ReadyNAS Duo v2 fast flashing backup LED

[SwedenStockholm]

Hello to all experts,

Newbie on this forum, I now find myself in a desperate position and need help.

Having searched the forum, I have found two threads that I have been trying to use as solution to my issue… but none works :- (

Machine: Netgear ReadyNAS Duo v2

Model: RND-2B

Product: RND2000-200EUS

More than 6 years old

The disks are two Green WD 2.0TB WD20EARX

I have exactly the same issue as described in the thread

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS-in-Business/ReadyNAS-Duo-v2-Flashing-Backup-LED...:

-the power LED is on

-the backup LED is flashing rapidly

-Raidar cannot see/find the NAS

-the NAS does not show on my network

-The NAS will not power down using the power button, I have to disconnect the power cord

-the boot menu is NOT accessible (when using the reset button on the back)

-on the back the LAN connection is on (green light occasionally flashing)

-have tried to boot with disks installed and boot with no disks

I have also followed the steps in the following thread

https://community.netgear.com/t5/ReadyNAS-Cloud-Storage/Readynas-duo-v2-not-starting-after-power-fai...

-i.e I have tried a USB boot recovery with no success

:- (

Hence, this may mean that the chassis has a hardware fault and is dead!!?

So, my first (1) question: Is it worthwhile to repair an old ReadyNAS Duo v2? … or will it be “cheaper” (in the long run) to find a new one?

Second (2) question: I may have an opportunity to buy a used RND2000 v1 or a RNDU2000, which one is better? I understand this will be “downgrade” from the v2 I have?

Third (3) question: Can I just plug the two disks into the above used RND machines? Or do I have to take special care and action? NB! I do NOT want to accidentally erase the disks!

Fourth (4) question: If I get the above to work, I understand that there is a high risk that the used RND may break because it is old and used. So, once up and running, maybe I should eventually buy a new NAS.

When and if I have a new NAS, how do I transfer all the data to for example a ReadyNAS 212 RN21200? Can I do so without using my LAN? Or even better, can I skip the third step above and plug my old hard disks right into a new 212 – without erase?

[StephenB]

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@SwedenStockholm wrote:

So, my first (1) question: Is it worthwhile to repair an old ReadyNAS Duo v2? … or will it be “cheaper” (in the long run) to find a new one?

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The chassis can't be repaired.  You can replace the power brick, but that's about it.  Your problem could be the disks though.  If you remove the disks and power up the NAS, what does RAIDar tell you?  https://kb.netgear.com/20684/ReadyNAS-Downloads

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@SwedenStockholm wrote:

Second (2) question: I may have an opportunity to buy a used RND2000 v1 or a RNDU2000, which one is better? I understand this will be “downgrade” from the v2 I have?

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The RNDU2000 is much better than the RND2000 v1, and IMO is an upgrade over what you have now.  One reason is that you can convert it to run the current OS 6 firmware.

When you purchase a used ReadyNAS, you should make sure it includes working trays.  Ideally it would also include the original screws for the trays - though those can be purchased if you know the correct specs.

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@SwedenStockholm wrote:

Third (3) question: Can I just plug the two disks into the above used RND machines? 

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No.  The disks need to be reformatted in order to use them.

If you can connect one of the disks to a Windows PC, then you can use R-linux for Windows to offload the data. https://www.r-studio.com/free-linux-recovery/

You could directly migrate your disks to a used NV+ v2.  But you'd need to be careful on the model identification - many sellers of used NAS don't really know what they are selling.  The NV+ v2 says ReadyNAS NV+ v2 on the front panel.  Some labels on the v1 NAS might say v2 or even v3 - so you need to ignore those labels.

I am thinking that you should invest in backup - RAID isn't enough to keep your data safe.

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@SwedenStockholm wrote:

Fourth (4) question: If I get the above to work, I understand that there is a high risk that the used RND may break because it is old and used. So, once up and running, maybe I should eventually buy a new NAS.

When and if I have a new NAS, how do I transfer all the data to for example a ReadyNAS 212 RN21200? Can I do so without using my LAN? Or even better, can I skip the third step above and plug my old hard disks right into a new 212 – without erase?

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You can't migrate your disks.  You will need to transfer over your LAN.  If the used NAS is running, you can set up backup job(s) on the new NAS that can transfer the data.

One option is to use the old NAS for backup.  After transfering the data, you can reverse the direction of the backup jobs, and back up your files to the old NAS on a schedule (for instance daily).

Inventory of desktop ReadyNAS has been limited for a while now - so IMO you should look at other brands also.  They have similar backup job features, and it is possible to transfer files between different vendor products.

[SwedenStockholm]

StephenB,

Many thanks for your super-fast reply!

Well, I have tried tried to boot with disks installed and boot with no disks - no difference! Does not work!

So, it must be the chassis.

Thanks for notifying me on the risk buying used stuff - made me think that maybe the R-linux suggestion will be better in the end.

I'll buy a SATA-USB and check that the disks work... then I assume I can offload the data (old hard-disk => PC => new NAS with new hard-disk over LAN) to a new NAS via my PC using this cable?

[StephenB]

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@SwedenStockholm wrote:

Well, I have tried tried to boot with disks installed and boot with no disks - no difference! Does not work!

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Are you sure?

You won't be able to access the web ui w/o disks, because the OS is installed onto the disks.  Also, there will still be blinking leds (telling you there are no disks).  But you can ping the NAS if you can find the IP address in your router's device list, and RAIDar should be able to find it even if it's not in the router's device list.

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@SwedenStockholm wrote:

Thanks for notifying me on the risk buying used stuff - made me think that maybe the R-linux suggestion will be better in the end.

I'll buy a SATA-USB and check that the disks work... then I assume I can offload the data (old hard-disk => PC => new NAS with new hard-disk over LAN) to a new NAS via my PC using this cable?

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If the data volume is still intact, R-linux will let you offload it. Personally I'd get a USB drive along with the SATA-USB, and off-load it locally.  But you should be able to offload it directly to the new NAS.  You might need to map the NAS network share to a drive letter.

[SwedenStockholm]

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Are you sure?

You won't be able to access the web ui w/o disks, because the OS is installed onto the disks.  Also, there will still be blinking leds (telling you there are no disks).  But you can ping the NAS if you can find the IP address in your router's device list, and RAIDar should be able to find it even if it's not in the router's device list.

Nope! Both disks installed.
ping = Destination host unreachable.
raidar = RAIDAR did not find a NETGEAR-storage in the network.

The backup led is flashing fast.
The disk leds are not lit at all.

[Sandshark]

The DuoV2 doesn't power down with a long hold of the power button like most ReadyNAS.  So that you have to remove power to re-boot is not a sign of anything wrong.  While the other symptoms are, it still sounds like bad flash memory.  But, the memory chip could be bad, not just the contents.

When you say a USB recovery "didn't work", what do you mean?  The NAS can be quite picky about the USB drive used.  So if nothing happened, it may be that you need to try another.  If it appeared to work but didn't solve the problem, that's probably the chassis.  Figuring out whether the recovery seems to be working is a lot easier if the USB drive has an access LED.  If it just blinks briefly, then it just didn't try, either because the drive isn't compatible or because the hardware is beyond recovery.

In choosing a USB drive, older is better.  Never use a USB3 device.  8GB or smaller is going to work more often.  And there can be only one partition (some have a hidden one).

As for a replacement NAS, your old caddies will work in the new one, so don't let that be a constraint if you are going to trash the Duo anyway.  I agree with @StephenB that the Ultra2 is a step up from what you have.  IMHO Netgear wasted a lot of effort on the Duo and NV+ V2's.  The OS was inferior to the predecessor Intel version that runs on the Ultra  (though, perhaps, a bit less daunting to the home user). 

If you want to upgrade the Ultra to OS6, it is the slowest NAS that will run OS6, so I'd avoid running apps or virus protection on it.  It is also best to update the RAM to 2GB.  But there are still advantages to running it.  Besides having a more up to date OS, you will then later be able to migrate the drives to a native OS6 device without having to go through the data recovery and transfer again, should the NAS die or you just decide to upgrade.

The DuoV1 is a huge downgrade, especially since it is limited to 2TB drives max.  If you are looking for a used DuoV2, then the photo of the rear is a good place to check to make sure it really is a V2.  The V1 (in all of it's iterations) has a smaller fan and a recess where the power supply connects.  Compare that to the back of your unit and you'll see.

[SwedenStockholm]

OK! Thank you!

I'll see if I can get hold on an older USB-stick and give it a second try! :- )

[StephenB]

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@SwedenStockholm wrote:
Both disks installed.
ping = Destination host unreachable.
raidar = RAIDAR did not find a NETGEAR-storage in the network.

The backup led is flashing fast.
The disk leds are not lit at all.

See what happens when you power up the NAS with both disks removed (and no USB drives connected).  Some disk failures can make the NAS unbootable.

[SwedenStockholm]

@StephenB, powered up the NAS with both disks removed and various USBs connected + powered up the NAS with both disks removed and no USB connected. No difference - the backup LED continues to flash fast and the NAS does not boot 😞

@Sandshark, tried five different USBs from 256MB to 8GB with the following three files loaded:

usbrecovery.v1.0.T1marvellRAIDiator-arm-5.3.13

usbrecovery.v1.0.T1marvellDuov2uImage-recovery

usbrecovery.v1.0.T1marvellinitrd-recovery.gz

No difference - the backup LED continues to flash fast and the NAS does not boot 😞

Sad as it seems - the NAS and the chassis has a hardware fault and is beyond hope...

I have in the mean time tried the R-linux with a SATA-USB cable and learned the my files and data can be found on the hard disk! 🙂

So, tomorrow I'll order a new NAS with new disks... maybe I'll try another brand this time! Heard that the brand that starts with syn- and ends with -ology have good reviews!

To both of you - Thank you! Excellent help and ideas received! Much appreciated. 

[Sandshark]

There is a lot more to making a USB recovery key than just putting some files on it.  It has to be bootable, which is done by running a program on a Windows PC expressly designed to make the key.  I have not found an official Netgear source for the necessary files, but this link was in another forum message: ReadyNAS OS5 Recovery .  Note that you typically have to run the executable as administrator on a Windows PC for other versions, so you likely do for this as well.

[mdgm]

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@Sandshark wrote:

There is a lot more to making a USB recovery key than just putting some files on it.  It has to be bootable, which is done by running a program on a Windows PC expressly designed to make the key.

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That is true for x86 systems, but for ARM systems such as the Duo v2 you just need to format the USB key appropriately using the MBR (master Boot Record) partitioning scheme. ARM systems have the process of searching the USB key for the boot recovery files and booting off them built into the u-boot, whereas x86 systems rely on a syslinux bootloader on a USB key that has been set to bootable.

1. Find a USB drive with a capacity that is greater than 256 MB, but no more than 32 GB.
2. Ensure that the USB drive has only one partition.
3. Format the USB drive as FAT, FAT-32, or MS-DOS file system.
4. Make a note of the drive letter your USB drive is assigned after formatting.
5. Copy data to the USB:

initrd-recovery.gz

uImage-recovery

RAIDiator-arm-5.3.13

Note these files must be in the root of the partition on the USB key. There should be no folders on the USB key.

Then you plug the USB key into the front USB port and press and hold the backup button on boot to boot off it.