Netgear ReadyNaS device dead

[pala_reg]

@Sandshark  @Sandshark  Some good news. After altering the pins, the device is now powering on. No disks are present at the moment. I see it's not booting up, goes to a blank screen after trying to load initramfs

Thank you very much again for your all valuable suggestions! 

[pala_reg]

@Sandshark @StephenB Any suggestions on how to proceed?
If I simply put all the disks back, will it boot fine?

[StephenB]

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@pala_reg wrote:
@Sandshark @StephenB Any suggestions on how to proceed?
If I simply put all the disks back, will it boot fine?

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It depends a bit on what the NAS was doing when the power failed.  It is possible that the volume is out of sync.

But still, I think putting the disks back (powered down) and then powering up is the way to proceed.

[Sandshark]

Thanks for letting us know that it's necessary to sever the -12V line on the connector of the power supply.  I was not aware that was required.  It's been a long time since I looked at the 516 power supply, but I would have sworn it had a standard pin-out.

[pala_reg]

Hi @Sandshark  No, -12v was not required(blue wire). I replaced it with an yellow one which is +12v and it helped

[pala_reg]

So after inserting all the disks back to the original position, unfortunately I have the same issue. I see it powers on, shows the message "Loading initrd.gz.." on the screen, and then goes blank. All lights including network cable goes off then.

@StephenB @Sandshark 

[pala_reg]

I tried to do OS reinstall by trying to enter boot menu, but it wont even get to boot menu, attempted USB recovery method -no luck, tried to boot with a free spare disk - no luck again.  Dispay monitor throws message till  "Loading initfs.." as I shown in the previous screenshot and then thats it.

I think this device is beyond my hope now and I wasted too much time.

I am now trying to follow the steps @StephenB  suggested to put the disks from 516 to Pro6 for data recovery after converting PRO6. And I am stuck again at below steps:

1) Pro6 should be configured with 4.2.x firmware

I am not able to find a 4.2.x firmware for the Pro6 NAS device. I followed the below site, downloaded the radiator version - RAIDiator-x86-4.2.31(assuming that is the firmware as the site says so - or maybe I am wrong), and tried to manually upload the file via the admin panel. I get this message "Uploaded file is not a READYNASOS file". Tried on Chrome, Firefox and MS Edge browsers , same result.

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/RNDP6000-200_(ReadyNAS_Pro_6).aspx#download

The current firmware version on PRO6 is 6.10.7

2) I tried to install the .bin file for bios update via admin - apps - upload, it says "Error only debian packages are allowed". So it looks like it needs .deb files not .bin files. I couldn't find any repo that offers a .deb file for NAS.

The exact version of PRO6 as per my device's back label is:RNDP6000

@StephenB Kindly advise what should I do here

[StephenB]

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@pala_reg wrote:

The current firmware version on PRO6 is 6.10.7

Then the PRO6 has already been converted, so you don't need to convert it again.

What you do need to do is remove the disks from the RN516 trays, and put them into the Pro-6 trays.  Then insert them into the Pro-6 (ideally in their original order), and power it up.

[Sandshark]

And what does the 516 do with no drives installed and powered up?  What about with a scratch drive installed?

I've never seen drives that cannot be fully inserted into a Pro6.  Some don't have holes that line up with all of the ones on the caddies, so you can only use two screws, but that's sufficient.

It sounds like both of these units are now equipped to recover your volume if there isn't something wrong with the volume, which leads me to suspect there is something wrong with the volume.

[pala_reg]

I am glad to say I successfully recovered all the data. PSU replacement was a dead end. So following instructions from @StephenB PRO6 device booted with disks from NAS516, and all the data were there intact. 

Thank you very much @StephenB  @Sandshark  Without your valuable suggestions this situation would have been very difficult.

NAS516 is dead forever. I hope the PRO6 device will run a little longer.

[Sandshark]

FWIW, one of the few used NAS I have purchased "for parts" but thought I could fix, but ended up not being able to, is a 516 that has what I suspect is a shorted capacitor on the motherboard *it's definitely a short, but maybe no a capacitor), but acted like it was just the power supply (thus my expectation it could be fixed).  Without a schematic, I couldn't find the source of the short.  Yours may have a similar problem.

Don't trash the whole 516.  The caddies sell for more than you'd expect (around $40 is the usual asking price).  And a lot of folks selling used ReadyNAS are ignorant of that fact and sell the unit caddyless.  Plus, some want a spare and some have even reported them breaking.