In the section "To boot your desktop model ReadyNAS from USB:" first it says hold the Backup button. Then for 2-bay models it says to hold the Reset button. Must be an error because the Reset button takes you to the boot menu.
And this provided my friends and I with quite a few laughs: "Try several different USB drives until the ReadyNAS completes the recovery process." Is there some sort of QVL for acceptable flash drives???
I ran out of patience (and beer) at about 24 trys with units ranging in age from 1 to 12 years
and capacities from 512MB to 32GB and various allocation unit sizes during format.
Nearly everything I try, this procedure included, ends in about 6 seconds
with a rapidly flashing power LED.
And I have yet to find any documentation on what behavior I should expect from the LEDs while running BOOT MENU > MEMORY TEST. I have only found "Ask NetGear." I'm asking.
I really hate to give up on this... but it is looking more and more like a brick.
Extra Credit Question: On the back panel is a small sticker near the Ethernet port. It covers a 4-pin header.
In the section "To boot your desktop model ReadyNAS from USB:" first it says hold the Backup button. Then for 2-bay models it says to hold the Reset button. Must be an error because the Reset button takes you to the boot menu.
Agreed. I think it is intending to tell you to hold the backup button for 30 seconds instead of 15. Though if you have a USB drive that has an activity light, that will tell you when the NAS begins booting from USB.
Re: USB Recovery and boot menu > memory test with reference to OS updates and making brick
Here is another datapoint:
Start memory test and POWER light, and ONLY the POWER light blinks for 5 1/2 hours. Then the unit powers off! I push the POWER button and the power LED flashes for about 6 seconds the stays on solid. In this state unit is unresponsive to ANY button.
I remove power from unit, hold the RESET button in, apply power and the unit powers up without touching the POWER button and enters the boot menu. Release RESET and select memory test. The 5 1/2 hour cycle repeats itself. I've tried this three times and it is always the same 5 1/2 hour cycle.
At this point I think all I am doing is carefully characterizing and documenting some bizarre path through the tall weeds the processor seems to have developed a penchant for. In other words, I am characterizing a broken unit.
It's just that... if it is that consistent doing these things... and it is doing them with some inscrutable purpose... I mean... it just seems like there is still some hope for it. It's alive, but in a different dimension that we can observe but not fully interact with.
Have you booted without the drives? How about when booting on Tech Support mode or SecureDiagnostic Mode does it give a code and RAIDar detects your NAS?
24 times trying to get USB recovery suceed is a red flag as it usually needs to get RMA. If RAIDar can detect it, it would be best to create a case so we can get ReadyNAS Support involve
Re: USB Recovery and boot menu > memory test with reference to OS updates and making brick
Reply to Marc_V:
Re: Have you booted without the drives? >Yes. In all possible combinations. >One blank drive, two blank drives, no drives, >original drives (one at a time and then together.)
Re: Tech Support mode >(Tested with & without drives) >Selecting this mode from boot menu yields: >Rapidly flashing POWER LED for about 6 seconds, then POWER LED remains on solid.
>Ethernet LED flashes with network traffic. With drives installed the 1 and 2 LEDs remain on solid.
>RAIDar 6.5 shows only the two functional RN102s on the network, but NOT the unit under test.
Re: If RAIDar can detect it [...] >That's a NO-GO for everything tried so far.
Re: RMA >Do you mean Return Materials Authorization? >Is such a thing possible on this way-out-of-warranty unit?
I haven't tried the serial port yet. What will I need to test that? What is the pinout of the 4 pin header? Any odd protocol?
ERRATA from an earlier post regarding my observation of the Ethernet LEDs in my network:
Currently, I am observing the link from the failed RN102 to a 1Gbps switch to be in the 1Gbps state.
I had previously reported only 100Mbps link state.
