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Post by mnorth on Apr 5, 2008 12:42:34 GMT 7
Hi, I have several 299's which have been working fine until now.
I noticed that one unit started to turn itself on as soon as I connect the power and before I press the on switch. In this mode it would only turn off by pulling out the power cord.
Then later it did not power up at all, until I messed with the power connector on the back of the unit. Then it intermittently would either start normally, start without pressing the on button or not power up at all at random.
I returned it for a replacement.
But now the second oldest (under 3 months) is doing just the same. Tried v24 and v26 of the firmware, and no difference. Tried a factory reset. Power is getting to the unit OK (tested in the unit).
So i) anyone else experienced this issue? I have other Thecus products on the same network and they do not have the same problem?
ii) Any suggestions as to how to wake a unit which does not want to turn on?
Any comments appreciated.
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ben
New Member
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Post by ben on Apr 15, 2008 22:32:11 GMT 7
Hi,
I have a similar problem: my N299 (v26) works for about one, two or three weeks fine for the only purpose I bought it: automated backups with Acronis (v10).
And than, suddenly and without cognizable reason, it do not respond any more. Nor to pings neither to SMB requests.
The power button from then on is without function!, only a power outage by pulling out the power cord brings the N299 back! In my case, when I put the power cord back, the device ist stoped and I have to press the power button.
Any suggestions? Has anyone else this problem? Do the new
v29.beta1 bring any amendment?
Cheers
Ben
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pete
New Member
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Post by pete on Apr 30, 2008 5:25:15 GMT 7
hi,
similar issue here - even worse.
have to take out the hard disks and after some re-tries the box will power up. - sometimes even just without any drive inserted.
any official answer or fix on this? - using latest FW 1.00.24
thanks for any hints.
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adamz
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by adamz on Apr 30, 2008 14:37:51 GMT 7
Please see the thread on SMB/CIFS. I had loss of SMB connectivity and occaisonally disk drop out where the only common factor seemed to be a physical power down and disconnection of the power lead.
I was on the latest version.
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pete
New Member
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Post by pete on May 6, 2008 4:31:01 GMT 7
upgraded to latest available beta N299_N199_FW_1.00.30beta2.bin no real changes so far...  any other hints? - i really don't want to return the device since it seems to work in most of the installations... |
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Post by markstewie on May 22, 2008 14:26:20 GMT 7
upgraded to latest available beta N299_N199_FW_1.00.30beta2.bin no real changes so far... any other hints? - i really don't want to return the device since it seems to work in most of the installations... are the HDD's supported? could be a heat issue. |
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Post by marlickert on May 24, 2008 16:53:57 GMT 7
I experianced the same power on problem with my 4 month old N299 ....
Finally I replaced the battery which is a 3V cr1200. When I measured voltage on the old one it was only at 0.75 Volts.
After replacing the unit powers up as usual. The only problem now seems that I lost my config and with that the N299 goes into an error with my 500GB harddrive. If the HD is installed I get the flashing amber light on the front panal permanently. So I have to pull the plug.
Not sure if you guys have experiance with the new problem that I am experiancing...
Any help is appreciated - Thanks!
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Post by simondurrant on May 28, 2008 18:12:44 GMT 7
same problem recently started to happen. It occurs after the unit is left on for more than a couple of days. I have to remove the hard disk caddy and then re-assemble to get it to work again. I ran the N299 for a couple of hours then opened the case as soon as it was switched off and disconnected; both hard disks were too hot to touch so i THINK THIS IS A DESIGN FAULT WHERE THE COOLING SYSTEM IS INADEQUATE.
Apart from the unreliable nature of the box, hot disks do not last for their expected life. The disks I am using are on the approved disks list.
The most obvious fix is to improve case ventilation and cooling capacity but this will not help existing owners. One fix that could be done in firnmware is to have a disk spin down feature (Subject of another thread with a lot of support). At least this would limit the heat being generated.
Thecus, what can you do for all us unhappy customers?
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Post by skatersponge on May 29, 2008 4:45:07 GMT 7
 Just received my 299 today and tomorrow it is going back. It would not start on initial power up despite numerous attempts at pressing the on/off button, press, press and hold, press and wiggle the power connector - 2 x brand new Samsung 500Gb Hard drives fitted - then suddenly without me touching anything, it started up - booted up fine, got the system setup software working on my iMac, got through to the end and then tried to access via the web browser - nothing at all - tried to turn it off - would not, other than by pulling out the power cord. Would it start again? Nope - until about an hour later when re-inserting the power cord for about the 100th time caused it to work fine, apart from it would not accept the new password I had chosen on the initial setup - powered down fine this time - tried to reset, using the turn on and hold the reset button as detailed in the trouble shooting guide.... Would it start again? Nope. Was I quite annoyed by now? Yes. Just wish I'd bought the Time Vault like I should have in the first place.... Come on Thecus - what is the issue? Surely you must know by now!! It cannot be overheating if it will not even turn on in the first place - could it be duff batteries/ firmware or PSU issues? Not impressed by the flimsy plastic case either - not a good heat sink!
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Post by nutter998 on Jun 6, 2008 4:59:27 GMT 7
Had mine for 4 months and got the same, wouldn't power on. Checked everything, for me the lithium 3v cr1220 was at 0.2v. Jiggled it about and suddenly everything started. Will get a new one tomorrow to see if that solves it.
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Post by nutter998 on Jun 13, 2008 15:22:41 GMT 7
Have changed the battery, all now works fine. Unit powers up and down OK. Why Thecus are asking people to send them back is anybody's guess. Decided to move on to a Zyxel NSA220 as at least they do a disk spindown . . . |
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Post by chrisbreame on Jun 13, 2008 18:38:01 GMT 7
Hmmm, I notice that many users of N299 seem to be having the same problem that I am having. I'd guess that it is a motherboard or BIOS issue with the box.....
Apparently (according to the Hexus forum), some users have had success by simply replacing the backup battery with a fresh one.
So far, I have not tried this, but I have found one way around the problem.
First, I'd like to describe the problem itself:
1. Machine is turned off
2. Plug power cable in
3. Hit on button (nothing happens)
4. Play around with power cable (still nothing happens)
5. Play around with power cable some more
6. About 5% of the time, the machine actually WILL turn on!!!! But due to some terrible BIOS problems, it gets itself into a bit of a state. It *looks* like it's booted up correctly, but really it hasn't - and because it's in a dodgy state, you have to pull the power plug to get it to switch off (as the button doesn't work)
OK, so I've been experimenting with a few ideas:
1. Try taking the hard drives out (maybe they are drawing too much voltage?). No effect
2. Try repeatedly unplugging/replugging the unit (might sometimes turn on, but half the time it doesn't boot up correctly)
The best idea that I found was the following:
1. Unplug the device
2. Press and hold the power button
3. Plug the power cable in
This *seems* to work every time! It's almost as if you plug the power cable in, the motherboard gets some power and decides that it doesn't want to turn on. The fact that the power button is on when you put the power cable in seems to somehow bypass this. Almost like it doesn't get a chance to decide it doesn't want to turn on - like you sort of catch it before it gets a chance.
I hope this makes sense and maybe helps both end users and also Thecus to bug fix this issue.
In the meantime, I'm going to purchase a new battery and see if that makes a difference
Thanks
Chris
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Post by chrisbreame on Jun 14, 2008 18:30:41 GMT 7
Aha! I have fixed the problem! With the aid of the wonderful people over on the Hexus forum and their suggestions about the battery.
I went onto ebay yesterday and purchased 2xCR1220 batteries. They arrived this morning and I fitted one into my N299. And it now works perfectly!
I recommend to anyone who is having this problem to try a new battery to see if it'll fix it. What have you got to loose? It's only about a quid for the battery.
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Post by ruffnut on Sept 2, 2008 20:41:50 GMT 7
Thanks chrisbreame, I just bought one of these units and straight out of the box it wouldn't boot up. Was about to send it back DOA. Tried your 1st suggestion of holding the button down and bingo. Have now ordered some new batteries.
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Just received my 299 today and tomorrow it is going back.