NAS Factory Reset

Posted by: Gavin B on 26 October 2012

I've been playing with putting files on a Netgear ReadyNAS Duo v1 for a while now.

 

In trying to change a setting I realised I couldn't log on as the administrator.  I decided my only option was to do a factory reset which would lose all my data.  This wasn't a problem since it was all on my PC anyway.  My first attempt failed - I don't think I held the reset button in long enough.

 

My second attempt looked like it worked - the LEDs flashed twice at the appropriate intervals and off it whirred.  The manual suggested the process would take 30 minutes, but almost 24 hours later it looks like it's still going.  It's still whirring away (at least what I assume is the fan) and the Power button is still flashing.

 

I'm assuming that something's gone wrong, but what should I do?  Just turn it off and try again?

 

I've left a message on the ReadyNAS forum, but no replies yet.

 

Gavin

Posted on: 26 October 2012 by GeeJay

I had a similar situation occur when I did a reset on my Synology NAS.

 

24 hours later, nothing was happening......

 

I opened a web browser, and pointed it to the IP address of the NAS, only to see that the NAS was waiting for me to repoint it at the Operating System .exe file.  Once the operating system had been reinstalled, I waited for 5-6 hours for the system to install and the RAID rebuilt, and all was good to go!  Nice clean NAS to pair with my UnitiServe SSD.

 

BTW, on the Synology, there is a reset button on the back, which JUST resets passwords, without deleting everything on the drive.  Not sure if the Netgear has the same, but this is v. useful.

 

I hope that you solve your problem soon.

 

George.

Posted on: 26 October 2012 by Gavin B

Thanks, George.  I'll have a look when I get home tonight.  Was it easy to find where the EXE was?

 

The ReadyNAS doesn't have a password reset button (unfortunately).

 

I now have visions of doing this to find an 'Are you sure?' popup!!

Posted on: 26 October 2012 by GeeJay

Yes Gavin, it's not much fun Is it?

 

The .exe file (for synology) is the DSM (disc station manager) operating system which is downloaded from the Synology web site onto your PC/Mac, and then pointing the NAS to its location on your PC/Mac.  Netgear may well have the same.

 

Good luck and let us know how you get on.  The upside is that you'll have a nice clean NAS with the latest operating system and firmware, ready for reloading on your tunes, etc.

 

George.

Posted on: 26 October 2012 by mutterback

Unfortunately, I've had the same experience with consumer/home use NAS drives. Mine current one is from Lacie which I would not recommend to anyone. I've sent it back to the factory once, and needed to do a hard reset (with the button) more times than I can count. Luckily, it moves all the data into a backup folder when it resets.

 

The basic lesson is, I think, that most consumer NAS drives aren't really the 24/7 data storage solution the claim to be.  You need to back them up, and expect a fairly high level of fiddling.

 

I've had much better luck with my Vortexbox. I bought the appliance version from small green computer, and can't recommend them highly enough. I now use that for photo back up as well.

Posted on: 27 October 2012 by Gavin B

Hi Everyone

 

Thanks for all your input and encouragement.  The good news seems to be that I'm on the road to success.

 

The original attempt at the factory reset seemed to have failed.  After the power lead accidently got knocked out, the NAS restarted and went back to its original state.  I could access it through the Netgear software and Windows Explorer, and see the data, but still couldn't log in to the admin functions.

 

I deleted all the data through Explorer and left it overnight to settle down.  The LEDs had stopped flashing by the morning, and I re-tried the factory reset.  This time it has worked, and again once it had finished all its flashing, I could access the admin functions with the standard password.  I've now been through the setup process, setting the password to something I can remember!  It's now busy doing a re-boot after I updated the firmware.

 

There was also a bizarre piece of co-incidence too.  I opened my email this morning to find an email delivery failure notice.  The original email was from a month ago when I tried the password recovery process.  This had a new password that I coud have used all along had I been able to see the email!

 

Thanks once again.

 

Gavin