Upgrade to WD30EFRX drives is failing

[meisner]

ReadyNAS Ultra 2

RAIDiator 4.2.30 (Latest)

My old 3TB Seagates are failing so I am trying to replace them with WD WD30EFRX drives. The drives are supported according to the HCL (https://kb.netgear.com/20641/ReadyNAS-Hard-Disk-Compatibility-List?cid=wmt_netgear_organic) but they sure seem as though as they are not supported. I can hotswap drive 2 with a WD and let it rebuild the array against the old Seagate, but when I put a WD in slot 1, it won't start up. I just get the nas-XX-XX-XX boot prompt on port 23.

This is getting a bit urgent as I am getting more and more SMART errors on the old drives. Can someone please help me?!?!?

[meisner · Accepted solution]

Solutions to my original problem are spread out across multiple posts:

- Do a factory reset:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Hardware-Compatibility/Upgrade-to-WD30EFRX-drives-is-faili...

- I think using dd or hdparam is very useful:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Hardware-Compatibility/Upgrade-to-WD30EFRX-drives-is-faili...

- But I also feel the discovery I made was critical:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Hardware-Compatibility/Upgrade-to-WD30EFRX-drives-is-faili...

Thanks to all that helped out. Restore is complete and I have been running a couple of days now with the new drives. I even powered down to move the ReadyNAS into its permanent location.

[StephenB]

The WD30EFRX do work (I have 6 in my Pro-6).

Perhaps one of them is DOA?  Did you try testing the one in slot 1 with WDC's Lifeguard program?

If the one in slot-2 has synced, you can try powering down, removing the seagate, and then see if it boots.

[meisner]

I have not tried the Lifeguard program. Should I use that prior to expecting the drives to work in the ReadyNAS?

>> If the one in slot-2 has synced, you can try powering down, removing the seagate, and then see if it boots.

I did exactly that last night and it just went to the nas-XX-XX-XX boot menu (seen via telnet).

If I run the Seagate in slot 1 and either WDs in slot 2, it syncs. If I remove the Seagate, I get the boot menu only. I also tried just one of the WDs in slot 1 and that didn't work either.

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:

I have not tried the Lifeguard program. Should I use that prior to expecting the drives to work in the ReadyNAS?

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Sometimes drives are DOA, so I do run it if I have the time.

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@meisner wrote:

If I run the Seagate in slot 1 and either WDs in slot 2, it syncs. If I remove the Seagate, I get the boot menu only. I also tried just one of the WDs in slot 1 and that didn't work either.

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I suggest a full backup of the data (esp. since the Seagates are failing).

Then shut down the NAS,  put in both the WDs, and do a factory reset from the boot menu.  That will do a clean factory install.  If that works ok, then reconfigure the NAS and restore the data from the backup.
 

[meisner]

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@StephenB wrote:

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@meisner wrote:

I have not tried the Lifeguard program. Should I use that prior to expecting the drives to work in the ReadyNAS?

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Sometimes drives are DOA, so I do run it if I have the time.

If one (or both drives) were DOA, wouldn't they have problems sync'ing with my old Seagate? Neither had any problems sync'ing as drive 2.

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@meisner wrote:

If I run the Seagate in slot 1 and either WDs in slot 2, it syncs. If I remove the Seagate, I get the boot menu only. I also tried just one of the WDs in slot 1 and that didn't work either.

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I suggest a full backup of the data (esp. since the Seagates are failing).

Then shut down the NAS,  put in both the WDs, and do a factory reset from the boot menu.  That will do a clean factory install.  If that works ok, then reconfigure the NAS and restore the data from the backup.
 

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Sounds like an idea. When I connect to the telnet port, what is the login info? I tried my admin username & password, but that didn't work.

I will start the backup tonight and then follow your suggestions and then report back.

[Sandshark]

If you don't have a current backup (though you should), it could also be informative if you remove the current drives (marking their positions) and put in just the problematic WD in slot 1. 

If it weren't for the fact that the Seagates probably require more power for spin-up than the WD's, I'd say it could be a power issue.  I suppose it still could be if the WD's are more sensitive to undervoltage than the Seagates.

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:

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Sounds like an idea. When I connect to the telnet port, what is the login info? I tried my admin username & password, but that didn't work.

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You shouldn't be logging into the telnet port for this.  You use the factory default procedure described on page 12-13 here: http://www.readynas.com/download/documentation/HM/ReadyNAS_Ultra_UltraPlus_Pro_HW_13April11.pdf

The telnet connection is for Netgear tech support.

[StephenB]

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@Sandshark wrote:

If it weren't for the fact that the Seagates probably require more power for spin-up than the WD's, I'd say it could be a power issue.  I suppose it still could be if the WD's are more sensitive to undervoltage than the Seagates.

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Given that the seagates are failing, I am wondering if something is going wrong with the sync.

[meisner]

I have doen a full backup (which took almost 2 days to backup 1.5TB. I even used SS USB!). I booted into the OS Reinstall mode and I can hear the ReadyNAS reboots. It is sitting there seemingly doing nothing with disk 1 and 2 LEDs on and the power light off. Is this expected?

[meisner]

Found out why. It was sitting at the nas-XX-XX-XX (Netgear tech support mode) on telnet. Everything I have tried has got me nowhere...except I do have a complete backup now, but no ReadyNAS to restore it to.

I even took the drives to a Linux box, repartitioned the drives (and reformatted), but still same behavior in the ReadyNAS. And both drives worked fine on the Linux box.

I appreciate the assitance so far, but I am sure I am out of the warranty period and it seems as though no one on here can provide any additional info. Am I screwed?

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:

I even took the drives to a Linux box, repartitioned the drives (and reformatted), but still same behavior in the ReadyNAS. And both drives worked fine on the Linux box.

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Did you then try doing a factory default procedure from the NAS boot menu with both disks in place?

FWIW, the NAS shouldn't have gone into tech support mode unless you had accidentally used that boot option.  I have sometimes seen them go into tftp mode when they can't read the boot loader - but I've never seen them spontaneously boot into tech support mode.

[meisner]

This is sooooooo frustrating.

Out of deperation, I was convinced the ReadyNAS had a problem with the brand new "working" WD drives, so I purchased a new ReadyNAS 212 thinking it is a newer unit and should have no problems.

I proceeded to install the WD's into the new ReadyNAS and guess what? Booted into tech support mode. WTF?!?!?

Again, I have tried factory reset (using the older ReadyNAS) and used the WD drives on Windows and Linux with no problems. I am running the LifeGuard diags on the drives now and no problems are being seen so far (running an extended test).

I also tried to reinstall the OS (via the boot menu, click backup button until disk 2 LED lit, hit reset again).

I know people are going to say the WD's are "bad", but can someone please define "bad" for me? What am I supposed to use as a reason to return them? And how can I return the new RN212?

Damn...this sucks. What a waste of time.

[Sandshark]

Remember, the unit boots from the drives, not flash, unless the drives are empty.  I suspect that the new unit booted into tech support mode because of something left over from the original installation in the old unit.  When you complete the Data Lifeguard tests, delete all partitions from the drives before re-installing them (assuming they turn out OK).

[mdgm-ntgr]

The NAS boots off the flash for the early part of the boot process then switches onto the disks

Telnet can be active for a variety of reasons (only one of them is tech support mode but the other reasons put the NAS in a similar but slightly different state) including:

If you boot into tech support mode

If the NAS can't switch to booting off the disks for some reason (e.g. due to a bad disk, full 4GB root volume etc.) then it may start telnet and show an error in RAIDar about corrupt root or ERR: Used Disks Installed or something similar

When you do a factory reset during the 10 minute countdown (during which time you can abort the reset by powering down or proceed to wipe the disks by confirming you wish to do a factory reset) telnet is active, I think.

Most likely the RN212 detected a bad disk or couldn't switch to booting off the 4GB root volume. In any case we recommend moving disks from legacy x86 ReadyNAS to OS6 x86 ReadyNAS as if everything is fine with the disks and what's on them (it may not be) the OS6 x86 ReadyNAS can boot off the disks from the legacy x86 ReadyNAS. ARM OS6 ReadyNAS such as the RN212 cannot boot off disks taken from a legacy x86 ReadyNAS.

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:

I know people are going to say the WD's are "bad", but can someone please define "bad" for me? What am I supposed to use as a reason to return them? And how can I return the new RN212?

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I don't think they are bad, and I am still wondering if you tried the factory reset I recommended.  

Also, (assuming you are the original purchaser of the RN212), it has 90 phone support.  You could engage netgear support for free on this.

As far as returning, you'd have to do that through the seller.  One other option is use the older NAS as for backup.

[meisner]

I know there is free support available, but I have minimal hours available to be doing this right now. That was the reason for my actually investing more money into this; just to make the problem go away. Besides, if I do return the RN212 (I am the original purchaser...not sure what that comment meant), then I don't want to utilize tech support based on something I won't be owning later. Besides, this task SHOULD NOT require involvement from tech support.

My aologies; I thought somewhere above I mentioned I did do the factory reset. This was after trying the OS Reinstall, which didn't change the behavior on the older unit.

[meisner]

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@meisner wrote:

I know there is free support available, but I have minimal hours available to be doing this right now. That was the reason for my actually investing more money into this; just to make the problem go away.  

 I should be clearer; I only have an hour or two here and there. Tech support wouldn't be at my beckon call to work like this.

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:

I am the original purchaser...not sure what that comment meant,

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Used equipment does not have courtesy 90-day installation support, and it is not covered by the hardware warranty.  That was why I specified "original purchaser"

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@meisner wrote:

Besides, this task SHOULD NOT require involvement from tech support.

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I understand the frustration.  Your symptoms are very unusual.  Many people here (including me) use WD30EFRX with no problems, they are well suited to your ReadyNAS model.  Your problem migrates with the disks, and the factory install (which reformats) doesn't seem to work.  But you were able to successfully format both disks in another linux system.

So, either one (both?) of the disks has failed in a rather unusual way, or there is something you've done in the manual formatting that is confusing the NAS installer. I'm not sure which.

One next step you can take is to zero both drives (unformatting them).  That can be done from a windows PC, using WDC Lifeguard.

It can also be done from linux, using 

hdparm --security-erase-enhanced NULL /dev/sdX

or

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdx

The hdparm method uses the secure erase ATA command built into the drive, so it could be faster (and would be more thorough).  But either should do for this.

Then try putting both drives into one of the NAS, power it up and see if you get different results.

[meisner]

OK, by luck, I got soem level of success. The steps I took:

- I was going to follow your instructions on zeroing the disks, so I took 1 WD drive and connected it to my Linnux box and started the dd (hdparam was not installed).

- While that was happening, I decided to try the factory reset again on the single WD drive. But I did something different.

  # While powering on, I held the reset button

  # When I got all the LEDs lit, I clicked the backup button until disk 1 was lit

  # Hit reset again...and waited. Since 10 minutes passed and nothig appeared to be happening, I clicked the Power button once to begin shutting down to start zeroing the WD drive.

At this point, I saw a lot of activity on the ReadyNAS. I waited and when things calmed down, it appeared to reboot. I checked and sure enough the admin web page was up with the 1 WD drive in it.

The only difference was hitting the power button once after initiating the factory reset. Maybe I'm an idiot and wasted everyone's time (including my own). Is this documented somewhere and I missed it?

I am now booting with the 2 WD drives in my older ReadyNAS. Performing a sync right now. As soon as this is done, I will start the restore. Hopefully everything continues to work as expected now.

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:

The only difference was hitting the power button once after initiating the factory reset.

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Power button?  Or the reset?

You are supposed to push the reset at the end to confirm your choice - see page 51 here: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/ReadyNAS_%20OS6_Desktop_HM_EN.pdf  

Personally I hate the paper-clip reset + blinking light stuff.  I'd gladly pay a bit more for a 2-bay product to get an LCD.

[meisner]

I would ask the same thing, but nope...power button. Exactly as I stated in my details. 

It makes me feel a bit better the first response was not, "You fool! It says press the power button in the directions!!"

Again, this was on the older Ultra 2 box, not the 212. But I believe the directions are the exact same.

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:
 Again, this was on the older Ultra 2 box, not the 212. But I believe the directions are the exact same.

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The hardware manual for the ultra says reset too.

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@meisner wrote:

It makes me feel a bit better the first response was not, "You fool! It says press the power button in the directions!!"

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I'm feeling a bit better because you managed to get the default to actually work

[meisner]

The restores (config and data) finished overnight and it appears everything is running correctly.

Thank you so much for the help. Is it possible to mark multiple replies as the "accepted solution"?

[StephenB]

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@meisner wrote:

 Is it possible to mark multiple replies as the "accepted solution"?

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No.  You could reply with a link to each of the most useful replies, identifying the posters.  Then mark that as the solution.

[meisner · Accepted solution]

Solutions to my original problem are spread out across multiple posts:

- Do a factory reset:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Hardware-Compatibility/Upgrade-to-WD30EFRX-drives-is-faili...

- I think using dd or hdparam is very useful:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Hardware-Compatibility/Upgrade-to-WD30EFRX-drives-is-faili...

- But I also feel the discovery I made was critical:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Hardware-Compatibility/Upgrade-to-WD30EFRX-drives-is-faili...

Thanks to all that helped out. Restore is complete and I have been running a couple of days now with the new drives. I even powered down to move the ReadyNAS into its permanent location.