Tech Support Forum - View Single Post - [SOLVED] Maxtor Shared Storage II blinking Orange. Not booting up

matt_heys · 04-01-2008, 09:32 AM

I've had exactly the same issue; one green blink followed by four orange blinks and am in the middle of fixing it myself.

As I see it there are generally two options for this.

1) RMA the device, get a replacement and loose your data. (Not an option for me.)
2) Void your warranty crack the device open and take out the disk. (My option)

Note this WILL VOID YOUR WARRENTY, especially as you have to take a screw out that is behind a warranty seal.

Crack the device open, I had to literally crack it open and break some of the plastic casing, you might have more patience and get in to the case without breaking it.

Once the plastic is off you can undo the metal casing and take out the SATA drive.

Connect the SATA drive to your PC, either via eSATA, internal SATA or USB->SATA adapter, I chose the later as it is an easy option.

I notice you have a Mac so I don't know how you will get the next steps done, you will have to improvise a little for your situation.

Because the MSS is a minimal Linux build the drives are actually EXT3, not FAT like was previously mentioned.

You will need to either access these direct from Linux (Ubuntu boot CD would be good.) or download some EXT2/3 FSD's for Windows.

I am no expert on Mac's but understand they are based on BSD? so you might be able to read the EXT3 straight off, I don't know.

I chose to use the Ext2FSD driver and util to access these on my Windows box as it has more space to copy the contents off.

You will notice there are 5 partitions 3 small EXT3's a Swap and then a large EXT3, your data will be on the large ~296GB EXT3 partition.

That’s it, recover your data somewhere else and swear at Seagate for a pants product, I had a Maxtor MSS when it was still Maxtor and it has been running great.

EXT2FSD http://ext2fsd.sourceforge.net

Sorry for the unstructured rambeling, not with it today.

04-01-2008, 09:32 AM	#7 (permalink)
matt_heys Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 1 OS: XPSP3, Ubuntu 8.04	Re: Maxtor Shared Storage II blinking Orange. Not booting up I've had exactly the same issue; one green blink followed by four orange blinks and am in the middle of fixing it myself. As I see it there are generally two options for this. 1) RMA the device, get a replacement and loose your data. (Not an option for me.) 2) Void your warranty crack the device open and take out the disk. (My option) Note this WILL VOID YOUR WARRENTY, especially as you have to take a screw out that is behind a warranty seal. Crack the device open, I had to literally crack it open and break some of the plastic casing, you might have more patience and get in to the case without breaking it. Once the plastic is off you can undo the metal casing and take out the SATA drive. Connect the SATA drive to your PC, either via eSATA, internal SATA or USB->SATA adapter, I chose the later as it is an easy option. I notice you have a Mac so I don't know how you will get the next steps done, you will have to improvise a little for your situation. Because the MSS is a minimal Linux build the drives are actually EXT3, not FAT like was previously mentioned. You will need to either access these direct from Linux (Ubuntu boot CD would be good.) or download some EXT2/3 FSD's for Windows. I am no expert on Mac's but understand they are based on BSD? so you might be able to read the EXT3 straight off, I don't know. I chose to use the Ext2FSD driver and util to access these on my Windows box as it has more space to copy the contents off. You will notice there are 5 partitions 3 small EXT3's a Swap and then a large EXT3, your data will be on the large ~296GB EXT3 partition. That’s it, recover your data somewhere else and swear at Seagate for a pants product, I had a Maxtor MSS when it was still Maxtor and it has been running great. EXT2FSD http://ext2fsd.sourceforge.net Sorry for the unstructured rambeling, not with it today.