Buffalo Terastation dead

[Jobos]

We've got a Buffalo Terastation TS-XEL which is used as the backup NAS. It's been working fine and last week I wanted to logon to the web console but it refused to accept the admin password but otherwise it was working ok and the nightly backups continued working fine. I've come back to it today and it still wouldn't accept the admin logon so I tried a hard reset. The front power button didn't respond so I removed the power, waited a short while then reconnected it. Now the whole box is dead with no lights on the front LEDs. The rear fan runs for a few seconds so I know the power lead is ok but otherwise it's a door stop and no amount of holding the power button in will start the thing.

 

Anyone know how to get it working again?

[3s-gtech]

What position is the power switch on the rear in? If it's in Auto, set it to Manual.

[Jobos]

I always leave it set to manual but I've tried both, auto and manual.

[3s-gtech]

Could be a dead disk (or worse) but disks would be my next check. If one has failed hard it may be preventing the device from booting. What happens if you slide out all of the trays and attempt to power it up? I know that these devices create a partition on the storage for the OS, so it's also worth trying to power it on with each bay removed in succession.

[Jobos]

I had a job finding the keys! I removed one drive in turn and now all of them are out but still no power to the LEDs. I've taken the cover off and the heatsink on the PSU is very hot which I don't think should happen without any load so I'm guessing the problem is with the PSU shorting out on a component.

[3s-gtech]

Could be dead voltage regulation on the mainboard, or the PSU itself has died. I've found them to be pretty reliable - one here is still in daily use having recently turned 10 - so it's a little unusual. It's probably beyond economic repair though. Emergency IT budget to the rescue?

[difinity]

Hot suggests something on the high voltage side has failed like the FET or bridge rectifier maybe even the startup cap failing depend on the design of the circuit.

Power supplies and power supply parts of electrical devices are by far the most common part of a device failing from my experience of fixing over the last couple of years and repair is almost always cheaper than replacing.

[Jobos]

The NAS was 4 1/2 years old so not done too bad but would have liked it to have lasted longer. There's not much budget here being a primary so will look at Freenas as I've got 4 1TB drives going spare now. It would be nice to get the old NAS running again but without a circuit diagram it would be hard work.

[Jobos]

I've been looking at NAS enclosures to mount the drives I've already got and found this Qnap unit QNAP TS-453A-4G 4 Bay Enclosure (TS-453A-4G) - www.misco.co.uk which doesn't cost too much but now looking closer on the Qnap site it looks more like a home NAS with all the bells and whistles I'm not going to need https://www.qnap.com/en/product/model.php?II=212

 

Any suggestions for other models?

[3s-gtech]

Some of my school NASs have loads of home features, I just turn them off. They're no less capable for them. I try to stick to Synology equipment alone now, but if that Qnap can do what you need (Domain joining? Permissions? Backup automation?) then go for it.