RN10400-100NAS reset button doesn't work at Boot Menu Normal selection

[MikeS234]

I have a RN10400-100NAS (serial number 3EP134EN011C2) that had would not turn off and would only allow the Boot Menu to cycle thru a list of choices.  So, after reading the instructions, decided that taking a paper clip and pressing the reset button at the Boot Menu Normal was my best option.  Neither pressing the reset button nor pressing and holding the reset button caused the boot normal to start.

I have a feeling that the reset button / circuit was defective at purchase and just now found out.  Lucky me, it occurred outside of my warrenty by about a year.

The has worked well since I had purchased it and I think the four power outages that were about 4 seconds apart put the unit into the Boot Menu.  Thank you Georgia Power.  

Any ideas how to repair this unit?

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@MikeS234 wrote:

Now, what went wrong with the unit that four quick power outages caused it to lock up? 

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Possibly lost disk writes caused the array to lose sync.  I always recommend using a UPS with your NAS.

[DaneA]

Hi @MikeS234,

Welcome to the community! 🙂 

Kindly try to pullout the power plug then wait for few minutes and power on the RN104.  Check if you will be able to access your data as well as if it will allow you to turn off the NAS properly.

Do you have a backup of the data stored in the NAS?  What is the current firmware version of your RN104?

Regards,

DaneA

NETGEAR Community Team

[MikeS234]

Thank you for responding DaneA.

I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone out there.  I was thinking Netgear would have had their regurlar support team looking at logs that didn't have a response after X number of days.

I did unplug for several minutes the RN104 when the power button was unresponsive.  When I plugged the unit back in, the power button would be flashing and the led displayed Boot Menu.

I then did an internet search and found there wasn't much information out there. Read up on the Boot Menu options and called it a night.

 I then unplugged the unit for a couple of days as I weighed my option.  I did plug the unit back in with the wild hope that it would function normally.  When the unit didn't, I then tried the reset button at Boot Menu "Normal" with a prayer that all my backups wouldn't be wiped in an instance.  It was as if the reset button didn't exsist.  The unit just sat there blinking and the led showing Boot Menu "Normal".

I have since purchased a RN204 and installed the hard drives into that unit.  The data was there and the unit requested an update which I completed.  I have my data back and working.

The original RN104 now states no hard drives detected.  I am most likely going to get two internal 4 TB hard drives and power the unit up again.  I don't recall having to use the reset button when I orginally purchased the unit.  I am curious if the unit functions normally once I have the new hard drives in it.  If it does, then I know that the unit had a defect when it was shipped to me; at that point I will be very disappointed in Netgear.

Any other thoughts?

[DaneA]

@MikeS234,

I'm glad that the data is still intact when you have inserted the drives from the RN104 to the RN204. 

As a test, if ever you have just one spare drive, you may insert it to the RN104 then perform a factory reset on it.  Then, check if it will be setup just fine.  

Regards,

DaneA
NETGEAR Community Team

[MikeS234]

Well, I think I have confirmed that the unit was shipped to me with a defective reset button / circuit.

I did install a new 3TB WD Red hard drive and powered the RN104 up.  The unit did a factory reset and formated the new hard.  It appears to be working.

I am very disappointed in Netgear.

[StephenB]

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@MikeS234 wrote:

Well, I think I have confirmed that the unit was shipped to me with a defective reset button / circuit.

I did install a new 3TB WD Red hard drive and powered the RN104 up.  The unit did a factory reset and formated the new hard.  It appears to be working.

FWIW, I'm not sure you have confirmed that, since you haven't told us what instructions you are following.

Now that the unit is functioning with the new disk, try powering it down, and attempt to access the boot menu again.

Use the procedure on page 16 here, and see if you can cycle to the volume read-only option: http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/GDC/READYNAS-100/RN%20OS%206%20Desktop%20HW%20UM_15Oct2013.pd...

[MikeS234]

I have followed the instructions to get to the boot menu.  Using a paper clip to press and hold in the reset button, I press the power button and the RN104 then displayed the "Boot Menu".  Using the Backup button, the unit did cycle through choices and I selected the volume option.  Pressing the reset button again caused the unit to complete the task.  The RN104 now appears to be functioning normally.

So, StephenB ... you were right.  My thanks to you and to Dane for fielding the question.

Now, what went wrong with the unit that four quick power outages caused it to lock up? 

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@MikeS234 wrote:

Now, what went wrong with the unit that four quick power outages caused it to lock up? 

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Possibly lost disk writes caused the array to lose sync.  I always recommend using a UPS with your NAS.

[MikeS234]

Good morning StephenB and DaneA,

So, lets wrap this up.

I will be adding a UPS to both of my NAS units.  Thank you for your recommendation!

 If I have this problem again in the future:

1) Power down the unit

2) Pull the hard drives (making sure they are labeled and can be replaced in the same order).

3) Insert an unformated drive into the unit.

4) Power the unit up and let it complete the factory defauft activities.

5) Power the unit down normally.

6) Insert the original drives in the correct order.

7) Power the unit up normally and it should function as designed.

What are your thoughts StephenB?

[StephenB]

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@MikeS234 wrote:

6) Insert the original drives in the correct order.

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This step undoes any benefit you might have gotten from the reset - the NAS software is installed onto the hard drives by the factory install process.

[MikeS234]

Your thinking that the RN104, once responsive with having the unformated drive installed and formated; would revert back to being unresponsive when the original four drives are reinstalled, good assumption.

Why would the new RN214 have been able to receive the four used hard drives and function just like the RN104 had prior to the power outages?

Either the RN214 could work past the write sync issue that the RN104 couldn't or I just got lucky.

Is that what you are saying?

[StephenB]

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@MikeS234 wrote:

Either the RN214 could work past the write sync issue that the RN104 couldn't or I just got lucky.h

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It's possible that the RN214 did an OS reinstall when you migrated the drives.  Or possibly the issue was memory-related (the RN214 has 2 GB of RAM, the RN104 has 512 KB).  Or maybe you got lucky of course