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Why is my Synology NAS beeping?
Coming home to hearing your NAS making an unfamiliar sound is a bit frightening. It’s never a good sign when an electronic device is beeping. It’s important to understand the situation when it ever arises.
So why is your Synology NAS beeping?
Synology NAS devices have built-in error signals that beep when either the storage volume is degraded or malfunctioning. It also informs us when the SSD cache has failed or if the cooling fan is not functioning properly.
There are ways to troubleshoot and solve these issues and that’s what we’ll talk about moving forward.
What does the beep sound like?
It’s a very distinct beep that stretches for about a fraction of a second longer than a typical beep.
I would describe it more like the dash sound (compared to the dot sound) from Morse Code.
There’s a pause of about 2 seconds in between each beep.
It never ends until the problem is solved.
How to diagnose the beeping problem
Synology conveniently monitors itself constantly and if something weird happens, it has relay sensors to actually let users like you and me know what’s wrong.
Diagnosing the issue is incredibly simple. There are 2 official methods.
Method 1: Desktop notifications
- Sign in to your DSM
- Go to Notifications in the top right-hand corner
- Check for any notifications about the failure
Method 2: General settings diagnosis
- Sign in to your DSM
- Go to Control Panel
- Click on Hardware & Power
- Click on General
- Click on Beep Control
- Read over Reason for current beep
What are the possible reasons for the Synology NAS to beep?
Our storage volumes aren’t perfect. They tend to fail especially when there are moving parts.
The standard storage volumes in particular hard drives have a shelf life of between 3 to 5 years depending on how they are maintained.
In most cases, however, if you don’t use your hard drive very much you can have one still working even after 7 years.
The storage pool has degraded
Unfortunately, these are all electronic products and electronic products always tend to degrade in some way or fashion.
Fortunately, your Synology NAS has alert systems that will tell you when this happens. Hence, you get that beeping noise.
Within your DSM, you’ll get the message that the system can no longer access the storage partitions.
When a storage pool is degraded, it’s signaling that there is some broad corruption or defect has occurred within the storage drive.
Luckily for us, Synology has a solution they call the Repair feature which will attempt to repair the degraded storage partitions.
The storage volume has crashed
When you get the error message that your storage volumes have crashed this will likely be due to a number of things.
The standard reason here is that it is caused by a hard drive error or a system file error.
Unfortunately, this is very difficult to repair.
Some scenarios include:
- The system has turned off and can no longer be powered on.
- The data cannot be read from the volume.
- Volume has crashed but the data can still be read.
- The storage volume was disconnected or accidentally removed improperly.
The SSD cache has failed
There is a possibility that the SSD cache can degrade.
Fortunately for Synology users, Synology has something they call an automatic protection mechanism that will activate when it detects any corruption in the SSD cache module.
It will halt all new caching IOs, and instead start saving any new data from the SSDs back into the HDDs.
This safety protocol will likely provide almost no data loss.
The cooling fan is not functioning properly
Unfortunately for most people, no matter how well or how long you properly maintain your Synology NAS, one of the biggest issues with any computing device is the cooling fan.
These things are usually the first to go after years of use.
Synology does offer a warranty service for replacement parts.
However, your device must still be within the warranty.
How do I fix a beeping Synology system?
Below, I’m providing full instructions on how to repair your NAS if any issues from above should happen.
Volume pool degradation fix
- Go to Storage Manager
- Click on Storage Pool
- Select the degraded storage pool
- Here, look for the drive status
- Go to the HDD/SSD section
- Verify which drive is actually defective
- Properly turn off your NAS
- Replace the bad drive on the NAS with a working one
- Turn the NAS back on
- Go back to the Storage Pool section
- Click on Action
- Then click Repair
- Select the new drive
- Follow the wizard’s instructions
Volume crash fix
- When the system doesn’t turn on.
In some cases, if there is a failure in your hard drive, the Synology NAS will not turn on.
Synology has a feature called the S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics tool which monitors the threshold of the drive as it is defined by it’s manufacturer. Sign into your DSM from your computer.
When you’re here, take a look at your Raw Data tab. Make sure that IDs 1, 5, 197, and 198 have a raw data number of zero. If it’s anything else, this could confirm that the volume has failed.
Back up your data immediately, and follow the recommended guide by S.M.A.R.T.
If you simply can’t connect to your Synology NAS device, you’ll have to connect your storage volumes directly with your computer to perform a manual disk repair (refer to your hard drive manufacturer’s instructions for repairing) - Synology can’t read the data.
If your Synology device cannot read the storage devices that it’s connected to, you might want to attempt to manually repair your storage devices according to the manufacturers guidelines.
The program you’ll need to repair your disk drives usually comes with the device you purchased. - The data is readable, but crashes frequently.
If this is the situation you’re experiencing, the safest approach is to start by immediately backing up your data.
Go to the storage manager to remove the storage pool and then perform an Extended Test on the affected drive. If the results show anything but normal, then it’s best to replace your drives.
However, if it is normal, run a memory test. Again, if the memory is not normal, then replace the memory. - The hard drive was accidentally removed.
Put your hard drive back into your Synology NOS as soon as possible. Then go to your Storage Manager, click on storage, and switch the storage pool back to available.
SSD cache fix
In most cases, if you were ever experiencing an issue with the SSD cache, you can simply go into the system tools to unmount, and then mount it back on.
Mounting or unmounting the SSD cache will cause the system to automatically go into suspended mode.
Make sure you enable SSD Estimated Lifespan Notifications which is available on your system’s alert. It monitors the health of your SSDs so that you won’t be caught off guard or surprised when an SSD is near the end of its life.
Cooling fan fix
The first thing you can try here is using an air can spray any dust or particles that may be lingering on the fan module.
It’s important that you keep your Synology device in a cool and dry environment.
However, sometimes these things end up failing and the only way to fix the problem is to replace that part.
You can reach out to Synology’s warranty department by dialing support at 1-425-296-3177. Their website also has a live chat service and the wait time is usually 5 to 10 minutes before you get a hold of someone.
How to force the beeping to turn off
- Sign in to the DSM
- Click on Control Panel
- Go to Hardware & Power
- Then click on General
- Click on Beep Control
- Turn Beep Off
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