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[anonmars]

Hello,

I've been having some strange issues with my DNS323 with 2 Seagate barracuda 7200 rpm 1 TB drives. I'm using RAID 1.

I was running firmware 1.04 and it displayed the amber light for drive in slot 2, however, both drives still appeared to be fine and mirroring was working.

So I upgraded to 1.07 hoping the light was just confused and now both drives have blue lights. I upgraded from 1.04 to 05, then 06, then 07.

However, the RAID status (via the web interface) says degraded and when I look at the files on the drive in slot 2 it doesn't appear to have a copy of the latest files, yet both drives can be access individually. When both drives are in the NAS they both have solid blue lights.

I don't have enough room anywhere else to backup this data but I'd like to get RAID working again.

Should I do the manual rebuild? How will it know which drive to "rebuild" from (ie how do I know I won't lose my latest files)? Or should I go setup RAID 1 again? Will it format both drives? Will I be able to specify that it should format drive 2 and sync drive 1's data?

I'm nervous to do anything because I don't want to lose any of my data.

Suggestions?

Thanks.

[D-Link Multimedia]

Well its really hard to say, it seems to have bugged out somehow. You run the risk of syncing old data if you click the manual rebuild. Have you tried resetting the unit to defaults since upgrading the firmware? Does it stay degraded?

[lizzi555]

This worked in my case.
Take the drive out of Slot 2 and connect it to your computer.
Delete all partitions on that drive.

Restart the DNS with on drive only and then shut it down.
Put the drive back and start the NAS.

In my case it recognized the empty drive, formatted it and synchronized again.

[fordem]

Maybe I'm not understanding you - but - there are several things that don't quite add up.

You say you have a RAID1 configuration, but then you go on to speak about "looking at the drive in slot 2" - how are you looking at the drive?  Are you physically removing it and connecting it to another system or are you doing it with the drive connected to the DNS-323?  You also speak of being able to access both drives individually.

With a RAID1 configuration you should NOT be able to access both drives individually - there should be a single logical drive called Volume_1 - so either you're confused and you had a RAID + JBOD configuration, in which case you would have two logical drives - Volume_1 & Volume_2 - and the data on Volume_1 would not be seen on Volume_2 at any time (unless you manually copied it over) - or - something has gone seriously awry with your DNS-323 and it is showing you the two physical disks that form the RAID array as individual volumes, but still reporting a degraded status.

Setting up RAID1 again WILL format both disks and wipe your data in the process, so that is not an option - when you do a manual rebuild you will not be given the chance to choose which drive will be the source - unless you force it using the process that lizzi555 has outlined - and you have no guarantee that the drive you think should be source is the one the DNS-323 thinks should be source - especially give what I would consider a confused configuration.

What lizzi555 has suggested might work - but only if the unit is infact in a RAID1 configuration, but, if it was then you would not be able to access the drives individually as you seem to be doing now.

You could pull the drives and inspect them one at a time on another computer, decide which one you want to be the source and then wipe the partitions from the second one, put them back in the DNS-323, rebuild and hope for the best - or - and this is one I have not tried - sync them externally using a drive imaging program and then put them back and see how the DNS-323 reacts.

All-in-all - I would say there is only one safe way forward, and that is to backup the data, reformat, and restore - and yes, I did read the part where you said you don't have the room to do it - well, how much is the data worth to you?

[anonmars]

Thanks for the replies!

Will reseting the system to the defaults still keep the fact that I had RAID 1 setup?

I don't have another system to hook the drives into.

When I was using 1.04 I was able to see them both on the DNS 323, one was listed as Volume_1 and the other was Volume_1_1. Now that' I've upgraded to 07 I can only see a Volume_1.

To access them individually I manually pop out one of the drives and turn on the device. If I have drive 1 in, I can see my most recent data. If I have drive 2 in I only see old data.

I guess I'll look into finding somewhere to backup the data and then manually rebuild the whole system.

[D-Link Multimedia]

When I was using 1.04 I was able to see them both on the DNS 323, one was listed as Volume_1 and the other was Volume_1_1. Now that' I've upgraded to 07 I can only see a Volume_1.

To access them individually I manually pop out one of the drives and turn on the device. If I have drive 1 in, I can see my most recent data. If I have drive 2 in I only see old data.

Ok first off, if you see a Volume_1_1, that is a share that was added, not a Raid. That Volume_1_1 is actually going to the SAME drive as Volume_1. If you were in fact accessing 2 drives it would be Volume_1 and Volume_2.

If you reset your unit to defaults it only wipes the flash settings. Raid settings are stored on the hard drives. I suggest placing the drives back in the device and hitting the reset button to remove any share issues.

[fordem]

Thanks for the replies!

Will reseting the system to the defaults still keep the fact that I had RAID 1 setup?

I don't have another system to hook the drives into.

When I was using 1.04 I was able to see them both on the DNS 323, one was listed as Volume_1 and the other was Volume_1_1. Now that' I've upgraded to 07 I can only see a Volume_1.

To access them individually I manually pop out one of the drives and turn on the device. If I have drive 1 in, I can see my most recent data. If I have drive 2 in I only see old data.

I guess I'll look into finding somewhere to backup the data and then manually rebuild the whole system.

You don't have another system to hook the drives to?  Ahh - don't you HAVE to have another system to access the DNS-323?  It's a NAS with no display console.

Maybe you have a laptop that you cannot attach an internal drive to or your desktop does not support SATA - both of those limitations can be circumvented by purchasing a USB/SATA interface cable - google SABRENT USB SATA and you should find something, I've been buying them for $19 plus tax - there are probably other brands besides Sabrent, that just happens to be the one I've been buying.

Also swapping drives in and out of your DNS-323 is really not a good idea - removing the drive and the leaving the unit powered off is usually quite safe, you can put the drive back and power the unit up and it never knows the drive was removed (even so I would suggest you not write data to the disk outside of the unit), but running the unit as you say you have been doing, with one drive at a time will get you into trouble as the unit detects either one or the other drive as missing and potentially failed.

After backing up your data - try wiping the partitions off of drive 2, reinstalling it and doing a rebuild - you could get lucky.

[anonmars]

Ok first off, if you see a Volume_1_1, that is a share that was added, not a Raid. That Volume_1_1 is actually going to the SAME drive as Volume_1. If you were in fact accessing 2 drives it would be Volume_1 and Volume_2.

If you reset your unit to defaults it only wipes the flash settings. Raid settings are stored on the hard drives. I suggest placing the drives back in the device and hitting the reset button to remove any share issues.

I've done the reset but it didn't fix it. Still in the same situation. Any other ideas? Or will I either need to blow 1 or both drives away and rebuild the whole thing?

[D-Link Multimedia]

Well to return to normal Raid 1 operation, if you already have all of the OLD data from the second drive on the first drive and the new data as well, you may as well blow out the partitions on the second harddrive, reinsert first drive, make sure its working, then power off, put in cleared drive, and rebuild the raid.

[anonmars]

Well to return to normal Raid 1 operation, if you already have all of the OLD data from the second drive on the first drive and the new data as well, you may as well blow out the partitions on the second harddrive, reinsert first drive, make sure its working, then power off, put in cleared drive, and rebuild the raid.

I don't suppose there is any way to do that from the NAS?  I only have a macbook so I can't plugin the drive (without buying some more stuff)...