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[redfive]

I have a 1.5TB Seagate drive currently in Bay 1.  It's almost full so I've purchased a WD Caviar 2TB drive.  When I insert it I get the message that my other data won't be harmed and to go on so I do.  Then the next screen offers to format which I agree to.

The problem is here because the progress bar never moves from 0%.  If I click Skip and restart my NAS then it goes right back to the screen saying that I've inserted another drive and to format.

If I take my existing drive out and just put the new drive in then the progress bar starts moving and it appears okay but I cancelled it before it started as I just wanted to see if it would perform differently.

Two questions from this.  If I format the drive separate and then stick them both in I'll most likely be presented with the format the data filled drive correct?  Which I do not want.  Second question is if the two drives have to be same manufacturer and same size in order for this to work?

[JavaLawyer]

I can partially answer your question:

The two HDDs do not have to be the same capacity or manufacturer. Capacity only comes into play if you are using RAID 1, in which case the raid array will take the size of the smaller of the two HDDs.  From your post it looks like your existing HDD is configured as a Standard Volume. Unfortunately, the DNS-321 establishes a dependency on the slot number the HDD was originally formatted, making it difficult to migrate data if the new HDD won't format in Slot-2.

[redfive]

Thanks for the reply.  I'm just using JBOD so no RAID.  I wasn't aware of the dependency requirement.  I'll test if I swap bays.

[JavaLawyer]

The dependency I was referring to is specifically for Standard Volumes. I'm not sure about JBOD.

[redfive]

Ah thanks.  I double checked and I'm using Standard Volumes.  I'm assuming that's where my problem is because I can't make it JBOD without formatting both disks. 

I'm going to move everything over to an external drive and then format the two disks together as JBOD and then move everything back over again.  Pain in the toush but oh well.

[JavaLawyer]

Nonetheless, this still doesn't explain why you can't format your new HDD in slot 2 with your existing HDD in slot 1. Were you attempting to format the new HDD (in slot 2) as a Standard Volume? or JBOD?

[redfive]

Sorry I didn't see your reply to this.  I was attempting to format it as JBOD.

[dallen]

Just to be clear.  I hope you can respond to this ASAP JavaLawyer, preferably before tomorrow (02/25/2013) around 3:00PM EST because that is when I plan on adding a second drive to my sister's NAS (DNS-321).  Currently she has one drive as a standard volume, but tomorrow I am planning on adding a new drive to the second drive slot which is currently empty.  I am sticking with the standard volume setup (no JBOD or RAID).  My question is should I be able to simply shut down the device, insert the new drive, power the device up, and format the drive as a standard volume without harming the data that is on the existing drive in slot 1?  Any guidance is much appreciated as always.

[JavaLawyer]

Just to be clear.  I hope you can respond to this ASAP JavaLawyer, preferably before tomorrow (02/25/2013) around 3:00PM EST because that is when I plan on adding a second drive to my sister's NAS (DNS-321).  Currently she has one drive as a standard volume, but tomorrow I am planning on adding a new drive to the second drive slot which is currently empty.  I am sticking with the standard volume setup (no JBOD or RAID).  My question is should I be able to simply shut down the device, insert the new drive, power the device up, and format the drive as a standard volume without harming the data that is on the existing drive in slot 1?  Any guidance is much appreciated as always.

My response, with 17 hours to spare. . . .

Does your sister have a backup of her data on another physical device? If the answer is no, then you/she should establish one before performing any physical additions to the DNS-321. That said, if there is a HDD in Slot #1 formatted as a Standard Volume, then you should be able to power down the device, insert a new HDD into slot #2, power-up, and format the second HDD in slot #2 without any impact to her existing data in HDD1.

I choose my words carefully and say "should be able to...", because there are a myriad of things that can potentially go awry and result in data loss. For example, there was a bug reported by a number of DNS-343 owners some time ago claiming that an earlier version of the DNS-343 firmware sometimes caused both HDDs to format when adding one additional HDD. That said, it's always better to be safe that sorry.

I don't have enough history/experience with the DNS-321 to know if this was ever an issue.

[dallen]

JavaLawyer,
Thank you for the quick reply.  I've been reading through the posts of this forum and have seen more than a couple people complaining about the DNS-321 formatting the wrong drive when installing a new drive.  However, it seems that the issue is one of confusing the left drive with the right.  Some said that the drives were labeled left and right looking at the NAS from the rear rather than the front.  I honestly do not know if she has a backup copy.  The data are not critical (mostly replaceable music and movies).  Although, I would have to listen to her complain if the data were lost.  The issue for me is going to be one of time.  I am only going to be in town long enough to install the drive, not to make a backup of her data.

Some suggested pulling the current drive, inserting the new drive, allowing the NAS to format the new drive, then reinserting the existing drive.  The only potential issue with that that was mentioned was that the NAS may decide to label the new drive Volume_1 and presumably name the existing drive Volume_2.  I was thinking about trying this method and if the NAS fails to recognize the existing drive when reinserted, then letting my sister know that I will have to get her data back to her when I have time to hook her existing drive up to my Linux machine and pull the data from it.  What are your thoughts on that?

PS
I did not expect such a quick response.  I'm impressed.

[JavaLawyer]

Powering down the DNS-321, removing HDD #1 and inserting HDD #2 may work. As far as naming is concerned, the HDD slot #1 will always be called "Volume_1" and the HDD ins slot #2 will always be called "Volume_2", regardless of where it was formatted. It doesn't hurt to format HDD #2 independently.

[dallen]

Thanks for that information.  I'll do a little roll of the dice and let you know how it turns out.  It's a little easier living on the edge when it's only your little sister's data.

[JavaLawyer]

No problem.  Keep me posted. If you have a definitive procedure, I can add to the ShareCenter FAQ board.

[dallen]

So here is what I did and what happened.  I shut down the NAS.  I removed the existing drive containing data from it's slot (left slot looking at the front of the unit).  I inserted the new drive in the right slot.  I powered the NAS on.  It recognized the newly inserted drive and asked if I wanted it formatted.  I selected ext3 and standard volume (not RAID or JBOD) and the drive was formatted.  I shut down the NAS.  I inserted the original drive into its original slot (left) and powered on the NAS.

Hear the silent drum roll...

It worked, except that the original drive was seen as Volume_2 and the new drive was seen as Volume_1.  So, I decided to try to swap the slots.  I anticipated that the NAS would not like this and detect two newly inserted drives and want to format them both.  Much to my surprise that did the trick.  The original drive is now Volume_1 and the new drive is Volume_2.  This is important because the fun plug, which is on the original drive, need to be on Volume_1.  Everything now works as it should.

[JavaLawyer]

I'm glad everything worked out. After seeing the length of your post my original thought was "uh oh, something didn't go as planned!" I'm glad everything ended well.