File Gone or Inaccessible on ReadyNAS Ultra2 RNDU2220

StephenB, 

I believe I now have access to ALL the files and folders on the NAS drive. On the Admin GUI, I followed your instructions step by step. The http://192.168.0.142/Primary trick worked, so at least I can view all my files now. I realized that some folders had also disappeared from the File Brouser, looking at the content in Chrome. 

Unfortunatly what I can view in the File Brouser has not changed; still no files or files with Xs there. So that means I will have to live with that, I guess. I need to get used to managing files using Chrome. 

Having said that, I have made a huge progress from where I was a few days ago. Thanks again for your expert help!!

Cornerfield

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Cornerfield wrote:

The http://192.168.0.142/Primary trick worked, so at least I can view all my files now. I realized that some folders had also disappeared from the File Brouser, looking at the content in Chrome. 

 

Unfortunatly what I can view in the File Brouser has not changed; still no files or files with Xs there. So that means I will have to live with that, I guess. I need to get used to managing files using Chrome. 

 

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While it's good to know that the files are still there and access them, it really should be possible to get to them more directly.  But of course at some point the troubleshooting becomes too much.

Did you try the two commands I posted earlier?  Or did you just use windows explorer?

Hi StephenB, 

No, I did not use the command prompt suggestion. I simply re-set the NAS password to default and then opened the Admin GUI with the default admin ID and password, before follwing the steps you laid out. 

Should I still try that command prompt and see what happens? Or could it possibly screw things up again? 

Cornerfield

I forgot to mention I used Chrome, not Windows Explorer, to change settings on the Admin UI as suggested by you. 

Cornerfield

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Cornerfield wrote:

 

Should I still try that command prompt and see what happens? 

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Yes.  I am thinking there is a credentials issue in the PC, and those commands will help diagnose that possibility.  In the worst case, rebooting the PC will fix anything that might go wrong with those commands.

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Cornerfield wrote:

I forgot to mention I used Chrome, not Windows Explorer, to change settings on the Admin UI as suggested by you. 

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I should have said "File Explorer" - Microsoft changed the name in Windows 10.  You couldn't have changed those settings with Windows Explorer/File Explorer, since it's not a browser.  

StephenB, 

Thanks for your continued help and expert advice. I did run the two commands that you suggested in CMD. I got a response "System error 384 has occurred." And nothing happened. Please view the attached screenshot. 

Am I correct in guessing that the error means Windows 10 does not support the old network protocol that the NAS device (which I bought 8 years ago) needs to be "seen" by my computer? The webpage shown in the response to my command in CMD suggests that I get "a software or firmware update that support SMBv2.02 or a later version" for the NAS model. Do you happen to know if Netgear has that? Is that what OS6 is (which I suspect does not support my NAS...)?

Thanks. 

Cornerfield

By the way, somehow the desktop shortcut to "Primary" of the NAS I created in the File Explorer (not Brouser, I guess) is no longer working. Each time I click on it, I get a very similar error message to the "System error 384" message. 

It matters little since I can not view most of the files and some folders in Primary via File Explorer anyways, but just FYI. I still seem to be able to view everything in Chrome, using your trick. 

Cornerfield

Has your NAS remained at the same IP address?   Unless you have reserved an address for it in your router (preferred method) or set it to a static address (has drawbacks if you ever change the router), it may "move around"  if powered off for some time.

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Cornerfield wrote:

The webpage shown in the response to my command in CMD suggests that I get "a software or firmware update that support SMBv2.02 or a later version" for the NAS model.

 

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I thought we'd discussed this point before.  With your current NAS you need to go into "turn windows features on or off" and enable the SMB 1/CIFS client.  So do that, and then try the commands again.

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Cornerfield wrote:

The webpage shown in the response to my command in CMD suggests that I get "a software or firmware update that support SMBv2.02 or a later version" for the NAS model. Do you happen to know if Netgear has that? Is that what OS6 is (which I suspect does not support my NAS...)?

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Your NAS can be converted to OS-6 if you want to do that.   You would need to save off the files on another hard drive, go through the conversion process, set up the NAS again, and then restore the files.  Maybe we should first get everything working with OS 4.2, and then re-visit what you'd need to do.

FWIW, if you stay with OS 4.2, then you should update your firmware from 4.2.19 to the current version (4.2.31).  But let's get everything working first.

Yes. The IP address remains the same. 

Cornerfield

StephenB, 

Where can I find "turn windows features on or off" and enable the SMB 1/CIFS client, as you suggested? I looked in the pulldowns of the NAS GUI, but I could not find that particular setting... Did I miss it somewhere? 

Cornerfield

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Cornerfield wrote:

 

Where can I find "turn windows features on or off" and enable the SMB 1/CIFS client, as you suggested? I looked in the pulldowns of the NAS GUI, but I could not find that particular setting... Did I miss it somewhere? 

 

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It's on the Windows PC (in the control panel)..  Try entering "Turn Windows Features" into the Windows search bar.

StephenB, 

I went to Control Panel and changed the setting (enabled "SMB 1.0/CIFS Client"). After the PC rebooted, I ran the command in CMD. I get another error message as follows. I am confused now...

"System error 86 has occurred.

The specified network password is not correct."

I still have full access to the files and folders in the NAS via Chrome, which matters the most. In the File Explorer, now the "Primary" icon is gone (the "nas-C1-A8-0A" icon is still there). 

Cornerfield

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Cornerfield wrote:

 

"System error 86 has occurred.

The specified network password is not correct."

 

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netgear1 is the password you are using when you log into the web ui of the NAS?

If it is, then try changing the password to something else.

If it's not, then not, then use the real admin password.

StephenB, 

Now I seem to be able to see EVERYTHING in the NAS using File Explorer. Yes; netgear1 was the original password, which I changed to something else. Then I used the command in CMD, and it worked! 

Looks like it is back to normal. I really appreciate your continuous help with my problems...and your patience, with which you handheld me through all the problem solving steps I took. No wonder you have a "Guru" designation!

Before I let you go, I have a few questions. Now the the access to the NAS has been restored (it seems), what should I be careful about in the future? The GUI and RAIDer both are giving me "all green" readings, so there do not seem to be any hardware issues. What, if any, do you recommend that I do (or not do) to prevent the same problem from happening again? Or should I consider purchasing a new NAS?

Also, is the command I put in in CMD (that allowed me to regain access to everything) permanently in effect? Or will the system "forget" each time I turn off or reboot the PC and / or the NAS, so that I will have to re-enter the command? Your advice would be much appreciated. 

Once again, thaks for everything!

Cornerfield

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Cornerfield wrote:

Also, is the command I put in in CMD (that allowed me to regain access to everything) permanently in effect? Or will the system "forget" each time I turn off or reboot the PC and / or the NAS, so that I will have to re-enter the command? Your advice would be much appreciated. 

 

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The Windows PC will "forget".  

One option is to open the Credential Manager on the PC, and create two windows credentials for the NAS.  One can use the IP address of the NAS, the other the hostname.  Both would use admin as the username and the admin password.

That would allow you full access w/o needing to use the commands or manually enter the NAS password.

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Cornerfield wrote:

What, if any, do you recommend that I do (or not do) to prevent the same problem from happening again?

 

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Setting up email alerts is important.  Then the NAS will email you when it starts to find disk errors or other issues.

Also, you should back up the data to another device.  RAID isn't enough to keep the data safe- the best way to do that is to back up the data to another device (for instance a USB drive) on a regular basis.  

If you continue to access the NAS by it's IP address, then you should reserve the IP address in the router (so the NAS will always get the same address).  Your router manual should provide information on how to do that.

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Cornerfield wrote:

Or should I consider purchasing a new NAS?

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Netgear stopped selling your NAS back in late 2012/early 2013 - so it is old.  At some point it will fail.  Also, Windows allows you to manually install SMB1 now, but that probably won't always be the case.  

So at some point you will need to replace it.  The RN212 is the current equivalent model (though it is much faster than the Duo).  But if the Duo meets your needs now, you can continue to use it - just make sure you keep up to date on the backups.

StephenB, 

Thanks for your additional suggestions. I will look into them. 

According to the Microsoft webpage I looked at, SMB 1.0/CIFS is not safe. Assuming that enabling it can make a PC more vulnerable to hacks and virus attacks, maybe it is better for me to enable it only when I need to access the NAS. 

At the end of the day the long term solution seems to be buying a new NAS that supports better security as the current one is 8 years old (assuming upgrading to a new OS will not get me there). 

Cornerfield

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Cornerfield wrote:

 

According to the Microsoft webpage I looked at, SMB 1.0/CIFS is not safe. Assuming that enabling it can make a PC more vulnerable to hacks and virus attacks, maybe it is better for me to enable it only when I need to access the NAS. 

 

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That's Microsoft's lawyers speaking.  Unless you believe there is a possiblility for sombody to break into your local network, you have a potential hacker threat that has been given access to your network,  or you extend your network beyond your walls via port forwarding, there is little reason to consider it unsafe fopr use on your local network.  But, they have provided no capability to enable it for only specific (local) ranges of addresses.   I don't know if there are any anti malware or virus protection programs that can block SMB1 but allow specific exceptions.

But given your NAS can be updated to OS6, which has a lot to add beyond SMB3, you may want to seriously look into when you can migrate in that direction.  That, or a newer NAS.  Microsoft may not continue to allow enabling of SMB1 forever.

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Cornerfield wrote:

 

According to the Microsoft webpage I looked at, SMB 1.0/CIFS is not safe.

 

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Of course that is up to you. Personally I think the security risks for a home network are acceptable, but others would disagree.

If you do replace the NAS, you could repurpose it as a backup (turning of SMB, and using rsync to back up the new one).  

Converting to OS-6 is possible - if you do that you should also increase the RAM. 

StephenB, 

Understood. Thanks for your additional thoughts. They are much appreciated. I will check if my security software has a feature for SMB 1.0/CIFS exceptions. Perhaps I should at least upgrade the OS to 4.30 from the current 4.19...

Thanks and all the best, 

Cornerfield

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Cornerfield wrote:

Perhaps I should at least upgrade the OS to 4.30 from the current 4.19...

 

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Yes, you should upgrade to 4.2.31.  https://kb.netgear.com/000038793/RAIDiator-x86-Version-4-2-31

There are some security fixes in the final releases (related to SMB 1).

Yes; Ver 4.2.31 (not 4.30). Thanks for the link. I just upgraded to the latest version. Thanks once again. 

Cornerfield