Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
Hoping someone can provide some hints as to next steps. I have google'd and searched through this forum for different variations of 'cannot access boot menu' with and without 'readynas 2304' key words and have not found anything that exactly fits my scenario. Hoping someone can shed some light before I contact paid technical support😜
ReadyNAS 2304 purchased January 7, 2020, so it's past 90 day free technical support
understand this product is already 'end of life' but hoping can still address this issue since it's been working pretty much perfectly since purcahse
after a power/UPS unit failure it seems like the ReadyNAS was shut down due to loss of power...still have to troubleshoot the UPS issue but just plugged the ReadyNAS into wall power to get it back up and running...unfortunately, for whatever reason I can no longer 'see' the unit on the network via ReadyCloud, https;//<IP address>/admin, network browsing via macOS or Windows, ping of the IP address, or RAIDar search
I do not recall if I have SSH enabled but I cannot ping the unit at it's previously known and accessible assigned fixed IP address so have no where to ssh to😜
I even checked the router to see allattacheddevice IP addresses and could not find an IP address that might be the NAS (I even switched network ports on the ReadyNAS to see if the other port still had DHCP active on it with no luck in seeing an obvious IP address assignment)
found this knowledge base article that seems to be similar in that it may appear that the network settings/IP address might have changed so no longer visible?
every time I press Reset + Power buttons together the following occurs:
with network cable in and network connection blue light flashing
unit powers up but before power light turns solid (or health, UI, and power show solid) it simply powers off
if I keep both Reset + Power buttons pressed it will run through another power up cycle but never reaches the solid power (or health, UI, and power lights being solid) as indicated in the instructions as it then shuts down
with the network cable unplugged
unit powers up but before power light turns solid (or health, UI, and power show solid) it simply powers off, and after a few seconds cycles up and will keep cycling power up and shutdown as long as I keep the Reset + Power buttons depressed
just a guess but maybe the Reset button isn't working (I have made sure that I feel the tactile click/depression of the Reset button each time)? as pressing the power button for 4 seconds as indicated in the manual simply shuts the unit down, the below is from the 2304 user manual, ReadyNAS OS 6 Rack-Mount Hardware Manual (netgear.com)
Preferred Shutdown
You can gracefully shut down your system by using the Power button or the ReadyNAS local admin page. For information about how to gracefully shut down your system using the ReadyNAS local admin page, see the ReadyNAS OS 6.5 Software Manual, which is available athttp://support.netgear.com/product/ReadyNAS-OS6.
To gracefully shut down your system using the Power button: 1. Press the Power button on the front panel of the system. The Power LED blinks, prompting you to confirm the shutdown. 2. Press the Power button again. The system shuts down gracefully.
Forced Shutdown
Perform a forced shutdown only if the storage system is not responding. To perform a forced shutdown: Press and hold the Power button on the front panel for more than four seconds. The system shuts down.
Any suggestions and/or recommendations would be very much appreciated😜
Re: Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
I have also tried just keeping the Reset button depressed while powering on the NAS and it simply never goes into the Boot menu, i.e., health, UI, power buttons solid lights). This prevents the power cycling if I hold Reset and Power buttons down at the same time mentioned above but still cannot get access to the Boot menu to execute the OS re-install function.
Re: Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
You should definitely not be keeping the power button depressed when you try to enter that menu. But I think I read that you also tried that. Can you see the NAS with RAIDar if there are no drives installed?
You may need a USB recovery rather than just an OS re-install, most likely because of a corrupted UBOOT.
Re: Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
@Sandshark thanks for the reply and confirming I have not missed anything obvious so far.
Unfortunately, I have tried scanning using RAIDar to no avail...never finds it. Have tried jacking a Windows machine directly into both NAS ports and scanning that was as well. Never finds the NAS. Tried checking all Attached Devices in the Orbi router as well and cannot see it there either. The NAS has/had a fixed IP address assignment so would have thought it would have shown up in that search.
Have tried powering up with just Reset depressed as well as Reset + Power depressed with all drives in, no drives in, and just one drive in...all to no avail...never gets to 3 light solid Boot menu status.
Will try and search for USB boot information now on the forum and see if I can find those instructions and try that now...
Re: Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
OK...found this article but wanted to see if someone can confirm that the firmware image file should go into the x86 folder since the 2304 series is not directly referenced in the USB Recovery Tool support article.
I have a ReadyNAS 2304 and this shows to have an Intel Celeron Dual Core processor according to this: https://www.netgear.com/media/RN2120_RR2304_RN3138_tcm148-55959.pdf . Since there are all sorts of warnings about attempting to use this USB Recovery Tool I just wanted to make sure I'm doing the right thing 😜
Re: Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
Yes, the 2304 is an Intel X86 based system.
There is one thing I've seen before that caused a similar problem as you are experiencing: A bad temperature sensor. The NAS would shut down due to a detected overtemperature condition before boot was complete. Unfortunately, that's not a repairable failure.
Re: Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
OK...thanks for the info...unfortunately, the NAS just powers up normally with the USB Recovery drive in either the front USB port or I tried one of the rear USB ports. With the NAS off and the USB Recovery drive plugged in I depress the Reset button until I hear/feel the 'click', then I touch the Power button and keep the Reset button depressed. After about 12 seconds the power light goes solid and nothing else happens. This is the exact same behavior as when I've tried to get into the Boot menu holding the Reset button down (without the USB Recovery drive plugged in) and powering on (with and without drives, plugged in and unplugged from network).
In terms of the NAS shutting off due to temperature sensor...I'm not sure that was a symptom as I can leave the NAS powered up (and undiscoverable) and it does not power off abruptly or anything like that...
Any other ideas? and thanks for the help that's been provided so far...much appreciated!
Re: Unable to access boot menu on ReadyNAS 2304 using Reset + Power button combination
The 2304 has a (mini, I believe) display port, so I suggest you connect to it and a keyboard on USB and see if you get any additional clues watching what's happening during the boot. You may also be able to see something if you go into the BIOS settings, like if a voltage or temperature is showing up as out of spec. I've never had a 2304, but I believe those should work. They do with units that have an HDMI port.
