NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Ultra 2+ Powers On - No ethernet activity - Corrupt Firmware ? - USB Boot Recovery NOT Working
Any help or suggestions appreciated.
Helping a friend recover the use of his older ReadyNAS Ultra-2+ which does not boot into the NAS's system management webserver or even attempt to send ethernet ...
At Step 2 you should not be using a pre-formatted disk, erase the partition (using WD Data Lifeguard perhaps) then boot the Ultra.
At steps 4 & 5 try with another USB drive, older smaller capacity ones are best
bedlam1 wrote:
At Step 2 you should not be using a pre-formatted disk, erase the partition (using WD Data Lifeguard perhaps) then boot the Ultra.
It's easiest to use a blank (unpartitioned) disk, though the factory default option should reformat the disk anyway. The OS-reinstall won't work for this - it does a partial reinstall to repair the ReadyNAS OS partition, and it does nothing if that partition isn't there. With WDC's lifeguard program, the fastest way to unpartition the disk is to use the quick write-zeros test. You can also unpartition it manually in Microsoft's disk manager - click on every "volume" and delete it.
But I suggest removing all hard drives from the ultra, and powering it up. Then see if RAIDar can detect it (and if it is pingable). RAIDar should show a "no disks" status. That should help isolate the problem to either the NAS chassis/power or the disks.
Thank you for your reply. I will delete the WD hard drive's EXT4 partition using my Linux box so that it should appear to the ReadyNAS Ultra2+ as unformated and try that in the ReadyNAS later today and report results.
I do have another 3 USB memory sticks formated FAT32 and will try those in my step #5.
Trying booting up without disks is a good suggestion. It is possible that there's a hardware failure of some kind.
I do have some alternate files for booting off USB that can be helpful for diagnosing whether there's a hardware issue or not.
Thank you for your reply.
Yes, if it is possible to point me to alternate USB boot files for troubleshooting the ReadyNAS that would be much appreciated.
I am going to try more ways to create a firmware USB boot recovery stick, FAT16, FAT32, formatted directly in WinXP, diff (older ?) firmware images than the one I used in my step #5 above. My friend's ReadyNAS Ultra2+ exact model number = RNDP200U FW:v4.2.17 so I may try finding a copy of that older v4.2.17 firmware binary to try.
You are right in mentioning that the source problem could be defective PHY ethernet channels. I am trying to remain optimistic that fixing corrupt firmware inside the ReadyNAS might fix things, only because some users who reported inactive LAN ports and non-communicative ReadyNAS units were able to restore their ReadyNAS after various firmware repair procedures were used, which is why I wish there was more detailed information from Netgear about firmware recovery tools.
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
