Author Topic: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware  (Read 8659 times)

bowh

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TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« on: August 02, 2019, 11:45:21 AM »
Good Day,

I have read several forum topics on TFTP and decided to post and ask for help instead of just PM'g someone to start.

I have TS-RIXL that "failed" - it was removed from service here at work before I took over the department. 
I removed the drives for replacement before I understood that the firmware was kept on the drives.

One of the drives was already missing so I only have four and only know which one #1 was.

Presently I can get the appliance to boot but I cannot format any of the drives and the only one that I can is the one that has the firmware on it (drive 1) so not know much more about Buffalo, I need some help.

I would like to just replace all four drives with WD Gold drives and TFTP the firmware - I was told that there were guides here in the forum but didn't see anyone that was complete.

Does anyone have a step by step guide that would cover this unit along with any files that I may need to "revive" this appliance and put it back into service?

If any more details are needed please post or PM me

Thank you in advance, bob

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Re: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2019, 12:44:24 PM »
booting from TFTP is one way to get the device into EM mode so that you can install the firmware. For this particular model you should be able to just insert 4 blank drives and then power it on, the device should eventually boot inot EM mode from it's internal Flash (it might take like ~15 minutes total).

Once you get the device into EM mode you can install the firmware using this process (starting at the part where you modify tsupdater):
https://buffalonas.miraheze.org/wiki/Restoring_Stock_Firmware_without_TFTP

If you are able to boot into the firmware from an existing disk you should be able to skip all that by doing the following:
1. boot from just the working drive
2. insert one of the new drives, ensure it is completely blank
3. format it from the web interface (this will also install the required boot files)
4. shutdown the device and move the new drive to bay 1 and restart
5. assuming it boots you should be able to add the other blank drives and create arrays as needed.

the most obvious reasons I could see for it failing would be that the new drives aren't blank or that those newer drives aren't compatible with this older device. I doubt the drives wouldn't work but it might be worth testing the procedure on drives less likely to have compatibility problems if the above methods still aren't working.

bowh

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Re: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2019, 02:02:10 PM »
Thank you ,

I will follow your instructions,

But
--edit--
I followed your instructions attempting again to format a new drive using the web interface and was unsuccessful so I moved on -

-bob
« Last Edit: August 02, 2019, 04:02:03 PM by bowh »

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Re: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« Reply #3 on: August 02, 2019, 03:16:32 PM »
Good luck!

bowh

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Re: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« Reply #4 on: August 02, 2019, 03:57:28 PM »
1000001101000,

I am getting an error message that the partition was not found

Maybe I made a mistake

I formatted the drive using windows7, made it active and then assigned a letter to the drive so I could copy the files
After that I removed the drive letter - should I have not removed the drive letter?

I am going to pull the drive and assign the drive letter again and then insert it back into the buffalo
--edit-- tried that and still getting the same error in the tsupdater that no partition was found.

Also should I change the TSUpdater.ini NoFormatting=1 to 0 to allow formatting during this process?
That is just one variable that I see different between the No TFTP and the References in the Using TFTP methods

-bob

« Last Edit: August 02, 2019, 04:24:31 PM by bowh »

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Re: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« Reply #5 on: August 02, 2019, 05:35:24 PM »
It's important that the drives start out blank, initializing and formatting them in windows can cause problems. Buffalo has a guide for blanking out the drives under windows:
http://driver.asia.buffalo.jp/buf-drv2//manual/nas/common/35012071-1-cant_boot.pdf

Yes, you'll need to set the noformatting flag, you'll also need to enable debug options. For this to work the updater will need to repartition and reformat the drives which it doesn't do unless those options are enabled. see:
https://buffalonas.miraheze.org/wiki/Enable_Debug_mode


bowh

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Re: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« Reply #6 on: August 02, 2019, 07:27:39 PM »


I am up and running


I appreciate all your help


The difficulty in the process is gathering all the details from so many sources/references and filling in the blanks/experience to complete them.  But now I understand the process

Actually very simple, its the journey getting there

Thank You
-bob

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Re: TeraStation 3 TS-RIXL Need TFTP and Firmware
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2019, 09:44:42 PM »
cheers