Cannot Access Synology NAS from computer anymore

Plex Media Server
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1

Server Version#: not sure as cannot access.
Player Version#: Version 4.63.0

Can you help me to re-access my NAS Synology server?
Panicked a bit a couple of weeks+ ago when I got a message saying that someone in the US was trying to hack my Plex account.
Changed passwords, of course, but then found a website saying something like: “you must do the following to secure your Synology service and Plex”.
I remember it involved turning off Quick Connect and about 5 or 6 other things including changed the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:5000 to any other gateway number.
Improving my security seems to have been very effective as even I can’t access it now! I have not been able to go into DSM to check packages, upload new files and so on. But apart from that Plex is working absolutely fine!

Maybe it needs a reset of some sort, but I am worried about losing all the data I have uploaded to the NAS. Is there anyway of accessing without doing this? What is best option? Are these accounts vulnerable to external hacking?

(PS I had a Western Digital MyBook Live prior to this and it held different data and was still connected to Internet. I cannot access anything on that now and believe I have lost all my data! There was an email from WD saying that there was some global attack to wipe these HDDs clean.)

2

Tough situation here.

First the WD Book thing - yes there was an attack on these. It’s possible yours was wiped. Verify by connecting to a different computer if possible and see what’s on there. But regardless, if you need help with that you’d have to contact WD support.

As for the NAS - Do you remember what you changed the :5000 port number to? Obviously you’d then use http://ip-address-here:port-number-you-set

If that’s not working, if you’re lucky you may have SSH running which could be a way in. I’m assuming you’re on Windows, if that’s the case try downloading a program called PuTTY (it’s a SSH client program, just Google it) - you can just copy it straight to the desktop, run it, enter the IP of the NAS and see if you can connect / log in with username/password. If you can’t SSH in, then yes sadly you’ll be looking at a total reset which will destroy all data you have.

If you can try the things I mentioned above and report back, I’ll see if I can come up with some other things to try and help with.

3

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me.
The WD was on a different network and I don’t recall the settings. Tried various options to get into it but I do not recall the settings and at the moment all my guesses at the network settings have failed. Lots on the web about it but I don’t think there’s much I can do.
The WD was in the UK and I am in France. I have had it posted out to me after the WD emails but so far cannot get it to reveal its files! If any.
Regarding the Synology NAS in France for Plex, I did remember the Port address but that has not got me in.
By the way I am 100% Mac but my wife if coming over from UK soon and bring an ACEPC with her to give me other options to access WD.
My main concern is the Synology because I am getting “app out of date” messages but cannot get in.
Any Mac solutions?
Is there a soft reboot to save the files but go back to default IP settings?

Thanks. Stephen

4

I can’t help with the WD - never used one plus this is a Plex forum :wink: Hopefully when you get your hands on it you’ll find all is well. Or at least WD can help you with it.

Being on a Mac is fine. You should be able to open Terminal on the Mac and simply type:

ssh ip-address-of-nas

HOPEFULLY you’ll be prompted to accept a fingerprint (you want to) then enter your name and password. If that works and you’re at a prompt with the name of the NAS, that might give us some room to correct a few things. If you just get “connection refused” or similar… well you can guess what’s coming after that.

I’m not aware of any “soft reset” options - for most things Synology tend to err on the side of security so a reset is a 100% reset. Even if you pulled the hard drives out, inserted a new drive, reinstalled DSM and got it working, then put your other drives back in, it’ll refuse to use them until you initialize the drives, which of course wipes them.

I’ll do some research but I just have a gut feeling that unless we can at least SSH in, the nuclear option may be the only option.

The “app out of date” message - just to clarify, that’s within Plex, yes?
Also to confirm, you did disable QuickConnect? Do you have Synology’s DDNS set up too, by any chance?

5

I just found this - it does the kind of reset you want (I always believed it trashed the data, which is why I didn’t suggest it). You’ll need to figure out what IP it got from your DHCP server…

Mode 1: Reset administrator login credentials and network settings4

  1. Locate the RESET button on your Synology NAS.5
  2. Use a paper clip to gently press and hold down the RESET button for about 4 seconds until you hear a beep, and then release the button immediately.
  3. Launch Web Assistant . Double-click on your Synology NAS. On the login page, enter the system default username admin , leave the password field blank, and click Sign In .
  4. Create a strong password and click Submit .
  5. Sign in to DSM with the username admin and the password that you have just created.6
  6. Go to Control Panel > User > the User tab and double-click on the administrator account you want to use.
  7. In the pop-up window, go to the Info tab and reset your password. Click OK .
  8. Disable the admin account by first signing in with your administrator account, and then going to Control Panel > User > the User tab. Double click on admin and tick the Disable this account checkbox. Click OK .
  9. The admin account status should now be Disabled .
6

Hi again,
Many thanks for the last info.
I am getting “connection refused” from Terminal on my Mac.
May I let you know how I get on with the reset of the NAS? Cannot do it now.
I actually have all my files backed up (audio/films/tv shows) but the real pain would be the metadata which took me ages to get right.
I do get a bit cynical about all this because the advice is always back up but then back ups need to be secured too and so ad infinitum! Maybe everything is best hosted out in the big cloud! Not my worry then but no control.

Thanks again.

7

Yeah sure thing.
I did think the SSH would be disabled - it is by default - but it was worth a shot.

When you are ready to install Plex, use the version available from here:-
https://forums.plex.tv/t/dsm-7-packaging-2-0-forum-preview/732838/2

…the reason is that when Plex installs now, it creates a shared folder for all the Plex goodness to go into and it also means you can use HyperBackup to get a good, solid backup of the library info and metadata.

Let me know how it goes :slight_smile: