[Help] F4-425 crashes every two months, what to do?

[ShoutingMan]

When my NAS crashes and server access is lost over the network, what is the safe way to recover and not risk data loss from a hard reboot?

My F4-425, bought March 2026, crashes about every two months. It cannot be reached by web or SSH. I have to hard reboot it. The first time, in May, it powered up and was normal. It crashed tonight. After hard reboot, it came up and showed a corrupt volume and no data!!! I was able to login by web, did a soft reboot, and it powered up more normally. But I still couldn't SSH in; it said a fingerprint or key was wrong or something. I used ChatGPT to diagnose, deleted former key from my Mac, and restablished connection. That restored apps running and my ability to connect to the NAS by file server and SSH.

Is this normal, are TerraMaster NAS's supposed to crash every couple months? Do I need to set it somehow to reboot every week or something to continue working right?

When it does crash, what is the safe way to recover? This is my data. If this goes down, there are terabytes of data lost forever. Do I need to press for a replacement NAS, since this one seems to have recurring problems?

I thought these were appliances, but now I'm spooked and wondering if I need to throw this away and buy a different brand NAS and a bunch of new harddrives and start again before TerraMaster really truly crashes hard enough to destroy all my data.

Thanks for any help!

[TMzethar]

If the issue were caused by a hardware failure, it would not typically result in regular freezes every two months; therefore, it is more likely to be a software-related problem.
We recommend checking for any scheduled tasks or service processes that are continuously increasing memory usage.
We suggest enabling Debug Mode so that the system can log the moment the crash occurs when the issue reoccurs.
When a crash occurs, you can also access the terminal via an HDMI monitor and a USB keyboard to view the last output displayed on the screen.

[ShoutingMan]

If the issue were caused by a hardware failure, it would not typically result in regular freezes every two months; therefore, it is more likely to be a software-related problem.
We recommend checking for any scheduled tasks or service processes that are continuously increasing memory usage.
We suggest enabling Debug Mode so that the system can log the moment the crash occurs when the issue reoccurs.
When a crash occurs, you can also access the terminal via an HDMI monitor and a USB keyboard to view the last output displayed on the screen.

How do I restart the server from the Terminal? Or do a safe reboot from the Terminal?

How do I check for runaway processes or memory leaks?

How do I enable Debug Mode? The search function in TOS7 doesn't find "debug".

The NAS has very low utilization. It runs Emby, which is only used every week or two. It's the hourly Time Machine backup destination for two Macs. That's it.

[TMzethar]

We recommend that you enable the SSH service in advance so that you can attempt to connect to the terminal via SSH should this issue arise again in the future. That way, when necessary or upon your request, we can arrange for an engineer to remotely troubleshoot the issue for you.

If you can successfully log in to the terminal via HDMI or SSH, you can try these general commands to check process usage:

Code: Select all

ps -ef
pidstat 10
pidstat -d 10

Regarding Debug Mode, it can be found under TOS > Support and Help > Debug Mode

[ShoutingMan]

We recommend that you enable the SSH service in advance so that you can attempt to connect to the terminal via SSH should this issue arise again in the future. That way, when necessary or upon your request, we can arrange for an engineer to remotely troubleshoot the issue for you.

If you can successfully log in to the terminal via HDMI or SSH, you can try these general commands to check process usage:

Code: Select all

ps -ef
pidstat 10
pidstat -d 10

Regarding Debug Mode, it can be found under TOS > Support and Help > Debug Mode

Thanks. I've added those to my Notes for easy reference next time I need them.

[ShoutingMan]

The -425 has completed its re-synch, and my Time Machine backup has completed its check and backup (first since the crash). I did another controlled reboot of the NAS, as the UI wasn't working quite right from the 100% CPU use, and the UI is now normal / responsive again. The second Mac mini is now running its first TimeMachine backup since this recovery, and that appears to be operating normally.

I've enabled Debug Mode with a 15 day limit, if/when my NAS crashes again.

And now I know to connect a Keyboard and Monitor directly to the NAS after the next crash to (presumably) execute a soft reboot and not risk another data crisis.

So far, fortunately, after about 18 hours of near panic and then frustrating / confusing recovery, I seem to be back to normal.

[EriChan]

Thank you for the update.If the issue occurs again or if you need any further assistance, please feel free to reach out to us anytime. We are always here to help!