readynas duo blue power LED blinks permanently

Question

I'm using a netgear readynas duo with 2 250gb disks for years without any problem. yesterday, after an power interruption the NAS starts again but does not come to an end. That means the blue front LED is blinking slowly all the time. Haven't paid attention what the other LEDs did during start . There is some noise from within the device (probably the fan) but windows explorer (I still use winXPpro sp3) does not recognize the drive. I can start raidar from desktop buth this isn't any help. Hesitated to do anything like cutting power again to avoid additional trouble.&nbsp;What can I do in this situation ?

StephenB · Answer

What status is RAIDar giving you?
Do you have a backup of the data?
Are you using XRAID?&nbsp; If not, what RAID mode are you using?
Are the leds blinking with one of these patterns?
LED blink behavior for 2 disk systems is three quick blinks of all disk LEDs and the backup LED, followed by an 1s delay, followed by a number of slow blinks.  The number of slow blinks will be the error code.Current error codes:1  - Vendor mismatch2  - No disks detected3  - Bad contents on root partition of disks4  - Flash error5  - Unsupported RAID configuration
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

fraschub · Answer

thanks for your reply.1. start of Raidar show the message that an update is available. I have 4.3.1. Latest is 4.3.8&nbsp; &nbsp; Without an update (so far I hesitated to do this) the Raidar shows only the startscreen with help information. Seems that update is inevitable ?2. Yes, I have an backup on an usb hard disk, but over the years there are some old data only on the NAS, so data loss is a concern3. RAID: from my notes it seems that the NAS ist set to 'X-Raid (extendable RAID) with 2 disks'4. blink patterns: I haven't paid attention to blinks during start. &nbsp;So I cannot say anything about the number of slow blinks during start&nbsp; &nbsp; because&nbsp;&nbsp;from tne moment I noticed the trouble the blue LED is blinking slowly but permanently. No other LED is on.&nbsp;Hope that helps to&nbsp;

StephenB · Answer

fraschub&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
1. start of Raidar show the message that an update is available. I have 4.3.1. Latest is 4.3.8
&nbsp; &nbsp; Without an update (so far I hesitated to do this) the Raidar shows only the startscreen with help information. Seems that update is inevitable ?
&nbsp;

It would be good to know if RAIDar can find the NAS.&nbsp; There's not much risk in updating it - if that were to fail we'd be in the same situation we are in now.
&nbsp;
fraschub&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
2. Yes, I have an backup on an usb hard disk, but over the years there are some old data only on the NAS, so data loss is a concern

That's good to know. So we need to be careful to minimize data risk.
&nbsp;
If we can see the NAS status in RAIDar, that would give us a better handle on what we dealing with.
&nbsp;
But no matter what it tells us, I think we will need to test the disk drives.&nbsp; So after you give the upgrade a shot (and see if you can get more specific NAS status), you should

power down the NAS
remove disk 1 (perhaps label it by slot number)
try powering up the NAS and see if it boots.

If it does boot normally, then make a fresh USB backup right away.&nbsp;&nbsp;
If it doesn't then just power the NAS back down again.
&nbsp;
If you don't have a Sata-&gt;USB adapter kit (or a USB dock) you will likely need one.&nbsp; You can test use that to test the disks in a Windows PC using vendor tools (lifeguard for western digital; seatools for seagate).&nbsp; Not sure they will work with your version of windows; hopefully they will.
&nbsp;
There is also a free Windows utility you can use to extract the data from disk 1.&nbsp; https://www.r-studio.com/free-linux-recovery/&nbsp;Again, I have no idea if that will work with XP.&nbsp; Could you get access to a newer OS (maybe from a friend).&nbsp; Win-7 or Win-10.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
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fraschub · Answer

thanks again for your support.&nbsp;Raidar update gave no new information. I haven't mentioned, that readynas is connected to PC via an ethernet switch. Found in my notes the IP-adress, but this path also gave no access to the device. So - no more information about the current status.&nbsp;I already have an logilink AU0006D usb to ide/sata adapter with OTB. I also have acess to an newer PC running with win7. All steps with the hard disk removed from nasduo could be performed on this PC. As far as I remember the nasduo was equipped with two samsung-HD at time of purchase. That's why I have downloaded the seatools (found the hint, that this tool supports samsung).Got the r-studio linux recovery too.&nbsp;&nbsp;So I will cut power again and proceed with the path you described.&nbsp;&nbsp;I have read in forums, that removing one disk leads to all sort of trouble, but this probably occurs only if I remove from running NAS. Finally there is no other way to test the hardware than to remove in powerless state. From your description I understand that&nbsp;a simple restart of the NAS with the two disks rather increases the problem and has to be avoided ? Right ?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

StephenB · Answer

fraschub&nbsp;wrote:
&nbsp;
&nbsp;I have read in forums, that removing one disk leads to all sort of trouble, but this probably occurs only if I remove from running NAS.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

That's generally true.&nbsp; However, the NAS boots from the first disk it finds - and if something is wrong with that disk, that will fail.
&nbsp;
So booting up without disk 1 inserted is worth a test.&nbsp; Do be careful not to remove or insert disks with the NAS running though.
&nbsp;
fraschub&nbsp;wrote:
Finally there is no other way to test the hardware than to remove in powerless state.

You can test the memory using the boot menu - see page 15 here:&nbsp;http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RND2110/Duov1_NV+v1_HW_en_06Dec11.pdf
&nbsp;
There is a disk test too, but I think running that in a PC with vendor tools is better.&nbsp; &nbsp;The other options are best avoided right now.
&nbsp;
fraschub&nbsp;wrote:
From your description I understand that&nbsp;a simple restart of the NAS with the two disks rather increases the problem and has to be avoided ?

You've already tried just restarting it, correct?&nbsp; In most cases just restarting it with both disks won't do any harm.&nbsp; But it's not likely to give a different result either.

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readynas duo blue power LED blinks permanently

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