Hello,
I’ve been following the instructions on resetting the admin login. The 4 second reset didn’t work, and the instructions advise you then to perform the 40 second reset.
I unplugged it, pressed the reset button and held it, restored power, and then 40 seconds later, released the reset button.
For approximately 1.4 hours the device has remained inaccessible via the admin tooling, and I see the power light continuing to flash blue.
Can anyone advise on next steps, or what I may have done wrong?
Thanks!
The reset continued for about 3 hours, at which point I gave up. I restarted, and the device is back to where it started. I can access it, but I still have not successfully reset the device to regain entry.
Well - - - that’s odd.
So - - → what do you mean by “access”?
I presume you can’t get to the Data via PC file manager or the app?
I presume you can access the web dashboard?
The reset should have placed the network settings to “default”; you would have to repeat the original setup process (which I forget!); using default passwords/accounts. The “shares” should be intact; but the user settings and passwords will have been wiped.
Sorry by ‘access’ I mean only that I can access the shares, and that I can get to the login screen but the password has not been reset. The device is in the state it was prior to me attempting to reset the device.
Many strange things - strange thing 1 - using the 4 second reset should have reset the admin password, but it didn’t. Strange thing 2 - using the 40 second reset method should reset the admin passwd as well as other settings, but after 3 hours I still had no luck.
I may try another reset tonight before I go to bed, though it seems unlikely that it would succeed overnight, after failing after 3 hours.
So the way reset works. . .is it basically wipes one or two settings files. If the 4 second reset doesn’t work in 10 seconds. . .it isn’t going to work. Similar for the 40 second. After 5 minutes – - → nothing is happening on the system.
Sounds like (LITERALLY) the button isn’t functioning - - → and your system still is working with the old settings. The next question, of course, is “are you properly pushing the reset button with a pin” which is on the level of “is the unit plugged in?”. . .but one has to ask.
So what is the actual problem?
Clearly; the EX2 is not happy about SOMETHING; but you don’t know what?
LED Status, Alert Codes, Descriptions, and Email Notifications for WD My Cloud
You can access the dasboard; but cannot log in using the correct older credentials?
Have you tried default credentials (forget what they are)
Yet you can access the data on the drives using standard means?
Hmmm. Odd. Can you access the unit via SSH? (this is off by default. . . .but it does provide a means to “back door” the system). If you can access via SSH; you might be able to delete the pw file manually.
Thanks for the feedback, let me work back to front:
- I do have ssh access, and in fact attempted to reset the admin password this way. However I’m assuming the admin user whose password I’m resetting is NOT the same as the console admin user, as the password reset didn’t work.
- The reset button is working in the sense that it is forcing the unit to reboot. I noted in the documentation that sometimes the 4 second reset doesn’t work. The documentation specifically addresses the use case where resetting the unit (4 second) doesn’t do what it is supposed to do, so this is anticipated.
- During both the 4 and 40 second reset, the unit reboots (I hear/see it shut off, then see the power light blink). The only difference is that during the 40 second restart, it never comes back.
- I don’t have the admin password - long story but I lost it in my LastPass account. That’s why I’m attempting to reset the unit.
To add some clarity - when I ssh into the box, I can successfully execute the ‘passwd admin’ command, and create a new password. This command completes successfully. However, I cannot then log into the console using this username/password combo.
Did you try “admin” with blank password?
I am trying to google the file to delete that sets all the users/passwords; but I have a distraction at the moment.
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Did you try “admin” with blank password?
NO - that fixed it! Thank you! I was expecting to be greeted by a password reset screen.
GOOD.
I did one thing right today 
Admin with no password is the initial setup.
I think the only deviation from published rules is that the device should have rebooted after the 40 second reset; not stayed powered down: How to Pin Reset and System Only Restore My Cloud OS 5 Devices (wd.com)
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