ReadyNAS 214 won't recognize replaced drive

Question

RN214 I've had for a number of years had its first disk issues: lots of ATA errors for disk 4 and "degraded" status for the RAID-5 volume. I bought two new drives from Newegg (Toshiba DT01ACA200, same model as the original one) and performed a hot swap, but the RN214 never acknowledges that the new drive is there or starts to resync the data... in the on-screen diagram, it shows only three drives

This is the same whether I use either of the new drives.

If I put the original drive back in place, it shows up, and the RN214 logs start showing the ATA errors again.

This leads me to suspect that there's nothing wrong with the drive slot. The alarms dialog shows the old drive being removed and reinserted, but nothing about either of the new drives.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

RN214 details:

Firmware: 6.10.8

StephenB · Answer

Have you tried connecting the new drives to a PC (either SATA or a USB adapter/dock) to see if they work?&nbsp; Though two dead-on-arrival disks isn't all that likely, it is possible that something happened during shipment.
&nbsp;
Another option is to power down the NAS, and remove the disks (labeling by slot).&nbsp; &nbsp;Then put one of the new disks in slot one by itself, power up, and see if you get a fresh factory install.&nbsp; If you do, power down again and more the disk to slot 4, and see if the system boots normally.&nbsp; If it does, then use the disk test on the volume settings wheel to fully test the disk (that will take a couple hours to complete).
&nbsp;
When done with this test, make sure you destroy the volume from the volume tab menu (and maybe for good measure reformat the disk).

StephenB · Answer

PerlDiver&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
I found this post about choosing replacement drives. It applies to a "voluntary" replacement; in your opinion, would one of the recommended drives (8TB WD "Red" or Seagate "Ironwolf") also be suitable for replacing a failing drive?
&nbsp;

One of my old posts.
&nbsp;
WD branding has changed - WD "Red" drives are now all SMR, which I do NOT recommend.&nbsp; WD Red Plus and Ironwolf are both good choices for the RN214.&nbsp; I generally purchase on of those drives for my own NAS (and pick whatever seems cheaper at the moment).&nbsp; At the moment, Amazon has the Seagates for a bit less.
&nbsp;
Either way, I'd go with 2x8 TB instead of 4x2 TB.&nbsp; That gives you 2 TB more capacity than you had before, plus two empty slots for expansion later on.

StephenB · Answer

PerlDiver&nbsp;wrote:
Damn, I jumped the gun and already ordered a WD Red Pro (not Plus) WD8003FFBX 8TB. Is that one going to cause me grief?

It's fine.&nbsp; The Red Pro are enterprise class drives and don't use SMR.&nbsp; Ironwolf and Red Plus are cheaper, so I generally recommend them for desktop NAS.&nbsp; But enterprise drives are also good choices.

StephenB · Answer

PerlDiver&nbsp;wrote:
Should I have expected an increase in size of the volume because of the increase of drive 4 from 2TB to 8TB

No.&nbsp; The capacity rule is "sum the disks and subtract the largest".&nbsp; So you'd need to replace a second drive to get a capacity increase.
&nbsp;
But that rule is a bit simplfied - make sure you use another 8 TB drive and not an intermediate size.
&nbsp;
PerlDiver&nbsp;wrote:
The volume is healthy again!
&nbsp;

Great news!

PerlDiver · Answer

Thank you! I will try this and report back.

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ReadyNAS 214 won't recognize replaced drive

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