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Do I need drives to boot Readynas?

sg86
Aspirant

Do I need drives to boot Readynas?

I've removed drives for formatting, I want to boot and factory reset my Readynas before installing 4 fresh drives, but it won't boot?

Message 1 of 5

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StephenB
Guru

Re: Do I need drives to boot Readynas?


@sg86 wrote:

Ok so I'll be putting in 00'ed drives in that case, ideally with all 4 already in to save me time (will have to wait until tomorrow). What is the process for factory reset not via the UI then, as that's what I was intending to do?

 


If the drives are 00'ed, the system will see them as blank.  If you just power up the NAS with your drives inside, it will automatically do a fresh factory install.

 

I believe you have an RN2120v2 - is that correct?  You should probably grab a copy of the hardware rackmount manual ( http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RN2120/ReadyNAS_OS6_Rackmount_HWM_EN.pdf ).  Pages 15-16 describe how to use the boot menu for your NAS.

 

Googling "RN2120 support" also will lead you to the Netgear support page for your NAS - that's a handy way to get links to the manuals and firmware for your NAS.

 


@sg86 wrote:

When I say factory reset it's not for the drives but removing all share information (that obviously no longer exists unless something is stored to flash memory), but all apps and settings etc. I assume that's all been wiped as well if it's stored on the drives, and my SSH information etc etc.


The flash contains the boot loader and a copy of the firmware install.  There's also information identifying the platform (serial number, etc) that is in an eeprom.  Apps, settings, and all personal information is in the OS partition on the drives - it's not stored in the chassis itself.

 

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Message 5 of 5

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StephenB
Guru

Re: Do I need drives to boot Readynas?


@sg86 wrote:

I've removed drives for formatting, I want to boot and factory reset my Readynas before installing 4 fresh drives, but it won't boot?


It boots from the disks...  

 

So install the disks, and boot up the NAS using the factory default option in the boot menu.  FWIW, that will format the drives again.

Message 2 of 5
Danthelf
Guide

Re: Do I need drives to boot Readynas?

Yes you need drives to boot, the OS gets extracted from flash and put on disks during initial setup and it will then boot from the drives. If you boot without drives there will be no OS.

 

Doing a factory default without any disks inserted will not do anything, a factory default will only do something if there are disks inserted.. However you should be aware that a factory default will reformat your drives (and destroy any data on them)

 

*Edit: changed first sentence for clarification

Message 3 of 5
sg86
Aspirant

Re: Do I need drives to boot Readynas?

Well I never knew that!

 

Ok so I'll be putting in 00'ed drives in that case, ideally with all 4 already in to save me time (will have to wait until tomorrow). What is the process for factory reset not via the UI then, as that's what I was intending to do?

 

When I say factory reset it's not for the drives but removing all share information (that obviously no longer exists unless something is stored to flash memory), but all apps and settings etc. I assume that's all been wiped as well if it's stored on the drives, and my SSH information etc etc.

Message 4 of 5
StephenB
Guru

Re: Do I need drives to boot Readynas?


@sg86 wrote:

Ok so I'll be putting in 00'ed drives in that case, ideally with all 4 already in to save me time (will have to wait until tomorrow). What is the process for factory reset not via the UI then, as that's what I was intending to do?

 


If the drives are 00'ed, the system will see them as blank.  If you just power up the NAS with your drives inside, it will automatically do a fresh factory install.

 

I believe you have an RN2120v2 - is that correct?  You should probably grab a copy of the hardware rackmount manual ( http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RN2120/ReadyNAS_OS6_Rackmount_HWM_EN.pdf ).  Pages 15-16 describe how to use the boot menu for your NAS.

 

Googling "RN2120 support" also will lead you to the Netgear support page for your NAS - that's a handy way to get links to the manuals and firmware for your NAS.

 


@sg86 wrote:

When I say factory reset it's not for the drives but removing all share information (that obviously no longer exists unless something is stored to flash memory), but all apps and settings etc. I assume that's all been wiped as well if it's stored on the drives, and my SSH information etc etc.


The flash contains the boot loader and a copy of the firmware install.  There's also information identifying the platform (serial number, etc) that is in an eeprom.  Apps, settings, and all personal information is in the OS partition on the drives - it's not stored in the chassis itself.

 

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