TS-XEL hangs at boot after I tried to add USB drive

[mholl1983]

Me again. :) Hope you're well.

All's been working smoothly, but I wanted to add a 4 TB USB drive into the mix so I could directly backup files from my RAID array to the USB drives on the TS-side.

Here are the steps I took before things started hanging after a reboot: 1) Plug in USB drive 2) Make a directory for mounting 3) Add entry to fstab file so it would auto-mount upon boot 4) Reboot TS. Result: hanging on boot with "no init file at hdd2" message

I unplugged the USB drive, shut everything down, and tried to boot cold in the hope that that cleared things up, but no dice.

4 HDDs in the box seem to have good health, at least when I last checked, and they're all seated properly/being detected. The USB drive experiment is the only new thing since this issue arose.

Any suggestions welcomed!

[mholl1983]

Previously, when I was setting up the device with Debian, I did get a "no init file" error for a good 10 min or so, but then eventually the boot process would continue. Now, it seems to be taking a lot longer, so I'm worried I buggered something up. :(

[mholl1983]

Just an update that the TS is getting the assigned IP address and I can ping it, but I'm unable to SSH in with Putty, get files from my Samba share, or anything else. Ideally, I'd like to be able to get the TS back up and running the way it was before I tried to hang a USB device off it, but in case things went belly up, is there any way I can back door into the device to either fix up the fstab file or access my files? (Thankfully, have a semi-recent backup, which was a lesson learned from earlier experiences.)

[1000001101000]

sounds like a bad fstab entry.

for that model it’s easier than most to access the serial console and fix it via maintenance mode or whatever debian calls it. I think I have some details on the buffalonas wiki.

otherwise you could connect all the drives to a pc and edit the fstab that way… though it’s a pain with 4 drives.

[mholl1983]

Thanks for your reply! Yes, I suspect the fstab needs to be fixed after my blunder. I hope that's all it is, in any case.

Serial console sounds intriguing and I do see the connector for that on the device. Not clear on what cables/converters I need, though. Something like this or this?

Sorry for 20 questions. Appreciate all your help! I smell potential for troubleshooting information, too. :)

[mholl1983]

Based on the limited info I could find on various sources online, looks like the Buffalo devices use 3.3V TTL and the TS-XEL has a 4 pin connector (which I gleaned from just looking at the connector itself on the device, of course :)). Therefore, I can probably safely assume this cable is a good bet?

[1000001101000]

That should work

[mholl1983]

Hi, I just got the cable! However, I want to make sure I connect the correct wires to the correct inputs and not cause more issues! I didn't see any obvious indicators on the TS port side itself, so I wanted to double check with you.

Here are pictures of the cable itself (separate wire side) and the schematics in the manual, respectively.

Let me know if I should be attaching these in any particular order, and then (fingers crossed) I'll be able to fix up my fstab file. Thanks again!

[1000001101000]

I’ve got the pin order on the wiki:Terastation TS-XELbuffalonas.miraheze.orgDon’t connect the 3.3v line, just rx/tx/gnd.On Sep 17, 2022, at 11:55 AM, mholl1983 @.***> wrote: Hi, I just got the cable! However, I want to make sure I connect the correct wires to the correct inputs and not cause more issues! I didn't see any obvious indicators on the TS port side itself, so I wanted to double check with you. Here are pictures of the cable itself (separate wire side) and the schematics in the manual, respectively.

Let me know if I should be attaching these in any particular order, and then (fingers crossed) I'll be able to fix up my fstab file. Thanks again!

—Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

[mholl1983]

Thanks!

-TX -

-RX -

-3V -

-GND-

So, just to be 100% clear, this is top to bottom facing the front of the TS?

I also see that my UART->USB device shows up as a COM port in device manager. Assuming I use PuTTY or OpenSSH app and point to the COM connection?

[1000001101000]

YeahOn Sep 17, 2022, at 1:34 PM, mholl1983 @.***> wrote: Thanks! -TX - -RX - -3V - -GND- So, just to be 100% clear, this is top to bottom facing the front of the TS?

—Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

[mholl1983]

Good news! After more tinkering, I was able to get a proper serial connection to my TS-XEL.

I used the following settings on my UART->USB cable:

The underlined setting in the second screenshot seemed to make all the different. Prior to checking this, I was getting gibberish in the output. After checking the setting, I was able to get the correct output. Here's the TS in powered off/plugged in state:

I'll report back shortly when I'm able to get to the fstab file. I'm not really clear on what commands to run, but I'll try to devote more time to this after work. Thank you again for all your assistance here and in IRC!

[mholl1983]

I gave it a stab (no pun intended!) The initial boot brought me to a prompt that set to hit any key to stop autoboot. I did that and got a limited set of commands. I then rebooted, let autoboot run, and heard the emergency mode noise. It seemed like the system trying to do something with the original firmware files. My heart sank.

I rebooted again and then got prompts about Debian Linux. I felt more comfortable. After a lot of status messages, I finally got to a prompt that let me sign in as root. From there, I was able to use nano and edit the fstab file. FINALLY, the TS that refuses to die is booting properly again! Man oh man, what a journey. Thanks again for helping me keep my TS trucking! I think I'll be throwing in the towel for awhile on any specific configuration changes for the foreseeable. :) Thanks again and take care!

[1000001101000]

cheers!