HiI have an Ultra 6 that I wanted to reformat. I had an error that 2 drives needed to be replaced, which I did, but saw a message that Volume C was not good. I had already moved all my data to another NAS drive so I was ready to just boot to factory default and reformat all drives anyways (I wanted to format differently than what it was before). I cannot get it to boot to the boot menu to choose factory defaults. Holding the paper clip in the reset button and all the display ever says is "ReadyNAS". Won't go to the boot menu. Any help?

try going to boot menu without disks to check the chassis.make sure you are following the correct procedure to access boot menu: http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/21107-turn off unit-hold reset-turn unit on-wait until boot menu shows up on screen-use backup button to navigate-press reset button once to confirm

You can also connect the drives to a PC and delete the partitions. Then if you install them back in the NAS and boot up, it will do a factory install.

Thanks StephenB - I'm going to try to boot with all the disks out over the weekend. And if it still won't boot? Can't log in with a PC since I'm all Mac here :D

If the unit wont boot, there should be something wrong with the chassis. You may have to call in for replacement.

TrueDMBfan wrote:Thanks StephenB - I'm going to try to boot with all the disks out over the weekend. And if it still won't boot?It won't boot w/o disks (the OS is installed on the disks).If you have a scratch disk, you can try deleting the partitions on that (or zeroing the drive with low-level tools). Then just insert the single drive as a test. This should be possible on a Mac, I just don't know how (I'm a windows user).Nhellie wrote:If the unit wont boot, there should be something wrong with the chassis. You may have to call in for replacement.Could be true, so if the unit is still under warranty it might be worth contacting support. Standard ultra warranty is 3 years.Though sometimes those paper-clip procedures are just tricky to execute.

ReadyNAS Ultra 6 won't boot | NETGEAR Communities

13 Replies

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Nhellie
Virtuoso
May 13, 2015
try going to boot menu without disks to check the chassis.

make sure you are following the correct procedure to access boot menu:

http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/21107

-turn off unit
-hold reset
-turn unit on
-wait until boot menu shows up on screen
-use backup button to navigate
-press reset button once to confirm
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
May 13, 2015
You can also connect the drives to a PC and delete the partitions. Then if you install them back in the NAS and boot up, it will do a factory install.
TrueDMBfan
Aspirant
May 15, 2015
Thanks StephenB - I'm going to try to boot with all the disks out over the weekend. And if it still won't boot? Can't log in with a PC since I'm all Mac here :D
Nhellie
Virtuoso
May 15, 2015
If the unit wont boot, there should be something wrong with the chassis. You may have to call in for replacement.
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
May 15, 2015
TrueDMBfan wrote:
Thanks StephenB - I'm going to try to boot with all the disks out over the weekend. And if it still won't boot?
It won't boot w/o disks (the OS is installed on the disks).

If you have a scratch disk, you can try deleting the partitions on that (or zeroing the drive with low-level tools). Then just insert the single drive as a test. This should be possible on a Mac, I just don't know how (I'm a windows user).

Nhellie wrote:
If the unit wont boot, there should be something wrong with the chassis. You may have to call in for replacement.
Could be true, so if the unit is still under warranty it might be worth contacting support. Standard ultra warranty is 3 years.

Though sometimes those paper-clip procedures are just tricky to execute.
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired
May 15, 2015
You can try accessing the boot menu with the disks removed. You may not be able to do much but it can help with isolating the problem.

Booting normally with no disks you should see an error about no disks being detected.
itsjasper
Luminary
May 15, 2015
Mac users can reformat the disk, just do a repartition with MBR in Disk Utility. It's worth investing in a USB drive dock to help with all the disk swapping.
StephenB
Guru - Experienced User
May 16, 2015
itsjasper wrote:
Mac users can reformat the disk, just do a repartition with MBR in Disk Utility. It's worth investing in a USB drive dock to help with all the disk swapping.
Generally its better to remove the partitions, not create new ones. Does the disk utility do that? Windows disk manager will.
itsjasper
Luminary
May 16, 2015
Repartition = i.e. create a new single partition. This is destructive and overwrites existing partition info.
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired
May 16, 2015
I believe you can delete all the partitions using Disk Utility. You certainly can using the Terminal.

You should delete all the partitions, not create a new one.