I have a problem with the device, it shows a red “Fault” light on Drive 1. It seems to me that Drive 1 is defective – I restarted the NAS, but the red light came on again.
My NAS is configured in RAID 1.
I would like to clarify:
What is the correct procedure for replacing the drive? Just remove the problem drive, insert the new one, and the system takes care of the synchronization? Or is there something I should do to ensure that Drive 2 replicates data to the new Drive 1, and not the other way around?
Thank you in advance for your attention and guidance.
I had the same Issue on the same day EXCEPT this was the 2nd time I had a fault that said I needed to replace Drive 1. It was replaced in Sept of 2024. Last week I ran the full diagnostocs and the results indicated drive 1 needed to be replaced (confirming the red light message). In the midst of going back and forth trying to get an RMA we had a momentary power outage that was enought to cause the ex2 ultra to reboot. It came up with 3 bluelights on the enclosure, no new messages, and about 40 minutes later I got an email saying the device has completed the rebuild successfully.
NOTE: as part of the RMA Process I removed drive 1 from the enclosure and took a picture of the label so wd had a visual record of the model / serial number. I re-inserted the drive and plugged the enclosure back into the power. It re-booted with 3 blue lights and after about 2 minutes the drive 1 light went red again.
It continued with the 3 blue lights. Yesterday (1-5-2025) I got a call from tech support to follow up on the RMA request. I told them what happened and they told be to run the full diagnostics again. They said if it ran clean then I didn’t need to replace thr Drive 1.
I ran the diagnostics and it completed (10 hours) successfully say both disks were good.
What I want to know is how can a drive go from failed to OK??? Seeing as how this was the 2nd red light failure since september it makes me wonder what the red light really means and what causes the change from blue to red and then back to blue???
Is it an issue with the interface where the drive plugs in? Is it an issue with the firmware (The enclosere is at the latest level of firmware). OR what else could explain this issue??
I’ve been in IT for over 30 years and have NEVER seen a disk drive go from failed to good!!! That includes Mainframe drives as weel as those found in PC’s/NAS devices.
Can someone explain this, WD Tech support couldn’t!!!
I have an EX4 with 4x2TB in Raid 5. The drives are Seagate NAS drives from around 2015-ish. NAS in on a power schedule, on at 6AM, off at 6PM ( so it reboots daily). Every now and then while running, the blue light on a drive flips to red, I get a warning message on the display about a failed drive.
First time it happened, I didn’t have a spare, so I powered down, removed the drive to review the specs so I could find a comparable replacement. Ordered an Ironwolf but it would take a few days to arrive. So back in with the old drive and reboot the NAS. Since it previously detected a faulty drive it went through it’s diagnostics and resync, and after a few hours, it was up and all lights are blue. Check in the dashboard, Raid Status “healthy” , System disks all “good”.
Best as I could figure, it maybe wasn’t the drive but the drive connection or some other circuit. Perhaps a rogue cosmic particle flipped a bit somewhere. A full power down (disconnect PS) and removal/insert drive seemed to fix it.
This was a few years ago. Since then, I’ve had this happen a few more times. When it does, I power down, disconnect the EX4, head out to my garage, remove all the drives, clean out the unit with compressed air, use some electrical cleaner on the drive connectors and backplane, reassemble and reboot.
So far it’s always come back. I still have the Iron Wolf in case it doesn’t.
This is VERY interesting! It sounds very similar to what happened to me except the first time i pulled the drive out, re-inserted it, and rebooted the light was still red. After the power failure and reboot it came up cleanly. i will certainly try the comptressed air and contact cleaner if it happens again.
In my career working on data center equipment one on the problem determination steps we would do would be to simply remove the failed logic card, inspect it visual, and re-install the card. In a few instances that did solve the problem.
Sounds like WD is not using parts that resist oxidation and contact failure! Like I said this has happened to me twice in the last 4 months. SAME drive interface
Then again… I did not blow out or clean the connectors when my drive failed
I’ll use your method if it happens again.
THANKS SO MUCH for you input!!!
I still want WD to step up and address this type of issue. I now wonder if the drive I sent back in September was really failed or not???
Hey there!
So you’ve got that red light on Drive 1 - a bad sign.
You can double-check through your NAS control panel that Drive 1 is actually the culprit. Once you’re sure, shut down your NAS (unless it’s got hot-swap capability
Pull out that failed drive, pop in the new one (make sure it’s at least as big as your old one), and fire the system back up.
The benefit of RAID 1 is that it’ll automatically start copying everything from your good drive over to the new one - you don’t have to lift a finger for that part. While it’s rebuilding, just let it do its thing - don’t power it down, and don’t worry if it seems a bit slower than usual.
That’s totally normal during the rebuild. The whole process is pretty straightforward, but if you want to be extra careful, you might want to check your specific NAS model’s manual since different brands sometimes have their own quirks. Trust me, once it’s done, you’ll be back up and running with both drives perfectly synced.
