Failed disk? And unable to connect with RAIDar

[Gogg]

I have an elderly ReadyNAS NV+ which has 4 equally elderly 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green drives in it.  I think that drive 2 has failed as that disk light is flashing continuously after rebooting.  I didn't receive an e-mail warning of a failed disk, though, although I do get "improper shutdown detected" e-mails.  I am struggling to diagnose the issue as RAIDar does not see the NAS at all - so I can't connect to it.  

So I guess two questions (for starters) - how/ can I get RAIDar or other diagnosis software to see the NAS?  And what's the recommendation for replacing the disk as I don't think WD make Caviar Greens anymore.  I'm a bit lost here and would much appreciate any advice or being pointed in the right direction!  Not very technical.

[StephenB]

On RAIDar - if you are using Windows you might need to turn off the windows firewall (and/or disable any internet security software).

Another test is to power down the NAS and remove all the disks (labeling them by slot, so you can keep them in the right order).  Then power up the NAS, and see if RAIDar sees it with "no disks detected".

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@Gogg wrote:

And what's the recommendation for replacing the disk as I don't think WD make Caviar Greens anymore.  

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A WDC Red (WD20EFRX) is a good replacement that works well in your NAS.  A Seagate Ironwolf (ST2000NV004) should also work well.  Both are designed for RAID/NAS.

[Gogg]

On RAIDar - if you are using Windows you might need to turn off the windows firewall (and/or disable any internet security software).

-- I don't think this is the issue as I've tried on a couple of different machines with different security software/ settings - and both used to be able to see the NAS with no issues.  I should  have also mentioned that although an IP address is displayed in the NAS screen it's not discoverable on the network at all.

Another test is to power down the NAS and remove all the disks (labeling them by slot, so you can keep them in the right order).  Then power up the NAS, and see if RAIDar sees it with "no disks detected".

-- Ahh!  DIdn't think of that - will give it a go immediately.

@Gogg wrote:

And what's the recommendation for replacing the disk as I don't think WD make Caviar Greens anymore.  

A WDC Red (WD20EFRX) is a good replacement that works well in your NAS.  A Seagate Ironwolf (ST2000NV004) should also work well.  Both are designed for RAID/NAS.

-- Thanks!  And as far as I'm aware no issue with adding one of these to the three remaining WD CGs?

[Gogg]

Update:

Another test is to power down the NAS and remove all the disks (labeling them by slot, so you can keep them in the right order).  Then power up the NAS, and see if RAIDar sees it with "no disks detected".

-- Ahh!  DIdn't think of that - will give it a go immediately.

---- Yep, RAIDar connects happily when the drives are out.  

@Gogg wrote:

And what's the recommendation for replacing the disk as I don't think WD make Caviar Greens anymore.  

A WDC Red (WD20EFRX) is a good replacement that works well in your NAS.  A Seagate Ironwolf (ST2000NV004) should also work well.  Both are designed for RAID/NAS.

-- Thanks!  And as far as I'm aware no issue with adding one of these to the three remaining WD CGs?

---- Done a bit more research and it seems that it's best to match the drive speed and cache - both the WD Red and Caviar Greens are 5400 rpm/ 64 MB cache, so looking good.  I have ordered one.

Thanks very much for the advice.  I may be back for some guidance on adding it to the NAS but I think it's pretty straightforward!

[StephenB]

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@Gogg wrote:

-- Thanks!  And as far as I'm aware no issue with adding one of these to the three remaining WD CGs?

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There will be no issue there, they will work nicely with your older drives.

[Gogg]

A follow up to this question ... sadly although I have replaced the drive that appeared to have failed, the relevant disk light has been flashing for 5.5 days now (which I'm sure would be long enough for it to sync? There are 4x 2TB drives in the NAS) and the NAS is still not discoverable on the network (although it displays an IP address on the screen). Any advice for further diagnostics routes to try? :( Thanks!

[StephenB]

It could be that another disk is failing.  Do you have a backup of the data?

[Gogg]

I don't have a backup, no - the horror!  Is there some other way to pin down the problem? It's also not responding to powering off through the power button. With all the disks removed, RAIDar sees the NAS (although I can't set it up or anything) ...  

[StephenB]

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@Gogg wrote:

With all the disks removed, RAIDar sees the NAS (although I can't set it up or anything) ...  

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The operating system is installed onto the disks, so that is normal behavior.

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@Gogg wrote:

Is there some other way to pin down the problem? 

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Connect the other three drives to a Windows PC (SATA or with a USB adapter/dock) and test them with WDC's lifeguard program.

[Gogg]

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@StephenB wrote:

Connect the other three drives to a Windows PC (SATA or with a USB adapter/dock) and test them with WDC's lifeguard program.

OK.  So I used Lifeguard to check all the disks.  Disk 2 (that I thought had failed due to the flashing drive light) tested fine, as did all the others apart from disk 1 - I got the error below.  So it seems that it was likely disk 1 that had actually failed?

Thanks for these pointers ... next steps?

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[StephenB]

Your image link goes directly to gmail, so it will only work with your gmail account credentials.

Please repost the image - I suggest using the "photos" icon in the tool bar, and browsing to a local copy on your PC.

One next step is to power down the NAS, insert the original disk 2 in slot two, and disk 3 and disk 4 in their respective slots (leaving slot 1 emply).  Then try booting up the NAS.  It's best to use the boot menu option to skip the volume check, as you don't want the NAS to repair any file system damage.

[Gogg]

Oh sorry!  Reposted:

In terms of the next steps, I found these instructions - just confirming that it sounds like the right procedure in order to skip the volume check?

1. Power off your system.
2. Press the Power button and continue to hold it for 5 seconds. Release after all Disk LEDs flash 1 time.

Thanks a mill, really appreciate the guidance.

[StephenB]

If you have a NV+ v1 (4.1.x firmware), that is the way to start.  The full boot menu is documented in the hardware manual on pages 23-24 here: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/RND2110/Duov1_NV+v1_HW_en_06Dec11.pdf

The boot menu for the NV+ v2 (5.3.x firmware) is different.

If you aren't sure what you have - the v2 says "NV+ v2" on the front panel.  Labels on the rear or bottom of the NAS can be confusing for this.

[Gogg]

Definitely a NV+ v1, thanks.

Aaargh - I got an e-mail saying that missing shares had been detected, followed by a second saying:

The X-RAID engine has failed to start.
To ensure data integrity, please refrain from using the NAS and contact Support immediately.

[StephenB]

You can try paid Netgear support (my.netgear.com).  They won't provide support for used equipment, but if you are the original purchaser they will provide paid support even if the warranty is expired.

If you can connect at least three drives to the PC, you can also try RAID recovery software.  R-Studio is reasonably priced (less expensive than paid support), and I think you can see if it can recovery anything prior to purchase.  https://www.r-studio.com/

It is also possible to manually mount the array from an X86 linux system.  However, it is probably safer to use RAID recovery software.

[Gogg]

Thanks very much for all the assistance, Stephen.  I'll look into these options!