Buffalo Forums

NOTE 

This appears to be a very common problem for Linkstation owners, but information on it is scattered across many postings without a single clear posting that outlines the problem and the solution.  This posting is intended to help others experiencing this problem find out the cause the solution more quickly and easily.

 

HARDWARE 

LinkStation Duo  (LS-WXL).  This issue, however seems to be common across many of the Linkstation products.

 

 

SCENARIO 

• Linkstation goes into EM Mode (possibly due to power outage or similar event). 
• NAS Firmware must be upgraded to the newest version. (Don't worry, updating the Firmware won't destroy your data). 
• After firmware upgrade, you can see the NAS in NasNavigator, but you can't open the shares or access the data.
• When you try to log into the Web Settings page you are prompted for Username / Password, however the default username and password are not accepted.  (You get an error page stating you have entered an invalid username / password.)

 

PROBLEM 

You can't get into the web settings and you can't access the drive.  The drive is basically unusable.  The data is still there, but there is no way to get to it.

 

SOLUTION

There are two steps to this solution, one you can do on your own, the other requires a call to the Buffalo Help Desk 

 

Step 1: Device Reset

• Power off the unit
• Hold the function button
• Turn the unit on
• Release the function button as soon as lights start flashing
• Wait 2-3 minutes for the lights to finish flashing and you have a solid power light
• Retry the user id / password  (The factory default is admin / password)

Step 2:  Password Reset Utility

• This is the part that does not seem to be well documented (and what prompted me to write this posting)
• BuffaloTech has a utility that can reset the password to the factory default (admin / password).
• I assume for client network security purposes they do not share this utility on the downloads page, so you must contact the help desk to have them email it to you.
• If you are encountering this issue, simply call the help desk and tell them your situation and they will help you out.
• Buffalo will email you a zip file, however due to system constraints, they cannot mail you a functioning zip file.. the suffix will be 'zi'. 
• Open the email and save the file to the location of your choice then rename the file to add the 'p' onto the suffix... which will turn it back into a functioning zip file.
• Once you receive the file extract it and run it as instructed.

 

Outcome

After running the NasRecovery.exe utility, everything worked great.

 

 

Help Desk Comment

I have used Buffalo Techs help desk twice.  Hold time was about 5-8 minutes each time.  Support staff were helpful, friendly and knowledgeable.  Compared to many other companies I have dealt with, I thought they did a pretty good job.

What?! I updated my ls-wxl 1.58 and now it won't accept password. Tried to reset but no luck. So now I have to call to them and they say support is not available in Europe?! Do I really have to hack my firmware? Fail.

before you flashed the FW, did you select keep the old password, in one of the GUI screens? Will it accept the default (original) password?

It didn't ask to clear passwords on firmware update. Default admin/password not working either. Will try to update to new 1.60 firmware, but I doubt that even that will fail since it requires the password to start firmware update :(

no, I was asking if you selected clear user password in the GUI, before you did the firmware update.

you need to use the LSrecovery file to recover the unit, I'll send it to you later

 

EDIT: http://buffalonas.com/davo/axs/u:73932700415d4291643a7e09c617cef2/lsrecovery.zip

 

Download the file, unzip it and run it with your anti virus and firewall software disabled.

This will reset the configuration of the unit but should not effect the data, obviously you should ensure you have a backup at all times just incase! ;-)

I haven't even noticed a setting to clear username. I have already updated firmware twice before this malicious 1.58 without any trouble. 

 

Can't connect to a server to download lsrecovery from the url above :(

Davo, my browser is timing out on your URL also.- might be our firewall.

Sorry, new link here: http://www.yousendit.com/download/QlVnSU5KYUk4NVVLSk5Vag

Hi, The given link is not a valid one.  Could you please give a valid one for me?  lsrecovery.zip

Hi could you please provide the valid URL for the below

 

 http://buffalonas.com/davo/axs/u:73932700415d4291643a7e09c617cef2/lsrecovery.zip

It will be helpful to solve my issue.

 

 

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prabakar1978 wrote:

Hi could you please provide the valid URL for the below

 

 http://buffalonas.com/davo/axs/u:73932700415d4291643a7e09c617cef2/lsrecovery.zip

It will be helpful to solve my issue.

 

 

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http://forums.buffalotech.com/t5/Storage/Can-t-reset-admin-password-for-Buffalo-Linkstation-LS-CHL/m-p/108902#M51935

 

New firmware update available but NAS was unresponsive, simply rebooting it wiped the password.
Default doesn't work. I'm really getting sick of the Buffalo's doing this every 6 months.
Now I can't even do the firmware update.