XPEnology : DS disappears - "Recoverable" loop fix

Xpenology/ Synology : 

DS disappears - "Recoverable" loop fix

I had a problem where my baremetal (6.1.3-8) became undiscoverable on the network following a reboot and would not pick up an ip address (according to the router).  Putting in a newly created bootloader USB made the device discoverable through Synology Assistant and find.synology.com, but was listed as "recoverable".  Clicking "recover" (the only option) started an immediate reboot which caused the diskstation to become undiscoverable again.  

 

Symptoms:

1.  Diskstation disappears from network and is undiscoverable (no IP address) - possibly associated with an update.  

2.  New USB bootloader makes DS reappear but is marked as "RECOVERABLE"

3.  Hitting recover causes an immediate reboot where DS returns to symptom #1 (disappears from the network)

4.  Going to an older bootloader version shows the DS as "migratable" but refuses to install the associated .PAT due to the older version

5.  Going to a newer bootloader version shows as "recoverable", returns to symptom #1

Causes

- Not sure but likely a corrupted or mismatch in the DSM software on the volume.

Fix (following the synology data migrate process for 5.x)

1.  Remove ALL HDDs associated with the DS

2.  Prepare new USB bootloader using the established processes.  Must be the same version of your old volumes or later

3.  Plug in blank temporary HDD by itself (I used an 80GB laptop HDD so anything will do)

4.  Go through normal installation process.  Setup as per old DSM settings (can use config backup files).  Test with a restart or two

5.  Shutdown DS, unplug temp HDD, reconnect HDDs

6.  Power-on.  Find using find.synology.com or Synology Assistant.  Should be shown as "Migratable"

7.  Chose "Fresh Install, Keep my data".  Go through normal process.

8.  Setup however you like.  Success!!

 

I'm not advanced enough of a user to know if there are other methods of repairing this problem; this is the one that worked for me.