Central Axis LED light codes

Detailed information and troubleshooting for when the Maxtor Central Axis' LEDs are flashing.

This article will discuss a few preliminaries before going into troubleshooting the 1-Disk and 2-Disk units.
 

The LED lighting panel on the front of the unit is the same on both 1-disk and 2-disk units. The table below will help you interpret the LED Status Lights.

LED Status Lights
Left-side lightCentral lightRight-side light
This is the power LED.This is the hard disk activity light.This is the status light. This is the focus of the troubleshooting sections below.
When the unit is powered on, this light is illuminated.This light only illuminates when the hard disk is transferring data to and from the unit.This light flashes an alternating white/red error code when a problem is detected.



Rear Ethernet Status Lights:

The ethernet connector on the rear of the unit has 2 Status lights.

  1. The green 10/100 network activity indicator.  It flashes constantly when the network and power cables are connected to the unit.
  2. The amber GigE light.  It flashes at the same rate as the green light when the unit powers off.

Upon power-up, the green activity light will blink at the same rate as it blinks while in the powered-down state. 
The amber GigE light will illuminate solid when a 10/100/1000 connection is established. If you are connected to a 10/100 network, the amber GigE light does not illuminate.

Operating system:

Each drive contains 2 copies of the operating system (boot partition) on separate partitions. This means that, if you have a 1-disk unit with a corrupted first partition, the unit will automatically boot from the second partition.
Please note that performing a manual install of the Central Axis system software will rewrite the boot partitions on the drives, without erasing any of the data.

In this table, click on the type of unit to see troubleshooting steps (if available) for the light sequence you see.
Operating System
Flashing LED light sequenceError / meaning1-Disk Unit2-Disk Unit
1 White / 1 RedFailure to mirror shared data or folder Click here
1 White / 2 RedHard disk S.M.A.R.T errorClick hereClick here
1 White / 3 RedBoot error: Booting from drive 1Click hereClick here
1 White / 4 RedFailure to mount shared folder partitionClick here 
2 White / 2 RedHard disk S.M.A.R.T error drive 2 Click here
2 White / 3 RedBoot Error: Unable to boot from drive 2 Click here


 

1-Disk Unit:  

  • Problem:  When the Status indicator lights are normal and the unit cannot be seen on the network or detected by Maxtor Manager.
    1. Restart the unit.
    2. If it still is not detected by the Maxtor Manager, perform a factory reset. (Factory reset does not erase the data on the drive.  It merely resets the network configuration and administration pages back to factory defaults.) 
    3. Run a diagnostic test from administration pages

    Did diagnostic return OK status? Yes:  No problem found.
    Did diagnostic return OK status? No:  Backup your data if you can, and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page
     
  • Problem:  Status indicator flashes a 1 White / 2 Red sequence.
    This indicates a S.M.A.R.T error. 
    One of the drives must be replaced. Back up your data and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page.
     
  • Problem:  Status indicator flashes 1 White / 3 Red sequence. 
    This indicates a failure to boot from partition 1.
    If the drive can still be accessed from the administration pages,
    1. Go to the system update page.
    2. Perform a manual install of the Central Axis system software. This procedure re-writes the boot partitions on the drives, without erasing any of the data on the drives. 
    3. Run a diagnostic test from administration pages.

    Did diagnostic return OK status? Yes:  No problem found.
    Did the diagnostic return ok status? No: Back up your data if you can, and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page
     
  • Problem:  Status indicator flashes 1 White / 4 Red sequence.
    This indicates a failure to mount a shared folder or partition.
    If the drive can still be accessed from the administration pages,
    1. Go to the system update page.
    2. Perform a manual install of the Central Axis system software.
    3. Run a diagnostic test from administration pages.

    Did diagnostic return OK status? Yes:  No problem found.
    Did the diagnostic return ok status? No: Back up your data if you can, and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page


2-Disk Unit:

  • Problem:  When the Status indicator lights are normal and the unit cannot be seen on the network or detected by the Maxtor Manager.
    1. Restart the unit.
    2. If it still is not detected by the Maxtor Manager, perform a factory reset. (Factory reset does not erase the data on the drive.  It merely resets the network configuration and administration pages back to factory defaults.) 
    3. Run a diagnostic test from administration pages.

    Did diagnostic return OK status? Yes:  No problem found.
    Did diagnostic return OK status? No:  Back up your data if you can, and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page
     
  • Problem: Status indicator flashes 1 White / 1 Red.
    This indicates a failure to mirror shared data.
    1. Re-sync the mirror from the administration pages.
    2. Run a diagnostic test from administration pages?

    Did diagnostic return OK status? Yes:  No problem found.
    Did diagnostic return OK status? No:  Back up your data if you can, and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page.
     
  • Problem: Status indicator flashes a 1 White / 2 Red, or 2 White / 2 Red sequence.
    This indicates a S.M.A.R.T error.  One of the drives must be replaced.
    Backup your data if you can, and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page.
     
  • Problem: Status indicator flashes 1 White / 3 Red, or 2 White / 3 Red sequence. 
    This indicates an error booting from the drive.
    If the drive can still be accessed from the administration pages,
    1. Go to the system update page.
    2. Perform a manual install of the Central Axis system software. This procedure re-writes the boot partitions on the drives, without erasing any of the data on the drives. 
    3. Run a diagnostic test from administration pages.

    Did diagnostic return OK status? Yes:  No problem found.
    Did the diagnostic return OK status? NO: Backup your data if you can, and replace the defective drive.  You may begin the replacement process at our Warranty Services Page

     
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