mount_block_root +25e Help - any ideas how to fix this

[StephenB]

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@Sandshark wrote:

It's great that everybody has gotten past this.  But I do find it odd that it seems to be significantly more common with this update than any other. 

Also, it seems to be hitting the first-generation x86 NAS (RN51x, RN31x).

I agree Netgear should look into what's going on here.

[TJJ]

Had the same thing happen here, device was running properly and i did a clean proper shutdown. On boot up was getting the same error. Almost sounding like a botched update more than a power loss problem..

[hiLzbvsN]

It took this geezer several days, but, with your help, I finally transformed what I thought was a $1000 brick back into a working storage unit.  My biggest challenge was getting the *.img file into the right folder.  Second biggest was finding a flash drive that would work.

Thank you all

[Platypus69]

I have a RN316 and a RN428.

Yesterday I configured bothe NASes to auto-power off at 2AM and start up at 6:00PM via the Power Timer in in Power section. (Background information: I had such a power-off schedule defined for years before I disabled it.)

So I do not think that there was a power failure / spike overnight at houshold.

In any case when I woke up and powered up the RN316 and RN428 manually via button I got the mount_block_root +25e error on my RN316. But not on my RN428.

So I was intrigued about some comments / suggestions that there might be a bug with the older RN31x generation of ReadyNASes as this seems to be happening more frequently now.

So my RN316 also experienced this problem.

I was running 6.10.3 on both NASes.

(I have disabled the Power Timer on my RN428 meanwhile.)

Otherwise, is the recommended course of action: https://kb.netgear.com/30237/ReadyNAS-OS-6-LCD-says-mount-block-root

TIA

[Platypus69]

Agreed. I had some problem with my RN316 after I configured auto-power down.

[Sandshark]

It sounds like auto power-down may be another common denominator for this problem, and perhaps why it only affects some.  If there is a difference in how that is implemented between newer and older models, that would be a place Netgear could look.  But still no comments from the Netgear staff.

Was your update from 6.10.2, or did you skip some? 

Any Apps running that would also have to be properly shut down?

Those could be other contributors.

[Marc_V]

@Platypus69

Have you contacted Support and already have a ticket? It would be best if the team will be able to take a look. Kindly send me your full logs as well if it's available.

Regards

[mdgm]

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@Sandshark wrote:

It sounds like auto power-down may be another common denominator for this problem, and perhaps why it only affects some.

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The systems can only run into this error when powering on the system (either after a shutdown or reboot or powering off the system some other way).

If you have auto power-down set then you will reboot your system more often than others and hence logically are more likely to run into the problem sooner (if you do run into it).

The fix for the problem is to run USB Boot Recovery.

[Platypus69]

Thanks, as always Marcus_V

FYI, support ticket: 42871661

Assume I cannot send you anything at moment as there is no endpoint to connect to as there is no O/S running.

[Platypus69]

Hi all & Marcus_V!

I gave up on Netgeat support...

So I just recovered my systems as per https://kb.netgear.com/30237/ReadyNAS-OS-6-LCD-says-mount-block-root

Did not have any issues.

First thing I did was turn off the Power Timer.

Second thing I did was kick off a disk scrub.

(Am wondering, not sure if I said this before, whether a srcub was running when it powered-off automatically and created this problem??? I recall seeing some maintenance operation.)

TIA

Victor

[mdgm]

Scrubbing the data volume is unrelated to the internal flash.

Auto power cycling just means that if there is a problem you will observe it sooner as you will only encounter the error when powering on.

Hopefully you don’t run into the problem again.

[Platypus69]

Thanks.

Understood.

But I did notice that my iMac had rebooted that morning. So I was wondering if there was a power outage that night coincidentally.

So just being cautious.

What kind of flash is being used internally OOC? Does it have a finite life? What is the MTBF?

[StephenB]

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@Platypus69 wrote:

Does it have a finite life? 

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Of course, everything does.

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@Platypus69 wrote:

What is the MTBF?

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I doubt Netgear will say.  But generally MBTF is a fairly meaningless measure for flash memory.  The technology does have a limited number of writes, though I think it'd be hard to reach that limit in the NAS (since writes to the flash are rare).

That said, we have seen some cases here where the flash has gotten corrupted or failed.

[KenE518]

I have mine on a APC and we lost power so I went to manually turn it off. Went to turn it back on after power was restored and getting this error. I tried 2 flash drives to no avail yet. I tried in both back ports and the front port. Turned power on, waited for the ring to turn off, held the OK till it showed Booting off USB, then release. Am I missing something?

Of course my warranty ended 2 months ago 😞 Does it pay to contact Netgear since this issue is impacting numerous users?

[Platypus69]

I could definitely recommend NOT to use Netgear support for this.

The process is fairly straight forward.

All they did recommend a process which I aleady knew about.

I contacted them becuase I thought they might be interested in getting further metrics from the field about a  potrential bug in their firmware. But they were more interested in whether I had a support contract than actually helping.

So I ran the recommended process without any problems whatsaoever.

Obvisously YMMV.

All the best

(I will point out, that any credible/goof vendor would still help you with such a problem if you warranty has expired by just 2 years.)

[aaron2020]

I am having trouble following these instructions. It would be nice if they were written for someone who hasn't done this before.

Step 3.1 Visit ReadyNAS OS 6 Support. Is this a URL? I searched my model number and went to the first result, is that what I was supposed to do? I think so, but a link or steps would be helpful.

Step 4. Extract the firmware file (.img) Does this mean extract the zip that yields the Extract the firmware file (.img) (seems likely) or extract the .img file (literal interpretation, but maybe wrong?)

Step 5: Recovery Tool folder. This is the first time Recovery Tool folder is mentioned. How is it supposed to get on my desktop? None of the downloaded folders are named Recovery Tool. Is the folder named something else, or are we supposed to create a folder called Recover Tool.

I have a 314. Is that a 310 series? I don't see 314 or 31x as an option just 310, so I'm not sure.

"move the firmware file into the x86 folder." You didn't tell me to move the x86 folder onto the recovery USB, was that a skipped step? Where am I moving this to?

Anything to clear up the ambigious steps and fill in the gaps for a first-timer would be appreciated. 

[Sandshark]

The "recovery tool folder" is wherever you put the content of the recovery tool .zip file you downloaded.  They can't give you any more specifics because you determine the folder name.

The specific location of the OS file depends on the version, so they've left that generic as well.  But they probbely could be a bit more specific fo where./how to look.  But I think you figured that out and found the firmware image .zip you need.  If not, Google can help you.

Yes, they just mean to extract the .img file from the .zip, not to try and extract the content of the ,img.

[Karnis]

Just as "MCJCALVI80" said. 

I tried 6 different USB's, then I tried running the USBrecovery tool one last time, this time I right-clicked the file and ran the file as administrator. Formatted the USB-drive with the USBrecovery tools built-in format function and then created the boot... Finally worked like a charm! 

[jimk1963]

+1 for USB format... right click the usbrecoverytool.exe and choose "run as administrator" and then the recovery worked first time on RN314, after several failed attempts without doing this. process takes 60 seconds or so.

[pratik18999]

I removed my storage disks from slots (just don't want to loss any data) and now i am doing usb recovery tool.

NAS was saying that " boot from external drive" from last 15 mins

how much time it will take to finish?

IS it working or not?

[mdgm]

It shouldn’t take very long, perhaps a minute or two and then the system should power off.

You could try booting without the USB connected. If it has worked then you won’t get the mount_block_root error anymore.

If it’s still stuck on booting off USB after 15 minutes that would suggest either an incompatible USB key, or that the steps to create a USB Boot Recovery key were not followed correctly.

Perhaps try a different USB key.

[jimk1963]

Read the earlier notes about copying the data onto the usb stick as Windows administrator. My install kept failing until I did this and then it ran successfully the first time after.

[pratik18999]

thank you so much.

All of you saved me

Third USB drive worked.

[stephenloach]

Hi

Can anyone list what usb stick worked please. Mines been like this since 1st lock down 😞

[mdgm]

There are so many different USB keys out there.

Make sure you run usbrecovery.exe as Administrator.

An older USB key maybe is probably more likely to work.

Which model ReadyNAS do you have and where do you get stuck in the process?

What happens when you try to boot off USB?