ReadyNas 1000S Disk 1 and Disk 3 Lights - Won't Boot

[mdgm]

Ive had the ReadyNas 1100 for a number of years now. Only ever intialized it once. The ReadyNas was almost at capacity, so recently I purchased a separate storage appliance and began the process of moving files off of the ReadyNas to another location. My intention was, and is, to re-initialize the ReadyNas and continue to use for additional storage.

Having moved off all my files, I tried to do a factory reset on the ReadyNas. The RN has a total of (4) 250GB hard disks, all of which previously showed "GOOD" when using the device. I held down the reset button at power on for about 30 seconds. All 4 lights flashed after about 5 seconds, then around 30 seconds, all 4 lights flashed again, so I released the reset button. The RN almost immediately went into a state where DISK 1 and DISK 3 lights are solid green, and the blue power light is blinking. Nowhere have I been able to find an explanation for this LED combination. I waited a good 24 hours, and the lights stayed in this pattern, and at NO TIME could I connect with RAIDAR to the RN. Not at the beginning of the process, nor after 24 hours. So, I decided to do the reset process a couple more times. After the 2nd or 3rd try, the RN booted with all 4 drive lights flickering, and I was able to connect with RAIDAR and choose my RAID configuration (X-RAID). I let that process run, assuming it would finish. After more than 24 hours, it still hadn't. Could not connect with RAIDAR and no drive lights were lit. So, I decided to start the reset process all over again. This time, I can't get the RN to do anything execept boot up with DRIVE 1 and DRIVE 3 lights lit, and the blue power button blinking. So, it's right back to where it was before. I've done this a half dozen times at this point. Each time I've tried it, I removed (1) of the (4) disks, until finally, I removed the last disk, rebooted with no disks in it, and it's the same light pattern - DISK 1 and DISK 3, with a blue flashing power LED.

Am I screwed at this point? Not sure what else to do.

Thanks.

[mdgm]

The light pattern FAQ if it were not for the power LED would suggest a problem with the firmware image in the flash: http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq/hardware/what_does_this_light_pattern_mean

Considering you still get this issue with no disk in the NAS I'd be inclined to suspect that this may still be the problem.

When did you purchase the ReadyNAS? Was it purchased on/after August 21, 2007?

[tampajim]

I stand corrected. Had to pull an old paper copy of my invoice. It's actually a ReadyNas 1000S (not 1100). RN1000S. It was purchased in May 2006, actually. When I first recieved it, I recall that it did something similar. Before I could use it, I actually had to send it to (at the time) Infrant, and they did something and sent it back to me.

I'm hoping there's something I can do on my side to make it usable again?

Thanks.

[mdgm]

Ah that explains it. Your light pattern is mentioned in the 1000S FAQ.

What version of RAIDiator did you install before the factory default?

On some old systems users have had trouble doing a factory default on firmware newer than 4.1.4.

I'm not sure about the flash in the 1000s. Is it replaceable? If so you could try removing the flash and rawriting the firmware to it. If that doesn't resolve the problem search the forum for the 4.1.4 archive link and try that. If that works after the resync has completed update to 4.1.8

[tampajim]

Ah, I bet that's what is happening. I had upgraded RAIDiator to the latest version, but then suddenly I ran into issues with permissions on certain shares saying "nobody/nogroup" as the owner. And, it wouldn't let me assign an owner or a group, it kept reverting to nobody/nogroup on those shares. So, I did some searching and ran across a post stating that if this situation occurs, you should either upgrade to a RAIDiator beta or downgrade to RAIDiator 4.1.8. So, I downgraded to 4.1.8.

I'm not certain if the flash is replaceable in the 1000s. How would I go about investigating this and/or rewriting the flash?

[mdgm]

A quick search of the forum yields threads like this: http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=49931

Sounds like the flash is replaceable so if it is dead you could replace it (use 128MB or greater capacity flash). Hopefully the flash is fine and just needs to be written with rawrite.

[tampajim]

Thanks for your help. I located the rear compartment on the 1000S that holds the CF, and removed it. It was actually only 64MB. Oddly, when I inserted it into my CF reader, using Windows 7, I was required to format it. Once formatted, I decided I wasn't going to risk anything weird with newer firmware, so I tried writing 4.1.4 to it. Kept getting a prompt from NTRawrite that the firmware image was larger than the capacity of the CF. Tried a couple newer firmware versions, same prompt. Dug up an old 1GB CF, and wrote 4.1.4 to it. Was worried that the old 1000S wouldn't recognize the 1GB CF, but it did. Did a full reset, and it's in the process of Resync'ing now.

I do have one concern, though. Four 250GB disks, and previously, the ReadyNas was telling me that one drive was having ATA errors. I identified that drive, and SMART says there are 19 ATA errors. As of this moment, that's the same disk that the ReadyNAS is saying "Resync" on (disk #4). Should I just wait out the Resync, or should I assume that this disk is bad?

[mdgm]

Sounds like that disk may be bad. I'd suggest you hook it up to your PC and check it using the manufacturer's diagnostics e.g. SeaTools for SeaGate disks