I know there are several threads on this - I have read most of them and still can't sort out the problem. It seems the ultimate solution is to have a technical rep attach to my computer and work on my NAS to untangle whatever is wrong. How do I set up that kind of support?
The issue: Raidar 4.3.8 stopped finding the NAS. I found it in a state of a fast blue blinking light but could not power down with button. Had to unplug.
On reboot same blue blinky and no life in Raidar.
Unplug again. Pull out disks. Power up. Same blue blinky but now Raidar can find the NAS and opens up but of course says no disks detected. At least at this point the software connects to the box.
I've always kept the firmware up to date whenever Netgear offered a new version, but I can't confirm what I have since I can't access the NAS.
Yes, I might be able to do a full reset, lose all my data, and get going again, but I want that to be the last resort. After all the NAS *is* my backup machine, it's ironic to me that one way to fix it is to lose the data. I'd be willing to buy a new NAS chassis and put my old disks in, but from what I’ve read that also isn’t easy and basically requires a loss of data off the disks (meaning put the data somewhere else first, then bring it back). I’m surprised and disappointed this is all so difficult and Netgear didn’t make easy upgrade paths, again, because that’s the point of backups, to always be able recover your data. Sorry that I’m whining a but here, that’s really not my style, I just expected more from Netgear and this process.
Still need help to make the NAS work properly again.
Incidentally I’ve connected one of my NAS disks to my PC using a SATA to USB cable that I have, but my PC doesn’t see it all. I may have the wrong type of cable.
Incidentally I’ve connected one of my NAS disks to my PC using a SATA to USB cable that I have, but my PC doesn’t see it all. I may have the wrong type of cable.
Windows won't recognize the file format, but it should see the disk in the windows disk manager.
Of course the disk might have failed. Perhaps try the other disk. BTW, there is some windows software that should be able to read the data - it's R-linux for Windows ( http://www.r-tt.com/free_linux_recovery/ )
I'm quite sure I have a V1. There is no indication of V2 on the front. I purchased this NAS in Feb 2011 which is probably before V2's were out.
I've tried both disks and two different cables. No joy. They do not show up in the windows file viewer. I'll take a look at the link you gave me, but Id still rather have whatever bug is in my NAS solved, and simply put the disks back in.
I've tried both disks and two different cables. No joy. They do not show up in the windows file viewer. I'll take a look at the link you gave me, but Id still rather have whatever bug is in my NAS solved, and simply put the disks back in.
As I said above, they won't show up in the windows explorer - windows doesn't support the disk format that the NAS uses. They should show up in the windows disk manager. Note also that the two disks in the v1 aren't formatted the same way. R-linux for Windows should see the files on one of the disks (generally disk 1), but it won't see the files on the other one.
Your data is at risk, so it would be best to offload it if you can.
Also, it's quite possible that the NAS hardware has failed, in which case you'll need to move on.
If the hardware is ok, then it's still unlikely that you'll be able to fix this without help from paid support (my.netgear.com). Doing a factory reset on your own is free.
Stephen, thanks so much for your time trying to help me here.
I pulled up Disk Manager and it did at least acknowledge the disk was attached, but as you said showed no data.
I loaded R-Linux which also shows the NAS disk attached to my USB port, but unfortunately no further data about the disk. This is the same for both of my NAS disks. I haven't used the R-Linux utility before so I need to read up to see what I should do. Any suggestions?
You can attempt data recovery yourself at your own risk. In addition to trying software for Windows there's also a way to do it using an ordinary x86 Linux machine.
Data recovery attempts may be anywhere from completely successful to completely unsuccessful. We don't do hardware repair of disks (so if a disk can't be detected in any chassis there's nothing we can do). We do however suggest cloning disks where appropriate. There are tools designed for cloning failing disks.
Our new devices use a different RAID format, filesystem and operating system to what your Duo used. There's no smooth upgrade path to move disks even from the Duo to the legacy x86 ReadyNAS models that we sold at the same time.
After enough trying I went ahead a bought a support contract. I didn't mind having to do this for an old machine and old OS. And the price was fair.
The issue had to be escalated twice to the top tier but at each level the support rep was excellent and stuck with the problem and gave a proper hand off to the next guy. Ultimately a rep connected to the NAS and found that the OS was fine, disk 1 was fine, but disk 2 was bad. He had to open a path for me to get in, different than the normal file manager access, which then allowed me to offload all the data to a separate drive. That took a long time but it is done.
I'm told if I get a new second drive, then do a full reset, the NAS should be good to go again. That said I think I'll buy a new chassis and disks and start over with more storage and better and supported OS and user software.
I appreciate the help on this forum as I always like to learn and do a little DIY if I can, but in this case I had to surrender, which is fine.
