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[nonlinear]

Hello,

Yesterday when I logged into the DNS-323 to shut down the unit, I observed a message

The replacement hard drive does not have enough capacity to support the RAID 1 volume. Please insert a hard drive with more capacity."

I immediately shut down the machine.  Googling this error, it appears as though one of the HDDs has failed.  I turned on the machine briefly again to see if any of the lights on front were different color, and they were all shining blue.  When I logged in, however, it immediately went to the page which is shown in the screenshot below.

This is the first time this has happened to me and I'm not sure what the next steps are.  I am not even sure which disk is the damaged one.  Can anyone point me towards a guide that can walk me through the recovery steps?  Also, this might be a good time to upgrade from 1TB to 2TB disks - can anyone point me towards resources for that?

Thank you! 

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

• What Hardware version is your DNS? Look at the sticker behind or under the device.
• Link>What Firmware version is currently loaded? Found on the DNSs web page under status.
• What region are you located?

How long have you had these drives in the DNS?
Review this:
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=41395.0

[ivan]

Why oh why do people always shut down NAS boxes when they get an error message - that is the quickest way to lose all data.

Now to try and sort out your problem.

The good things:
1) it appears that you don't have auto rebuild enabled.  This is very good because since RAID 1 tries to mirror the drives you could end up with a lot of your data on the good drive going missing in an auto rebuild.
2) you have a RAID 1 setup, and assuming that only one disk is faulty, you still have all of your data intact.

The bad things:
1) you switched off the unit without checking the HD indicator LEDs or accessing the web interface to check what the problem was.
2) now you have to do the checking the hard way to find out which drive is faulty.

Hand checking:
1) obtain a SATA/USB adapter/caddy.
2) download a copy of the latest Seagate Seatools disk diagnostics program (either the bootable CD or USB stick is recommended although installing the program on a windows machine also works).
3) open the NAS and mark each drive with which slot it is in (this is important as the good drive MUST go back into the slot it came from if you don't want to lose any data).
4) take out one drive and insert it into the adapter/caddy.
5) boot up the computer with the disk tools, plug in the USB adapter/caddy and then follow the instructions to test the drive.
6) if the disk tools reports the drive as faulty you know which drive to replace (use a drive of the same capacity or larger).

After you replace the drive and power up the NAS it should tell you that the RAID array is degraded and you should rebuild it.  Do so and you should be back to a fully working unit.

[FurryNutz]

Thank you Ivan for your help. You  are the man!!!
 

[nonlinear]

Link>Welcome!

• What Hardware version is your DNS? Look at the sticker behind or under the device.
• Link>What Firmware version is currently loaded? Found on the DNSs web page under status.
• What region are you located?

How long have you had these drives in the DNS?
Review this:
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=41395.0

Thanks for your help!  This is hardware Version C, it's running firmware v. 1.10, and I'm in the southwest USA.  I believe the drives have been in the DNS since about 2011 or 2012.

Thanks!

[nonlinear]

Why oh why do people always shut down NAS boxes when they get an error message - that is the quickest way to lose all data.

Now to try and sort out your problem.

The good things:
1) it appears that you don't have auto rebuild enabled.  This is very good because since RAID 1 tries to mirror the drives you could end up with a lot of your data on the good drive going missing in an auto rebuild.
2) you have a RAID 1 setup, and assuming that only one disk is faulty, you still have all of your data intact.

The bad things:
1) you switched off the unit without checking the HD indicator LEDs or accessing the web interface to check what the problem was.
2) now you have to do the checking the hard way to find out which drive is faulty.

Hand checking:
1) obtain a SATA/USB adapter/caddy.
2) download a copy of the latest Seagate Seatools disk diagnostics program (either the bootable CD or USB stick is recommended although installing the program on a windows machine also works).
3) open the NAS and mark each drive with which slot it is in (this is important as the good drive MUST go back into the slot it came from if you don't want to lose any data).
4) take out one drive and insert it into the adapter/caddy.
5) boot up the computer with the disk tools, plug in the USB adapter/caddy and then follow the instructions to test the drive.
6) if the disk tools reports the drive as faulty you know which drive to replace (use a drive of the same capacity or larger).

After you replace the drive and power up the NAS it should tell you that the RAID array is degraded and you should rebuild it.  Do so and you should be back to a fully working unit.

Thank you ivan, this is really helpful!  I'm sorry I turned off the DNS, I thought I might be able to get the same information when I rebooted it but I guess not.  I will have to order a SATA/USB adapter.

If I want to upgrade to 2TB drives at this time, I suppose I need to modify the above instructions.  I should buy 2 SATA/USB, then transfer the good data from 1TB to 2TB drive (I guess just with both drives plugged into my laptop?), and then rebuild the RAID as above - is that the best way?

[ivan]

If you want to upgrade to larger disks you just need to get the larger disks, put them in the NAS and use it to format them as RAID 1 (you must do this because, like all small NAS boxes, the 323 uses a software RAID).

Follow my instructions to find the good disk (the only difference is you don't need to mark which slot because they are not going back into the box).  The good disk becomes your backup but it is formatted with the Linux Ext2/3 file system that windows can't read and will mess up if it tries.  There are a couple of programs and an IFS that might work (depends on which version of windows) or, the simple way, boot your computer using a live Linux DVD (we actually use a Linux computer that has removable disk carriers to do this work), plug in the USB adapter/caddy mounted good drive and transfer everything over the network. 

NOTE doing it this way is not fast, there are several points that will slow thing down, but it does save your data and get you up and running again.
 

[nonlinear]

When I took out the drives, I pulled to hard on one of the drive ejector levers at the back, and broke it.  Also, the front plastic cover button has been broken for a few years (so I just run it without the front cover).  All of this is fine, but it's making me question whether I should just upgrade this whole box since it is quite old now.

Can anyone recommend a more recent unit that is not too expensive?  This is just a home file server, so I don't need anything fancy.  I mean the DNS-323 works for what I need so I might just keep using it anyhow, just wondering if I should consider upgrading.

[FurryNutz]

Can you get the drives out of the case at all?

You might find a 327L moderately in expensive to use. It's a two bay unit.

The last of the DNS is the 340L. I'm enjoying my 345. 

[nonlinear]

Can you get the drives out of the case at all?

I'm not sure, got them out but haven't tried inserting them again.  It's only one side that's broken.  I think I could get it out pushing with a screwdriver or similar through the new hole in the back, or trying to grip from the front with a needle nose - rough, I know.    I'll have to give it a try when I get home.

[ivan]

I have seen some 323 boxes in worse condition that are still happily working.

A point, if you do keep the unit.  Don't use a screwdriver to push the drive out, use a wood or plastic dowel, that way you are much less likely to damage anything.   

[nonlinear]

Hello everyone,

So I obtained a SATA/USB adapter and checked both disks using the Seagate Seatools software.  Both drives passed all 3 of the tests I tried - short drive self test, short generic, long generic.  So Seatools is not reporting any errors for either disk!  Can anyone tell me what the next steps might be?  Is there some possibility that the problem is with the DNS-323 or its software, and not my disks?

Thanks again for your help, it's much appreciated! 

[ivan]

OK, generally we accept the results of the disk tools tests (the one exception where we don't is where the drive gets very hot very quickly).

A little information.  The RAID on these NAS units (and almost all small consumer units) is a software RAID.  That means there are ways of corrupting the basic RAID information (changing a few bites is all that is needed).  The usual reason for corrupt RAID information is a short term spike on the mains power that gets carried over to the NAS box (all our clients NAS boxes are on UPSs and those in the industrial situation have additional filters).

The next thing you should do is to take one drive and put it back in the USB/SATA adapter, download a Live Linux DVD and burn that to a DVD (assuming you don't have a Linux based PC available, if you do use that).  Boot your computer using the Linux DVD, plug in the USB mounted disk and check that all your data is there and available..  If it is, good, if not check the other drive.

Now you have choices.
1) copy all your data to another drive/s (I have people that have used a set of large capacity USB sticks for that).  Then replace the drives back in the NAS and format them as a RAID 1 array and restore your data.
2) get a pair of larger capacity disks, put them in the NAS anf format as RAID 1.  Then copy your data (using Linux) from one of the disks to the NAS over the network.   
3) get a new NAS with larger disks, format as RAID 1 and then copy your data as 2).
 

[nonlinear]

Thanks Ivan, this has been very helpful!

[nonlinear]

OK so I booted up using the Ubuntu live usb, was able to build the array in linux and check the contents of both disks.  It seems things are there on both disks.  One thing I did notice (remember) is that I actually already have 2 TB disks (LOL).  So I don't need to upgrade the HDDs as 2TB is the maximum size.  I can't believe I forgot that, but I purchased these in like 2011 and had forgotten (and didn't check apparently).

BTW, I noticed that I only have about 83gb free out of 2TB on each disk - any chance this could be the source of my problem? Should I allow more free space on these disks?

At any rate, it looks like I need to locate another 2+ TB drive and follow Ivan's option #1 above. thanks again Ivan!