Just replaced both drives after disk failure (retired the old ones) with new unformatted drives. RAIDar shows "corrupt root" error after trying to do volume setup. Tried factory default and get same error. Firmware version is missing off RAIDar screen (model, name and IP all show). Drives show as OK. Admin page does not connect from RAIDar. Seagate disks show on Netgear approved list.
Any suggestions? I have read through the relevant posts.
It sounds like the drives may not have been unformatted. Can you connect them to a Windows PC and see if there are any partitons on them? If there are, delete them. If there aren't, run vendor diagnistic tool to see if you got a bum drive.
After I was getting the corrupt root error I checked both drives via a USB caddy in a windows machine to check for a previous format. They were both functional but unfomatted (both are new drives). I decided to add a Windows format to check if defective. They both show up just fine and usable in Windows. I then deleted that format and re-installed in the NAS. Same result with corrupt root error.
Another option is to use either Seagate's Seatools software or WDC's Lifeguard software to zero the drives. Lifeguard has an option for a "quick zeros" test - that is much faster than zeroing the entire drive, and is enough to remove all traces of any partitioning.
Have you tried doing OS reinstall and if it did not work then USB recovery for OS 4.2? There might be a problem with the OS. If this still did not resolve the issue then contacting Paid Support might be the last option.
I did try the OS reinstall with no change. I also tried the USB recovery but could never get the NAS to take the boot from the key (tried 4 different USB sticks) - activity would stall after a few seconds of activity.
I also had this issue earlier with a ReadyNas Duo v2 but the usual suggestions worked for it. I can only guess that the Ultra is different enough that it requires a unique approach.
As a last gasp I was able to workaround this issue by re-installing the drive that did not fail. Considering all the poking and resets I did to this NAS box I was shocked the thing booted up. After it launched I was able to get into the admin and then hot popped in one of the new drives (the ones that were giving me the corrupt error) and the box proceeded to prepare and sync the drive. Go figure... I tried this same sort of thing early on but tried it from a cold start - and it did not work.
So, original problem not solved...but good enough.
I do not have a real understanding of how the ReadyNAS stores the OS. Is it on the box, is it on the drive, is it on both?
I do not have a real understanding of how the ReadyNAS stores the OS. Is it on the box, is it on the drive, is it on both?
The system boots from an OS partition that is on the drives. This is mirrored across all drives. There's also an install image of the firmware that is saved in flash memory.
USB recovery just updates the install image in the flash.
When you do a factory default (or a factory install onto blank drives), the boot loader creates the OS partition on the drives, and installs the firmware from the image. Similarly, an OS reinstall does a partial re-installation from the flash image to the drives.
One nuance - if the installation image in the flash and the OS partition don't match, then the boot loader will reconcile the mismatch. In OS 4 systems (like a stock ultra), the image in the flash always wins. For example, imagine that the flash memory held 4.1.15 firmware. If you migrated disks from a system running 4.1.16, then the boot loader would downgrade the OS partition to 4.1.15. Similarly if you migrated disks from a system running 4.1.13, the boot loader would upgrade the OS partition to 4.1.15.
In OS 6 systems, the most recent firmware wins. If the flash is newer, the boot loader updates the OS partition. But if the OS partition is newer, the boot loader updates the flash.
As a last gasp I was able to workaround this issue by re-installing the drive that did not fail. Considering all the poking and resets I did to this NAS box I was shocked the thing booted up. After it launched I was able to get into the admin and then hot popped in one of the new drives (the ones that were giving me the corrupt error) and the box proceeded to prepare and sync the drive.
I tried this same sort of thing early on but tried it from a cold start - and it did not work.
Normally the system will boot from the first disk it finds. So if one of the drives that gave you the corrupt root was in slot 1, that might explain why it it didn't work the first time.
That said, your problem sounds very unusual. I've never seen a case here where a zeroed disk was reported as having a corrupt root. A zeroed disk has no partitions - so if it is the only disk in the system the boot loader will do a clean factory install.
How old is the ultra? I'm wondering if it might not have the most recent bios.
StephenB - Thanks for your explanations. Appreciated.
The Ultra box is old. Bought it new but I believe it to be 2011 or 2012. It was bought as a diskless system and I installed the two Seagate 2TB drives (no problems at the time) and it was happily running along until a week or two ago when one drive failed.
Is there a reason the box acccepted the new drive via a hot swap but not as a "new' drive?
From what you are saying could I now concievably get to where I wanted to be by removing the old original drive (since the new #1 drive is fully synced) and then hot swapping in the new # 2 drive in its place?
From what you are saying could I now concievably get to where I wanted to be by removing the old original drive (since the new #1 drive is fully synced) and then hot swapping in the new # 2 drive in its place?
