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ReadyNas NV+ v2 Booting & 'fault disk' problem - PLEASE HELP (8+ yrs of data/work at risk)
Dear Netgear Support, Dear Community,
This is a desperate cry for help from a small business owner worried about potentially loosing 8+ years of work & critical business data. Please help in whatever way you can
(also because I'm stuggling & am trying to avoid extra costs for 'one-time' NETGEAR phone support.
Please consider this background.
My business iMac (graphics card) recently failed & I had to buy a new one and managed to retrieve harddrive (SSD) and data from old iMac & after several days of (re)filing I managed
to transfer most of the data to my ReadyNas (with four 2TB drives, set up as RAID 5 - i.e. 5.4TB available in total on 3 drives + one back-up drive).
As I was so confident in ReadyNas (4 drives & Raid 5), I deleted a lot of the data on the old SSD (in caddy) in order to free-up room & use SSD as external back-up drive for new iMac.
After the transfer of all my data (also a lot of family pictures) in last few days (everything worked OK), I found that today I could not see (on Finder) or connect to my ReadyNas (also not with Raidar - didn't see device).
I then took following steps:-
1) I consulted online PDF hardward manual from Netgear site, which advised powering off (didn't power down by pressing power-button twice or holding it down), so I followed advise to unplug ReadyNas, waited 10+ sec and then plugged it in again. Device restared (heard fan & drives), but display said "booting" for 45+min with not much else happening. I could still not find ReadyNas on my network
2) After approx. 45mins, I unplugged the ReadyNas again & reconnected it. This time display at bottom said "Booting .. (in in the line below) .. checking FS ..". Again this lastest around 10mins and nothing much else happenend and I could not see ReadyNas on my network or using Raidar (version 6.2).
3) I then consulted PDF manual again and found a paragraph WARNING that ReadyNas could go into 'default booting mode' ..and potentially erase/overwrite/delete all data. This is when I panicked! I quickly proceeed to step 4:
4) I unplugged devide again (note I never pressed any other buttons front or back of device : i.e. I didn't press 'reset' or 'back-up' button to change booting sequence. I then pulled out all the hard-drives from the ReadyNas by approx. 1 inch. so they were no longer connected. I also unplugged & replugged the RJ45 network cable. Then I plugged the power cable in again.
5) ReadyNas display noted: "Err .. no disk found".
6) At this stage I called Netgear Support (on +44 844 875400) and was connected to a call centre in the Philipines. A very friendly lady tried to help, but even after me carefully explaining steps 1-5 in detail & with great care, she couldn't provide much assistance and in the end suggested I reinsert the drives into the ReadyNas and restart. This time the display read "booting .. (then) "4.1TB of 5.4Tb available" (an encouraging sign I thought, but then) "checking disk 4" ... (then lady asked me to start Raidar and next time I looked at ReadyNas display it said) "disk 4 faulty, disk 3 faulty, disk 2 faulty, disk faulty .." Naturally I got even more worried at this stage (not far from heart-attack stress levels, due to importance of my files).
7) Lady then advised to switch off unit (unplugged), take out all 4 drives and then taking a paper-clip to hold 'reset' button to restart ReadyNas and putting it into "Tech Support Mode" by pressing Power & Back-up buttons.
Unit is currently in DEBUG Mode (50266). At this stage lady transferred me to call-center team-leader Andrew in Manila.
Andrew steadied my nerves somewhat and we agreed that it would be a physical impossibility for all my 4 drives to fail at once, and that it's most likely a salvagable ReadyNas glitch (booting, software, etc.) ReadyNas appears to be working OK and is recognised by Raidar (status TECH support mode) - but as Andrew couldnt help (without Level 2 support from CORK, IRE), I won't dare to do anything further, without a step-by-step guide from NETGEAR specialist support.
I bought the unit at the end of 2012, so a little over 4 years ago for several hundred pounds (incl. HDD almost more expensive than my Apple computer which lastest over 8 years without any trouble). I had excellent & very professionla Level 2 support from NETGEAR (Stefan) for this unit before (around Feb'2014: ReadyNASRND4000v2). I already lost a lot of time, same date (previous cases) and nerves with my ReadyNas & ironically I was about to connect a 3TB USB drive today/tomorrow for a back-up of RAID 5 back-up (4 disks) - just in case - when all this happened.
I sincerely hope that someone at NETGEAR Level 2 or 3 support or someone in the community can help me resolve this and restore my faith in NETGEAR (without need for £60 phone call - hopefully it's a simple reset issue)
or £125 (SSH Protocol) online data-recovery service from NETGEAR at a cost of £125 (I'm not sure or convinced online recovery would work for 1TB of data?!?).
I greatly appreciate any help & solutions offered ASAP (I'm facing my first sleepless night tonight .. watching out for your email responses).
Many thanks for your help
Sascha
27 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
Though Netgear paid support might be expensive, the potential data loss would likely be more expensive. I think your safest option is to allow escalation to level 2 or even level 3.
Unfortunately RAID is not enough to keep your data safe. Backups are still necessary. So after you get your data back (thinking positively :smileyhappy: ) you should put a backup plan in place for the NAS.
- Thank you for taking the time to read and reply Stephen.
You're definitely right in terms of value of data and If there is no other way, then I will probably need to go ahead with level 2 or 3 support call.
I do however feel a little cheated, as I only followed steps suggested in PDF hardware manual & then the advice from a rather (I'm sorry to say) incompetent lady of Netgear in Manila, whose advise and step-by-step guidance resulted in my Nas going from booting trouble to potential 'faulty disk problem', which might be worse.
The lady rarer cold heartedly suggested (several) times that the data would probably be lost now, that I should check with HDD manufacturer etc.
It was at that point that I lost all confidence in Netgear (Manila) and spoke to supervisor, who steadied my nerves and suggested that is was unlikely all drives had failed at once and that level 2 suppot call Netgear community might be able to help.
I'm trying to stay positive and wonder if anyone else has experienced similar trouble with Netgear (Readynas and poor Level 1 support)? - I also came across one post that suggested to take out all disks (numbered by slot) and then insert a 'scratch' (blank?) disk into slot 1 and let the ReadyNas 'reset' itself.
If I understand correctly, (other) user was then able to reinsert his 4 (Raid 5) disks into ReadyNas and read them again as before (no data loss).
Would this perhaps also be (a low risk or preferably no-risk) option in my case? Please advise.
SASCHA_SCI wrote:
I also came across one post that suggested to take out all disks (numbered by slot) and then insert a 'scratch' (blank?) disk into slot 1 and let the ReadyNas 'reset' itself.The NAS would do a factory install onto the single blank disk, which would give you some assurance that the chassis was ok. It wouldn't accomplish anything else.
If you do try it, make sure you reinsert your disks in the proper order with the NAS powered down.
Though data recovery is an expensive service, you might consider jumping right to there (which would be done by level 3). http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/69/~/readynas%3A-data-recovery-diagnostics---scope-of-service?cid=wmt_netgear_organic
- Many thanks again Stephen.I am very surprised to hear that data (on 4 Raid 5 drives) can so easily be lost or become in-accessible from ReadyNas.Surely a couple of booting problems should NOT so easily result in complete data loss?!? And eve if this is a possibility (Neatget hardware & software should guard against it!) - shouldn't all ReadyNas devices carry a major "health-warning" on the chassis?!?Also shouldn't Netgear provide an easier data recovery software and/or built-in option to 'release' or 'salvage data' to save thousands of users some nerves, time and major expense?!I understand there is a Russian company on YouTube offering some software to retrieve data from ReadyNas (Raid 5) hard-drives. See below:-Connect failed Raid 5disks:-Software:-General Analysis:-Does Netgear offer anything like that, or only expensive online/offline data-recovery?By the way Stephen - do you work for Netgear, or are you a volunteer communitee helper?!? I understand that there are some Level 2 & 3 (Netgear paid) contributors on this forum (from Andrew, call center team-leader in Manila).Please advise & many thanks for continued supportSascha
I feel for your anguish. Did you let mdgm know your case number? I did not see your reply to his question on case number. If you did not perform factory reset with drives in, chance is that your data should be still there. Thanks.
Hi C3PO
Many thanks for taking time to read and follow-up.
I am now in touch with Raf of UK/Ireland Level 2 support and I believe he also found my unit in tech support mode but with disks removed (for safety).
I am now awaiting to hear from Raf or one of his Level 2/3 engineers/colleagues to agree next steps (they issued a new case number)
I only tried to reboot the NAS twice (by unplugging it); I did not perform a factory reset (or put the NAS into tech support mode with drives inserted;
drives were taken out prior to putting NAS into tech support mode).
I am still hopeful that is 'only' a NAS booting problem or other software glitch which can be fixed remotely by Level 2/3 support in tech-support mode;
I'm faily certain & hopeful that all 4 drives are still healthy & contain my data (after all it's virtually impossible for 4 drives to fail at the same time, isn't it?!)
I will post an update once I heard from NETGEAR Level 2 support.
Many thanks again for everyone's help
Sascha
There are no drives in the ReadyNAS with code 50266.
Please put your drives in the chassis again and I will take a look for you.
Dear Kohdee
Thank you very much for your email & taking time to review case and trying to check my NAS.
Please refer to my previous reply to your colleague C3PO (see above).
Is there (100%) NO risk inserting the drives, whilst it is in TECH SUPPORT MODE?
I very much appreciate your offer to have a look, but would it not be best for me to await hearing from Raf or Stefan of UK/Ireland (Cork) Netgear Level 2 support
to check and agree next steps.
Sadly I feel received poor service & advice from Level 1 support (Manila call center) - I sincerely hope following steps given by Level 1 have
not aggrevated the glitch/problemn with my NAS or put my data into any serious risk (of potential loss).
I am very anxious and you will understand that I would now prefer only to follow official NETGEAR Level 2/3 advice. If you are an engineer at this level and are
authorised to assist, then I will of course gladly accept your kind assistance.
I will post an update as soon as I hear from Raf of NETGEAR Level 2 support again ..
Many thanks
Sascha
If you're concerned about risk (which is always present in anything you do), then you should consider cloning your drives before letting anyone review it.
If you're unable to clone and make copies of your hard drives, then you have very limited options for recovery as it is.
Regardless of any action taken by you, the community, or NETGEAR Support experts, you still need to get your data for which you failed to make a backup. I suggest that you see the amount of people responding as an olive branch and do make a good faith effort on your part to accomodate the need for basic information to understand your situation.
As long as your unit is in tech support mode, there's no reason why the ReadyNAS will take action on your drives; however, since I have no idea what the state of your drives are in, if you do approach a professional recovery service, they would likely charge your an averaged $500 per drive clone before they even attempt to try anything.I suggest you review NETGEAR's scope of support for Data Recovery (http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/69) to understand what is covered for you and the cost is very reasonable compared to any other vendor.
Also, it looks like your case is sitting with Level 3 at this time, not with our Level 2 team. To expedite your process, you can proceed by inserting your drives for some read-only analysis.
Hi Sascha, Just to let you know that kohdee is at highest possible level for technical support. Thanks.
Dear Kohdee
I understand that you are one of the highest level NETGEAR engineers (LEVEL 3) - from C3PO's last post - and am very grateful for you kindly offering to help and some read-only analysis.
By the way : Raf Lejeune (Level 2 Technical Support Expert in the UK/Ireland (Cork?) is also in touch with me via email and has assigned support case No (#27670208);
I have not spoken to him yet & have not had the opportunity to explain background & what happened in detail and am currently awaiting his follow-up email.
I must admit I am bit 'spooked' that you and also the UK support team can 'see' my device remotely (without me providing details) and detect that my drives are not inserted -
I guess this is only possible in Tech Support Mode (& that no 3rd party would have any access to my files)? Perhaps & hopefully that is a good sign though, as the NAS appears
to be responding and functioning (at least in Tech Support Mode).
I am away from my office this morning for some urgent family matter, but would be able to insert drives & monitor NAS later this afternoon or preferably tomorrow.
Perhaps we can fix a date (tomorrow) & time for your read-only analysis?
I very much appreciate your offer to have another look and look forward to hearing from you.
With kind regards
Sascha
Dear Kohdee
Gentle reminder of my last post. Not sure if you saw it yet and had time to review.
Apologies also for being a bit elusive last Thursday & Friday - I had some urgent family matters to attend to & was away from the office (hence disks not inserted yet).
I am of course keen for you to do your read-only analysis, for you to advise on potential next steps and to have access to my file (again).
I look forward to hearing from you.
With kind regards
Sascha
Dear Kohdee
Just a gentle reminder in case you have not seen or read my first post.
It might be worth having a brief look prior to any read-only analysis, in order to better understand what happened/background prior to NAS going into TECH Support Mode
& prior to trying to pin-point the problem/solution.
Many thanks
Sascha
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