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Dead drive

ToolBar
Aspirant

Dead drive

On Oct. 12 my ReadyNAS log started showing this message: "Disk scrubbing skipped due to degraded OS Volume [Volume C]."

The Disk light in Frontview is blinking yellow, and clicking it pops up a window with the disk status:

     "Channel 1: WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0 2791 GB [Dead]"

Fortunately, the ReadyNAS was configured as RAID, and the other drive, Channel 2, is still showing it's healthy.

 

I am unable to do much more diagnosis because the main Frontview window is blank for most choices on the side menu. Ordinarily I'd set the drive to restart and do a disk check upon startup, but I can't do this because I don't have access to the Power or Shutdown screens. I assume this is because the dead drive, Volume C, is the OS volume.

         -- Aside: This is the first time I learned the READYNAS installs its OS on only one volume.

 

I hope all I have to do is purchase a new drive, replace the bad one, and when the NAS starts up it will rebuild the RAID structure. Because both drives are around the same age, maybe I'll purchase two of them and let the system rebuild the second new one after the first one is done. But the data on the NAS is so critical (I was about to start transferring the data to a new NAS), that I don't want to take any chances.

 

Would someone more knowledgeable than I am please advise me how to proceed?

 

In the meantime, I'm going to shutdown the NAS and hope a solution is not too far away.

Message 1 of 5
StephenB
Guru

Re: Dead drive


@ToolBar wrote:

On Oct. 12 my ReadyNAS log started showing this message: "Disk scrubbing skipped due to degraded OS Volume [Volume C]."

The Disk light in Frontview is blinking yellow, and clicking it pops up a window with the disk status:

     "Channel 1: WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0 2791 GB [Dead]"

Fortunately, the ReadyNAS was configured as RAID, and the other drive, Channel 2, is still showing it's healthy.

 

I am unable to do much more diagnosis because the main Frontview window is blank for most choices on the side menu. Ordinarily I'd set the drive to restart and do a disk check upon startup, but I can't do this because I don't have access to the Power or Shutdown screens. I assume this is because the dead drive, Volume C, is the OS volume.

         -- Aside: This is the first time I learned the READYNAS installs its OS on only one volume.

 

I hope all I have to do is purchase a new drive, replace the bad one, and when the NAS starts up it will rebuild the RAID structure. Because both drives are around the same age, maybe I'll purchase two of them and let the system rebuild the second new one after the first one is done. But the data on the NAS is so critical (I was about to start transferring the data to a new NAS), that I don't want to take any chances.

 


The OS is installed on both disks - the OS partition is it's own RAID-1 array that is mirrored on all disks.  However, normally the NAS will boot off the first drive it finds.

 

Since you have access to the shares and have no backup, I suggest that you begin by a backup (either over the network or to a USB drive attached to the NAS).

 

Then hot-swap disk 1, and wait for the resync.  You can then hot-swap disk 2 if you like.

 

For troubleshooting the disk, I suggest connecting to a Windows PC (with with SATA or a USB adapter).  Then use Western Digital's lifeguard program to test the drive.  I'd run both the extended (non-destructive) test and the full "erase disk" test.

 

Message 2 of 5
ToolBar
Aspirant

Re: Dead drive


 


The OS is installed on both disks - the OS partition is it's own RAID-1 array that is mirrored on all disks.  However, normally the NAS will boot off the first drive it finds.

 

Since you have access to the shares and have no backup, I suggest that you begin by a backup (either over the network or to a USB drive attached to the NAS).

 

Then hot-swap disk 1, and wait for the resync.  You can then hot-swap disk 2 if you like.

 

For troubleshooting the disk, I suggest connecting to a Windows PC (with with SATA or a USB adapter).  Then use Western Digital's lifeguard program to test the drive.  I'd run both the extended (non-destructive) test and the full "erase disk" test.

 


Thanks. This is very help[ful. But I still have a few questions.

 

It's good to know the OS is still there. Since the system was running when I first got the message saying Channel 1 is dead, I suspect the problems I had with Frontview were due to the current NAS OS  being on a drive that stopped. Does this mean if I restarted the ReadyNAS it would now boot off of Channel 2, and I'd have access to my data?

 

Or should I remove the problematic drive first?

 

If the answer is no, then how can I do anything with the drive since Frontview is just showing blank screens?

 

Thanks to my alma mater, I have an almost empty 15TB Google Drive. If I backup the drive, that's where I'd like to put it. Do you know the best way to accomplish this?

 

If backing up to GD doesn't work, I'd want to transfer the files to the new, replacement NAS, which is almost working. (I eventually want to do this anyway.) With only one working drive in the ReadyNAS this would simply involve mounting both shares and copying, right?

 

The next step you recommend is hotswapping. I take it you think this is necessary, or at least prudent, no matter what. So I should order the replacement(s) right away. Correct?

 

I dumped my Windows computers over a decade ago. WD seems to make Lifeguard for Macs. Am I correct in assuming it's more or less equivalent to the Windows version you recommend?

 

But, I do have access to a computer running FreeBSD. It also has USB 3.0 ports. Do you see any significant advantages in using it for the diagnostics? How?

 

When you mention connecting with either a SATA or USB adapter, am I correct in understanding this as installing the drive in a drive enclosure and connecting it?

 

Finally, since the external ports on my Macs are mainly USB 2.0, will the slower connection make running Lifeguard's diagnostics take an exceptionally long time? ((I.e., are we talking an hour or less versus at least a day for each diagnostic?)

 

Thanks again. Your help is very much appreciated.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Message 3 of 5
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: Dead drive

A bad drive can sometimes cause a problem such that the other is not accessible and/or the NAS will not boot.  In your case, it does sound like removing the bad drive and rebooting should do the trick.  The only caveat is that if something caused the other drive to become corrupt (such as it was being written to when the other failed), then it may not boot or the volume may be unaccessible after it does.  Normally, it's best to make a backup before doing things like this, but that doesn't sound possible in your case.  So, you hope all is still fine on the other drive and go for it.

 

In the event of worst case and it doesn't boot with an accessible data volume, do you have a backup?

Message 4 of 5
StephenB
Guru

Re: Dead drive


@ToolBar wrote:

If backing up to GD doesn't work, I'd want to transfer the files to the new, replacement NAS, which is almost working. (I eventually want to do this anyway.) With only one working drive in the ReadyNAS this would simply involve mounting both shares and copying, right?

Backing up the data is the first priority. Since you don't have access to the web ui, you'll need to access the folders on a PC, and drag/drop them to GD.  Use ethernet to connect the PC to the network, to minimize any issues with connection drops.


@ToolBar wrote:

Does this mean if I restarted the ReadyNAS it would now boot off of Channel 2, and I'd have access to my data?

 


I was assuming that you did have access to the data through finder (but that the web ui wasn't functioning).

 

You can try powering down the NAS, removing drive 1, and then rebooting.  But success here isn't guaranteed - at this point it's clear that disk 1 is a problem, but there might also be other issues. If you do try it, boot the NAS in read-only mode using the boot menu.  You don't want the NAS to write to potentially marginal disks, and you certainly don't want the NAS to "repair" the file system.


@ToolBar wrote:

I dumped my Windows computers over a decade ago. WD seems to make Lifeguard for Macs. Am I correct in assuming it's more or less equivalent to the Windows version you recommend?

 

But, I do have access to a computer running FreeBSD. It also has USB 3.0 ports. Do you see any significant advantages in using it for the diagnostics? How?

 


I haven't used the Mac version, so I don't know how it compares.  But it seems safe to start there. If you need to move into data recovery tools, then most of the tools I am aware do not run on Macs.

 

Linux/Unix does have tools for testing disks, but generally I recommend using the vendor tools.  One aspect is that if the drives are still under warranty, it is sometimes simpler to use the vendor tools (and report their fault codes).

 

 

@ToolBar wrote: When you mention connecting with either a SATA or USB adapter, am I correct in understanding this as installing the drive in a drive enclosure and connecting it?

 

Finally, since the external ports on my Macs are mainly USB 2.0, will the slower connection make running Lifeguard's diagnostics take an exceptionally long time? ((I.e., are we talking an hour or less versus at least a day for each diagnostic?)

 


Basically yes on the enclosure.  Though some kits don't use an enclosure (and are equivalent).  USB 2.0 will definitely take longer.  To some degree the running time depends on disk health.

 


@ToolBar wrote:

The next step you recommend is hotswapping. I take it you think this is necessary, or at least prudent, no matter what. So I should order the replacement(s) right away. Correct?

 


It is possible that the SATA interface on that bay has failed somehow.  But it is more likely that the drive has failed.

 

On the timing - the critical thing is that using a marginal drive generally accelerates the failure.  And since the disks are generally installed together, and have identical loads, it's not that uncommon for disks to fail in rapid succession.  

 

Generally I do confirm that the drive has failed using vendor tools before I purchase the replacement.  But I do have USB adapters on hand, so that doesn't create any extra delay.  Also, I have multiple backups, so data loss isn't a concern.

 

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