My Cloud EX4100 - endless startup with power button blinking forever

I have a My Cloud EX4100 (4 x 4TB RAID 5) running latest firmware version and most of the time my device works fine after startup.

But sometimes when I power it up, it looks like it goes into an endless startup state, system is unusable, and the only way to fix it is to hard-kill the power and power it back on.
I have even waited once for more than 24h and still didn’t finish startup.
While this manual intervention to kill/restore power from the wall solves the problem, it doesn’t work when you are not physically present.
For example when working the device with a specific time schedule and you need to automate tasks.

During this endless startup state:
-The device is loud
-The power button is blinking endlessly
-LCD shows a generic welcome message and the up/down arrow buttons do nothing.
-NIC Leds are green (one stable one blinking)
-Ping fails

SETTINGS:
-Power Recovery = on
-Extended Logging = on

A1. NORMAL operation (clear logs, turn off, wait 5’, turn on):
This is what happens normally after pressing the Power button. System is usable after startup finishes.
-Fan turns on and lights start blinking. The power button light and the 4 drive-bay lights.
-LCD shows a generic welcome message and the up/down arrow buttons do nothing.
-Each drive-bay light changes from blinking to stable.
-Fan becomes quiet.
-LCD shows device name
-LCD up/down arrow buttons work properly and you can see the device’s IP address.
-Power button changes from blinking to stable.

A2. NORMAL Logs (clear logs, turn off, wait 5’, turn on):

2022 Dec 6 18:37:33	FTP     FTP server enabled.
2022 Dec 6 18:37:33	FTP     FTP server disable.
2022 Dec 6 18:37:00	SYSTEM	System is rebooted or power up successfully.
2022 Dec 6 18:37:00	OTHER	Set check central server at 16:27
2022 Dec 6 18:36:43	OTHER	[ 73.692564] restart sysinfod...
2022 Dec 6 18:36:37	RTC     Set System Time.
2022 Dec 6 18:36:32	OTHER	2022-12-06 18:36:32.071610 (-0200) +0.140614 +/- 0.094169 pool.ntp.org 194.177.210.54 s1 no-leap
2022 Dec 6 18:36:32	OTHER	sntp 4.2.8p12@1.3728-o (1)
2022 Dec 6 18:36:27	OTHER	sntp 4.2.8p12@1.3728-o (1)
2022 Dec 6 18:36:27	SYSTEM	Firmware Version : 5.25.124
2022 Dec 6 18:36:27	RTC     System Time Is Updated By RTC.
2022 Dec 6 18:29:51	SYSTEM	System is shutting down.
2022 Dec 6 18:29:51	SYSTEM	
2022 Dec 6 18:29:18	SYSTEM	The system is shutting down.

.

B1. PROBLEM operation:
12:07 - Power on.
12:17 - REPRODUCED problem. Device should have started by now.
12:19 - Pressing the power-off button does nothing.
12:20 - Killed power from the wall. Wait 5’.
12:25 - Restored power from wall. Device auto powered on.
12:28 - Device finished startup procedure and power button changes from blinking to stable.

B2. PROBLEM Logs:

2022 Dec 7 12:27:42	FTP     FTP server enabled.
2022 Dec 7 12:27:42	FTP     FTP server disable.
2022 Dec 7 12:27:09	SYSTEM	System is rebooted or power up successfully.
2022 Dec 7 12:27:09	OTHER	Set check central server at 18:45
2022 Dec 7 12:26:55	OTHER	[ 73.127444] restart sysinfod...
2022 Dec 7 12:26:48	RTC     Set System Time.
2022 Dec 7 12:26:43	OTHER	2022-12-07 12:26:43.074732 (-0200) +0.161582 +/- 0.108209 pool.ntp.org 194.177.210.54 s1 no-leap
2022 Dec 7 12:26:43	OTHER	sntp 4.2.8p12@1.3728-o (1)
2022 Dec 7 12:26:38	OTHER	sntp 4.2.8p12@1.3728-o (1)
2022 Dec 7 12:26:38	SYSTEM	Firmware Version : 5.25.124
2022 Dec 7 12:26:38	RTC     System Time Is Updated By RTC.
2022 Dec 7 11:41:07	SYSTEM	System is shutting down.
2022 Dec 7 11:41:07	SYSTEM	
2022 Dec 7 11:40:34	SYSTEM	The system is shutting down.

.

Please I need help if anyone else encountered this problem.
About diagnostics, system test and disk tests show no problems.

Unfortunately logs show nothing useful because they start recording events AFTER the problem is manually fixed.
Maybe in some future firmware version WD can (a) enhance logging in that startup phase, or (b) show some error code/message in LCD instead of just the generic welcome message.

Thanks :slight_smile:

Hi @athspk,

Have you opened a Support Case? If not opened, for more information, please contact the WD Technical Support team for the best assistance and troubleshooting:
https://support-en.wd.com/app/ask

I had a similar issue several years ago. The problem was an occasionally failing fan. After I replaced that thing it never occured again.

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