NSA325 v2 Won't run on v4.81 Firmware - OK on v4.80

Jem

After more than 2 years running on v4.81 firmware, one morning the NAS was constanly rebooting and was only up for a few seconds, so there was no way to copy files off or get in via the web interface. I finally recovered the NAS by using Mijzelf's rescue USB stick (v4.80) [Many thanks for making that available!] and was able to use the web interface to repair the RAID and then copy files off. The NAS was running perfectly so I decided to finally upgrade back to v4.81.

Guess what?  Reboot loop back, or occasionally all lamps lit with top lamp blinking continuously. Pressing [power] gives a beep but nothing else, and holding it down eventually turns the NAS off. So basically the NAS won't run under v4.81 any more!  I re-downloaded v4.81 firmware from ZyZEL just to be sure it wasn't corrupted, but for now I am back to v4.80 again and all is well. RAID remained healthy. I can't understand what could have changed to cause this problem. Any ideas?


#NAS_Jan_2020

Mijzelf

Your NAS has 'double flash', which means that it contains 2 copies of the firmware, the current and the previous. When flashing, the previous is overwritten with next, and if that succeeds, a flag is set that next has become current, which is handled by the bootloader.

I think a part of your flash is damaged, causing that boot loop. When you then use the USB stick, it switches to the other half.

That can be tested by using the USB stick once more, to see if the problem returns.

Jem

Thank you for the explanation Mijzelf. That makes perfect sense. So if I understand correctly, the original boot-up firmware on one half of the eeprom became corrupted causing continuous rebooting. Flashing back to v4.80 installed on the other half of the eeprom which is working OK, but it would have worked regardless of the version being used as long it it was on the working half of the chip. Therefore it should work again OK on v4.81 if I can get it to load on the undamaged half of the chip.  I will give it a go sometime!  Sorry it's taken so long to reply. Maybe I should set up an Email reminder for posts on this forum if it's possible ;-)