Re: Is there a way to connect to ReadyNAS 214 using USB in case of NIC failure

pvnnpavan · ‎2021-07-01

Is there a way to connect to ReadyNAS 214 using USB in case of NIC failure

Can we use any of USB ports to connect to PC or laptop to copy data

Sandshark · ‎2021-07-01

No.

pvnnpavan · ‎2021-07-01

Thats bad way of building up NAS and having NIC issues, where it will be just a piece of junk.

If Netgear is aware of the issue, why did they design something like this.

Why cant the NIC's get cooler using Fan already available in NAS

Is there some one technical enough who can explain this.

This looks more like a design issue and Netgear making a run at customers and forcing us to buy new ones.

Sandshark · ‎2021-07-02

USB is designed as a host/device interface. The ReadyNAS is a host. A USB device is generally "dumb", a NAS is anything but. The only NAS I have ever seen that supports connection via USB requires that you segregate the portion accessible by USB from that accessible by Ethernet.

They designed it that way because that's the proper protocol. Most of that protocol is handled in the SoC itself. I don't know if the USB section AL314 in the 214 supports anything other than standard host/device or if the 214 uses another chip for some of the ports that does, but it's not standard that they would. It's your expectations that are wrong, not a bad design.

Your NIC is likely overheating because it has been partially damaged. Nobody designs a cooling system for that condition. If the NIC doesn't have a heat sink installed, you might be able to get a bit more time from it by installing one. But I don't own a 214 nor does Netgear make schematics available to the public, so I can't help you locate it. On some NAS, some NIC components are on a daughterboard, but they aren't the type of parts that typically overheat. It's the tranceiver that will.

BTW, one thing that can overstress your NIC is that it is always powered, even when the NAS is "off". That's so Wake on LAN will work. If you allow the NAS to get hot when it's "off" (and the fan isn't running) thinking it won't matter, you're wrong. I don't know if you did that, it's just a possibility. But it also means that if you want the NIC to cool down, you need to unplug the unit.

Netgear did admit to a problem in early OS versions affecting the 214 NIC (see ReadyNAS-204-Will-not-shut-down-fully-shows-do-exit-9ec ) If you ran a version earlier than 6.9.4 for a long time, that could also be the cause of the overstress. But getting Netgear to admit that may have permanently damaged you NAS and RMA it if it's past warranty is not likely to happen, I suspect.

pvnnpavan · ‎2021-07-02

Thanks.. thats a great info.

I am in bad luck then..

Yes.. i keep my NAS always on (power is always connected even when shutdown) since I am using it remotely and use Wake on Lan feature .

But I can confirm, I was always on latest firmware.. so atleast I can say I am not on 6.9.4 for long time... but again even before that i used NAS in same way as now, so likely a damage might have happened.

So my question now is this effects only NIC1 or both.

I tried keeping a fan and looks like it helped and it was working from yesterday without any issues but with Nic2. But the moment

I removed Fan, Nic1 stopped responding.

How can i check if either of NIC's hardware issue, is there any log which shows it.

I can see lights blinking for both NIC's but NIC1 is not responding to ping.. or traffic is not going. Do this mean Nic1 is completely failed or needs cooling only.

Sandshark · ‎2021-07-02

You are asking me to guess. There is no way to determine the extent of any damage without removing the chip and deprocessing it.

But if you want a guess, I'd say it's going to slowly reach the point of total failure, and may already have.

pvnnpavan · ‎2021-07-02

Ok.. so is there a way to completely disable the failed NIC and use the NIC2 for all work ?

Sandshark · ‎2021-07-02

I already answered that in the other thread you started. Please keep everything in one thread.

pvnnpavan · ‎2021-07-02

Thanks..

You can disable both IPv4 and IPv6, but I don't know if that will accomplish what you want.  I do not know if the 214 uses two completely independent channels for the two ports or has some dual-port devices.  If it has the latter, heat from one channel could affect the other.

 

There is no other way to access the NAS, but there are methods of using other devices to recover data.  Or, you can move the volume to a replacement OS6 NAS.

So... how can disable IPv4 or V6.. and make sure NIC1 wont come online during start.

StephenB · ‎2021-07-02

Go to the network page in the NAS admin ui. Select the eth0, then go to the ipv4 page. Select "disable" in the pulldown. Go to the ipv6 page and disable that in the same way.

But I don't know if that will be more effective than just removing the cable.

pvnnpavan · ‎2021-07-02

Disabled port in router effectively removing cable itself. All issues because I have to use this remotely..thanks for the info all