TS-459 Pro II Going "Off-Air" After Power Up

[ytene]

Hello Everyone,

After upgrading my TS-459 Pro II earlier today, I have reconnected it to my network only to discover that I'm hitting some utterly bizarre issues. I would be extremely grateful if anyone can guide me on the most effective triage process please. Actions taken and results observed below [sorry for lack of brevity, but details count...]

Thanks in advance for any/all assistance...

Clive

Starting Point:
A TS-459 Pro II with original 1Gb RAM and 4 x 3Tb Western Digital "Green" Drives in RAID5 Array

Actions Taken:
1. Remove case and gently blow out small dust accumulation
2. With the aid of an anti-static strap, remove existing 1Gb RAM stick
3. Still with anti-static strap, replace RAM with 2 x 2Gb of branded QNAP RAM for this model NAS [purchased new from Amazon].
4. Replace case lid.
5. Remove all 4 drive trays and remove existing drives from them
6. Fit 4 x new 6Tb WD "Red" drives and return and lock drive trays into the chassis
7. Replace NAS on storage shelf, reconnect LAN cable and power, power up

8. Launch QNAP Qfinder and detect NAS
9. Set Name, IP Address and select the default configuration option (RAID 5)
10. Confirm that the relevant Event Message shows the start of the formatting of the new drives

...

After a brief period of time, I observed that the 3-step progress bar appeared to have halted. In the QFinder Configuration window was a single line of text, coloured red, indicating a network problem.
Attempted to ping the NAS but discovered that it was no longer responding to network ICMP Ping requests.
Attempted to refresh the "view" of NAS servers in QFinder, but the 459 clearly disappeared...
Observe the front of the NAS and note that there appears to be a brief flicker across all 4 drives [green lights across the board] but no other signs of life.
Wait...
Nothing comes back...
...
After considerable indecision, power off the NAS, wait 60 seconds, then power back on.
Immediately the NAS re-appears in the QFinder and a check of the Admin screen [via the web interface] shows that the RAID setup task has automatically re-started.
Also observe that only 2Gb of RAM is detected - no idea as to why the full 4Gb is not visible.
Leave the NAS to continue with it's preliminary build...
After approximately 5 minutes [this time without the QFinder setup window] notice that the Admin screen is no longer responding and the 459 has dropped off the network for the second time...

...

Repeat the power cycle a third time.
Get the same results...
On the third cycle, carefully check log files for any explanations, but no errors or warnings [apart from the one about the system not being shut down safely] appear in the log.

I have no idea why I can only see 2Gb of RAM [and no idea which 2Gb is "missing"]... I also have no idea why the NAS is refusing to remain in an operational state for more than a few minutes.
Temperatures and environment all look good...
No indications of fast running fans; no warning lights; no outward clues *at all* to suggest what might be going wrong...

...

Ironically I did consider fitting the RAM and then testing with the original disks and RAID and decided against it on the grounds that my recent build of my new TS670 went so smoothly it was likely pointless hassle. Hindsight, eh?

Any suggestions as to likely causes and/or best approach for triage would be very much appreciated...

Thank you.

[ytene]

OK, in the hope that this proves useful to others, I have some progress to report in that, with some experimentation, I believe that I have addressed the memory issue.

As I stated above, I had purchased 2 x 2Gb QNAP original RAM units from Amazon UK and initially tried to fit both, simultaneously, to my 459. The target of 4Gb was made from watching a couple of YouTube videos for other NAS units in the '59 range, so I foolishly and mistakenly assumed that all '59 machines would support 4Gb. Wrong. As identified by this page

http://www.qnap.com/images/products/com ... ayNAS.html

the TS-459 Pro II can only support a maximum of 3Gb of RAM. That, sadly, was only half the problem. The other half, as it turns out, was that one of the 2 sticks of RAM that I purchased from Amazon is a dud. Last night I swapped one of the existing DIMMs [the "inner" one] for the original 1Gb of RAM that came with the NAS from Amazon in 2012. On booting that configuration I could "see" only 1Gb of RAM in the machine. That meant that either I had one dud memory stick, or that the "outer" DIMM slot was defective. This morning I have removed the first of the 2Gb sticks that I placed in the "outer" socket with the one previously fitted to the interior slot and rebooted. 3Gb, right off the bat. I think that confirms that both my RAM sockets are working and that the 2 sticks presently installed are OK, but that the 2Gb DIMM currently not fitted is defective. I'm not sure if it's worth asking Amazon for a refund or a replacement. Can anyone with a 459 tell me if they have managed to get 4Gb working please?

The second important breakthrough [even if only a partial success] was that running the NAS with one working 1Gb stick on the inner socket and the dud 2Gb stick on the outer socket extended the operational period for the NAS to run before it stopped responding. Prior to the swap that maximum I had seen was 5 minutes and change. In the new configuration I was getting 12-15 minutes, which, with nothing changed but the memory, is starting to point in that direction as a major contributing factor to the problem.

Now, common sense says that armed with this knowledge I should remove all but the original 1Gb memory module and run up the system [i.e. with just the new discs] and see what happens. Readers who got this far will realise that common sense hasn't factored heavily in this upgrade to date, so won't be surprised to read that I've decided "what the heck" and elected to hold with the 3Gb in the hope that the 459 will now complete it's RAID5 synchronisation process. If it gets through that relatively unscathed I think I might be willing to declare victory. Readers now thinking "idiot" [likely in the majority] may be somewhat mollified if I explain that the location where this NAS sits when connected in "BAU" is in an extremely difficult place to reach [though good from an airflow, dust and noise perspective] and that the installation and removal necessary in order to make hardware changes is aggravating a very painful shoulder injury... I am looking to make minimal hardware changes if possible. I now suspect that I've solved at least one of the issues reported above [the RAM mystery] and hope but cannot yet claim to have addressed the reliable running problem, too.

One final thing... To date, none of the "off air" problems has resulted in a single line of information being written to any of the regular log files. Assuming that QNAP's QTS is based on either GNU/Linux or FreeBSD, I rather wonder if there is a file system equivalent to /var/log and, if so, how I might be able to retrieve anything useful. Does anyone have any ideas on that please?

Thanks in advance...

C