transfer the data because of the different file system (you already had to do that to upgrade to OS6). It's a good idea to bump the memory up to at least 2GB before switching to OS6, but memory for an Ultra 6 is quite inexpensive these days.

All disks DEAD - Everything works .... ReadyNAS Ultra 6 Plus

18 Replies

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StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
May 14, 2019
You are saying that everything works - including access to the web ui and the shares?

If that's correct, then the first thing to do is create (or update) your backup.

Then power down the NAS, and remove the disks (labeling them by slot). Then test them in a windows PC using LifeGuard. You can connect them with either SATA or a USB Adapter/Dock.

If you have a spare disk (not in the array), you can also try doing a factory install in the NAS while the disk tests are running. If that is successful, then try powering up the NAS with that disk in each of the 6 slots. That will test the SATA interfaces in the chassis.
- littomalt
  Aspirant
  May 15, 2019
  Thanks for reply StephenB,
  
  Yes everything works, and i have 100% backup.
  
  But this error must be from the OS not the disks, so I was hoping to find a less hardware intensive solution.
  
  New info for you guys, I did open the NAS 14 days ago, removed all disks, to clean out dust etc.
  
  When i rebooted 2 out of 5 disks did not kick in. I removed the 2 and pluged them one more time, then all 5 kiked in, and SMAR showed Healty.
Sandshark
Sensei
May 14, 2019
While I never had them all do it at once, I had a Pro6 with a mix of 7200 and 5900 RPM drives running OD4.2.something that would occasionally have one or more go "dead" even though all were actually fine. I would remove each, renisert, let it re-sync, and all was fine for a while; then it would happen again. I turned off drive spin-down, and it fixed the problem. I later upgraded to OS6.0, and had no problems, even with spin-down enabled.

I came to the conclusion that differing spin-up times were confusing the NAS; but I dont have hard evidence, just circumstantial.
- littomalt
  Aspirant
  May 15, 2019
  Hi Sandshark, thanks for reply
  
  I will try to remove on HDD at a time, see whats happening. This shall be done with power on?
  
  You write "running OD4.2" is that the firmware?
  
  I run the latest RAIDiator 4.2.31. I dont think i can upgrade it to OS6?
  
  I have had this running for years, with spin down enabled, no problem at all.
  
  Disk 1-3 is WDC WD40EFRX-68WT0N0 3726 GB - 5400 rpm
  
  Disk 4-5 is WDC WD2002FAEX-007BA0 1863 GB - 7200 rpm
  
  4-5 is older than 1-3
  - Sandshark
    Sensei
    May 15, 2019
    Yes, I meant OS4.2, not OD. That's the firmware family for legacy Intel NASes. I switched to OS6 well before the version you are on. I noticed the drive speed difference from the screen capture you provided, which is why I offered my experience of something perhaps similar.
    
    Yes, you should remove and replace the drives one at a time with power on. Give the NAS time to report the removal before re-inserting. Each will need to re-sync, so total time is going to be a lot.
    
    Actually, you can switch to OS6 on an Ultra6. You have to re-format the drives and you lose any Netgear support (including paid support), but not forum support. There are a lot of positives about switching to OS6. It's more modern and kept up to date and has fewer expansion limitations. A big one is if your NAS dies, or you just want to upgrade to something faster, you can move the drives right into a new OS6 based NAS and just keep trucking. No having to transfer the data because of the different file system (you already had to do that to upgrade to OS6).
    
    It's a good idea to bump the memory up to at least 2GB before switching to OS6, but memory for an Ultra 6 is quite inexpensive these days.