Hi All,Having significant issues with my ReadyNAS RN104 after manually running a disk balance. ReadyNAS RN104Firmware 6.10.4 (had only just updated to this version)3x 3TB WD Red hard drives ~9TB of disk capacity (unsure how much the unit deems usable space). ~2-3TB of stored dataI do not have a good backup of data. I decided to perform disk maintenance due to the drive(s) sounding like they were continuously reading/writing. The disk activity light blinked accordingly. Troubleshooting which followed:I turned off all devices which have access to the NAS however; continuous read/write continued.Updated the firmware from 6.10.3 to 6.10.4. The upgrade completed successfully without issues. After the NAS rebooted itself, the continuous read/write activity continued.I started searching these forums and found a suggestion to disable and re-enable the DLNA service. No luck.Disabled the one app I had running. No luck. I found some posts here about the continuous disk activity which suggested variations of Defrag, Balance, Scrub etc. I wasn't sure which order to perform them in so I searched some more and found this post which suggested to start with a Balance. Timeline:I manually started a balance around the middle of the day. Initial progress was quite fast. 20% was reached in a short time, maybe 30mins.Stopped monitoring the status closely after this time and after what seemed a short time the balance had reached 40%.Checked again later and it had reached 60%. At this point, from starting the balance to 60% was 2-3 hours. Now confident that the balance would be fine, I stopped monitoring, finished up at my desk and committed to return later to check progress/completion.Around 8 or 9pm I returned to the NAS to check. It was still on 60%. I waited another hour and checked again, still 60%. The disk activity light is solid. No hard disk noise is heard.All checks were via the screen on the front of the unit. I had not checked via the web interface.I left the unit as is overnight, hoping progress may be seen. No change the following morning (today).I had not recieved any email notifications, neither negative or positive during the disk balance or overnight.I had not performed a scrub or defrag anytime recently. The web interface no longer responds. It times out. I've never had this happen before with this device. The web interface has always worked.I can ping the IP address of the device. The response time is as expected; 1-2ms. Nothing happens when I single press the power button on the unit.I have not yet tried any other power button sequences or cold restart. Repaeat from above: I do not have a good backup of data. Some data is not important (media) but other data is (pictures). I have done further reading on these pages and seeing mixed results ranging from no issues after cold restart to disk volume issues. I really do not want to lose the data on this drive. I am a novice home user. Whilst I can perform command lines with instruction, I do not know the commands myself. I am not even sure how to initially connect to the RN104 via command line. I suppose I have come to trust the ReadyNAS system too much. I have never had any issues with it whatsoever. It has performed flawlessly for many years. Even when a physical drive failed, the system continued to run and restored the volume when the disk was replaced with a new one. Because of this trust, I do not have a good backup. I had recently started tinkering with a backup to OneDrive, but it is not configured on my important data folders. Hoping I do not lose any data. Assistance would be appreciated immensely.

Sheen wrote: ReadyNAS RN104 Firmware 6.10.4 (had only just updated to this version) 3x 3TB WD Red hard drives ~9TB of disk capacity (unsure how much the unit deems usable space). 6 TB (5.45 TiB). The max capacity rule for single redundancy RAID is "sum the disks and subtract the largest". Sheen wrote: I do not have a good backup of data. Because of this trust, I do not have a good backup. Unfortunately a bad decision. Disks (and file servers) can fail at any time. But what is done is done. Sheen wrote: The web interface no longer responds. It times out. I've never had this happen before with this device. The web interface has always worked. I can ping the IP address of the device. The response time is as expected; 1-2ms. Nothing happens when I single press the power button on the unit.I have not yet tried any other power button sequences or cold restart. If you haven't enabled ssh, then you won't be able to access the NAS using the linux command line now. Try getting the status using RAIDar. https://kb.netgear.com/20684/ReadyNAS-Downloads If RAIDar can't find it, then I think you will need to hold down the power button until the system forcibly shuts down. That should take about 5 seconds. If it still doesn't respond, you will need to pull the plug. Then I suggest powering up the NAS read-only. Instructions are on pages 28-29 here: https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/ReadyNAS_%20OS6_Desktop_HM_EN.pdf If the data isn't there after it reboots, then contact paid netgear support (my.netgear.com). It could be expensive, but it is the safest path to getting your data back. If the data is there, then begin by backing it up (at least the irreplacable photos, etc).

If you have not done a balance in a long time (or ever), it can take a while. But yours does seem to be stuck, as that is way too much time. Unfortuantely, that can be an indication of drive errors that could cause a problem if your re-boot. Given you have an RN104 and nothing is responding, I think it is more likely you've run out of memory, which is quite limited on the 102 and 104, or the CPU is at 100%. If it's memory or the CPU use, then a reboot is less likely to cause a problem. If you have SSH enabled, you can try and get in that way. If you can't, then a reboot is probably the only solution. If you can, then see what the results of the top command are. BTW, none of those maintenance activities were likely to solve your issue. They could be the cause of it if they were ongoing.

StephenB thanks heaps for the reply and suggestions.A bad decision indeed to not perform backups. RAIDar cannot see the device.I'm not sure if SSH was enabled. If its enabled as factory default then it would be enabled still. I didn't ever disable anything from factory other than iTunes server perhaps.I downloaded Putty to try an SSH connection but its not able to connect. I expect however its due to me not knowing how to use SSH command line. I attempted to use the connection wizard which is part of the standalone putty windows executable. Therefore I must move onto force rebooting. Would you advise to try a regular reboot and see what happens or should I specifically try to boot in read only mode in the very first instance?Do you happen to know if cloud backup options exist when booting in read-only mode? I.e. will the web interface be exactly as I am used to?Many thanks once again.

Thanks Sandshark I do agree it seems like the freeze could have been caused my exhausting memory. Fingers crossed simply this and no further issues.I decided to post here before just doing stuff. Someone with basic tech knowledge such as myself, can be easily lead to "just reboot it" as first troubleshooting. I wanted to make sure there wasn't something more I could do. Turns out 'something more' I could have done was back-up. As per advice from StephenB , I'll attempt a reboot into read only mode and see where things lead from there.All going well, there will be a new discussion to be had about the initial issue which was the continuous I/O noise from the unit. Thanks once again.

Sheen wrote: Therefore I must move onto force rebooting. Would you advise to try a regular reboot and see what happens or should I specifically try to boot in read only mode in the very first instance? Read-only mode ensures that the NAS won't try to "repair" any damage. Attempts to repair could actually hurt, so I'd recommend booting up initially into read-only mode. Sheen wrote: Do you happen to know if cloud backup options exist when booting in read-only mode? I.e. will the web interface be exactly as I am used to? Many thanks once again. The web ui will be normal, but you probably won't be able to enable any new services. The best way to back up the pictures is to copy them over the network to a PC (perhaps to a USB drive). As far as SSH goes, it is not enabled by default.

Forum Discussion

Sheen

Aspirant

Jan 27, 2021

ReadyNAS RN104 frozen during disk balance

Hi All,

Having significant issues with my ReadyNAS RN104 after manually running a disk balance.

ReadyNAS RN104

Firmware 6.10.4 (had only just updated to this version)

3x 3TB WD Red hard drives

~9TB of disk capacity (unsure how much the unit deems usable space).

~2-3TB of stored data

I do not have a good backup of data.

I decided to perform disk maintenance due to the drive(s) sounding like they were continuously reading/writing. The disk activity light blinked accordingly. Troubleshooting which followed:

I turned off all devices which have access to the NAS however; continuous read/write continued.
Updated the firmware from 6.10.3 to 6.10.4. The upgrade completed successfully without issues. After the NAS rebooted itself, the continuous read/write activity continued.
I started searching these forums and found a suggestion to disable and re-enable the DLNA service. No luck.
Disabled the one app I had running. No luck.

I found some posts here about the continuous disk activity which suggested variations of Defrag, Balance, Scrub etc. I wasn't sure which order to perform them in so I searched some more and found this post which suggested to start with a Balance.

Timeline:

I manually started a balance around the middle of the day. Initial progress was quite fast. 20% was reached in a short time, maybe 30mins.
Stopped monitoring the status closely after this time and after what seemed a short time the balance had reached 40%.
Checked again later and it had reached 60%. At this point, from starting the balance to 60% was 2-3 hours. Now confident that the balance would be fine, I stopped monitoring, finished up at my desk and committed to return later to check progress/completion.
Around 8 or 9pm I returned to the NAS to check. It was still on 60%. I waited another hour and checked again, still 60%. The disk activity light is solid. No hard disk noise is heard.
All checks were via the screen on the front of the unit. I had not checked via the web interface.
I left the unit as is overnight, hoping progress may be seen. No change the following morning (today).
I had not recieved any email notifications, neither negative or positive during the disk balance or overnight.
I had not performed a scrub or defrag anytime recently.

The web interface no longer responds. It times out. I've never had this happen before with this device. The web interface has always worked.

I can ping the IP address of the device. The response time is as expected; 1-2ms.

Nothing happens when I single press the power button on the unit.I have not yet tried any other power button sequences or cold restart.

Repaeat from above: I do not have a good backup of data. Some data is not important (media) but other data is (pictures).

I have done further reading on these pages and seeing mixed results ranging from no issues after cold restart to disk volume issues. I really do not want to lose the data on this drive.

I am a novice home user. Whilst I can perform command lines with instruction, I do not know the commands myself. I am not even sure how to initially connect to the RN104 via command line.

I suppose I have come to trust the ReadyNAS system too much. I have never had any issues with it whatsoever. It has performed flawlessly for many years. Even when a physical drive failed, the system continued to run and restored the volume when the disk was replaced with a new one. Because of this trust, I do not have a good backup. I had recently started tinkering with a backup to OneDrive, but it is not configured on my important data folders. Hoping I do not lose any data.

Assistance would be appreciated immensely.

23 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion

StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 27, 2021
Sheen wrote:

ReadyNAS RN104

Firmware 6.10.4 (had only just updated to this version)

3x 3TB WD Red hard drives

~9TB of disk capacity (unsure how much the unit deems usable space).

6 TB (5.45 TiB). The max capacity rule for single redundancy RAID is "sum the disks and subtract the largest".

Sheen wrote:
I do not have a good backup of data.

Because of this trust, I do not have a good backup.

Unfortunately a bad decision. Disks (and file servers) can fail at any time. But what is done is done.

Sheen wrote:

The web interface no longer responds. It times out. I've never had this happen before with this device. The web interface has always worked.

I can ping the IP address of the device. The response time is as expected; 1-2ms.

Nothing happens when I single press the power button on the unit.I have not yet tried any other power button sequences or cold restart.

If you haven't enabled ssh, then you won't be able to access the NAS using the linux command line now.

Try getting the status using RAIDar. https://kb.netgear.com/20684/ReadyNAS-Downloads

If RAIDar can't find it, then I think you will need to hold down the power button until the system forcibly shuts down. That should take about 5 seconds. If it still doesn't respond, you will need to pull the plug. Then I suggest powering up the NAS read-only. Instructions are on pages 28-29 here: https://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/ReadyNAS_%20OS6_Desktop_HM_EN.pdf

If the data isn't there after it reboots, then contact paid netgear support (my.netgear.com). It could be expensive, but it is the safest path to getting your data back.

If the data is there, then begin by backing it up (at least the irreplacable photos, etc).
- Sheen
  Aspirant
  Jan 27, 2021
  StephenB thanks heaps for the reply and suggestions.
  A bad decision indeed to not perform backups.
  RAIDar cannot see the device.
  I'm not sure if SSH was enabled. If its enabled as factory default then it would be enabled still. I didn't ever disable anything from factory other than iTunes server perhaps.
  I downloaded Putty to try an SSH connection but its not able to connect. I expect however its due to me not knowing how to use SSH command line. I attempted to use the connection wizard which is part of the standalone putty windows executable.
  
  Therefore I must move onto force rebooting. Would you advise to try a regular reboot and see what happens or should I specifically try to boot in read only mode in the very first instance?
  Do you happen to know if cloud backup options exist when booting in read-only mode? I.e. will the web interface be exactly as I am used to?
  Many thanks once again.
  - StephenB
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jan 27, 2021
    Sheen wrote:
    
    Therefore I must move onto force rebooting. Would you advise to try a regular reboot and see what happens or should I specifically try to boot in read only mode in the very first instance?
    
    Read-only mode ensures that the NAS won't try to "repair" any damage. Attempts to repair could actually hurt, so I'd recommend booting up initially into read-only mode.
    
    Sheen wrote:
    
    Do you happen to know if cloud backup options exist when booting in read-only mode? I.e. will the web interface be exactly as I am used to?
    
    Many thanks once again.
    
    The web ui will be normal, but you probably won't be able to enable any new services. The best way to back up the pictures is to copy them over the network to a PC (perhaps to a USB drive).
    
    As far as SSH goes, it is not enabled by default.
Sandshark
Sensei
Jan 27, 2021
If you have not done a balance in a long time (or ever), it can take a while. But yours does seem to be stuck, as that is way too much time. Unfortuantely, that can be an indication of drive errors that could cause a problem if your re-boot. Given you have an RN104 and nothing is responding, I think it is more likely you've run out of memory, which is quite limited on the 102 and 104, or the CPU is at 100%. If it's memory or the CPU use, then a reboot is less likely to cause a problem.

If you have SSH enabled, you can try and get in that way. If you can't, then a reboot is probably the only solution. If you can, then see what the results of the top command are.

BTW, none of those maintenance activities were likely to solve your issue. They could be the cause of it if they were ongoing.
- Sheen
  Aspirant
  Jan 27, 2021
  Thanks Sandshark
  I do agree it seems like the freeze could have been caused my exhausting memory. Fingers crossed simply this and no further issues.
  I decided to post here before just doing stuff. Someone with basic tech knowledge such as myself, can be easily lead to "just reboot it" as first troubleshooting. I wanted to make sure there wasn't something more I could do. Turns out 'something more' I could have done was back-up.
  
  As per advice from StephenB , I'll attempt a reboot into read only mode and see where things lead from there.
  All going well, there will be a new discussion to be had about the initial issue which was the continuous I/O noise from the unit.
  
  Thanks once again.
Sheen
Aspirant
Jan 27, 2021
The plot thickens.
The power button did not provide a way to shut down. So I had to pull the cable. I reconnected the cable and prepared for the paperclip/powerbutton routine in the manual. The unit just powered up on its own instead. It did not wait for me to press the power button.

So now its performing a regular boot, but its taking its time from 39% onwards. It stayed on 39% for around 5 minutes and has progressed to 41%. When I single press the power button, the display changes from showing "booting" to "systemd-journald" its been like this for a further few minutes. Now when I press the button again it does not change back to "booting". The disk activity light is solid again. I do not hear any disk activitiy like I was when it was on 39%. Perhaps its frozen all over again? Will leave as is for a while and monitor.

Please chime in if you have other advice.
- Sheen
  Aspirant
  Jan 27, 2021
  Ok good news this time.
  Via a regular boot which I accidentally performed, it was stuck on 41% boot and became unresponsive again. Begrudgingly I pulled the plug a second time and started in read only mode.
  SUCCESS! The NAS booted. I can reach the interface and also browse the data from my Windows computer.
  Time to back up! I'll back up to a NAS connected USB device in the first instance, then to cloud for important stuff.
  
  Whats the advice for where I go from there? How do I get a regular boot up to occur when I'm ready to try that?
  - StephenB
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jan 27, 2021
    Sheen wrote:
    
    Time to back up! I'll back up to a NAS connected USB device in the first instance, then to cloud for important stuff.
    
    Use NTFS formatting for the USB drive, so you can access it from the PC. Note that if you are using drag and drop, it will be faster to connect the USB drive to the PC. Ideally you'd use ethernet. If you are using a NAS backup job, then connecting the drive to the NAS makes sense.
    
    Sheen wrote:
    
    Whats the advice for where I go from there? How do I get a regular boot up to occur when I'm ready to try that?
    
    I'd start by downloading the log zip file, and look for disk-related errors. You can ask the mods ( JohnCM_S and Marc_V ) to analyze the log zip. You'd
    
    put the log zip into cloud storage (onedrive, google drive, etc).
    
    send them a private message (PM) using the envelope icon in the upper right of the forum page.
    
    include a download link to the log zip, and an link to this thread.
    
    Don't post the log zip publicly.
    
    If the disks are healthy, the likely next step would be to do a factory reset. You'd want to back up everything to local storage if you can (as cloud backup/restore is usually quite a bit slower than local storage).