BlackArmor NAS 400 Series - 'Seagate booting' error message

To install/replace one or more drives inside a Seagate BlackArmor NAS 440/420/400 unit, you must be sure to use drives that are on the list of certified models found in Document ID: 212777.

Sometimes, even after one or more of these certified drives are installed or replaced inside the BlackArmor NAS and the NAS is booted, the boot process may hang or freeze, and the message on the screen may be "Seagate booting..." and never change.
This usually indicates:

• a faulty hard drive, and/or
• an unsupported model of hard drive, and/or
• a faulty NAS unit.

To troubleshoot:

1. Power down the BlackArmor NAS.
2. Open the door and mark each drive so you can remember in which position it is installed - 1, 2, 3, 4.
   This will be important later - replacing drives out of order can cause data loss.
3. Remove all but one drive from the NAS.
4. Boot the NAS again.
   If the boot fails or hangs:
   1. Power down the NAS.
   2. Remove the drive from the NAS.
   3. Insert another drive and repeat.
   If the NAS boots properly:
5. Proceed to the Admin webpage.
6. Once you have accessed the Admin webpage successfully, update the firmware on the BlackArmor NAS unit.
   See Document ID: 217171 for instructions.
7. After updating the firmware, power down the NAS.
8. Insert all the drives again and retry the boot.
   If the boot fails or hangs:
   1. Power down the NAS.
   2. Remove all the drives from the NAS.
   3. Try one of the drives that you have not yet tried, and boot the NAS.
9. Once you have tried booting with all four drives, one at a time, remember which one(s) caused the boot to hang or fail.
10. Take the drive(s) that caused the boot to hang or fail and connect it to a computer.
    You can connect it either internally or externally.
    • Internally:
      1. Connect the drive inside a computer with a Serial ATA connection. Do not make it the boot drive; it must be connected as a secondary storage drive.
      See Document ID: 196169 for instructions.
    • Test the drive either with SeaTools for Windows (which runs within Windows) or with SeaTools for DOS (which runs from a bootable CD).
       

• Externally:
  1. Connect the drive inside an external enclosure.
     Seagate does not sell nor manufacture external enclosures. This equipment can be purchased, usually inexpensively, from a third party or electronics store.
  2. Connect the drive via the enclosure's interface (usually USB) to the computer and wait for the computer to fully detect the drive.
  3. Test the drive with SeaTools for Windows (which runs within Windows).
      

• If the drive fails the diagnostic, consider replacing the drive.
  If the drive passes the diagnostic, test another of the drives that caused the NAS to hang.
  If all the drive(s) that caused the boot to hang have passed the diagnostic, please contact Seagate Technical Support.