ReadyNAS X6 with repeated disk failures on same channel

The Infrant ReadyNAS X6 came with a 1 year warranty. I think there might have been an option to extend it to 3 years but it would be well out of warranty by now.

What version of RAIDiator are you running?

The X6 does not support hot-swap. So you did power down the NAS before adding the replacement disk right?

Was the replacement disk unformatted or was it a used disk?

Could you open up the unit and check it for dust and remove dust if you find it?

Your spare disks would be quite old by now (even though they may not have been used before) and may have problems with them not necessarily detected by SeaTools. Could you try e.g. SpinRite on the drives? Are you able to try a new disk?

Thanks for the help, mdgm.

I'm on RAIDiator 4.1.7 (the SPARC version, of course). Never upgraded to 4.1.8 because I didn't want to upgrade while troubleshooting disk failures.

Yes, I definitely powered the NAS down before swapping any drives. I never attempted to hot-swap.

I did find quite a bit of dust in the enclosure after the first disk failure, and cleaned it out thoroughly at that point. (The machine had, however, been moved from an open-air environment to a running in a closet shortly before all this happened. I never got any high-temperature warnings or anything, but it's worth noting.)

The replacement disks were both used disks (not unformatted). (I assumed the NAS would overwrite any previous formatting with its own - right?) I think one was previously part of a different ReadyNAS volume, and the 2nd replacement disk I tried was previously used on a Windows machine.

So you're suggesting it may be coincidence that I tried 3 bad drives in a row on the same channel, rather than a problem with the NAS hardware? I will try to figure out how I can run SpinRite (difficult as I use a Mac laptop and don't have a real PC box around) or try a brand-new drive. How important is it that I use the same model/size as the other disks on the array?

First, ensure you have a good backup.

cdeel wrote:
I did find quite a bit of dust in the enclosure after the first disk failure, and cleaned it out thoroughly at that point. (The machine had, however, been moved from an open-air environment to a running in a closet shortly before all this happened. I never got any high-temperature warnings or anything, but it's worth noting.)

Right.

cdeel wrote:
The replacement disks were both used disks (not unformatted). (I assumed the NAS would overwrite any previous formatting with its own - right?) I think one was previously part of a different ReadyNAS volume, and the 2nd replacement disk I tried was previously used on a Windows machine.

It should usually but the X6 does not support hot-swap. Hot-swapping is recommended to ensure disks get wiped properly. You may wish to hook one of the possibly "good" drives up to your Mac and seeing if you can delete the partitions on it (use "dd" via the Terminal to wipe the partition table), then power down, and insert it into the NAS and boot the NAS up again and see how it goes.

cdeel wrote:
So you're suggesting it may be coincidence that I tried 3 bad drives in a row on the same channel, rather than a problem with the NAS hardware?

NAS hardware would probably be more likely but best to try to rule out a different problem. There's some good troubleshooting steps here (though perhaps not strictly what you're encountering there are some things worth checking mentioned there): http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq/hardware/a_newly-inserted_hard_disk_will_not_add_to_the_raid (note that as your unit is out of warranty you'll need to work on the forum on this issue).

cdeel wrote:
I will try to figure out how I can run SpinRite (difficult as I use a Mac laptop and don't have a real PC box around) or try a brand-new drive. How important is it that I use the same model/size as the other disks on the array?

You can try a larger capacity drive. Best to choose a drive on the compatibility list for e.g. the NV+ (not the NV+ v2) as the NV+ (v1) is a Sparc ReadyNAS like the X6.

mdgm, I tried a few things:
Not having a fresh drive readily available, I took one of the 3 drives I have (one that tested "good" with SeaTools) and ran it through the long-version SeaTools test (good) and then wiped the disk with SeaTools (low-level format, I think?) (Still trying to find a way to run SpinRite or borrow a fresh drive, but thought I'd try this for now.)

I installed this disk on Channel 2, and the array appeared to rebuild (and again, worked for several days).

In the meantime I noticed another serious problem (possibly related - not sure). When trying to power the unit back up, it had trouble powering on. When I flipped the hard power switch (rocker switch on back of unit) the NAS would power on for about half a second (fan and blue LED) then stop/go silent. By jiggling the power supply cord and repeatedly flipping the rocker switch on, I was able to get it to power on. (I tried a couple different outlets and a couple different power cables to rule this out.) It seemed like if it got past the initial disk spin-up, it would continue running, but about 4 out of 5 attempts to power up never made it past the first 1/2 second.

So this sounds like a power supply problem/PSU failure to me. I have no idea if this would explain the drive failures (or false drive failures) I've been having.

I came home after a couple days to find the unit powered off (no warning emails, etc.) I powered it back on and it did a RAID re-sync successfully. Another day later I got the dreaded "producing I/O errors" and "disk fail event" emails related to Channel 2. Then the two "Automatic Shutdown" emails (this time it sent 8 copies of each email ... weird).

How would you proceed at this point? Replace just the PSU or replace the whole box (with cheapest available used X6) and move the disks over? Is it true that I can move my disks to any SPARC-based ReadyNAS and preserve my data? (Even if the array is in a degraded state now?)

Thanks again for your gracious help!

I'd suggest moving to any Sparc ReadyNAS with a sufficient number of drive bays. See the instructions here: http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq/boot/how_do_i_migrate_disks_over_from_an_existing_readynas_to_another

The NV+ v1 would be a good choice (a little bit faster than the X6). Be sure to get the v1 not the v2 as you can't migrate to the v2. See How to tell whether I have a Duo v1 or Duo v2 or NV+ v1 or NV+ v2

Newegg currently has the NV+ v1 for $240 (after $30 off promo code which expires 2/16). Best price I have ever seen on one. Of course it has been discontinued, but older discontinued NAS units seem to have a life long after being discontinued.

mdgm, thanks for the advice. I did notice the instructions say "array must not be in a degraded state" when you move the drives. So let's hope I can get the unit to power up and resync the array one more time before it kicks the bucket for good. Will let you know how it goes.

PapaBear - thanks for that tip. That was a great price and I was about to snag it, when I noticed a used NV+ on eBay for $160 and got that instead. Riskier, I know, but ... budget problems. :(

I understand, being retired and having just experienced an expensive unexpected and unbudgeted expense my self, I am now in the penny pinching mode myself.

I would not totally toss the old X6. It may still have use as a 3 bay unit providing service as an rsysnc backup target for the NV+. I still have an NV+ that is in casual service as secondary backup and it will be 5 years old in the May/June time frame. These units doe really last as you are aware. Then keep your eye out for another NV+ (v1) bargain to ultimately replace the X6. Once you have experienced the security of an NAS to NAS nightly backup, you won't want to go back to any other method.