Duo v2: Device is Offline

I am pretty sure you get that message when your hard disks are in the process of spinning up from being asleep. If you were to try to connect to the dashboard a 2nd time 15 seconds later you should connect.

I have exactly the same message on my Duo V2 and thought it was something to do with upgrading to Mountain Lion, however it wasn't, as I get the same message when accessing from a Windows PC.

It also has nothing to do with hard disks spinning up, if so, mine have been spinning up for three days now!!

The disk activity light below the power switch is flashing permanently, however, I can access all content through Finder & Windows Explorer with no problem.

What I cannot do is access the ReadyNAS Duo V2 via RAIDar, or directly from the local IP address. When I do, I get the message!

When I try to access the settings, either SYSTEM, SHARES, SECURITY, BACKUP etc, the screens appear to be in 'code', with the result that I cannot access any information about the system, nor change ANY settings. The onboard software (firmware) appears corrupt.

Now if I invoke a 'restore to factory settings' reset by means of a paper clip in the front panel, will I lose all my 'shares' and 'data'?

Is there an alternative way of reloading the firmware? (I'm sure Netgear have a separate installer floating around the internet).

I am currently 'on-shift' and unable to spend too much time rectifying the problem, but when I get the time I will look into this further.

Netgear should also be on top of this problem, and, armed with our email addresses should be informing us of the fix.

No doubt this will not be my last post on the matter!!

Dont need to do a factory reset to reinstall firmware as that will destroy all your data, just do a OS reinstall that will reinstall the firmware
instructions here http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq/boot/how_do_i_use_the_boot_menu

Okay, firmware reset by following the procedure, and the message remains. 'Frontview' remains corrupted. All data on disks is good & accessible.

Reset firmware for a second time, still the same. The power light & the 2 disk lights are steady, whilst the disk activity light flashes continuously.

I am now going to leave it for a couple of hours to see if it sorts itself out (not sure how long it needs to write new f/w), if not, more suggestions will be needed.

Watch this space!

ps; how are images uploaded to the forum page?

You could try opening a support case and posting your case number.

Back from work again and just had another go at a OS reinstall!

All seemed to go well, with the initial RAIDar find screen showing a 'blue' dot on the left, and 'updating' on the right where the version number usually is.

Once 'green' & with version 5.3.5 showing I selected 'Setup' and was asked for the logon details (admin/password). This got me straight into the Dashboard (Front view??) but also with the message "Device is Offline", which could not clear because I received repeated requests for the logon info. After logging on five further times, I managed to 'ignore' the 'device is offline' message.

Unfortunately, the Dashboard (Front view) remains useless! All options do nothing, and Shares, Settings are not seen/shown.

I did register a support case earlier today, so will wait to see what happens there.

Will keep you all informed.

Question: When the ReadNAS executes an OS reinstall, does it use preloaded data already on the NAS, or does it download from the internet? I have seen a 'RAIDiator' download on the NetGear website and was wondering if this method would be suitable; i.e., if the reference OS preloaded on the NAS is corrupt, I would be going around in circles trying to fix it.

Any comments are much appreciated.

The NAS uses the copy of the OS already in the flash for an OS Re-install. That RAIDiator download is installed via the web-admin interface. If the firmware update needs to be downloaded and re-applied to the flash NetGear support can assist with that.

Thanks mgdm, as I suspected! I will wait for Tech Support to contact me.

FYI on the original "Offline" Issue - I still get this even after upgrading to the latest firmware. It appears to occur after Dashboard has not been accessed in some time, but ignoring the error and reloading the dashboard, all is then OK. In all other respects my Duo 2 is working fine, though I currently only use it for Crashplan backups, not for storage via CIFS/AFP etc.