The fan in my RN214 is too lound once it gets going, so I took a chance at replacing it with a Noctua NF-A9.It usually works fine, the resported RPM in the dashboard is typically a bit lower than the stock fan, but the noise level is substantially quieter. The HDD temps increased slightly, but still typically <45C. However, the dashboard over the past month has reported twice that the fan has stopped. Changing the setting to "cool" (I assume this would push the max voltage) does not get the fan going again, a shutdown/restart did. Obviously not ideal. I assume the voltage to the fan is dropping below the threshold for the Noctua fan, which requires a higher min voltage than the stock fan (Delta Electronics AFB0912HH). I searched the forum and found a thread on the old NV+ units for setting minimum fan speed in a config file, but could not find a corresponding conf file on the RN214 using find via SSH. Any thoughts, or even better, options for finer control over the fan speed (minimum voltage setting)?

StephenB min_fan_speed_override does indeed work on the RN214 also, so at least I can prevent the stall failure. I decided to measure what the NAS was doing, it's quite odd in that it typically runs the stock fan at very low volts, ~2.8V I measured, which is not good for the Noctua NF-A9 at all. That fan starts at ~4.4V, but I contacted Noctua support and they provided me two different responses to the same ticket:1st response "The NF-A9 PWMs' starting voltage is 4.4V at 435 RPM."The next day a different person, 2nd response "NF-A9 PWM is 7V to 13.2V, its startup voltage is also 7V"From my lab power supply, I confirmed my NF-A9 actually starts at 4.3V, but is unstable, at 4.4V it runs well. I plotted the various output volts from the ReadyNAS 214 with the different system fan settings, having captured volts/fan RPM/temperatures, now I can make more sense of what's happening. I found:If RPM zero detected, the RN214 ramps voltage to 12V to attempt to get the fan started again.RN214 drives the stock fan (Delta Electronics AFB0912HH ) at max 3250 (reported in dashboard) RPM, which is at ~8.5V. This is the max RPM in the datasheet, hence that makes sense, however it means the RN never drives the stock fan at max blow - which is at 12V. At 8.5V, my PC reported 2350 RPM, which seems correct as the rest of the V/RPM wer quite linear in the PC.The RN214 reports the fan RPM incorrectly. After reading the voltages and reported RPM's, I hooked up both fans to a PC to capture the RPM, but controlled the voltage separately with my lab PSU. I found that the PC reported RPM's inline with the datasheets, the ReadyNAS was plain wrong at the RPM reporting on both stock and Noctua fans.My NF-A9 fan stalls below 4.3V, and sometimes fails to restart - it stops and remains stopped, even when voltage increased. I observed this initially when controlled by my NAS, and then also when I controlled voltage with my lab PSU. Noctua support that the fan should restart, and I observe the RN indeed drives the volts to 12V, so my fan could in fact be faulty.The RN drives the NF-A9 at 12V which achieves a real 2000 RPM, when it determines the need for max fan blow. The RPM is reported at 2850 - below the max RPM of the stock fan, which I assume allows it to reach the max 12V voltage, i.e. RN has two limits: max 12V, max 3250 RPM.Perversely, the above behaviour means the RN drives both fans to similar-ish 'real' RPM, so that's probably why I observed very little differences in operating temperatures - more investigation needed/ongoing. I am still playing with this, testing airflow, or better said, temperatures across the drives/CPU to determine if my replacement fan will actually work out. Fans do sometimes go wrong, so this might help others keep their NAS going a bit longer 😀. I'll share what I find.

aks-2 wrote: The fan in my RN214 is too lound once it gets going, Fans are always to loud as noise is involved. The fan system is designed to move a certain mass of air over time, to cover all possible (supported) conditions (environment temperature, installed storage blocks, maximum storage activity, ...). aks-2 wrote: so I took a chance at replacing it with a Noctua NF-A9. Of course, because of the "press" and the "internet" is full with positive reports of this brand and model. There exist at least two models, some are paired with additional modules. It's easy to make fans creating lower noise. Typical methods are lower RPMs, lower air flow. The design RPM of the original fan is rated with 3200 RPM at nominal voltage of 12 V DC.https://www.delta-fan.com/Download/Spec/AFB0912HH.pdf . This inherits nominal noise in the 38 dB(A), to max 42 dB(A) by the pure fan. About what is considered the noise level in a silent library. https://noctua.at/en/nf-a9-pwm/specification 4 pin, PWM speed regulation, nominal 2000 min^-1 at 12 V DC, with the low noise adapter (PWM signal) the RPM is lowered to 1550 min^-1, minimum 20% PWM duty cycle leads to (+/-20%) 400 RPM. Tempted to state this version is not for voltage based speed regulation. https://noctua.at/en/nf-a9-flx/specification 3 pin, 1650, 1250 (Low-Noise Adaptor) and 1050 (Ultra-Low-Noise Adaptor) rpm. This is probably a voltage regulated unit, but far away from the RPM the device monitor does expect. aks-2 wrote: It usually works fine, the resported RPM in the dashboard is typically a bit lower than the stock fan, but the noise level is substantially quieter. The HDD temps increased slightly, but still typically <45C. The RPM of these fans is very low - in fact ways below of what the hardware monitor does expect - it can happen easily that the speed is slightly reduced, by normal wear, by dust accommodated. aks-2 wrote: Any thoughts, ... Install a fan matching the intended specs of the OEM fan to avoid any kind if negative issues. aks-2 wrote: ...options for finer control over the fan speed (minimum voltage setting)? None available - at least none ever made it to the community..

One rating you hardly ever see for fans is the "stall speed". That's the speed below which the fan cannot go, so it will stop. And it can be important when swapping out a fan. Others in the forum (not with a 214 I can recall) have had similar issues with Noctua fans, especially if you've used the "speed reducer" (which lowers the supply voltage). Typically, just slowly stepping up the voltage won't kick it on until it gets very high. So switching to "cool" when it's already stopped isn't going to fix it. But keeping it on "cool" permanently may (though that may defeat your efforts to keep it quiet). Editing the .conf file may or may not help. I've found it to work with some parameters, but some seem to be overridden by the ReadyNAS fan control. Interestingly, there does not seem to be an RN214.conf in /etc/frontview/sensors, so you'll have to do as StephenB did and see where /etc/sensors.d/system.conf points.

Thanks for the comments. I did review the specs from several manufavturers - including the OEM Delta Electronics fan, Noctua and Artic. I am aware of potential risks and prepared to make a different compromise, hence I am measuring temperatures under different situations. But, I accept I don't have full control of the fan, so my approach may indeed fail. I'm not using the LNA. The max air flow of the original Delta fan is 57.9 CFM / 98.4 cubic m/hr @ 3200 RPM.Noctua (currently istalled), max air flow is 46.4 CFM / 78.9 cubic m/hr @ 2000 RPM, obviously lower.Artic F9 (was considering), max airflow is 43 CFM / 73.1 cubic m/hr @ 1800 RPM. However, I was hoping that running the RN214 in "cool" setting, would still create sufficient airflow to maintain temperatures at smilar level to the OEM fan at a given setting. What I have found is that temperatures across the drives and CPU did not increase substantially between OEM and Noctua fan - but the audiable noise in my environment is night and day. Yes, if I had control over the fan, perhaps the OEM fan could be more tolerable, but I don't, so I'm trying an alternative approach.

ReadyNas 214 new system fan / fan control

19 Replies

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schumaku
Guru - Experienced User
Aug 09, 2023
aks-2 wrote:

The fan in my RN214 is too lound once it gets going,

Fans are always to loud as noise is involved. The fan system is designed to move a certain mass of air over time, to cover all possible (supported) conditions (environment temperature, installed storage blocks, maximum storage activity, ...).

aks-2 wrote:

so I took a chance at replacing it with a Noctua NF-A9.

Of course, because of the "press" and the "internet" is full with positive reports of this brand and model. There exist at least two models, some are paired with additional modules.

It's easy to make fans creating lower noise. Typical methods are lower RPMs, lower air flow.

The design RPM of the original fan is rated with 3200 RPM at nominal voltage of 12 V DC.https://www.delta-fan.com/Download/Spec/AFB0912HH.pdf . This inherits nominal noise in the 38 dB(A), to max 42 dB(A) by the pure fan. About what is considered the noise level in a silent library.

https://noctua.at/en/nf-a9-pwm/specification 4 pin, PWM speed regulation, nominal 2000 min^-1 at 12 V DC, with the low noise adapter (PWM signal) the RPM is lowered to 1550 min^-1, minimum 20% PWM duty cycle leads to (+/-20%) 400 RPM. Tempted to state this version is not for voltage based speed regulation.

https://noctua.at/en/nf-a9-flx/specification 3 pin, 1650, 1250 (Low-Noise Adaptor) and 1050 (Ultra-Low-Noise Adaptor) rpm. This is probably a voltage regulated unit, but far away from the RPM the device monitor does expect.

aks-2 wrote:

It usually works fine, the resported RPM in the dashboard is typically a bit lower than the stock fan, but the noise level is substantially quieter. The HDD temps increased slightly, but still typically <45C.

The RPM of these fans is very low - in fact ways below of what the hardware monitor does expect - it can happen easily that the speed is slightly reduced, by normal wear, by dust accommodated.

aks-2 wrote:

Any thoughts, ...

Install a fan matching the intended specs of the OEM fan to avoid any kind if negative issues.

aks-2 wrote:

...options for finer control over the fan speed (minimum voltage setting)?

None available - at least none ever made it to the community..
- aks-2
  Apprentice
  Aug 09, 2023
  Thanks for the comments. I did review the specs from several manufavturers - including the OEM Delta Electronics fan, Noctua and Artic. I am aware of potential risks and prepared to make a different compromise, hence I am measuring temperatures under different situations. But, I accept I don't have full control of the fan, so my approach may indeed fail.
  
  I'm not using the LNA. The max air flow of the original Delta fan is 57.9 CFM / 98.4 cubic m/hr @ 3200 RPM.
  Noctua (currently istalled), max air flow is 46.4 CFM / 78.9 cubic m/hr @ 2000 RPM, obviously lower.
  Artic F9 (was considering), max airflow is 43 CFM / 73.1 cubic m/hr @ 1800 RPM.
  
  However, I was hoping that running the RN214 in "cool" setting, would still create sufficient airflow to maintain temperatures at smilar level to the OEM fan at a given setting. What I have found is that temperatures across the drives and CPU did not increase substantially between OEM and Noctua fan - but the audiable noise in my environment is night and day. Yes, if I had control over the fan, perhaps the OEM fan could be more tolerable, but I don't, so I'm trying an alternative approach.
  - schumaku
    Guru - Experienced User
    Aug 09, 2023
    Friend Tony,
    
    The point is not the "cool" setting or the airflow in charge for the effective cooling airstream. Much more likely, the fan speed goes for whatever reason slightly below the limit defined in the system hardware/firmware, and the ~2000 RPM are at the lower limit in any case.
    
    Leaving this alone, the OEM fan with it's two wire (correct?) or three wire (voltage and tach sensor) feels to me different from the NF-A9 PWM (pulse width speed regulation) with four wires (voltage plus PWM signal plus tach signal) but on the nominal voltage always. This could mean the fan does run on the nominal 12 V DC -if- the full cooling is required, and the voltage is set to the max.
    
    G762 reads like the chip supporting PWM fan speed regulation, too. Now back to the question if the OEM fan had two or three wires (and a similar connector). Even on three wires, there can be PWM fan speed regulation, combined with the tach signal for fan rotation speed feedback.
    
    Just because the fan is rotating ... many more things could be wrong.
    
    Regards
    
    -Kurt.

StephenB

Guru - Experienced User

Aug 09, 2023

aks-2 wrote:

options for finer control over the fan speed (minimum voltage setting)?

Not something I've ever played with, so you are of course on your own.

That said,

ls -all /etc/sensors.d

will show you what conf file your system is using.

On my RN526 it shows

root@NAS:~# ls -all /etc/sensors.d
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root   46 Jul 28 07:04 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2800 Jul 20 09:18 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    0 Apr 23  2012 .placeholder
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root   33 Jul 28 07:04 system.conf -> /etc/frontview/sensors/RN526.conf

There should be a fan minimum speed setting in there.

root@NAS:~# cat /etc/frontview/sensors/RN526.conf
chip "coretemp-*"
        label temp1 "CPU"
        compute temp1 @%35, @%35
        ignore temp2
        ignore temp3
        ignore temp4
        ignore temp5

chip "it8732-*"
        label in0 Vcore
        set in0_min 0
        set in0_max 10
        ignore in0
        label in1 V1_2
        set in1_min 1.08
        set in1_max 1.32
        ignore in1
        label in2 V3_3
        compute in2 @*1.649, @/1.649
        set in2_min 2.97
        set in2_max 3.63
        ignore in2
        label in3 V5_0
        compute in3 @*2.74, @/2.74
        set in3_min 4.7
        set in3_max 5.3
        label in4 "V+12"
        compute in4 @*6.6, @/6.6
        set in4_min 10.8
        set in4_max 13.2
        ignore in5
        ignore in6
        ignore in7
        ignore in8
        label fan1 "System"
        set fan1_min 400
        ignore temp1
        ignore temp2
        label temp3 "System"
        set temp3_min 1
        set temp3_max 80
        ignore intrusion0

Sandshark
Sensei
Aug 09, 2023
One rating you hardly ever see for fans is the "stall speed". That's the speed below which the fan cannot go, so it will stop. And it can be important when swapping out a fan. Others in the forum (not with a 214 I can recall) have had similar issues with Noctua fans, especially if you've used the "speed reducer" (which lowers the supply voltage). Typically, just slowly stepping up the voltage won't kick it on until it gets very high. So switching to "cool" when it's already stopped isn't going to fix it. But keeping it on "cool" permanently may (though that may defeat your efforts to keep it quiet).

Editing the .conf file may or may not help. I've found it to work with some parameters, but some seem to be overridden by the ReadyNAS fan control. Interestingly, there does not seem to be an RN214.conf in /etc/frontview/sensors, so you'll have to do as StephenB did and see where /etc/sensors.d/system.conf points.
- aks-2
  Apprentice
  Aug 09, 2023
  Thanks, I did look at the sensors.d, in the RN214 it uses RN204.conf:
  /etc/frontview/sensors# cat RN204.conf chip "g762-*" label fan1 "System" chip "al_thermal-virtual-0" label temp1 CPU compute temp1 @*1000, @/1000
  
  Which I can't really understand 😂?

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ReadyNas 214 new system fan / fan control

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