ReadyNAS 2100 FrontView blank page - Firmware 4.2.31

Thanks for getting back to  me Sandshark .  Much appreciate.

I have gone right back to the beginning and started a telnet session to the working box to copy the VPD file to USB, which is on OS 6.10.8.  

1.  USB has been formatted as detailed in the document with a single text file to allow easy identification

2.   NAS has been booted in tech support mode and appears in RAIDar as such.

3.  TELNET session established without issues using the credentials supplied in the document.

4.  Ran command CD / as this is a OS 6 NAS - Ok

5.   Ran command  mount /dev/sde1 mnt  - Ok (this is the only drive  name I could get accepted as SDC1 and SDD1 did not  work)

6.   Ran command ls mnt and got a list of files including the VPD - Ok

7.  Ran command mkdir usb - Ok (ls confirms the folder is created and present)

8.  Ran command   mount  /dev/sde1  usb - fail with message -

mount: mounting /dev/sde1 on usb failed: Device or resource busy

I have waited and re-tried but no change to the message.  RAIDar shows the following - 

Thanks for your continued efforts to help me with this.

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Fandango2022 wrote:

 

5.   Ran command  mount /dev/sde1 mnt  - Ok (this is the only drive  name I could get accepted as SDC1 and SDD1 did not  work)

 

8.  Ran command   mount  /dev/sde1  usb - fail with message -

mount: mounting /dev/sde1 on usb failed: Device or resource busy

 

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Why are you trying to mount /dev/sde1 a second time?

Step 8 is to mount the USB device you want to copy the VPD to (e.g, the destination), not remounting the source

Apologies... a misunderstanding of the document on my part.     

At this point I am supposed to be mounting the USB , so how do I easily identify  the  drive name for the USB on my machine to use here?    Is there a command?  I have had difficulty finding commands for disk info.  

Thanks for your patience.

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Fandango2022 wrote:

 

At this point I am supposed to be mounting the USB , so how do I easily identify  the  drive name for the USB on my machine to use here?    Is there a command?  I have had difficulty finding commands for disk info.  

 

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lsblk should list all the disks (and their partitions).

I get the following when I try this... I have entered the lsblk command after I have created the USB directory.

# lsblk
-sh: lsblk: not found

Ok, thanks StephenB  Sandshark  - making some progress...

lsblk did not work for me but I tried  ls dev, which gave me a list of device ID's I think.  I tried the one at the end that looked like ti was in isolation i.e. sdf1 and command  mount sdf1 usb worked.  I could then list the contents of the usb and see my text file.  Copy operation of cp /mnt/vpd /usb worked fine and I now have a copy of the file.  

Next step to put it on the broken 2100 and see If it gets FrontView working again.  Thanks for both your help so far.  

Ok, thought all was going well.  Managed to copy the VPD file to the broken NAS with no issues.  Once started-up, it displays 'Corrupt Root' in RAIDar, and I cannot connect to Frontview  in an old version of Firefox that used to allow it previously.  Is this because the VPD file was from one of my OS 6 machines?  I do not have this broken one upgraded yet from  4.2.31 and do not have any other older OS machines.

Many thanks.

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Fandango2022 wrote:

 

lsblk did not work for me but I tried 

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Ok.  Some of the tools require you to mount the OS partition and chroot when in tech support mode.

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Fandango2022 wrote:

Once started-up, it displays 'Corrupt Root' in RAIDar

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That is a different problem.  Try doing an OS reinstall from the boot menu.  Note that will reset the admin password to netgear1.

The VPD isn't changed between OS4.2.x and OS6.  In fact, native OS6 units don't use it at all.  But writing to the flash and then getting the "corrupt root" message could be an indication that the flash is actually faulty, since it wasn't before.  But do try an OS re-install as StephenB suggested before you reach that conclusion.

Further update...

I took out the single 250gb disk that was in the unit and deleted the volumes in windows leaving an empty partition.    When I rebooted with the disk in, the NAS started to  check the disk in RAIDar.  It then finished and let me choose 'Setup' to configure a raid   type, showing formware version as 4.2.31.   The 'Corrupt Root' message had dissapeared. I chose the default ,and it completed and told me about the lack of redundancy, which was expected.  Frontview was loadable using the default credentials, but once again still shows blank screen, with  just a few buttons...

Just tried an OS re-install to see if that rectified things, but sadly not.  Still a blank FrontView screen.    Do you think it is worth trying a RADiator 4.2 USB fash recovery?

Anybody got anything else I can try before  this NAS has to be retired?

You could try an older web browser version.

If this is a v2 and you want to put OS6 on and try that you could rename the OS6 firmware .img file to RAIDiator-x86-something and use that instead when doing USB Boot Recovery.

Note that the VPD may be corrupt after doing a USB Boot Recovery.

Already trying an old Firefox browser, that originally allowed me to view FrontView before I attempted the upgrade to OS6.  This browser version has allowed me to upgrade other 2100's also.    Not sure why the VPD file copy has not sorted my issue out.  I will try a USB restore and see If that sorts things out.   Other than that I am out of ideas on this one.  Thanks mdgm .

No joy with any of the USB restore options.    Tried both a 4.2 and a 6 version with no difference.  NAS boots into 4.2.31 with the bad FrontView system visible.    Thanks to you all mdgm , Sandshark , StephenB  for having a  go at helping me.  Much appreciated.    Think I will EBay this one for spares or repairs.

I would still try some period correct portable versions of browsers to see if you can see everything in frontview.  I somehow recall having this problem with just the wrong browser on my os4 units...

Thanks for your reply SamirD .  I'll take your advice and try some Android browsers to see If I get anything different.

Still no joy.  Tried phone browser versions and both old (V3.0) of Firefox and current version with TLS 1.0 support switched on.  Still no Front-view options available just blank Front-view container screen.  it seems as though the VPD file  repair I did has not worked.  It went onto the machine fine but hasn't done the intended job.    I have tried adding more drives to the unit and this has not made any difference either.    Is there anything I can do to try to see if the EEPROM is corrupt?  Any documentation that will allow me to attempt a repair?  I have nothing to lose by trying.  Also, are there any  Netgear  guru's that could fix it?  I Remember saying only Netgear support could   build  a new VPD file?    How much would it cost to get the unit fixed ?

Thanks

Strange, but a phone browser just may not work.  I believe firefox 52 esr is what I'm using that works.  I've moved my nas units for now so I can't double check, but I did get a 'new to me' one recently that should have os4 on it so I can try.  Just don't know when I can get to building this new one or moving the other ones back where I can access them.

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Fandango2022 wrote:

No joy with any of the USB restore options.    Tried both a 4.2 and a 6 version with no difference.  NAS boots into 4.2.31 with the bad FrontView system visible.    Thanks to you all mdgm , Sandshark , StephenB  for having a  go at helping me.  Much appreciated.    Think I will EBay this one for spares or repairs.

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To put OS6 on you still have to use the 4.2 USB Boot Recovery, but you have to rename the OS6 image so that the recovery script will accept it. Each time you do USB Boot Recovery the EEPROM may become corrupt if it is not already.

Hi SamirD , thanks for the info.  I think my whole problem here is that i should not have attempted to upgrade this unit to OS6.  Think it might have been a V1.  I am not sure how to tell now.  

Hi mdgm , thanks for replying.  As I said above, I think the OS6 upgrade attempt is what has caused me the issue in the first place.    Think this unit was a V1.     All I need to do now Is get it back to a working 4+ version.  The various fixes have not worked in this area, so think I am going to have to seek out help to repair the VPD or EEPROM.

If you're getting the general outline and format of the frontview page, then I think your os4 is fine and that it's the browser since os4 is old enough that the browser makes a huge difference.  Have you tried ff 52 esr?  I use the portable version of it I believe.  The other versions of portable browsers I would try are x-chrome 45 (winpenpack) and slimjet portable v10 (based on chrome 49).

What is your current drive configuration?  Single drive?

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SamirD wrote:

If you're getting the general outline and format of the frontview page, then I think your os4 is fine and that it's the browser since os4 is old enough that the browser makes a huge difference. 

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Firefox 94.0.2 will work with 4.2.31.

Good to know even though the best bet is to always use something from the same era when working with older gear ime.