Remote SSH Shutdown bricked my PR4100

If running a **remote SSH shutdown command bricked your WD My Cloud PR4100**, here’s what likely happened — and what you can do to fix or recover the device.

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### 🔍 What Might Have Happened?

Using SSH to shut down (`shutdown -h now` or `poweroff`) can sometimes **cause system corruption** or prevent the device from properly restarting, especially if:

* The command interrupted a **firmware or OS process**.

* You shut it down while services (like RAID sync or backups) were running.

* The **bootloader (uBoot)** or the **OS partition** was affected.

* Drives were not unmounted cleanly, causing a **RAID volume mount failure** on reboot.

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## 🧰 STEP-BY-STEP RECOVERY PLAN

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### ✅ Step 1: **Check If Device Powers On**

* Do you see **LED lights blinking or solid**?

* **Blue/Purple/Red LEDs** can indicate drive, OS, or file system issues.

* Does the **fan spin** or **LCD screen display anything**?

* If it stays black and no network activity occurs, it's likely not booting.

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### ✅ Step 2: **Try a 40-Second Reset**

This is a non-destructive method to reset network and admin login settings.

1. Power **off** the PR4100.

2. Hold the **Reset button** on the back with a paperclip.

3. **Power on** the device **while still holding** the button for **40 seconds**.

4. Release the reset button.

This **does not delete your data**, but resets:

* Admin password

* Network configuration

* WD Cloud app settings

Then try accessing the dashboard again at `http://<MyCloudIP>` or via `http://wdmycloudpr4100.local`.

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### ✅ Step 3: **Try Booting Without Drives (Data-Safe Test)**

This checks if the NAS hardware/OS is dead or if it's a drive-related issue.

1. **Power down** the PR4100.

2. Remove **all drives** (label the order!).

3. Power on **without drives**:

* If the system boots to a recovery message on LCD (e.g., “Insert drives”), the **OS on the device is intact**.

* If no response or LED stays off or red — the **OS is likely corrupted**.

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### ✅ Step 4: **OS Recovery via USB (if possible)**

WD PR4100 supports **USB recovery**, but WD **does not officially provide the OS image**. However, users have managed to recover using **community firmware images** (like [Fox\_exe’s WD recovery files](https://fox-exe.ru/WD/MyCloud/PR4100/)).

> ⚠️ This is advanced and unofficial. Do this only if you're comfortable with firmware flashing.

> It **does not delete data**, but mishandling might.

**General Recovery Steps:**

1. Download `recovery` or `debrick` image for PR4100.

2. Extract to a FAT32-formatted USB.

3. Insert USB into the NAS and **boot while holding reset for 40+ seconds**.

4. Follow LCD instructions or access a web-based recovery tool.

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### ✅ Step 5: **Access Data Using Linux (If OS Is Dead but Drives Are Healthy)**

If the NAS won’t boot but you **need urgent access to your data**, do this:

1. Connect the drives to a **Linux PC** using SATA/USB adapters (RAID order matters!).

2. Use `mdadm` to detect the RAID array:

```bash

sudo mdadm --assemble --scan

```

3. Mount the array to access data:

```bash

sudo mkdir /mnt/pr4100

sudo mount /dev/md0 /mnt/pr4100

```

4. Backup important data externally.

> If you're not comfortable with Linux, a tool like **UFS Explorer** on Windows can also mount RAID volumes safely (paid but reliable).

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## 🧨 If All Else Fails

### 💬 Contact WD Support

* They can guide you through **official RMA or OS recovery options**.

* Some regions may still support **reflashing PR4100 OS** via RMA.

### ⚠️ Important:

* Avoid using `shutdown` or `poweroff` via SSH in the future.

* Always use the **WD Dashboard** to power down safely.

* Backup configuration settings after recovery.

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Would you like help identifying the right recovery files or walkthrough steps based on your firmware version or the LED behavior? Let me know what you're seeing on your PR4100 right now (lights, fan, display), and I can guide you accordingly.