TerraStation Live won't boot

[allenp]

   

model HS-DHTGL/R5 2tb, firmware version 214_102. I was attempting to increase to 4tb.  I first backed up the data, tried deleting the shares, and deleting the raid.  There is no feedback, so I was not sure if the delete operations finished.  Upon logging back into the browser interface, it appeared that the raid had been deleted.  No raid, all 4 disks unformatted (oops?)  I shut down the server, replaced disk 2 with a Western Digital 1tb Green (WD10EADS).  The terastation re-booted and recognized the new drive.  I formatted the new drive and shut down.  I may have forced the shutdown by holding the power button when it seemed to hang.  Now I cannot load the kernel (Error E04).  It will sometimes boot to EM, and the firmware updater finds the box, but the firmware update fails when it attempts to reboot.  After flashing the firmware, it reboots twice, but ultimately fails with E04.  Replacing the 1tb drive with the original 500gb has the same behavior (sometimes boots to EM, but fails firmware update).

 

What now?  Browsing the forums I'm getting the impression that all my drives are unformatted and booting or flashing is not possible at this point.

[kevin]

Sorry, Buffalo does not support upgrading drive.

[allenp]

   

After a nights sleep for myself and the Terrastation, I removed all the disks except for the 1 new disk that seemed to format on the last successful boot.  The Terrastation booted and displayed the correct firmware version in the browser.  I then shutdown, added 1 new disk, and booted again.  I was able to format the second disk.  I did this again for a 3rd new disk.  Unfortunately, the 4th disk would not format in the Terrastation, or in Windows xp, leading me to believe the 4th disk is bad.

 

I have concluded from this that:

1. formatting a disk in the Terrastation lays down the OS on the disk.

2. that you can boot the Terratstation with 1 disk and access it through the browser interface.

3. you can format a new drive with only 1 formatted drive.

 

I'm waiting for the 4th drive replacement.  I will then attempt to configure RAID 5 and create my shares.  I will report back.