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Forum Discussion
stevenvi
Aug 20, 2022Aspirant
ReadyNAS RN214 "No IP Address" message
This sounds like the same issue seen in these two unresolved threads: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS-in-Business/No-IP-Address-Readynas-214/td-p/2185847 https://community.net...
- Aug 23, 2022
Is RAIDar seeing the NAS?
I didn't try using RAIDar because I've always had trouble trying to get Java to work properly in macOS. And I wouldn't expect a piece of software to be able to see something connected to the router which the router cannot.
The "connect cable after boot completes" solution didn't seem to work for me either. So it seems this device is, at the moment, unusable.
But I have solved the problem of getting access to my data ReadyNAS uses standard off-the-shelf Linux Software RAID -- at least it did with the RAID-5 configuration I was using. So with a desktop computer that has adequate SATA ports, you can easily access your data. What follows is a bit technical, and if you don't have experience with Linux you'll want to find someone who does to help you as I'm just going to gloss over a lot of the finer details here.
What I did:
- Connected all four hard drives from the NAS to an old retired desktop computer
- Booted with a Knoppix boot thumb drive that I already had sitting around
At boot, everything will be auto-detected. This model of ReadyNAS had three RAID partitions:
- /dev/md0
- /dev/md1
- /dev/md127
md127 is where your data is. I mounted it read-only to verify that everything was working well, then I proceeded to set up this machine as my new NAS. So I:
- Removed all hard drives and connected a spare drive as the new main drive.
- This isn't required, but I didn't want to make any mistakes and accidentally clobber one of my data drives. Technically I could have used one of the other partitions for the OS, similar to how the ReadyNAS was doing it, but again, I didn't want to risk making a mistake. The data was worth more than the spare drive to me.
- Installed a fresh copy of Debian
- Set up SSH for remote access
- Installed mdadm to work with the RAID
- Disabled auto-suspend
- Re-attached data drives (when powered down)
- Verified I can mount the RAID as expected
- Added the RAID to /etc/fstab to auto-mount on boot
- Installed and configured Samba so I can access my data as network shares
I haven't yet investigated a solution for notifications on disk errors, but that should be possible to configure as well. I wasn't running any apps on my ReadyNAS, so I didn't have anything to migrate over for those, though you can install a Plex server on this new device as well if you like.
StephenB
Aug 20, 2022Guru - Experienced User
stevenvi wrote:
I would use both addresses on the LAN to be able to have two SMB connections open simultaneously in Windows. Does that imply they were not bonded?
Yes.
stevenvi wrote:
StephenB wrote:Instead of the dummy disk, I suggest powering down and removing the disks. Then power up diskless and see if you get an IP address. Label the disks by slot as you remove them.
Yep, I tried this. It still does the same thing. "No IP Address". Only difference is that rather than showing the name I gave the NAS, it shows (I believe) the last 3 octets in the primary NIC's MAC.
It does sound like a failed NIC, although I wouldn't normally expect the link light to be lighting up in that case.
Is RAIDar seeing the NAS?
stevenvi
Aug 23, 2022Aspirant
Is RAIDar seeing the NAS?
I didn't try using RAIDar because I've always had trouble trying to get Java to work properly in macOS. And I wouldn't expect a piece of software to be able to see something connected to the router which the router cannot.
The "connect cable after boot completes" solution didn't seem to work for me either. So it seems this device is, at the moment, unusable.
But I have solved the problem of getting access to my data ReadyNAS uses standard off-the-shelf Linux Software RAID -- at least it did with the RAID-5 configuration I was using. So with a desktop computer that has adequate SATA ports, you can easily access your data. What follows is a bit technical, and if you don't have experience with Linux you'll want to find someone who does to help you as I'm just going to gloss over a lot of the finer details here.
What I did:
- Connected all four hard drives from the NAS to an old retired desktop computer
- Booted with a Knoppix boot thumb drive that I already had sitting around
At boot, everything will be auto-detected. This model of ReadyNAS had three RAID partitions:
- /dev/md0
- /dev/md1
- /dev/md127
md127 is where your data is. I mounted it read-only to verify that everything was working well, then I proceeded to set up this machine as my new NAS. So I:
- Removed all hard drives and connected a spare drive as the new main drive.
- This isn't required, but I didn't want to make any mistakes and accidentally clobber one of my data drives. Technically I could have used one of the other partitions for the OS, similar to how the ReadyNAS was doing it, but again, I didn't want to risk making a mistake. The data was worth more than the spare drive to me.
- Installed a fresh copy of Debian
- Set up SSH for remote access
- Installed mdadm to work with the RAID
- Disabled auto-suspend
- Re-attached data drives (when powered down)
- Verified I can mount the RAID as expected
- Added the RAID to /etc/fstab to auto-mount on boot
- Installed and configured Samba so I can access my data as network shares
I haven't yet investigated a solution for notifications on disk errors, but that should be possible to configure as well. I wasn't running any apps on my ReadyNAS, so I didn't have anything to migrate over for those, though you can install a Plex server on this new device as well if you like.
- StephenBAug 23, 2022Guru - Experienced User
stevenvi wrote:
/dev/md127
md127 is where your data isThis does depend on the history of expansion with XRAID. If you have (or ever had) unequal disk sizes, or ever expanded your volume, then there will be multiple RAID groups (other /dev/md1xx) holding your data that need to be aggregated into your data volume.
In those situations you need to do a btrfs device scan before you mount /dev/md127
Also, for any others that want to try this, of course you do need to make sure both mdadm and btrfs are installed on the linux system you are using..
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