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ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

I have been using a ReadyNAS Pro RNDP6350-100NAS for many years as a home music server (Logitech Media Server) and backup for my PC and data files.

 

Firmware is 4.2.30.

 

It has not been 100% stable for some time, often hanging on a file copy or other processing activity involving about 200 MB or more.   I use Windows 7 Professional with its Explorer file manager, and usually have to Ctrl-Alt-Del to get to the Task Manager Applications list to End Process to stop operations that will not complete.  The odd thing to me is that after 2-3 rounds of this brute-force intervention at the beginning of a session, my system would run stable for all or most the rest of the day.  Then, it would occur again after I haven't used it for a while.

 

The last year or so, it has been close to only 10% remaining space in the volume.  I had been using auto spindown after 30 minutes, but recently increased the time to 60 minutes.

 

Now it reboots often and sometimes resyncs, mostly during drive activity but sometimes by itself.  I recently expanded two of six disks from 2tb to 4tb, using Seagate ST4000VNB08 Ironwolf drives to replace drives with reallocated sector and command timeout problems.   The volume expansion occured as normal after rebuilding with the second 4tb disk, but then it resynced about three times before seeming to be stable.  It has since resynced a couple more times in the past few days, but mostly it just keeps rebooting when I try to use it.  Having a look at the logs, in the past I think it has been rebooting more than I realize because it is in a separate room and I don't hear it.

 

I don't see any problems with the current set of drives as indicated in the Frontview Smart info tables for each drive.

 

Today I took apart the chassis and unplugged and replugged each of the power supply (PSU) connectors a few times to see if there might be corrosion building up, possibly causing the rebooting and other problems I am experiencing.   I also did a thorough vaccum.  So far, this has made no difference.

 

I ran four memory test passes yesterday, with no errors for the 3gb memory (both slots in use).

 

I wonder if the ST4000VNB08 drives are supported?  They seem to have had the normal Seagate model # updates to the original ST4000VN000 that is listed on the Netgear ReadyNAS approved list, which says this drive "should" work.  

 

Regardless, the unit has not been 100% for some time, so I am not sure whether the new drives have created any of the more recent problems.

 

I recently ran an offline file check and data scrub without errors.

 

At this stage, I wonder if it needs a new PSU, or if there is a software fix?  

 

I'd rather not get a new unit, but I realize these things don't last forever.

 

Fortunately, I have a recent, nearly 100% backup, spanned across multiple USB drives.

 

Comments and suggestions much appreciated.   Thanks!

 

Some Recent Logs:

 

Mon May 22 19:04:27 EDT 2017 System is up.
Mon May 22 18:02:04 EDT 2017 System is up.
Mon May 22 17:44:59 EDT 2017 System is up.
Mon May 22 09:08:42 EDT 2017 RAID sync finished on volume C.
Mon May 22 05:54:11 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 22:14:31 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 21:39:49 EDT 2017 Volume scan found no errors.
Sun May 21 16:48:47 EDT 2017 Rebooting device...
Sun May 21 16:48:47 EDT 2017 Please close this browser session and use RAIDar to reconnect to the device. System rebooting...
Sun May 21 16:41:50 EDT 2017 Alert settings saved.
Sun May 21 16:40:34 EDT 2017 Automatic disk spin-down enabled.
Sun May 21 16:21:10 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 15:51:41 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 10:44:16 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 10:40:07 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 10:28:47 EDT 2017 Update settings saved.
Sun May 21 10:25:51 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 10:14:25 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 10:09:28 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 10:02:56 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 08:51:04 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 07:39:22 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 03:24:32 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 21 01:17:05 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sat May 20 20:03:22 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sat May 20 17:20:56 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 19 20:34:07 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 19 16:31:17 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 19 10:37:52 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 19 10:36:23 EDT 2017 Rebooting device...
Fri May 19 10:36:22 EDT 2017 Please close this browser session and use RAIDar to reconnect to the device. System rebooting...
Fri May 19 10:34:43 EDT 2017 RAID sync finished on volume C.
Fri May 19 06:00:06 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 18 21:59:02 EDT 2017 RAID sync finished on volume C.
Thu May 18 17:25:00 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 18 10:08:13 EDT 2017 RAID sync finished on volume C.
Thu May 18 05:10:41 EDT 2017 Data volume has been successfully expanded to 11101 GB.
Thu May 18 05:07:10 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 18 05:06:44 EDT 2017 Continuing with volume expansion or migration. Do not interrupt the system during this time. When complete, email notification will be sent to the alert contact list.
Thu May 18 00:17:57 EDT 2017 Found space that can be used to expand capacity, expansion process will start during next boot.
Thu May 18 00:16:40 EDT 2017 RAID sync finished on volume C.
Wed May 17 18:22:26 EDT 2017 RAID sync started on volume C.
Wed May 17 18:22:03 EDT 2017 Data volume will be rebuilt with disk 6.
Wed May 17 18:21:28 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 16 18:35:04 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 16 16:41:22 EDT 2017 RAID sync finished on volume C.
Tue May 16 10:58:18 EDT 2017 RAID sync started on volume C.
Tue May 16 10:57:51 EDT 2017 Data volume will be rebuilt with disk 2.
Tue May 16 10:57:17 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 16 08:08:03 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 16 06:06:15 EDT 2017 System is up.
Mon May 15 18:52:14 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 14 06:25:03 EDT 2017 Volume C is approaching capacity: 90% used 1018G available
Sat May 13 08:41:51 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sat May 13 03:55:37 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 12 16:37:00 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 12 12:13:29 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 12 10:07:35 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 12 07:45:57 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 12 04:26:08 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 11 21:06:14 EDT 2017 System is up.
Wed May 10 17:30:49 EDT 2017 System is up.
Wed May 10 17:30:26 EDT 2017 System Update Status (nas-EA-1F-D1) : Your ReadyNAS device has been updated with a new firmware image. (RAIDiator-x86 4.2.30)
Wed May 10 17:28:10 EDT 2017 Rebooting device...
Wed May 10 17:28:10 EDT 2017 Please close this browser session and use RAIDar to reconnect to the device. System rebooting...
Wed May 10 17:27:03 EDT 2017 Please reboot your ReadyNAS device to continue with the update process.
Wed May 10 15:00:28 EDT 2017 System is up.
Wed May 10 10:17:26 EDT 2017 System is up.
Wed May 10 00:27:16 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 9 19:19:40 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 9 11:07:50 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 9 08:46:17 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 9 07:00:36 EDT 2017 System is up.
Tue May 9 04:59:55 EDT 2017 System is up.
Mon May 8 22:33:24 EDT 2017 System is up.
Mon May 8 17:56:04 EDT 2017 System is up.
Mon May 8 09:47:25 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 7 16:41:28 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 7 10:57:18 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 7 10:42:22 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 7 07:32:23 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 7 04:42:23 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 7 03:00:22 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sun May 7 00:57:39 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sat May 6 17:50:16 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sat May 6 14:43:12 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sat May 6 12:48:14 EDT 2017 System is up.
Sat May 6 01:23:45 EDT 2017 Detected increasing command timeouts[10] on disk 6 [ST32000644NS, 9WM7S9FV] in the past 30 days. This often indicates an impending failure. Please be prepared to replace this disk to maintain data redundancy.
Fri May 5 19:42:44 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 5 17:47:46 EDT 2017 System is up.
Fri May 5 07:43:24 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 4 13:28:28 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 4 13:20:51 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 4 13:18:52 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 4 12:54:40 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 4 04:08:15 EDT 2017 System is up.
Thu May 4 01:02:24 EDT 2017 System is up.
Wed May 3 19:57:17 EDT 2017 System is up.
Wed May 3 04:59:24 EDT 2017 System is up.
Wed May 3 02:40:01 EDT 2017 System is up.

Model: ReadyNAS RNDP600E|ReadyNAS Pro Pioneeer Chassis only
Message 1 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

The exact model number for the Seagate IronWolf 4TB drives is ST4000VN008-2DR166.   I previously stated ST4000VNB08.

 

Here is the SMART info for each.  Note the Power On Hours, Head Flying Hours, Total LBAs Written, and Total LBAs Read.   As you can see, those can't possibly be accurate since these are new drives and I would need to be extremely old to put that many hours on them, Ha Ha!

 

SMART Information for Disk 2

Model: ST4000VN008-2DR166
Serial: 
Firmware: SC60
SMART Attribute
Spin Up Time 0
Start Stop Count 45
Reallocated Sector Count 0
Power On Hours 34308198760564
Spin Retry Count 0
Power Cycle Count 29
End-to-End Error 0
Reported Uncorrect 0
Command Timeout 0
High Fly Writes 0
Airflow Temperature Cel 31
G-Sense Error Rate 0
Power-Off Retract Count 10
Load Cycle Count 45
Temperature Celsius 31
Current Pending Sector 0
Offline Uncorrectable 0
UDMA CRC Error Count 0
Head Flying Hours 42069204664398
Total LBAs Written 3925796440
Total LBAs Read 17674520602
ATA Error Count 0

 

SMART Information for Disk 6

Model: ST4000VN008-2DR166
Serial: 
Firmware: SC60
SMART Attribute
Spin Up Time 0
Start Stop Count 38
Reallocated Sector Count 0
Power On Hours 182445915766869
Spin Retry Count 0
Power Cycle Count 28
End-to-End Error 0
Reported Uncorrect 0
Command Timeout 0
High Fly Writes 0
Airflow Temperature Cel 31
G-Sense Error Rate 0
Power-Off Retract Count 11
Load Cycle Count 38
Temperature Celsius 31
Current Pending Sector 0
Offline Uncorrectable 0
UDMA CRC Error Count 0
Head Flying Hours 215585883422785
Total LBAs Written 3925488218
Total LBAs Read 13777168712
ATA Error Count 0

 

 

The Frontview disk table:

 

Disk 1 Seagate ST32000644NS 1863 GB , 37 C / 98 F , Write-cache ON  OK
Disk 2 Seagate ST4000VN008-2DR166 3726 GB , 32 C / 89 F , Write-cache ON  OK
Disk 3 Seagate ST2000VN000-1HJ164 1863 GB , 32 C / 89 F , Write-cache ON  OK
Disk 4 Seagate ST2000NM0011 1863 GB , 37 C / 98 F , Write-cache ON  OK
Disk 5 SAMSUNG HD204UI 1863 GB , 33 C / 91 F , Write-cache ON  OK
Disk 6 Seagate ST4000VN008-2DR166 3726 GB , 32 C / 89 F , Write-cache ON  OK
Fan SYS 932 RPM OK
Fan CPU 2109 RPM OK
Temp SYS 58 C / 136 F [Normal 0-65 C / 32-149 F] OK
Temp CPU 20.5 C / 68 F [Normal 0-60 C / 32-140 F] OK

Message 2 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

I am looking to resolve this ASAP.  Your help is much appreciated!

 

I have never changed the battery (CR2032?).  

 

What does it backup?  

 

Could a dead battery be related to the problems I am having?

 

Thanks!

Message 3 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

Moderators?   Anyone?

 

 

Message 4 of 26
StephenB
Guru

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

The battery provides power to the real-time clock (RTC) when the NAS is not otherwise powered.  That won't be causing your problems.

 

Can you post the SMART stats for the ST32000644NS?

 

Also, can you download the log zip file, and look in disk_usage.log?  Please post the line that starts with /dev/md0

Message 5 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

StephenB,

Thanks for your response.

 

Here is the line from disk_usage.log -

 

/dev/md0              4.0G  1.9G  2.0G  49% /

 

 

S.M.A.R.T. for disk 1 -


Model: ST32000644NS
Serial: 
Firmware: SN12
SMART Attribute
Spin Up Time 0
Start Stop Count 4918
Reallocated Sector Count 0
Power On Hours 17646
Spin Retry Count 0
Power Cycle Count 1734
End-to-End Error 0
Reported Uncorrect 0
Command Timeout 0
High Fly Writes 1
Airflow Temperature Cel 24
G-Sense Error Rate 0
Power-Off Retract Count 90
Load Cycle Count 4919
Temperature Celsius 24
Current Pending Sector 0
Offline Uncorrectable 0
UDMA CRC Error Count 0
ATA Error Count 0

 

Looking forward to your interpretation.

Message 6 of 26
StephenB
Guru

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues


@Ear-Relevant wrote:

 

S.M.A.R.T. for disk 1 -


Model: ST32000644NS
Command Timeout 0
...
ATA Error Count 0

 


I asked about this because there was a log snippet above that indicated command timeouts with this disk model (though it thought the disk was in slot 6).

 

Perhaps look at the remaining disks, just to make sure there is nothing off.

 


@Ear-Relevant wrote:

 

/dev/md0              4.0G  1.9G  2.0G  49% /

 


This is high, but doesn't appear dangerously so.   Do you have add-ons installed on the NAS?  If so, which ones?

Message 7 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

StephenB,

Yes, Disk 6 was formerly an ST32000644NS that had many command timeouts.  I replaced it with a 4TB Seagate as part of the recent upgrade.

 

The only Add-on is Logitech Media Server.

 

The remaining S.M.A.R.T. tables - 

 

SMART Information for Disk 3

Model: ST2000VN000-1HJ164
Serial: 
Firmware: SC60
SMART Attribute
Spin Up Time 0
Start Stop Count 1655
Reallocated Sector Count 0
Power On Hours 4676
Spin Retry Count 0
Power Cycle Count 982
End-to-End Error 0
Reported Uncorrect 0
Command Timeout 0
High Fly Writes 6
Airflow Temperature Cel 28
G-Sense Error Rate 0
Power-Off Retract Count 46
Load Cycle Count 1655
Temperature Celsius 28
Current Pending Sector 0
Offline Uncorrectable 0
UDMA CRC Error Count 0
ATA Error Count 0

 

SMART Information for Disk 4

Model: ST2000NM0011
Serial: 
Firmware: SN03
SMART Attribute
Spin Up Time 0
Start Stop Count 5045
Reallocated Sector Count 0
Power On Hours 23483
Spin Retry Count 0
Power Cycle Count 1747
End-to-End Error 0
Reported Uncorrect 0
Command Timeout 0
High Fly Writes 0
Airflow Temperature Cel 32
G-Sense Error Rate 0
Power-Off Retract Count 93
Load Cycle Count 5088
Temperature Celsius 32
Current Pending Sector 0
Offline Uncorrectable 0
UDMA CRC Error Count 1
ATA Error Count 0

 


Model: SAMSUNG HD204UI
Serial:
Firmware: 1AQ10001
SMART Attribute
Raw Read Error Rate 0
Throughput Performance 0
Spin Up Time 10272
Start Stop Count 10152
Reallocated Sector Count 0
Seek Error Rate 0
Seek Time Performance 0
Power On Hours 36805
Spin Retry Count 0
Calibration Retry Count 0
Power Cycle Count 1889
Program Fail Cnt Total 19610736
G-Sense Error Rate 840
Power-Off Retract Count 0
Temperature Celsius 28
Hardware ECC Recovered 0
Reallocated Event Count 0
Current Pending Sector 0
Offline Uncorrectable 0
UDMA CRC Error Count 1
Multi Zone Error Rate 19
Load Retry Count 0
Load Cycle Count 10153
ATA Error Count 0

 

I don't recognize any problems.  

 

What is Power Off Retract Count?  Disk 4 has a count of 93.

 

*********************************************************

 

 

Thanks for your attention in helping me solve this.

Message 8 of 26
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

Based on your logs and the fact that you said you were unaware of all the reboots (thus no operator intervention involved), your NAS is spontaneously rebooting without logging an error (meaning it doesn't know there was one or couldn't write it to the log before the reboot occurred).  AFAIK, the NAS has no watchdog timer that would do that if it locked up (if it did, there would be fewer lock-ups reported here).

 

I had one that did that that was bad RAM, but you've checked that.  A power problem certainly could do something like that as well.  Unfortunately, it's likely the RAM or CPU power, which are regulated on the motherboard.  But it all does start with the power supply (the 4-pin square connector).

 

Do you have a spare ATX supply handy, or one you can borrow from a computer for a few days?  If so, you could hook it up externally (you've already found the connectors) and see if the NAS becomes more stable.  If it does, then a replacement supply is likely the fix.

 

The only thing about a problem like yours, where you need to run it a few days, is that you also need to keep the airflow going.  You'll need to get a bit creative with putting it only partly back together and then sealing the gaps with masking tape.

Message 9 of 26
StephenB
Guru

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

A filling OS partition was a possible cause,but yours is only about half full (likely due to LMS). 

 

Has the volume finished expanding to the proper size?  What volume size are you seeing in Frontview?

Message 10 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

Sandshark,

Thanks for your input!

 

Unforunately, I do not have a spare PSU to try the practical experiment you suggest.

 

When researching these symptoms, I initially zeroed in on possible PSU problems and found the various threads about replacing the OEM SeaSonic SS-300SFD.   I have located all the necessary parts online, but am still not convinced the PSU is the problem.

 

As mentioned earlier, I tried disconnecting and re-connecting all PSU plugs to see if there might be corrosion, which could cause intermittent problems like this.

 

I may go ahead and spend the ~$50 or so, plus my time, to see if replacing the PSU solves the problem.  There may, of course, be a CPU or other Motherboard issue.  

 

Where is that crystal ball when we need it?  HaHa.

 

I have noted that it doesn't seem to reboot unless it is doing more extended WRITE operations -- but that is more instinctive than scientific.

It ALWAYS boots successfully, but just can't handle doing much besides idling and read operations.

 

It had one or more problems before the recent volume expansion, yet those two new disks may be contributing new challenges to this 7 year old unit.   It never went into Resync mode multiple times after completing previous volume expansions.

 

The quest for a solution continues.  

 

Thanks again.

 

Message 11 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

StephenB,

Hello again, and thanks for your continued interest.

 

Frontview reports 8171GB of 10TB used, and the X-Raid2 volume is redundant.  

 

The ReadyNAS display reports 2.9/10.9T free.

 

For a unit with 4x2tb + 2x4tb, this would seem the correct volume size.

 

I just can't seem to do anything with the unit except let it idle or light read operations.

 

Once again, I tried splitting a 450mb FLAC.  This time it made it through the split, but when I tried to use dBpoweramp to convert the resulting individual track WAVs to FLAC, it rebooted just upon the request to do so.  It hadn't even started doing the conversion.   This is typical of how it has been responding lately.

 

Message 12 of 26
StephenB
Guru

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues


@Ear-Relevant wrote:

 

For a unit with 4x2tb + 2x4tb, this would seem the correct volume size.

  


I agree.  ~12 TB (or 10.9 TiB)

 


@Ear-Relevant wrote:

it rebooted just upon the request to do so.


Try PMing @mdgm-ntgr and ask if he is willing to look at the logs.  It'd good to see if the NAS is unexpectedly shutting down/crashing.

 

A brute-force option is to 

  • back up the data
  • do a factory reset
  • restore the data from backup

But that only makes sense if the software is corrupted somehow, it won't help if the issue is the hardware.

 

Message 13 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

StephenB,

Thanks.  I sent mdgm a note requesting his assistance.

 

Brute-Force!   Yikes!!  But, yeah, that is a logical next option if someone experienced like mgdm can't spot the problem(s).

 

I have the backups split across three USB drives.  Besides the very long times involved for a restore operation with ~8tb data, there is always the risk of one of those drives failing during the restore, so I'd rather avoid the brute-force option.  Also, if it is a CPU/Motherboard issue, I will have done all that work and taken all that risk for naught.   Since I seem to be able to at least READ from the NAS without it going into reboots, I'd prefer to keep it intact in case I choose to purchase a new NAS.   Then, i'd attempt to restore from the current NAS to the new one, with the USB drives as 2nd backup.  If, after doing that, I am able to get the current NAS back to health after a system restore, then I'll have another, more convenient backup source, and those individual USB drives can be periodically rotated off-site, which is something I should already be doing......

 

Cheers, and have a pleasant Memorial Day weekend!

 

I will be around, so I'll be responding if you have more suggestions.

Message 14 of 26
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

I can see

May 21 16:25:06 nas-EA-1F-D1 kernel: [Hardware Error]: Machine check events logged

This would suggest a hardware issue of some kind. I'd suggest testing the disks and memory (there are boot menu options, but you can remove your disks - label order - and test your SeaGate disks at least using SeaTools) if you haven't already.

 

Anyway I can see you set this system up way back on 4.2.5 (or possibly even earlier firmware).

You've got a triple layer array.

I can see you're using quite a range of different disk models. That's not ideal:

disk!!1!!status=ok::descr=Channel 1: ST32000644NS 1863 GB, 36C/96F
disk!!2!!status=ok::descr=Channel 2: ST4000VN008-2DR166 3726 GB, 31C/87F
disk!!3!!status=ok::descr=Channel 3: ST2000VN000-1HJ164 1863 GB, 31C/87F
disk!!4!!status=ok::descr=Channel 4: ST2000NM0011 1863 GB, 36C/96F
disk!!5!!status=ok::descr=Channel 5: SAMSUNG HD204UI 1863 GB, 32C/89F
disk!!6!!status=ok::descr=Channel 6: ST4000VN008-2DR166 3726 GB, 31C/87F

 

If you want to start afresh e.g. if there's a bad disk, one option would be to power down, remove your disks (label order), get a bunch of new disks, put them in and restore from backup. If something goes wrong you might have your old set of remaining good disks to fall back on.

 

Obviously if there's a chassis issue you'll need to restore from backup to a new ReadyNAS anyway.

Message 15 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

mdgm,

Thanks for your prompt diagnosis.

 

Earlier, memory testing passed 4 rounds with no errors.  I also unseated and re-seated the cards in their slots.

 

That's a lot of work to test 6 disks, especially given the strong possibility of CPU/Motherboard issues.

 

Manufacturers replace models often, and previous models become hard to get.  Also, with the discontinued models that are still available for purchase, sometimes you think you are buying a new disk, but the vendor is selling you a refurbished one.  Sigh.

 

Over the life of this NAS, I have gone from 1tb -> 2tb -> 4tb drives.  I began to mix drive models and sizes soon after acquiring the NAS. It was the most practical way to go forward as drives failed, prices fell for larger drives, and I needed a larger volume.  Maybe not ideal, but the NAS seemed to work OK until about a year ago.

 

When the capacity first reached ~10% remaining free space, it started having problems with file copy operations about the same time.  I deleted and/or off-loaded enough files to create ~20% free space.  Then, the NAS began running fast and smooth, without hangups.  This could be a coincidence, but it seemed a cause & effect at the time.

 

************

 

I will gve this thread a few more days.  

 

Otherwise, I think my solution is going to be:

 

- Acquire a new NAS with 4 x 4tb identical drives.  

 

- Restore from existing the NAS if possible because it seems stable for read operations of any size, just not write operations.  

 

Btw, what does this say about the current problem(s)? 

 

- If the existing NAS is not stable enough for this task, I have a full backup across 3 USB drives, and will use a fan to keep them cool during the restore to a new NAS.

 

- Then, I will start fresh with this ReadyNAS, using only the 2 x 4tb drives.  If it seems to operate reliably again, I will add two more identical 4tb drives to it, providing a mirror backup to the primary, new NAS.

 

- The existing USB drives will be kept offsite and periodically updated once a month or so.   I should already be doing this!

 

Questions:  

 

1.) Should I (can I?) connect the two NAS units with an eSata cable for fastest transfer?

 

2.) Should I (can I?) I run OS6 on the ReadyNAS Pro?

 

Thanks again,

Ear-Relevant

Message 16 of 26
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

The Pro6 doesn't have eSATA, but you couldn't connect them that way, anyway.  Neither can you via USB.

 

Yes, the Pro6 can run OS6.  If you are going to start fresh, moving to OS6 is an excellenmt part of the plan.  Not only will you get a more up to date system on the Pro, you'll have two NASes with the same OS (assuming your replacement NAS will be a Netgear).

Message 17 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

Sandshark,

Thanks for clarifying about eSata and USB for between-NAS file copy.

 

I'll use mirror software to manage the transfer.  This is gonna take a long time.

 

I am glad to be able to use the new OS6 on my ReadyNAS Pioneer Pro.   Good News.

 

At this point, I am likely to switch to the Synology DS1517+.  It seems a better value than current Netgear offerings, and the OS looks to be more user friendly.   The less capable Netgar RN316 isn't much less expensive.  With today's larger drives, five vs. six drive bays is enough for me.   I hope this admission doesn't get me tarred & feathered on this forum!   (;->)

 

After all, I want to get a more use out of the ReadyNAS Pro, and may need to ask additional questions.

 

Cheers,

Ear-Relevant

Message 18 of 26
mdgm-ntgr
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

The RN426 and RN428 our new models with a quad-core Atom CPU. Our RN426 and RN426 are using a newer CPU (C3000) than the CPU used in the competitor model you mentioned.

 

Your Pro could have a bad disk, failing PSU, bad RAM, some other hardware issue.


Considering the age of your unit it's not that surprising that some hardware is failing.

 

In any case like any PC hardware can fail at any time.

Message 19 of 26
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

You may want to consider upgrading the processor on your Pioneer Pro.  The Pentium  1.8GHz E2160 in it is a bit slow, and replacement Core2 processors are quite cheap these days.  Mine are running a 2.93GHz Core2 E7500, which currently sells on eBay for about $5.  Of course, if it's just as a backup system, it may not make too much of a difference.

 

If you do decide to upgrade the processor, make sure your BIOS is the latest.  The fastest of the compatible CPU's need it and it's a lot easier to update while you are on OS4.2.x than on OS6.

 

Mentioning the competition, even that you own or may purchase one, is not a capital offense.  Just don't advocate it.

Message 20 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

mdgm,

I will give the Netgear RN426 a fair comparison with the Synology DS1517+ before making a purchase.

 

Yes, nothing lasts forever.   As I like to say, "Getting Old Sucks!"

 

I need a new set of ears & eyes, a right hip, left elbow, and among many other things, my gray matter isn't as flexible as it once was.

 

Oh, well, that's life!

 

Thanks,

Ear-Relevant

 

 

Message 21 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

Sandshark,

That's interesting about the inexpensive processor upgrade, also considering that the CPU might be what's causing the current trouble.  Thanks for the tip!

 

I have favorites, but I try to not be a fanboy with any consumer products.  I'm just trying to choose the best product for my needs in a crowded market.  It is much more complex with something like an NAS, network speeds, backup strategies, etc.   Phew!

 

On the topic of perfectionism and consumer choice, I often recommend a great book: The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, by Barry Schwartz.

 

Peace,

Ear-Relevant

Message 22 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

I ordered a new PSU.  

 

I recently updated the BIOS, as it was still running the 2008 version.

I then did a thorough drive test using the boot menu option.  No problems found.

 

So, I tried doing a big copy and the NAS soon went into the same reboot/resync cycle.

 

Next, I pulled the two 4tb drives for which I had the nagging concern were not compatible since the SMART tables reported grossly inaccurate total hours used along with a few other parameters.

 

Anyway, it quickly went into another reboot/resync while trying to rebuild the smaller 4x2tb XRAID2 volume using known good drives that are specifically in the Netgear drive compatibility list.  So, I figure it isn't a disk problem, and even with the reduced PSU current demand when using 2 less disks, it still goes into reboot.  Of course, it could be the CPU or motherboard, and not the PSU.

 

I have already setup a new NAS.  I would like to use this older ReadyNAS Business Pro as a remote backup/mirror, giving me a more complete backup solution.

 

I will post the results of the PSU swap.

Message 23 of 26
Ear-Relevant
Aspirant

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

I have installed the PSU.   Thanks to everyone who contributed to earlier PSU replacement threads!    They were helpful, and without them, I would not have attempted this repair.

 

ABOUT THOSE DRIVE POWER CONNECTIONS...

 

On the replacement PSU, there are four hard drive power connectors wired in pairs on two wire runs from the power supply.  The original Seasonic PSU has these as three wire runs, each with a single drive power connector.  Since each of the three drive power connectors in the ReadyNAS Pro powers two drives, it is surmised in earlier threads that it is not a good idea to run 4 drives from a single wire run from the power supply.   Instead, it is suggested that the diskette drive power wire is converted to another hard drive power connector, giving three wire runs from the power supply, each powering two drives like the original PSU.  

 

However, I cannot confirm if these three power supply wire runs all junction back to the same terminal points internally.   I think they probably do, and since each drive only consumes about 10-12 watts peak, that is only 40-50 watts on a single wire run if four drives are connected.  This would not seem to tax the fairly large gauge power wires.  

 

For now, I have not converted the diskette power wire to use on one of these three ReadyNAS hard drive connectors, instead running four drives from one PSU run, and two from the other.  I may make the conversion later.

 

HOWEVER, drive bay 4 does not work anymore!  I tried two of the previously known good drives in it, and they are reported as Dead.   The same drives are fine in other slots.  SO, I wonder if this is related to the PSU upgrade?   Did I break something accidentally?   Does this in fact demonstrate proof of overload on a single power line with 4x drives, as precautionarily suggested in an earlier PSU replacement thread.  If so, why is only bay 4 malfunctioning, and not one of the other 3 bays?  

 

Note that I have the top two drive power connectors in the ReadyNAS on the two plugs of a single PSU wire run.  I assume these are for drives 1-2 and 3-4, but I am not sure.  

 

THE REAL PROBLEM THAT WAS CAUSING REBOOT/RESYNC?

 

Have I finally hit upon what was causing the ReadyNAS to reboot and resync?   Was it because drive bay 4 was not working intermittently, and is now not working at all?   Maybe this PSU swap was not necessary, only just not using bay 4?   There was never any indication in the LOG files or SMART tables that drive 4 was having a problem.   It would just suddently reboot and resync.

 

Meanwhile, I successfully rebuilt an XRAID2 array using 3x2tb drives plus 2x4tb drives.   I am now doing a partial mirror copy test from the new NAS, and so far it has not gone into reboot/resync, which it would have already done before with the amount of data being moved.  For extra cooling during this copy, I am running a small box fan into the drive side of the unit with its door open.   Drive and CPU temps are reported in the 80s, which is low.   This is just a little insurance in case overheating was an issue before (I don't think it was.)

 

Assuming this first, partial batch mirror copy completes without failure, I will consider the unit useable as is.

 

I may modify the drive power connection wiring, and add a 4tb drive to bay four when the volume begins to run out of space.   Worth a try, and can't hurt anything?

 

Oh, almost forgot to mention, during the PSU swap, a small metal cooling fin fell off a chip on the bottom left corner of the motherboard.  I reattached that, and now wonder if the cooling fin was not doing its job with full efficiency before, leading to that chip overheating and malfunctioning?  This is yet another unknown in this DIY repair saga.

 

By the way, I think the new, forum-approved bandaids and bailing wire look rather spiffy on this old-boy NAS, which I want to keep chugging along, trouble free, for another few years.  I hope I don't soon post here that the darn thing is rebooting/resyncing again.   Fingers crossed!

 

Cheers,

Ear-Relevant

Message 24 of 26
Sandshark
Sensei

Re: ReadyNAS Pro rebooting and resyncing, with file copy hangups and other issues

Have they changed the wiring, or did you not get the Seasonic?  All of the Seasonic's I have gotten have two wire sets with 2 4-pin Molex and one floppy connector each and one dual SATA.  I have always cut them all shorter and replaced the connectors with the 90° ones from the original, as it makes the installation a lot cleaner.  I don't recall if I measured to see if the three connectors were common on the backplane, but I suspect that they are.

 

You may be right about slot 4.

Message 25 of 26
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