Can't access LinkStation Quad (LS-QL240)

[HenningRasmusse]

My pc suddenly lost contact to my LinkStation Quad during playback of music from the NAS. The NAS doesn't show up in NAS Navigator2, and the shared and mapped drives are inaccessable as well as it has disappeared in Windows 7's Network and sharing center. Have tried from 3 pc's, a Samsung Smart TV and my Samsung Galaxy S2 - all of those used to access the NAS. 

 

When I turn on the LinkStation Quad, the power LED blinks constantly (not 5,6 or 7 blinks, but constantly). The harddisk LED's are green. I have tried to leave the LinkStation on for a longer time, and after being turned on for a whole day and a whole night, the harddisk LED's turn red sometimes but not everytime. The power LED continues to blink constantly. The fan on the back works, and I have not changed the 4x 500GB harddisks that came with the device.

 

A peculiar thing is that I can actually see that the LinkStation Quad is connected to and have been assigned an IP-adress, when I check my routers admin-page. But I can't access the LinkStation Quad in a browser using this IP-address.

 

Any suggestions? This is the second NAS I've had from Buffalo. The other 1-disk LinkStation ended up with board-failure - I'm afraid I have had my last product from Buffalo.

 

Hope I don't have another bricked Buffalo NAS.

[HenningRasmusse]

Forgot to write, that the LinkStation no longer can be shut down holding the power button for 5/8 seconds or longer. It doesn't react.

[BuffaloB]

It sounds like the linkstation is locking up durring the boot process.  Try turning the unit on while holding the function button.  This should give you a flashing function light at which point you can release the function button.  Then push the function button for 1 second and release it.  If you can get the linkstation to boot into EM mode it will show up in the Navigator and you will be able to flash the firmware to the device.  After a firmware update it should come back up and be accessable.

[HenningRasmusse]

I followed your procedure, and first the function LED flashed as you said. Then I released the function button and pressed the function button once again, but only for a second. This made the power LED also start to blink. After 30 seconds the 4 harddisk LED's also turned on in green. The power LED and function LED continued to blink - also after hours. But the NAS can still not be reached by NAS Navigator, browser etc. 

 

The peculiar thing is that this error wasn't caused by a power failure as others write in their posts. I was listening to music streamed from the LinkStation when the connection was suddenly lost. But the NAS wasn't shut down - it just lost connection to the network. That's when I restarted it resulting in these errors.

 

Do you have any other suggestions? Isn't there any other way to reach or reset it or to upgrade the firmware manually - maybe through the USB-ports?

 

Is it just me, or does this seem like a general error with Buffalo NAS-drives? My former LinkStation Live with 1 disk also suddenly dropped the firmware, so I had to flash it again before at last giving up. I live in a country where there's years between power failures, so it isn't that, and I have never experienced this with my products from D-link and Synology. The sad thing is that the LinkStation Quad was my most expensive NAS.

[HenningRasmusse]

Anyone? Is this NAS just to be thrown in the trash? 

 

Can it be disassempled and fixed that way?

 

I can only strongly warn anyone reading this thread through Google, considering to buy any product from Buffalo, to choose another producer. As written above, this is my second NAS from Buffalo that suddenly lost it's firmware - and if you read through the forum here, it seems to be a common error of Buffalo NAS-drives.

[davo]

If you remove all 4 HDDs from the unit and reboot it you should get E07 - All HDDs missing. Can you confirm if this happens or not?

[HenningRasmusse]

When I remove all 4 harddisks and boot the power LED flashed red 7 times. If this is what you mean by E07, then yes.

[davo]

Ok so, the units main board and PCB are operating sucessful. Do you have a backup of the data?

[HenningRasmusse]

Yes, the data is not relevant - only have copies on the NAS. 

 

Is there a link where I can read about the errors (E07 and so on) - the NAS have no display, and the manual doesn't mention anything other than the codes by flashing LED.

[HenningRasmusse]

Yes, I have a backup! Am ready to delete any data on the NAS!

[HenningRasmusse]

I wait in ancitipation. What is the next step for me?

 

Hope we can find a way to reset the LinkStation Quad.

[davo]

OK so, format all the HDDs in a PC ( one large NTFS partition on each HDD). Once done insert them into the LS and followi FAQ 3 of 5 in the storage section to TFTP the unit.

 

You can use the following link for the TFTP image: ftp://24.153.165.234/array1/share/nas-recovery/TFTP%20Boot%20Recovery%20LS-QTL%201.04.exe

 

Im hosting it on my Linkstation and the link will be active for 10 days.

[HenningRasmusse]

Thanks so far - am downloading the file now and will try your suggestion as soon as possible, and then return with an answer here.

 

Where do I find "FAQ 3 of 5 in the storage section"?

[HenningRasmusse]

Found it! Will return with result later. Thanks

[davo]

Actually, sorry, use this TFTP image instead:

ftp://24.153.165.234/array1/share/nas-recovery/TFTP%20Boot%20Recovery%20LS-QTL%201.04.exe

 

It poroably wont work with the original image i specified