BlackArmor NAS Network Storage Server

[Linuxoid]

Does anyone know how to open that box without breaking it? I don't care about warranty, I just want to replace a failed drive. I have a personal information on the drive that's why I don't want to return it.

Thank you.

[Linuxoid]

Ok, I just ripped it open. Turns out there are no screws, just locking hooks. Don't be afraid to use some force, it's a heck of a tough box, really ragid design. Now, I removed all screws I could think of, but the HDD doesn't come out. I don't want to use force on it cos I can rip the whole PCB out. Any clues?

[Linuxoid]

Oh, I was wrong, it is just pure brutal force . Just pulled it harder and it came out. Wow. This was something. Now I need to buy a new drive. Any one know if NAS 110 will take a 2 GB drive?

[Linuxoid]

Does the new disk have to be pre-formatted? If yes, does anyone know what file system NAS 110 uses and the max HDD size?

[Linuxoid · Accepted solution]

Here's a reply from Seagate Tech Support:

"The BlackArmor NAS 110 is not field serviceable. It is not designed to have the hard drives in the enclosure replaced. Should the drive fail, the only way to resolve the issue is to replace it under warranty via our website or on the phone with one of our Customer Service agents."

So, since they are such morons and don't give a *** about the customers, here's the simplest procedure how to replace a hard drive in the NAS 110 (the most you would loose is the cost of the NAS, but I was already prepared to buy a QNAP NAS which seems to be much more user friendly with tonns more features which this one doesn't have AND these days it's actually cheaper with extra hard drive than the Seagate - if you want a new NAS, buy Qnap instead, period.):

1. Disconnect power and Ethernet cables

2. If you read from the beginning of my post, I just used brutal (but reasonable) force to crack it open. If you're not prepared to do this, then this HowTo may help: http://crapnas.blogspot.com/2010/04/opening-box.html

3. Pull the failed HDD out (don't pull out the remaining stuff, just the HDD)

4. Buy a new HDD (I've aways only purchased Seagate drives, but after that bullsh*t they gave me, just as a matter of principle, I purchased a 2 TB Hitachi HDD which has much more only positive reviews than Seagate's. From now on, I'm not buying anything from Seagate if they're so stupid).

5. Slide the new HDD in

6. Connect power and Ethernet cables

7. The NAS will format the drive itself (takes about 5-10 min)

8. Log in (it resets the admin password back to admin and sets IP to dynamic, check in the router which IP it got allocated)

9. Go through the rest of the shares and users setup

That's it! Not designed for the hard drive to be replaced my a*s! Couldn't be easier.

Of course you'll loose all your warranty doing the above. But I was not going to give them 1 TB of my personal stuff.

[kantesrinivas]

Thanks.. Is there any more easy option to openup  the  Seagate BlackArmor NAS 110 1TB

[neslor]

Was able to open up our 110 by following the instructions on the crapnas blog ...after getting permission from seagate so as not to void the warranty. You do have to man handle it a bit, but of course be very careful.

We took ours apart to attempt self data recovery.

[JoeSchmo]

Hey.. I saw you were able to replace the drive (your 2TB).

I had to do a recovery for some files in a Linux box, so I removed the HDD, did the recovery, removed all the partitions, did a dd to write zeros in 416 bytes, put it back. It started to do something to the HDD, rebooted once or twice, and it's running for about 10 hours with the system led blinking blue. From time to time there is some activity (HDD led turns on in blue for a while), then off again.

You said it took around 5 or 10 minutes to format your drive... Any idea on what might be happening here?

Tha BA cannot be found on the network and I as far as I know, there is no IP assigned to it from my router.

Thanks!

[trekboy72]

I need to do this same process. The Harddrive in my NAS "seems" okay, blue light is still on, but the amber light has solid under system. Appears that the firmware has been corrupted as it will no longer boot up. I would like to try self recovery as an option rather than pay huge sums to a recovery service. My question to you is how did you get them to give you permission to open the case without voiding the warranty? I have read the blog as well and have looked at the NAS carefully and I need to find the right tools to get in there to pry the case open, but don't want to start unless I know that I will not void the warranty incase I need to send the drive in for replacement. Is there a detailed video posted online that someone has a link to? That would be helpful as the pictures only show part fo the process. 

Desperate to get my data back.

[judgie]

I know this thread is old but I was wondering if someone could tell me what I am doing wrong.  I got the plastic cover off but I am not sure how to extract the harddrive.  I have removed all of the screws I could see.  4 smaller and 4 larger ones.  Can anyone tell me what the next step is?

I have attached some pictures if it helps.

[judgie]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0apcgnfnycirhku/image.jpg.jpeg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v59ks5k5024h880/image%281%29.jpg.jpeg

[oagent]

@Trekboy72..

I tried this too and had the same results as you.

You replaced the disk with a previously formatted disk Im guessing. I overcame this by writing zeros to the entire disk (takes 6hrs or so) before putting it back in the NAS. This time it booted fine and created a factory default data partition.

See my cross postings on how to replace the disk with a 2tb WD Green.

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/BlackArmor-NAS-Network-Storage/Replacing-Black-armor-NAS-110-HDD/m-p/49...