ReadyNV: Can´t get out the Tray...

marc.gayle wrote:
Does anyone have that picture that was posted before? Because now the thumbnail is broken and my trays are stuck :(

Image is restored.

I have the exact same problem and it's really frustrating. I managed to eject the drives using method 'B' but every button is totally frozen. This only occurs on the 3 drives installed, the spare was difficult to open but it eventually did normally with a lot of pressure on the button. I removed each drive and took off the plastic latch mechanism and they are all still permanently stuck. Toggling the lock on the back of the latch does nothing.

I have the NV and paid a lot of money for it. It's frustrating that I can't remove the drives and it's obvious that the release buttons freeze after time, which in my mind means they are defective. Having to stick something into the openings to get the drives out is lame. Is there any possibility of replacing the 4 defective latch mechanisms? I could also repair them with instructions, but it's not obvious how to disassemble them and/or lubricate them.

Thanks,

Jeff

I had the same problem with a drive try since I bought mine. I fixed it permanently using the following method (this may void your warrenty). It's a bit long, but I tried to be descriptive at possible.

You will need:
#2 philips screwdriver (+)
1.4mm screwdriver (-)
small file (very fine grain), or sand paper (400+ grit)
touch of lubrication oil (plastic safe)
touch of locktight for plastics (optional)
Towels, water, and a touch of patience

1) shutdown NAS, pull sticky tray using the method above.

2) remove the drive, put it in a ASB (anti-static bag)

3) There are 2 screws inside the tray at the front, remove these with a #2 philips screwdriver. Be careful, it's only screwed into plastic - stripping the plastic will make getting it back together much harder (i.e. filler and drilling) let the screwdriver do the work. You might need to torque it a bit to start.

4) With a slight tug, the front piece should come out, on the back there is a small spring. I removed this by using a 1.4mm screwdriver, putting it into the spring (not the looped end) and gently pulling back and up to pop the spring off the latch without damaging it. Leave the spring attached at the other end.

5) Remove the front button panel. You will notice (on the reverse side of the button) that there are two hooks holding the front panel button onto the front plate (ignore the hooks near the spring you just detached for now); these hooks are about 1/4" long Using the 1.4mm screwdriver, gently slide the blade into the edge, and gently pry so the latch moves towards the center of the panel. Do NOT twise the blade, just use the side of the panel as leverage. I used another small screwdriver (paperclip will do) to push down on the front panel button piece (through the hole) at the same time. This allowed the hook to slide down and remained unlatched while I worked on the other side. Repeat for the otherside and gently push out with the screwdriver. This should come out with the following parts:
- front button panel
- front button
- front button latch piece (a small angled plastic piece on the back of the button)
- 2x springs

6) Remove the latch from the panel. The latch is the piece which you detached the first spring from. This should be easy now that you have already removed the front panel button. Use the same process (gentle pressure, and pushing) to pop out the piece. There are 4 latches on this piece. You should have:
- latch
- latch spring

7) How it works: There is a angled piece (front button latch piece) that sets against a post behind the button, which is free floating. The angle faces out, away from the center of the button. The latch piece fits snugly against this, with a corresponding angled piece to rub against the front button latch piece. This also lays flat against the back of the button. In an optimal situation, this latch should move freely with little resistance; with a total travel of 1/16" or so of movement. In my case, this piece was very tight and could not move properly.

8 ) First, use the lubrication oil (very small amount) and lube the latch piece and the area where that lands on the back of the button. Try moving the latch again. If it does not make the movement easy, go to step 8A, otherwise move to step 9.

8A) Since the oil failed, remove the front panel latch piece from the back of the button, and get your small file / sandpaper. Carefully sand the sides of the small end of the latch piece (the sides that touch the edge of the front panel latch piece, not the side that touches the back of the front button. Also carefully sand the inside edges of the stabilizing brackets on either side of the back of the button (where the small end of the latch piece touches it). You should remove the front button latch piece before doing so (and replace it when you are done). Make sure to continually refit the pieces and check for smoothness; you probably won't have to do all of this to make it work. It shouldn't take much filing to get the pieces to fit smoothly. Once completed, blow out bits and use towels / water to clean the plastic bits, and put a touch more oil in for good luck.

9) Re-assemble the latch and the front panel. Take the latch and snap it in to the front panel. You shouldn't be able get this this back in wrong. The small end of the latch should be near where the button will be, with the angled piece facing towards the front. Using the 1.4mm screwdriver, re-mount the spring for the latch.

10) Re-assemble the front button panel. Place the front panel piece face down on the table. There is a straight end and a slightly angled end. Take your button, and place it into the back of the front button panel, so that the angled front panel button latch piece is facing the angled edge of the front panel (the angled latch piece on the back of the button should be facing the angled piece on the front panel. Place the springs on the spring mounts for the front panel. Carefully pickup the front panel, keeping it upside down, and put it into the front piece. The angled piece of the front panel should be placed against the raised section of the front piece. Carefully push the pieces together, making sure that you don't dislodge the front panel latch piece; also make sure the springs get into there respective spring mounts in the front piece.

11) Test it! press the button, you should see the latch move; now with little effort. close the handle and try it again. If it doesn't work properly, you need to make more adjustments and test more carefully before putting it back together.

12) Re-assemble hard-drive carriage. Place the metal disk tray on the table, with the open side facing up, and the small metal side facing left. Place the front panel on the table with the button away from you. Push the two pieces together, and you should see two tabs go into the hard-drive tray. Use the #2 philips screwdriver and screw the tray it. Just make it tight, too much pressure will strip the plastic. You can use locktight to make sure the front panel mounting screws don't come out; you'll be fine without it though.

13) All done! Test fit the fixed tray in your NAS. Should work great!

Just throwing in my experience - needed to check something, and noticed that all four of my drive trays were stuck. Was able to get them out (after trying aimlessly to figure it out myself) by using method "B" above - a push pin works better than a paper clip, as the paper clip bends.

I'm too cheap to buy new trays, as I suspect that the new trays will have the same problem, and I ultimately suspect that dust is the issue, as has been mentioned (and there is/was a decent amount of dust inside). But I can make do with a push pin for the amount of times I have to pull out the disks - which is rarely.

Still, it would be nice if it would be fixed/if existing customers would be taken care of, because as was mentioned, these weren't cheap (and the drive trays are).

jayseae wrote:
Still, it would be nice if it would be fixed/if existing customers would be taken care of, because as was mentioned, these weren't cheap (and the drive trays are).

Hmm. I disagree. You are paying less for a very compact quiet NAS, opposed to a server grade, rackmount NAS that normally requires an ton of extra space, power and AC. The problem I see here is that the latching mechanism has been designed to be extremely compact; the tolerances are super tight. For instance, the tolerances for the sliding mechanisms in the button are just a few thousandths of an inch, whereas in server/production level stuff I've seen, the latching mechanism has exaggerated latching movements (easily 1/2" to an 1" of latch movement), which make dust and heat expansion issues irrelevant. These NAS's are cheap compared to the production level stuff.

I personally don't see a problem here. You're paying for a small compact consumer NAS, and there are trade-offs that are included with that purchase. You're trading reliability for space; for instance, a single fan at low RPM to cool the drives, a single low wattage PSU, and compact plastic trays to lock the drives in place. You'd need to have at least two of these (fan's, PSU's) to have true redundancy. I do think that there are definite things that could be done to improve the NAS, though honestly I don't feel like they are critical flaws that need to be addressed.

I think they did make correct decisions on what to focus build costs on. What's more important, all your drives getting the correct amount of power, and your NAS CPU have enough horsepower to handle all of the services it provides, so you can actually retrieve your data; or the physical latching mechanism, which in all intents and purposes for their documentation, seemed like they assumed it would only be used once or twice (maybe they found that this wasn't exactly the use case); and really doesn't 'break' as to leave the drive physically stuck in the system.

Here's the list I have come up with at the top of my head of things that could be improved on the NAS:
1) Remove the air filter on the front, it can't be removed/reinserted and cleaned easily and becomes ineffective after a few months, reducing airflow.
2) Replace the plastic drive latches with metal ones. This serves a dual purpose: The metal can effectively conduct more heat away from the drives by airflow and better conductivity (helping to fix the hot two middle drive problem); this can also include a re-designed tolerance for the latching mechanism which allows heat expansion, etc. The metal parts can be painted, so the finished front ends wouldn't look any different than they do now.
3) Create a new fan package that has dual fans in it, which will allow one fan to die and not risk the drives overheating; The only real solid way to do this is to also re-rev the PSU / controller board to handle a second fan.
4) Create a new PSU that has two PSU's together in the same package. Again, the only real way to do this it to re-rev the controller board backplane to allow two power sources and switching at once.
5) Dual controller boards and backplanes.

Of all of these, only 1 and 2 are really possible; the others require major re-design, and at that point, you are talking server grade solutions, as well as additional heat / power issues that need to be accommodated for.

Personally I would buy some redesigned trays, specifically for more heat transfer, if they were offered; but I don't think they will. I'm considering making my own metal frontends for the NAS.

I found that taking a small screwdriver and using the non-business end to push on the button will finally force the release of the mechanism. It just takes a steady hard push. :arrow: :naskiller:

All my trays are stuck and after I used a screw driver trick I noticed one latch inside is broken. Is there any service action to replace these? I purchased my NV+ on 15 February, 2006 and I believe it should be still under warranty.

Try calling support, numbers in my signature.

Just wanted to update you guys on the official position from NETGEAR. I just got off the phone with them and they claim that their engineers are working on a redesign of the Duo/NV+ drive trays. They wouldn't give me an exact time frame for the release of these new trays however...

They told me that when the new trays are available, we will be able to replace our under warranty sticking trays with the replacements.

Hope that info helps some of you. In the meantime, paper clip trick!

-Alex

For whatever it's worth 2 of 4 of my trays did this. Once netgear was kind enough to replace and I'm not sure I feel like going through the hassle of returning the other one.

Looking forward to a new, working tray design,
Mark