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ReadyNAS Pro 6: will not start to boot menu #24685352
I use a ReadyNAS Pro 6 (RNDP6630D-200) here at the office to store, view and edit hundreds of hours of standard definition video. The unit was purchased in July 2012 and has worked without issue for over two years.
Last October, I diagnosed an issue with the internal clock on the NAS. The workaround (not a solution, I now realize) was to reset the clock manually every 4-6 weeks.
With the exception of the occasional clock issue, the ReadyNAS performed as normal until yesterday. Here's the situation:
- I can turn the drive on, but the display never moves beyond "ReadyNAS" and I don't hear any of the normal boot-up sounds.
- If I hold the power button to force a shutdown and then restart, the NAS will turn on for a second, immediately turn off, turn on again after about 5 seconds, and then hang on "ReadyNAS".
- Even when I hold down the Reset button and power up, the NAS does not enter the Boot Menu.
I have a feeling some part of the internal hardware has died (and the clock issue was the canary in the coal mine I should have paid more attention to). I'm working on getting a new ReadyNAS 516, but it'd be really nice to get this unit going again for at least a few more days.
Does anyone have any insight? Thanks very much for the help!
Last October, I diagnosed an issue with the internal clock on the NAS. The workaround (not a solution, I now realize) was to reset the clock manually every 4-6 weeks.
With the exception of the occasional clock issue, the ReadyNAS performed as normal until yesterday. Here's the situation:
- I can turn the drive on, but the display never moves beyond "ReadyNAS" and I don't hear any of the normal boot-up sounds.
- If I hold the power button to force a shutdown and then restart, the NAS will turn on for a second, immediately turn off, turn on again after about 5 seconds, and then hang on "ReadyNAS".
- Even when I hold down the Reset button and power up, the NAS does not enter the Boot Menu.
I have a feeling some part of the internal hardware has died (and the clock issue was the canary in the coal mine I should have paid more attention to). I'm working on getting a new ReadyNAS 516, but it'd be really nice to get this unit going again for at least a few more days.
Does anyone have any insight? Thanks very much for the help!
18 Replies
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- How many drives are inside your NAS?
Did you receive any e-mail notification that a drive/s has failed?
Have you tried using other power cord or plugging your NAS to other power outlet? - Thanks for the quick response, Ixa!
How many drives are inside your NAS?
The NAS is comprised of six 3TB drives (that shipped with the unit).Did you receive any e-mail notification that a drive/s has failed?
There was no email notification, but I don't have that feature enabled. The NAS is only connected through a Netgear switch to a Mac Pro and two iMacs, and does not face the Internet. But the last time it was fully operational (yesterday morning), all the discs were functioning normally.Have you tried using other power cord or plugging your NAS to other power outlet?
Using a different power cord as well as plugging into a different power outlet produced no change to the situation.
Would removing the discs and powering up be a worthwhile test?
And FWIW, even though I don't suspect a disk failure, about 80% of the data on the NAS disks are backed up in another location (and another 10% can be recovered by other means), so even though it'd be nice to not have to start fresh, it wouldn't be the end of the world if necessary. Ken Ochalek wrote: Would removing the discs and powering up be a worthwhile test?
Yup! Let's check the NAS chassis... Pull-out all drives in your NAS and label accordingly from which bay you have pull it out. Then, try to turn on your NAS without drives inside then check if it stays up and it should say "No disks detected" on the LCD display. Check if it will be also be detected on RAIDar.- Okay, I removed the drives with the power off and unplugged. I reattached the power cord, turned the NAS on, and there was no change.
BUT... next I plugged in the network cable, forced shutdown, and restarted. The NAS turned on for a second, turned off, then turned on again after 5 seconds, and booted to the "No disks detected" message on the LCD. RAIDar is detecting the NAS.
Am I right in thinking I should restart to the Boot Menu and run a memory test and/or reinstall the firmware? - If you have a spare disk (not part of the array), doing a factory reset with just that disk installed - just to see that the install completes and the NAS comes up normally.
On the original clock issue, the NAS should have adjusted the time automatically via NTP. Were you using a static IP address? StephenB wrote: If you have a spare disk (not part of the array), doing a factory reset with just that disk installed - just to see that the install completes and the NAS comes up normally.
On the original clock issue, the NAS should have adjusted the time automatically via NTP. Were you using a static IP address?
Thanks for the advice, StephenB!
Yes, the NAS has a static IP address. When I first discovered the clock as the source of that particular problem, I tried to use NTP, but was unable to reach any NTP servers -- I believe because the NAS is not directly connected to the Internet (and can't be due to circumstances outside of my control in the office). It just connects to a Netgear 5-port Ethernet Switch (GS605NA). The Macs that connect to the NAS through the switch use WiFi for Internet access. I initially mentioned the clock issue because I have a suspicion that a bad component (maybe a weak internal battery?) caused the clock to slip.
I don't have any spare disks to test with at the moment, but I can ask around or bring something from home tomorrow.- It sounds like the switch does have an uplink to your corporate network - otherwise you wouldn't be able to reach it via wifi.
If the gateway address or the DNS servers weren't correctly configured,the NAS would not be able to find the DNS server. So that's one thing to check after you get it back up).
It's possible that your corporate firewall is blocking NTP (though it seems a bit unlikely).
Anyway, a typical PC clock can easily be off by about a second a day, and perhaps as much as 10 seconds. (http://tf.nist.gov/service/pdf/computertime.pdf) StephenB wrote: It sounds like the switch does have an uplink to your corporate network - otherwise you wouldn't be able to reach it via wifi.
I apologize for not being clear. The only things connected to the switch are each of the Macs and the ReadyNAS. The switch itself does not connect to the Internet.
So (at least as far as my limited networking knowledge takes me) I don't think the NAS has any route to the Internet to find an NTP server.- If the switch isn't connected to the corporate network, then you are correct. I am thinking the clock isn't relevant anyway.
Can you install RAIDar on the Macs? That will give you a bit more status. - Yes, I have RAIDar running on the primary Mac. Following Ixa's last instruction, I pulled all the disks, which enabled the NAS to at least boot up enough to present the "No disks detected" error message on the NAS display and to allow RAIDar to see the unit.
RAIDar 4.3.8 displays the following info:
MAC Address: 00:1f:33:eb:01:d7
Model: --
Host Name: nas-EB-01-D7
IP Address: 192.168.168.168
Volume Status: [BLANK}
Disk Status: [6 gray bubbles, since the drives are removed]
UPS Status: [BLANK, as usual]
Fan Status: Fan 1 - 1962rpm, Fan 2 - 1520rpm
Temperature Status: Temp 1 - 36.0C/122.4F, Temp 2 - 22.0C/97.2F
Firmware Revision/Status: No disks detected
For the buttons at the bottom of the window, Setup is inactive, Rescan works as normal, Locate makes the NAS display blink, Format is inactive. The buttons for About, Help and Exit all behave like you'd expect.
Additionally: With the drives removed, I'm able to access the Boot Menu. I just ran a memory test, and everything passed without error.
I'm out for the rest of the day, but will check back first thing in the morning. Thanks again for all the suggestions, information and feedback. This ReadyNAS has been a huge help for our office, but troubleshooting it is NOT for the faint of heart!
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