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[petehiggins]

My DLink DNS-320 won't power on. Power supply output measures 12.33VDC, pressing the front panel button has no effect so it must be the NSA box. This unit was received on 8 June 2011 so it is only two months old. Case# C05044146

I have all my data on two DNS-320 approved Seagate ST31500341AS hard drives configured RAID 1. Donna @ DLink tech support (877) 453-5465 says there is no way to recover the data. A standard computer (even with LINUX installed) can't read it and a replacement DNS-320 will require that both drives be reformatted.

Does anybody know how to recover this data?

[albert]

I failed to see why a replacement unit will require both drives to be reformatted again, if it's really the case then this NAS is damn useless IMO.

Unless the RAID format used by DNS-320 is proprietary using program such as DiskInternals Linux Reader on Windows should work.

[petehiggins]

Albert,

Thanks for the reply. I couldn't believe it either but that is what Donna said. She even had me on hold for a long time while she confirmed it with her suprisivor. I have Linux (Ubuntu 11.04) and can't mount the RAID partitions on the drives removed from the DNS-320. Message says "insufficient information to mount RAID partition" or something like that. I'll look for DiskInternals Linux Reader and see if that will work for me.

Thanks for the information.

Pete

[ivan]

Pete,

There should be no need to mount both drives to recover your information if it is RAID1 - both disks should be identical.

Usual recovery procedure is to either, use a SATA/USB caddy and install one drive then copy the data to an other drive for safe keeping, or if you have space and a spare SATA port in the computer use that.  The disk format is ext3, so if you are using windows you need an IFS - with Linux you should be able to read it without problems.

Diskinternals Linux Reader is a windows program which should allow reading the disk on a windows machine.

I know the above works because we tested it as part of the normal 'check the recovery procedures' that we do every three months.

As to what D-Link support says?  We even tried that by swapping sets of drives between two DNS-320s and that too worked.

[petehiggins]

Ivan,

Thanks for the reply.

I have removable hard drive caddies and UBUNTU installed on three different computers so it is easy for me to power up and look at the drives. Both drives appear to be undamaged, partitioned and formatted identically.

HDD_L
sdb1 linux-swap 517.69 MiB
sdb4 ext3 500.04 MiB Used 31.81 MiB unused 469.23 MiB
sdb2 ext3 1.36 TiB used 849.61 GiB unused 544.58 GiB

HDD_R
sdc1 linux-swap 517.69 MiB
sdc4 ext3 500.04 MiB Used 31.02 MiB unused 469.02 MiB
sdc2 ext3 1.36 TiB used 791.82 GiB unused 602.36 GiB

sdb4 & sdc4 are mountable and contain folders for ajaxplorer, ftp and AppleDB etc. When I try to mount sdb2 or sdc2 under Ubuntu I get the following message “Not running, not enough components to start”.

Donna said she would send me an email telling me what I should do with my DNS-320 (no pun intended). I haven't received the email yet, but I am hoping you are right so that if they repair mine or I get a new unit I can install my drives and access my data. My concern is that Donna insisted that the new unit will re-format the drives before it will work.

Thanks, Pete

[Doctor Doom]

It is hard to say if the partition information is corrupt or not although if it is only the unit that failed, the data on the drives are still intact. Think of the failure as a permanent power failure. My advice is setup the RMA with D-Link, do not fool around with the drives wait for the replacement to arrive and then put the drives in and start up.

Assuming it was just the unit, you should see the volume back online as usual.

 

[ivan]

Pete,

The only reason that the replacement DNS-320 would reformat the disks is if the file system is corrupt, which may unfortunately be the case.

At this stage I would advise you to get a replacement and an extra drive of the same capacity as the two you have.  The idea being that that you use one old and the new drive in the new unit.  If there is no corruption of the old drive the unit will detect a degraded RAID1 and then you have the option to rebuild it.  If the new unit wants to format both drives then you know there is a problem with the file system, in which case you still have one drive to work on to try and recover your files using normal data recovery tools.

[petehiggins]

At 11:33AM UPS dropped off the replacement DNS-320 S/N PVPO1B7001062, MAC ID 84C9B272045A THE D-Link RMA Department sent me yesterday.  When I un-boxed and tried to power on the new DNS-320 it wouldn't turn on. This is the same problem I started having with my original DNS-320.

I tried the new one on the kitchen counter before installing my hard drives.
Line voltage measures 121.6 VAC. The new power supply output measures 12.24 VDC when plugged in to the mains, my original measures 12.33VDC. Thinking it might require a hard drive installed to turn on I installed one new 1.5 TB drive into slot HDD L and replaced the cover. I have tried just tapping the front power button and holding it down for ~30 sec.

With two of them acting the same way, could I be missing something? I didn't have any problem with my original DNS-320. I just unpacked it, put in two hard drives, plugged in the network cable and power supply and it turned on and ran for two months.

DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT COULD BE GOING ON?

[JavaLawyer]

A recurrence of power issue seems highly unlikely, sounds more like something environmental rather than the DNS-320. This may seem like an oddball question, but are you sure the new DNS-320 is not the same unit you returned (i.e. different S/N)? The odds of the same power issue twice are unbelievably low.

I'm sure you did this, but I need to ask. . . did you try different outlets in your home?

[Jack Ryan]

I apologise in advance for asking a really silly question but do you press and hold the power button?
Mine won't power on if I just "click" the button.
Jack

[JavaLawyer]

On the DNS-343, a similar NAS, I have to press and hold the start button for a fraction of a second to start up the device.

[petehiggins]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback. I also know the odds of two with the same symptoms are pretty long.

When I received the new one this afternoon, I unpacked it on the kitchen counter and tried to fire it up. It was plugged into an AC outlet in the kitchen. I purposely didn't unpack in the office so as to not mix any of the new & old system parts. I still have my original DNS-320 in my office.

I am a recently retired engineer who designed heavily network dependent Ground Stations that controlled UAV's like the Global Hawk, so as soon as it didn't turn on I measured the AC line voltage and the "brick" DC output.  As with my other unit both were good.

I also tried installing a new hard drive, just tapping the power S/W, holding it down for about 2 seconds and even holding it in for 30 seconds. Nothing I did allowed the unit to turn on.

Like anybody, I'm not immune to missing the obvious but if I am I'm sure not seeing it.

[JohnSmith]

Are all the hard drives that you tried Seagate drives?  Do you have any other brands to try?  Did you try installing the one 1.5 TB drive into HDD R instead of HDD L?  I thought I remember reading somewhere that if using only one drive, you have to install it in a certain side... can't remember which one.

Silly question, but I have to ask - are you making sure the drives are firmly seated all the way down in the unit and orientated properly?  When I first installed the drives I had to remove them to double check that they were seated down onto the connectors properly.  I'm sure you've got them in right though since you're an engy, but if all else fails, check the obvious I always say.

[JavaLawyer]

Are all the hard drives that you tried Seagate drives?  Do you have any other brands to try?  Did you try installing the one 1.5 TB drive into HDD R instead of HDD L?  I thought I remember reading somewhere that if using only one drive, you have to install it in a certain side... can't remember which one.

The drive type is irrelevant here since the DNS-320 should exhibit signs of life when powered up even with no HDDs installed.

[JavaLawyer]

...as soon as it didn't turn on I measured the AC line voltage and the "brick" DC output.  As with my other unit both were good.

I also tried installing a new hard drive, just tapping the power S/W, holding it down for about 2 seconds and even holding it in for 30 seconds. Nothing I did allowed the unit to turn on.

Did you call D-Link technical support and ask them to walk you through the start-up process and validate the DCS-320 is non-functional? If the DCS-320 is DOA, they should issue you another unit.