Linkstation losing or not saving firmware loads or something.

[rohded]

Using the info at the top of the forum:
 
I setup a TFTP server with computer at the 192.168.11.1 ip.
 
After booting and hitting the func button,  I did see it download a couple of files.   A couple minutes later it showed up in NAS Navigator.
 
I corrected the IP and it showed up on my local network.
 
All was working well, until I shut it down with the GUI.
 
Powering it back on causes the red light in the middle to blink.    Restarting and holding the func button, causes it to download those files again and eventually become operational.
 
So the problem seems to be when it gets shut down,  it doesn’t know how to boot up without the files again.    While in the GUI before,  I formatted the drives,  checked them and they were fine.
 
What seems to be my issue?  Why does it need to load the files from tftp everytime it starts up?

[1000001101000]

It sounds like the boot files (*.buffalo) are missing/corrupt on the device or possibly you have something going on with your partition table or boot partition that the bootloader can’t handle but doesn’t interfere with the firmware operating.

During part of the boot process the device performs some checks and decides whether it can proceed with the full boot or drop into EM mode. It sounds like when you boot via TFTP all the checks pass and it boots fully.

Could you provide some history of this firmware install, could any of the following have happened?
 Firmware installed on blank drive that was used for something else
 drive cloned from different size/model drive
 drive connected to a pc and contents accessed/modified

It should be fixable by correcting whatever the bootloader doesn’t like. If the boot files are missing/corrupt forcing a firmware update might correct it. If it’s a partition issue there are ways to correct it using a linux PC etc
 

[rohded]

The firmware I am installing is 1.09 from Buffalo Site.

I had installed 2 drives after wiping them with the Lsoft Active Wipe.
The unit is connected directly to a pc with a ethernet cable and running tftp64 on that pc. 
Dumped the firmware files and extracted them with password into TFTP directory.
About 2 minutes after pulling the files, it shows up in NAS navigator asking for IP update and time/date change.
From there, I can launch the GUI and perform whatever I need.  Format drives, change raid etc.
After that,  once shutdown,   it is back to wanting the TFTP server again for the files.

Thanks for any thoughts.