ReadyNAS Business Pro Power Supply Replacement

[linkup1]

Earlier this year my ReadyNAS got double booted in a very short period of time following a power outage that lasted longer than my backup.  Afterwards it appeared the PS was dead.  I did diligent research here and found a suggestion to buy a Kentec power supply.  Although I should have read more, I assumed a PS reccomendation would be plug and play, although I saw some wiring changes would need to be made.  I assumed the PS itself would bolt right in.  Turns out the sizes are very different.  I am writing this to get the word out in case others think they need to buy the Kentec.  

I hadn't taken my PS out, so I read you could only get them in Europe for a higher price than the Kentec and would still have to get it shipped.  Thinking the Kentec would bolt right in and I only needed to solder a couple wires, I ordered one.  Unfortunately that was in June and now it is August and I am trying to put it in and finding the two boxes are totally different.  Now that I had my PS out, a Seasonic SS-300SFD, I googled it, and sure enough, they are at Newegg and who knows where else...  $39 and free shipping and the Kentec was $28.  Is it worth dealing with an incompatible box to save $12...

Turns out that since I waited two months to install it, I can no longer return the Kentec.  At this point I am debating having a new PS that is now a door stop, and spend the additional $39 to get the right PS.

I could no longer respond to the topics where this PS was suggested, so I am creating a new topic to raise the question of why someone would suggest a physically incompatible drive to save $12?  I guess another option is to have the PS hang out the back somewhere....

As an aside, the Seasonic is 300W and the suggested replacement Kentec is 250W.

Please explain what I am not getting here and why this Kentec was suggested, and are people really using these as replacements?

Thanks!

[linkup1]

I did more searching and found a prevous link where I brought up the PS issue:  https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Hardware-Compatibility/NVX-Business-Edition-RNDX4210-won-t...

In that link it was suggested I buy the PS from Europe and the replacement on that link looks similar to the Kentek it was suggested I buy, but neither of those two supplies are similar to the one I took out, not would they fit in my case.

Seems there is some confusion here on what PS goes in what case, and that might be the source for the problem of getting the wrong PS suggested.  I have a RNDP6350 Business Pro.  It is a squarish PS with a fan covering most of one side which faces the back of the NAS and a modified AC connector to allow for a different switch mounting, with the PS's own switch left to ON.  Here is a picture showing what I was told to buy and the one I took out for comparison.  Having watched some videos and read more, it appears along the line the PS style was changed.  Don't assume you are being told the right information for a replacement, pull it out and check and then compare it to what is being reccomended.  

Anyone want to buy a new Kentek PS at a discount 😞

[Sandshark]

The post you referenced is for replacing the supply in an NVX, a 4-bay legacy system.  Your 6-bay Pro takes an entirely different form factor, wiring, and wattage.

You need an SFX form factor power supply with at least 300W.  The Seasonic is recommended if you can get one (it is apparently hard to get in some European countries).  You must not change the wiring as is listed for the 4-bay supply in the reference message, but you will need a 6-inch standard 24-pin ATX extension.  You may want to transfer the 90° Molex connectors from the old supply to the new to reduce the wire length for those connections and make installation a little cleaner.

[linkup1]

Happens the Seasonic SS-300SFD is readily available and I sure wish I had looked at what I had before ordering the wrong PS.

The new Seasonic PS, like you mentioned, has different wiring.  I mistakenly bought a 20-pin power extension so I am considering just splicing in wire to extend the ATX connector.

The new PS has three drive power connectors.  Two have the double 4-pin Molex with the smaller style 4-pin connector on the end, like for floppies.  The third power cable has a pair of SATA power connectors instead.  Assuming no wiring changes were done like with the other NAS, I think I can get from A to Z.

Thanks.

[Sandshark]

No changes to the pin-out on this one.  I've done three now, and I always cut down the wires for the 4-pin and SATA drives and move the 90° Molex connectors to them just to make the install cleaner.  But using 3 of the existing Molex connectors and shoehorning the wiring in works fine, just be careful not to let the fan hit anything.  If you decide to go with the extension instead of adding wire, you can clip off the side clips designed for chassis mounting and it will lay flat between the motherboard and case.  I normally use aluminum duct tape to close off the holes left by removing the harness retention device and double-sticky tape down the connector, but that's not really necessary, either.

[linkup1]

Thanks for the info.....  I was reading elsewhere that some people were having a problem with a delayed start.  I was wondering if mine was just having a delayed started or if in fact the PS or something is bad.  So I installed the original PS back in but even when I wait, it is just dead.  No sign of life.  Turns out I had ordered a 20-pin ATX PS extension so I am sending it back and have a 24-pin one coming.  I am going to try and hook it up outside the case to see if it gets the system to turn on.  I am so nervous something other than the PS is bad.  

I made a mistake and didn't pay much attention to the two ten-pin connections that you need to disconnect to get the PS connector and RAM out.  I am hoping they only go back one way, with the shorter one going on top and the longer one going on the bottom?

I also read about people having issues due to an old or dead MOBO battery, the CR2032, so I also replaced that.  I am about ready to rest the system with the new PS connected outside the case, but I hope I hear from someone that the 10-pin connectors connect as I expected them to.

I also saw a write-up about the CPU fan being incorrectly connected to the mobo instead of to the IO card.  This article tells you to move the CPU fan to the io card.

https://kb.netgear.com/12240/Service-Action-for-x86-ReadyNAS-Pro-CPU-fan-speed-control

However, the CPU fan cable is 4-connector, and it is being moved to a 3-connector jack?  I am sure the 4-pin connector will plug into the 3-pin connector, but it means one of the fan wires won't be connected?  Has anyone done this change?  If it allows the CPU fan to run slower, it will extend it's life and reduce system noise.  Did you make this change too?  Thanks sir!

[Sandshark]

If you have a 4-pin CPU fan, that service action does not apply to you.  Leave the CPU fan where it is.

I have never had to disconnect any connectors to get to the power connector or RAM out.  With the NAS on it's side, motherboard up, and looking from the front, I assume you mean the ones to the left of the RAM.  The left-most of those two connects to a sleeved cable that's toward the far left front of the unit (goes into display area).  The right one connects to a cable closer to the middle.  The wire with the red (pin 1) on each goes in the upper left position.

[linkup1]

Awesome, I have the wires right then....that is where they seemed to want to go.  The problem with the PS power connector was that it was really tight, didn't want to unplug.  You only want to pull on a connector so much when you chance damaging the socket or the motherboard itself.  I felt it more prudent to move those two cables aside and pull the RAM to allow me to pry the connector off.  I am more about prying than pulling with fragile devices, not knowing how well the socket is soldered to the mobo, how many thicknesses the mobo is, how much torque it can take before giving up, and I don't want to find out.  Furthermore, it is more problematic as the wires come off to the side, not straight out from the plug, making the connector to pull unevenly.

Thanks for the info on the fan article.  The article should have said it was for 3-wire fans only.  Simple line of text to add to clarify things.

Well, I did it.  I have temporarily plugged the PS into the NAS, hangin off the side.  I can report it attempted to boot up, found that all the bays were empty, and of course boot failed due to it not detecting a drive.  Easier to work on the system without drives in it so I will leave them out until I have it wired up.

Does it matter what bays the drives all go back in?  I had them neatly stacked in their sequence, but since this has taken so long, they have been moved and their sequence is gone.  Will it figure out the logical drive sequence, not mattering their physical sequence?  As soon as I get it going, I want to upgrade two of the 2TB drives for 8TB drives.  I have some WD Reds to shuck.

I am so happy to see the console glowing again, thanks VERY much!

[Sandshark]

It is best to return the drives to their original positions, though it should work in any order.  The OS partition is duplicated on all drives.  If you have an old log zip file and are running OS6, you can look at disk_info.log and it will have the drive information in it by channel.  If you are still running 4.2.x, you can get the information from disk_smart.log, but there is a lot more data to plow through.

[linkup1]

Don't know that I have a log file, or where I would have put it.  Hate to get this far and not have it work because I didn't keep track of what drives were in what slots.  I got the 24-pin extension today and just a minute ago fired it up, sans drives, to see if it would still turn on which it did.  Thanks so much for everything...

[linkup1]

I put the NAS back together and for now at least, I didn't move the Molex connectors over.  I stuck the extra wiring behind the PS as the PS doesn't have rear vent holes and it looked I could still get good airfflow to the drives.  With the extension, the 24-pin cable reached and the 4-pin was longer than the old 4-pin so it didn't need extending.

Anyway, was trying to find a log file or any information on what drives went where.  I stuck the drives in on a best guess basis, hoping it didn't matter what drive was in what bay.  The NAS was just sitting there and all of a sudden I heard it turn itself on.  I just about fainted.  Anyway, it came up just fine, looking like it always did.  I can guarantee you the drives weren't in the right bays, but it figured things out on it's own.

I had previous upgraded from OS4 to OS6.5 and now it is asking to upgrade itself to 6.8.  Should I leave it at 6.5 or is there some compelling reasons to upgrade to 6.8?  Thanks again!

[Sandshark]

There are reasons to go beyond 6.5, but there are some issues with 6.8.  If I were you, I'd wait till 6.8.1 and in the meantime make sure everything is working well.

Glad to hear everything worked out.