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Forum Discussion
Data: DEGRADED on RN104
Hi guys, extreme help required. Added a second 4TB WD RED into slot 2 of my RN104 NAS tonight and everything started off ok and then suddenly I have the following flashing at me every few seconds.. ...
AndrewJohn wrote:
I'm in the process of upgrading the original 1TB toshiba disks in my ReadyNAS 104. Following this thread closely...
We prefer new threads for each problem, otherwise the advice/responses get tangled.
Did you insert the new disk unformatted? What firmware are you running?
Thank you StephenB. Apologies for not starting a new thread. If moderators move it (I don't know how.) I'll go there. In the future, I'll start a new thread.
I put the new disk in, just over 48 hours ago. It is still displaying "degraded." Should rebuilding from a 1TB to a 3TB disk take over 48 hours? That seems excessive in my experience with other RAID systems I have.
Just after I put the newe 3TB Seagate disk in, I opened the console, and it said a firmware update was available. I had just updated to 6.2.4 a couple of months ago - or I would have checked this. I downloaded the new 6.2.5 firmware, but did not reboot the system since I assumed that not to be prudent. So, based on the console, I am running 6.2.4.
I figured rebooting, in the middle of a rebuild - which everwhere I read said began immediately after inserting a new disk. So, even with the message "Degraded" flashing on the display, I just let it go on doing what all indications seemed to say it was "rebuilding" the volume. I could not find any documentation or threads that indicated yay or nay to reboot undert these conditions. Being cautious, I let the perceived rebuild go on..., but after 48 hours, I think something has failed.
Basing a conclusion on my obsevations, I assume that NetGear does not display a meaningful message of "Rebuilding" after a hot-swap. And, that "Degraded" is the message it displays until the rebuild is complete? Can anyone confirm this?
0utside of that: user friendly indicator messages on the Wishlist Request for next version of software, please!
Thank you to anyone that can give me guidance on how to get this back to normal operation. I have a second 3TB disk to put in Channel 1, replacing the other original factory Toshiba 1TB drive. But I'm savvy enough to know not to put that disk in until after the rebuild is complete on the first drive replacement, in Channel 2 (above - which is still reporting "Degraded".
As I think about this - is the system in limbo, pending the reboot to load the firmware? And, if I reboot, will that new firmware gracefully handle the new disk? I assume it will have to "infer" that it is new (as X-Raid docs I read elsewhere say it will) which will be an even longer step. I was relying on the software to "see" the hot-swap, and be more expeditious in the rebuild.
Thank you to all the great minds here on this forum that can help me. If I screwed up, I'm a big boy, and can take it. I just need to know what I did, so I can learn not to do it ever again.
Summary questions:
- How long should it take to rebuild from a 1TB to a 3TB disk? Less ormore than 48 hours?
- If the firmware is updated after a disk hot-swap, is the system in limbo, waiting for the reboot, before it will complete the rebuild?
- Ergo, should I reboot the system? The Admin Console keeps prompting me to do so.
- And, of course, what "message" should display on the screen during a rebuild? "Degraded" or something more meaningful?
- Bonus Question: Is there an index/glossary of all the poential screen messages possible for a DN 104? I didn't see anything in the documentation online.
Thank you,
AndrewJohn
In the interest of completeness, here are three pictures of my Admin Console. The first shows the "reboot now" to use the new firmware, message, and the current firmware version. The second shows the arrangement of the volumes and drives installed. The third shows that if I select the new drive, the "FORMAT" button becomes active. Which is wierd. All things I have read indicate that a new drive will be automatically "managed" including formatting, upon inserting it into the channel. To be sure, this is a brand-new, in the original packaging and box, NOT a reused drive. I buy drives by the case - and this is one more of several I have in that lot. I've not had a problem with any other drives in the lot.
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Note I use jbod with my two OS-6 NAS, so I haven't seen the rebuild messages with OS-6.
RAIDar might give you progress indicators. Try hovering your mouse over the volume icons.
You can try the same with the web ui. OS4 systems do provide some status information that way.
Well, I couldn't take it anymore..., and the logic mind of this old software programmer and 2-decade Silicon Valley drop-out made the bold move... REBOOT.
I figured that either the ReadyNAS system was hung after 60 hours, or it was dead altogether. If hung, I was gambling that it was due to the firmware update I did 15 or so minutes after I inserted the new disk. I thought to myself that if I were coding this firmware apply program, I would set some flag that would force the system ot be as minimally functional as possible - meaning allow use of (read and write) but restrict any system maintenance, like, "rebuilding" in the case of a new disk.
And, since this is just a back-up for 3 systems in the facility, my calculated punt considered worst-case - I'd be without a back-up volume for a day, if new disks were all it needed. Or, a couple days, if I had to overnight a new box and disks, replacing it from scratch.
Lo and behold !! In addition to finishing the install of the 6.2.5 firmware (displayed), the Admin Console now also displays several messages indicating that good things are happening..., like "! Rebuilding started for Volume 'data'" in the yellow information bar at the top left. And the Status: field now also adds "Volume Rebuilding" after the "Degraded" word.
the RAIDar application also gives good indicators. (Sorry now that I didn't capture an image of hte real long "degraded" message displayed in RAIDar, for everyone, but suffice it to say, it is displaying several better messages now. I can say for sure that the former RAIDar message did NOT indicate that it was waiting on a reboot for those 60 hours I'll never get back... See below for a nicer, more complete, and even a % progress indicator for the Status: field. (why isn't the browser-based Admin console displaying this rich of a Status: message? I don't know...
The Icons for the four disks shows the second one (channel 2, I presume) with a circular arrow instead of the green check-mark that was there prior to the reboot (and, frankly, confusing the heck out of me - as I see a green check-mark just like drive 1, 3 and 4 in the display as indicating the disk is done, or anything other than. "REBOOT the FIRMWARE if you don't want to get fooled for 60 hours..."
And, at the bottom, above the tabs, what a lovely message that is - a whole formal English-language sentence indicating 1) what is going on (resyncing), 2) what you can do while it is going on (use the system) and 3) how system use will be impacted (performance and responsiveness). during the opeartion.
OK, so what have we learned? :
- Documentation should be more comprehensive during this process (I tried all the "?" help icons - may have missed one - but nothing at all to help me know what to do, and in what order.)
- That documentation could be in the form of messaging to the console, or the display on the device
- For now, I've added these images to this thread, aptly named, so the next guy trying to figure out what they should be seeing, can learn from my experience.
- The specific use case that fails to be covered by user-indicators and error messages...
- hot swap a drive
- log-in to console
- see that a week earlier, a new firmware version was published
- assume that downloading the firmware would not interfear with the rebuild of the hotswapped drive, already in progress. (It apparently DOES abort or PAUSE that rebuild)
- Wait 60 hours thinking that it's just a S-L-O-W -- s -- l -- o -- w process.
- Then reboot as the Admin Console says to.
- We also learned that there is nothing indicating to the user that it is "SAFE to REBOOT" under the common conditions of this scenario.
- We also learned that a simple message saying to the user "to continue rebuilding new drive, reboot the firmware"
- We also learned that before a hot-swap, opening the console will give you an indicator that there IS a firmware update - you don't get that message on the RN 104
- We also learned that messaging, for identical fields, is the most complete in RAIDar. The Admin Console is more limited and the RN104 system itself is teh least complete messaging.
For the next guy - hopefully these images will tell you what to look for. And, if you upgrade/download a new version of firmware, expect the system NOT to operate as normal, even though the messages and docs say it will - that is, until you reboot it to install the newly downloaded firmware. Also, for the new guy - note that there will be no other handy indication (on the console window, or RAIDar, or anywhere, that you MUST rebood, unless you read this thread.
Sorry I didn't take a picture of the "data Degraded" message to compare before and after. Below is the 2 line status display on the RN 104 showing rebuilding. (That corona reflecting from the front is an LED flashlight I had to use to get the aperture to close on my Android phone, enough to get a legible image of the text in the display.
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