RND2110-100NAS will not boot after power failure

[acidicbreeze]

I have an old RND2110-100NAS or that's at least what the label on the bottom of the device says the model number is.  It currently will not boot, however, it seems if I leave it unplugged for some time(unsure exactly how long) it will boot once again.  I had it running and everything was working fine until I experienced a power failure and now it will not boot again. The power light simply flashes(rapidly at first, then it slows) and the fan on high.  I have ready numerous articles and the manual on how to resolve this issue to no avail.  I read that the best solution is likely to try USB recovery, however, when I hold down the power button and get four flashes of the disk lights, the flash drive is not being read.  I tried to factory reset it by holding down the reset button on the back with a paper clip and it continues to do exactly the same thing.  The strange thing is that, as previously stated, it will boot if I leave it unplugged for an undetermined amount of time it will boot once again.  I'm impatient and I want to get it working properly again.  Am I missing something?  Any help will be greatly appreciated.  It's running 4.1.16.

[StephenB]

What status is RAIDar giving you after it fails to boot? https://kb.netgear.com/20684/ReadyNAS-Downloads

[Sandshark]

Have you tried another power supply?

[acidicbreeze]

Raidar shows that it could not find any NETGEAR storage on my network.  The device does not get a link on my switch. I did the USB recovery last night and it appears to have read the flash drive, but after an hour or so it did not boot or appear to be doing anything different than before. 

[acidicbreeze]

I have not tried a different power supply.  I searched my house and unfortunately I do not have anything that's close to 12v 5a.  The closest I have is 12v 1a and I doubt that is enough to power it.  

[StephenB]

You could do a risk-buy of a compatible (third party) replacement power supply.

First I would try powering down, removing the two disks (labeling by slot), and then powering up again.  Then see if RAIDar detects the NAS - showing a "no disks" status.

[acidicbreeze]

It acts exactly the same without the disks inside.  I probably should have included all of this information when I created the initial post.  It powers on but never links to the switch and as such raidar shows nothing. Is there some other troubleshooting means I can perform by directly connecting.  I can make a crossover cable if that's necessary.  The online documentation does not provide much in the way of advanced troubleshooting.  Out of curiosity, how long should a USB boot take?  Am I just not letting it perform some sort of maintenance by unplugging too soon?  I have left it plugged in for probably 2 hours at the most. It just appears to be doing nothing.  No other lights flash with the exception of the power light and there is never any hard drive activity. 

[StephenB]

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@acidicbreeze wrote:

I can make a crossover cable if that's necessary. 

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No need for crossover cables with gigabit ethernet.

If you are not seeing the ethernet LED on the NAS light up, then it is possible that the NIC has failed.  That is not repairable.

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@acidicbreeze wrote:

Out of curiosity, how long should a USB boot take?  

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Not sure (I've never needed it), but it's not hours.  Did you create the recovery USB stick using the process here: https://kb.netgear.com/21400/RAIDiator-4-1-USB-Recovery-Tool

[acidicbreeze]

Good to know about the crossover cable thing.  Thanks for the information. 

I did follow the instructions on https://kb.netgear.com/21400/RAIDiator-4-1-USB-Recovery-Tool to create it.  I have tried multiple flash drives.  The interesting thing is that I used a flash drive that has an activity light on it and when I initiate the USB recovery, it flashes for 15 or so seconds.  Nothing additional occurs though. I thought that maybe it is performing a disk scan, however, I would assume the hard drive activity lights would be doing something and I would hear the hard drives.  

It is seeming that more and more that something is now defective and no amount of troubleshooting will resolve it.  It is just strange that it was doing this before and I attempted to troubleshoot then and nothing benefitted then.  I let it sit unpowered and tried it again and it miraculous powered on.  I don't understand why it works sometimes, but not others.  

[StephenB]

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@acidicbreeze wrote:

I don't understand why it works sometimes, but not others.  

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Me either, but I'm thinking that a power issue sounds more likely than a corrupted flash image.

Have you taken a close look at the adapter connector?

[acidicbreeze]

Neither end of the adapter appears to be damaged in any way.  I will try to find another power adapter somewhere.  I might get lucky at the thrift store here.  It just seems weird that it stays powered on and works just fine when it boots.  It just seems to get hung up on booting. 

[Sandshark]

There are multiple power converters within the unit, and they can behave very inconsistently if current starved and can also behave differently depending on how much they've been able to cool down.  The problem could be with one of those conversion circuits, which are not repairable, not the external supply, but replacing the supply may be all that it needs and is the first troubleshooting step for what does sound like a power related issue.

[acidicbreeze]

This makes sense.  I just figure it wouldn't start up at all or exhibit other power related issues.  When turned on it stays powered on.  Could this be an issue with the RAM?  I have run the memory test but I do not really know how to decode the output. It just seems to blink the two hard drive lights over and over again after a while. 

If it was power related, why would it work sometimes? The power converters having issues?  I tried another power supply and it is exhibiting the same issues. So, it's very likely that it is damaged and there is no way to repair it, which is unfortunate. 

[acidicbreeze]

I ran another memory test and the power light is flashing fast, the activity light, 1 and 2 are solid.  It has been running for a couple of hours now, so I assume it is complete.  I looked at https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS-in-Business/ReadyNAS-DUO-Memory-Test/td-p/68985... but that doesn't really explain how to decode this.  Any insight would be much appreciated. 

[Sandshark]

So that WoL and the power button work, the Ethernet port and power-on circuit have to be powered by a source that doesn't turn off with the rest of the unit.  On most ReadyNAS, they are the same source, but I don't know about the Duo, as I've never had one.  That means they are on when the fan is not, which can cause them to be overstressed if the unit is in an area that gets quite warm, even if it was "off" but still plugged in.  In some cases, a weak voltage to the Ethernet circuit will cause the initial handshake with the switch/router to fail, but if that happens to initially work, it will continue to.  A "green" switch/router can make that problem worse.

If you decide to look for a replacement NAS into which you can mount your drives and have the volume accessible, the original Duo, NV, NV+, 1000, 1100, and even 600 will work.  You'll see many original Duo's incorrectly listed on eBay as a "Duo V2" because of that sticker on the bottom, so take a good look at the photos before you buy.  The label on the front, fan size, and power plug recess are all different between them.  Likewise, you'll find original NV+ listed as NV+ V2.  The original NV+ is silver in color and has an internal power supply, not a power brick.

Since you can re-use your caddies and power supply, you may be able to find a pretty decent price on one.