I am having a disk problem with my ReadyNAS NV+ RND4000, I cannot get it to boot past "Kernel Panic" or "Bad Disk Found", and thus can't use the admin web interface to see what is going on. I am fairly sure that a disk is bad but I do not know which one. Apparently answering this simple question is not possible without tech support. I purchased a support incident and have been playing email & phone tag with Ready NAS support for 2 days, most of which has been waiting for a reply after getting rudamentary questions asked and answered (everyone at Netgear must have my email and phone number by now....) So far all they have been able to tell me is to boot it into Tech Support mode and provide the Debug Code, which I have done. I got an email that said the disk in bay 2 "is having performance issues" (whatever that means) and that I should remove or replace it. I did what they said, and with that disk removed or a replacement for it inserted, I still see "Bad Dosk Found" when booting. I reported these findings several hours ago, and now I am again sitting here waiting again for a call from someone who will tell me what to do next. I am a 20+ year IT professional and I can understand command line and diagnostic logs; is there somewhere I can find how to Telnet or SSH into my ReadyNAS and find information for myself? Or is there some way to just stop wasting everyone's time and get directly to a T3 support person while they are remotely connected to my NAS and do whatever needs to be done working together?

The best way to check your disk health is to power down the NAS and test the drives in a Windows PC using vendor tools (WDC's Lifeguard or Seagate's Seatools). Another option is to try the RAIDar utility - it does report some disk status. https://kb.netgear.com/20684/ReadyNAS-Downloads However, to answer your question: I'm assuming an NV+ v1 here, but if your NAS says "NV+ v2" on the front panel, check the hardware manual for the v2 for booting into tech support mode. You can boot up the v1 NAS in tech support mode using the instructions on pages 23-24 here: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RND2110/Duov1_NV+v1_HW_en_06Dec11.pdf Then you can telnet into the NAS. The login is root, the password is infr8ntdebug

As long as you only perform a read test, not a write test (which is the default for the vendor tools), your array will be untouuched. It is recommended you put the drives back in in the original order. And, of course, perform all removals and insertions with power off. Your PC won't recognize the format of the drives, but that doesn't stop the vendor tools from doing their job. It is kinda sounding like a motherboard or SATA backplane issue, but testing the drives is a good next step to finding out for sure. Since you don't have a USB dock and it does sound like you purchased a new drive, you could insert just that drive (or any unused drive) into the NAS and let it initialize. If it initializes, power off, move the drive to the next slot, power back on, and see if it boots. Repeat for all slots. If it boots in all slots, the NAS hardware is OK, If it boots in some, the NAS hardware is bad. If it boots in none, it's likely the NAS is bad, but you could be unlucky enough to get a new drive that's bad.

Thanks Stephen. I have a ReadyNAS NV+ and I did boot into Tech Support Mode, purchased a support incident, and (after a long wait) had a L3 tech tell me to replace disk #2. That did not solve the problem, it still reports "Bad Disk Found". I have the latest version of RAIDar software but the NAS will not boot to the point of connecting to the network, unless it is in Tech Support mode, and then the RAIDar does not show any disk info - all 4 disks snow "not available" and grayed out. I have a suspicion that it is not in fact a disk problem but rather something like a SATA controller card, because I have tried removing and replacing all the disks one by one and booting each time (with one disk removed or with a new disk in its place), and it is always the same behavior when booting. I'd just like to be able to determine exactly what the problem is.

Also, even when booting into "Skip Volume Check" mode, it still displays "Bad Disk Found". This further makes me suspect that it is not a bad disk but some kind of controller or hardware problem. I am able to use PuTTY to connect and login to the NAS when it is in Tech Support mode, but I don't know what to do once I am connected & logged in. Are there instructions published anywhere to find fault codes. logs, run tests, etc.? I suppose my next step is to go get a USB enclosure or something and try to test each disk individually outside the NAS, so I can at least eliminate those as problems or find one if it is indeed bad. I am assuming this process will not destroy my RAID array - because if all the data is lost then this entire exercise is for nothing and I would just throw thew whole thing in the lake. Thanks again for the help.

That's actually a great idea. I have 2 brand new 1TB drives (the same size as what is in my 4x 1TB RAID 5 array) so I can try as you suggested and use one or both of them individually in the different slots in the NAS and see what happens. I suppose I could be unlucky enough to have the one new drive I have tried be bad out of the box, or have more than one of my existing drives fail simultaneously. But I do suspect something in the NAS itself, as the initial problem was it 'froze' - although it was running with no fault indications on the display it would not allow access to the volumes, web admin UI, or even ping, and holding the power button would not shut it down. Tech support instructed me to pull the plug to restart it, and it has not been able to boot since then (other than into Tech Support mode), nor has the power button worked to shut it down. I don't suppose replacement hardware is available for these, should it be a motherboard or SATA controller issue. I had a hell of a time about 5 years ago finding a replacement power supply, and ended up having to modify a non-OEM one to get it to work. I am currently waiting for them once again to remote access the unit and hopefully call me while they are connected & watching, so I can try some of these drive swaps and have them tell me what is going on. I'll update with anything else I try.

How to access disk information in Tech Support mode or Telnet, or get to a T3 support tech

21 Replies

StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Nov 11, 2018
The best way to check your disk health is to power down the NAS and test the drives in a Windows PC using vendor tools (WDC's Lifeguard or Seagate's Seatools).

Another option is to try the RAIDar utility - it does report some disk status. https://kb.netgear.com/20684/ReadyNAS-Downloads

However, to answer your question:

I'm assuming an NV+ v1 here, but if your NAS says "NV+ v2" on the front panel, check the hardware manual for the v2 for booting into tech support mode.

You can boot up the v1 NAS in tech support mode using the instructions on pages 23-24 here: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RND2110/Duov1_NV+v1_HW_en_06Dec11.pdf

Then you can telnet into the NAS. The login is root, the password is infr8ntdebug
- mtmazzitello
  Aspirant
  Nov 11, 2018
  Thanks Stephen.
  I have a ReadyNAS NV+ and I did boot into Tech Support Mode, purchased a support incident, and (after a long wait) had a L3 tech tell me to replace disk #2. That did not solve the problem, it still reports "Bad Disk Found".
  I have the latest version of RAIDar software but the NAS will not boot to the point of connecting to the network, unless it is in Tech Support mode, and then the RAIDar does not show any disk info - all 4 disks snow "not available" and grayed out.
  I have a suspicion that it is not in fact a disk problem but rather something like a SATA controller card, because I have tried removing and replacing all the disks one by one and booting each time (with one disk removed or with a new disk in its place), and it is always the same behavior when booting. I'd just like to be able to determine exactly what the problem is.
  - mtmazzitello
    Aspirant
    Nov 11, 2018
    Also, even when booting into "Skip Volume Check" mode, it still displays "Bad Disk Found". This further makes me suspect that it is not a bad disk but some kind of controller or hardware problem.
    
    I am able to use PuTTY to connect and login to the NAS when it is in Tech Support mode, but I don't know what to do once I am connected & logged in. Are there instructions published anywhere to find fault codes. logs, run tests, etc.?
    
    I suppose my next step is to go get a USB enclosure or something and try to test each disk individually outside the NAS, so I can at least eliminate those as problems or find one if it is indeed bad. I am assuming this process will not destroy my RAID array - because if all the data is lost then this entire exercise is for nothing and I would just throw thew whole thing in the lake.
    
    Thanks again for the help.

Forum Discussion

How to access disk information in Tech Support mode or Telnet, or get to a T3 support tech

21 Replies

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