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Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

Clammy
Tutor

Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

Hi, 

 

I have two Ready Nas 6 series devices, the Pro 6000 and a 6310, both long out of warranty.  I took them out of storage and put 4tb Drives in both of them but when I try to turn them on, they either spin up for a few seconds then die or won't turn on at all.  I was trying to figure out why and I discovered that if I pull one or two drives out it'll turn on. It doesn't matter which one or two.  One of them one of the drives that I have to pull out to get it working is one on a replaced drive sled (the originals were the ones with the paperclip button to release and I had to replace one with a newer slide button release type sled).  It doesn't matter which hard drive is in that sled but if that sled is in, it doesn't power on or shuts off after a few seconds.  I don't see how the sled makes any difference and when I look in the case, it does seem that the sled still slides the drive in tightly. 

 

Both of these used to have slower 3tb drives in them.  Is this a power issue?  Are the drives drawing too much power?  I originally thought it was a dead PSU and ordered another one but it turns out they will turn on, just not with all the drives in or that particular sled.  

 

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. 

Model: RNDP6000|ReadyNAS Pro 6 Chassis only
Message 1 of 11
StephenB
Guru

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues


@Clammy wrote:

One of them one of the drives that I have to pull out to get it working is one on a replaced drive sled (the originals were the ones with the paperclip button to release and I had to replace one with a newer slide button release type sled).  It doesn't matter which hard drive is in that sled but if that sled is in, it doesn't power on or shuts off after a few seconds.  I don't see how the sled makes any difference and when I look in the case, it does seem that the sled still slides the drive in tightly. 

 

Both of these used to have slower 3tb drives in them.  Is this a power issue?  Are the drives drawing too much power? 


This is happening in both NAS?  With different disks in different trays?

 

What happens if you try putting just the one tray in the NAS (leaving the others empty) and then power it up?

Are the symptoms different when you switch that drive to a different tray, and power it up again?

 

FWIW, this sounds like an issue with the replacement sled.

Message 2 of 11
Clammy
Tutor

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

Both NASes won't power on or will shut off after a few seconds with all the drives in.  I have to remove 1 or 2 drives for them to turn on.  It doesn't matter which drive, I've switched the drives on the sleds around and it didn't matter.  

 

Only one of them has a replacement sled and if that sled was in, it would shut off or not turn on.  But even with that one out, I'd have to remove 1 or 2 more drives to get it to turn on.

 

I have tried to take all drives out and just put 1 in, and it will turn on and stay on.  I can't seem to find any sort of common problem.  It's sometimes it won't turn on at all even with just 4 drives in, and I have to pop a drive out and put it back in then it'll turn on or unplug the power and try again.  

 

This is really annoying since it's happening on TWO NASes.  I'm just glad my primary right now is NOT a netgear.  

 

Message 3 of 11
StephenB
Guru

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues


@Clammy wrote:

 

Only one of them has a replacement sled and if that sled was in, it would shut off or not turn on.  But even with that one out, I'd have to remove 1 or 2 more drives to get it to turn on.

 


That is a little more clear.  So the replacement sled isn't working properly.  Is this from a Netgear NAS?  Does it have a part number you can share?   Maybe also post a photo.  There are a few trays out there, and it is possible you have one that wasn't designed for the Pro.

 


@Clammy wrote:

Both NASes won't power on or will shut off after a few seconds with all the drives in.  I have to remove 1 or 2 drives for them to turn on. 

 


This would be the real problem then?  This does sound like the power supplies might have failed - though odd that this would happen to both NAS.  Are you certain these were working properly when they were stored?

 

It might be worth opening the chassis, and check the cabling.  There are three molex connectors from the supply that go to the top of the NAS, and it is conceivable that one of them became loose or was damaged in storage.  Though normally they are pretty tight.

 

Since you already have a PSU on order, you can of course confirm by installing the new one.

 


@Clammy wrote:

 

This is really annoying since it's happening on TWO NASes.  I'm just glad my primary right now is NOT a netgear.  


I get it is annoying, but the build quality of the Pro-6 is actually quite good.  Still, components do fail, and you are talking about NAS that are getting pretty old (7-12 years).

 

Though I agree it is unusual that you'd have two NAS that both have this particular symptom - which is why I am wondering about their history.  Were you the original purchaser?  How and where were they stored?

 

Message 4 of 11
Clammy
Tutor

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

The sled does not have a part number on it, I don't recall where I got it but I do recall it was a bit difficult to find at the time.  It's exactly the same size as the other sleds and when I put a hard drive in there, it sits exactly the same amount out as the other sleds so I'm not sure why the sled would cause a problem.  It's only a physical component that holds the drive in place and as far as I can tell, it's identical to my other sleds.  

 

I am the original owner of the pro 6 and the second owner of the older 6310.  They were both working before I stored them away.  I put 4x 4tb drives into the 6pro and had 6x 3tb drives into the 6310.  Both had the raids built and I used them to backup my current active raid device.  They were stored in the corner of a closet in a box.  I have no concern for the data on there.  When I pulled them out last weekend, I replaced the 3tb drives in teh 6310 with 6x 4tb drives and the pro 6 wouldn't turn on at all.  The 6310 did turn on at first but eventually shut off on it's own then the problems began.  The pro 6, I thought had a bad psu so I ordered one, then discovered that if I popped the drives out it would boot.  I forgot to mention the pro 6 doesn't even have all 6 drives, just 4x.  

 

I did open the both chasis to check for cabling issues, all cables seem to be secure.  

 

To be honest, I don't care so much about the 6310, but I don't think the pro 6 should have out lived it's usefulness less than 3 years after warranty. It's also strange that both seem to have nearly identical problems.  There's quite a few threads about PSUs going even while under warranty and they both of have identifical PSUs.  However, they were working before being stored away so it's not even like the PSUs are dying under use or load.  

 

I do hope it is JUST the PSU but that's still crap for quality. I'm still waiting on it to arrive.  Otherwise, I hope it's just some configuration issue or something.  I tried a factory reset on the 6310 with one drive in there, the problems persisted once I put the other drives back in. 

 

Message 5 of 11
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

If the replacement caddy is from a NAS that was designed for OS6 (includes the toolless plastic insert), then it will not properly seat in a legacy NAS.  But I can't even got one of those fully into a Pro6, so I don't think that's your issue.  Legacy caddies with the square button are compatible with legacy NAS all the way back to the NV and there is no problem mixing the two button types.  So that makes me wonder what could be wrong with your specific caddy.

 

Your main issue does sound like power, so the replacement supply is your best next step unless you have a spare ATX12V supply you can try mounted externally.

 

If it was possible the storage temperature got close to or below freezing, that can be bad on solder joints, especially several cycles between very cold and hot.  But from your description, I don't think that's the case.  I don't know of any other likely failure mode due to storage.  But there have been reports that changing the button cell has helped with boot issues (though I can't explain why), so that could be worth a try.  Maybe even just remove it.

Message 6 of 11
Clammy
Tutor

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

The closet it was stored in never gets below freezing because my rack is in there.  I actually have a vent and fan so it doesn't get much over 85 (or ambient house temperature above that) because it gets warm.    

 

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean about the button cell?

Message 7 of 11
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

The button cell is the small button-sized battery.  While I have always thought it only powered the clock when the unit is off, there have been reports that replacing it has solved a booting issue.  Perhaps something odd happens if it's low, but not quite dead.  In storage that long with the clocks running on the battery, it is quite likely that they are dead, or nearly so.

 

I purchased a used NAS with no button cell at all, and had completely set it up before I even realized it.  The tell-tale sign was that the first time/date in the log after each power-on was way off.  So, just removing it (and thus not being in some "no man's land" between full and zero voltage) could be a good test.

Message 8 of 11
Clammy
Tutor

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

Oh, I replaced those batteries while troubleshooting.  They have brand new CR2032 batteries.

Message 9 of 11
Clammy
Tutor

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues

UPDATE: 

 

It looks like it was the power supply on BOTH of them.  I ordered one and hooked it up to one of the NASes and it turned on fine and synced fine.  After a day, I shut it off and moved the new power supply to the other NAS and it's been fine for a day as well.  I ordered a second PSU for the other NAS.  So both powersupplies died or started dying while in storage.  I don't know if that speaks to bad quality control or just cheap parts.

Message 10 of 11
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Ready NAS 6 Series power issues


@Clammy wrote:

So both power supplies died or started dying while in storage.  I don't know if that speaks to bad quality control or just cheap parts.


I don't think it speaks to either, I think it speaks to your expectations vs. what the design life is.  They have given you quite a good term of service.  Would you expect the same from a desktop PC?  The NAS is really just a specialized PC.  That the (not manufactured by Netgear) power supply is the only thing wrong actually says a lot that's positive.  That it's a standard sized power supply you can replace also says a lot, as does the fact that the NAS is even up to the task of today's networking environment.

 

Just like with a living thing, for electronics, every hour is one approaching death.  So the problem didn't start in storage, it started during operation.  It was just at a level that did not halt operation when you retired the units.

 

Electrolytic capacitors do have a shelf life, and there are a lot of them in a power supply.  Some failure modes of electrolytics are worse when powered off than when powered on.  If an electrolytic has already started to swell in use, opening up a crack through which it can dry out, then the effects of time will be made worse yet, though it probably would have failed in use as well.  This is the most likely scenario.

 

There are not a lot of other things that can cause damage in storage (assuming proper temperature range, no shocks/vibration, etc.), but vermin is one.  Cockroaches, in particular, are known to eat some types of insulation.  And any organic material (feces or dead insects) can cause a short.

Message 11 of 11
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