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[FriarJnr]

I can't believe how bad this NAS box is! I've had no end of problems with it and I've now lost all patience with it 

I am currently copying a 375MB file from it to my Desktop and I'm being told it will take 15 minutes!!! Oh, no hang on, it's now just totally stopped copying and nothing is happening!!! This happens loads. (After about a minute it's decided to start copying again WTF)

I use the box to download directly from VUZE and I now get loads of errors and corrupt files which I NEVER got when downloading directly to internal HD.

Don't get me going on the utterly useless UPnP AV Server. Sure, the PS3 can fine SOME files but for example, if I have a TV series with say 13 episodes in, only about 6 are displayed and they don't contain any weird characters or anything. I use Rivet on my Mac and all files are display with NO problems through that!

I really wish I hadn't bought this junk! I know it's a model that's a few years old but surely it should at least work?

Someone please tell me what could cause ALL these problems before I NEVER buy a D-LINK product again..

System details below:-

iMac 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3 with 2.66 GHz Intel Core i5 running OSX 10.6.7
DNS-323 with Firmware 1.09 containing 2xSamsung 2TB SpinPoint EcoGreen F4EG SATA3 32MB Hard Drives
Virgin Super Hub all connected by cable NOT wireless

Please help as doing my head in!

P.S. Still waiting for that file to finish copying! 

[dosborne]

Do you have another system to test it with? I copy 4-5GB of data every day, it takes a few minutes only.

Anti-virus software?
Connect direct to DNS323 instead of through hub as a test?
Cat6 cables?
Single drives or Raid?

[FriarJnr]

Do you have another system to test it with? I copy 4-5GB of data every day, it takes a few minutes only.

Anti-virus software?
Connect direct to DNS323 instead of through hub as a test?
Cat6 cables?
Single drives or Raid?

I don't have another system unfortunately (apart from booting Mac up in Bootcamp). I don't run any anti-virus and I'm using Cat5e cables. I did forget to say that drives are configured as Raid 1 so I'd expect to see some slow down but not to this degree, and certainly not stopping altogether! I will do as you suggest and try connecting directly to the Mac and see if there's any improvement and post an update, thanks.

[dosborne]

I looked up some info on those drive. I believe they are 4K AFT, so you should read this thread
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=12977.0 This would explain the performance issues.

If this is the case, then your options are to break the Raid and run as singles (there are options to backup from one disk to another, which often is a good option anyway) or wait for firmware 1.10 (or you could run the Beta) that supports the AFT option.

Many manufacturers have run into the same issues with AFT drives and/or >2TB capacity. Some have updates and support already, some do not. At least DLink is working on it and there are some choices available at this time.

[FriarJnr]

Great, I will read thread later. In the meantime, where can I download the 1.10 Beta? I did find a FTP link within these forums but I was asked for login details and my ones for this forum didn't work.
Thanks for you assistance.

[dosborne]

There is a whole Beta section (see the link at the top of the forum) but here is the link
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=5486.0

No login required.

You should read all the available information carefully though, some features do not appear to work 100% in the Beta, although the 4K AFT issue seems to be ok. I haven't tried it yet myself.

[FriarJnr]

Great, thanks. Didn't think of connecting as Guest 

I will get everything off my drives, install Firmware 1.10, format drives and see what happens. Would like to keep Raid 1 if possible as don't want to loose data, just had my 1Tb WD Time Machine HD die so getting paranoid!

You're right, my drives are definitely 4K AFT so hopefully this Beta firmware will help.

Thanks for all your help, would've never found out otherwise and will keep you posted as to how it goes.

Fingers crossed.

P.S. I've read that AFT has already been surpassed! True?

[dosborne]

The short answer is that there was a 2.1TB limit which the HDD manufacturers worked around. There are a few options as different manufacturers took different approaches.

Seagate
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/desktops/barracuda_xt/

Western Digital
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/WhitePapers/ENG/2579-771501.pdf

Hitachi
http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/D213A024C090CE9F862577D5002600FC/$file/FinalHiCap_2.2TB_TechBrief.pdf


It is likely you are referring to GPT which is mentioned in at least one of the links above.

To address this problem, a new partition table scheme was created, called the GUID Partition Table (GPT). With the introduction of Windows
Vista®, Microsoft added support for GPT. Using a GPT table to tell the computer how data is laid out on the disk drive, the computer can
access data beyond 2.2TB. Microsoft also enabled support of GPT partitions with Windows XP 64-bit Service Pack 2. However, 32-bit
versions of Windows XP do not support GPT partitions. Other operating systems that can handle GPT-partitioned drives include Windows 7,
Linux and Intel-based Mac OS X systems.

This limit and subsequent format change is also why DLink (and many other manufacturers) have been working on updates to support >2TB drives.

[dosborne]

This forum really isn't the place for it, but if you google "dns-323 ffp" you will find that there are some other options to address your media player issue. I've been successful in removing all unused services and adding better/new ones for my own purposes using FFP.

[FriarJnr]

Thanks. I'll look into that later too.

I've applied Firmware 1.10 and now I assume I need to reformat the drives to make them 4K AFT compatible? Is there a selection I need to make for this or does the reformatting make them compliant in itself?

Thanks...

[D-Link Multimedia]

Thanks. I'll look into that later too.

I've applied Firmware 1.10 and now I assume I need to reformat the drives to make them 4K AFT compatible? Is there a selection I need to make for this or does the reformatting make them compliant in itself?

Thanks...

Simply reformatting will make them compliant. In 1.10 all drives are aligned as 4k.

[FriarJnr]

Not good news 

After all that effort, still got the same problems.

Was copying stuff back onto the NAS and started downloading and got the same old problems. Got a read/write error, then when I tried to browse the NAS to see how far the copying got, everything froze! Which of cause in OS X stops the whole OS working and I get to look at a pretty spinning coloured wheel for 5 minutes, after which time the NAS fan kicks in then after another couple of minutes it decides to come back to life!

Any further ideas. Could drive(s) be faulty or is the NAS box just struggling doing too many things at once?

[D-Link Multimedia]

Based on the facts there are really only 3 possibilities.

1.) Its your Computer (probably not a direct network issue but perhaps the method to which it is talking to the NAS, SMB etc)

2.) Its the Drives (Perhaps a faulty drive is causing issues with the NAS which is making it malfunction)

3.) It's your network (probably not if everything else works fine).

So realistically it is most likely #1 or #2. Would it be possible for you to setup the FTP server on the NAS and copy over files using the FTP function on your internal network? If we can remove the possibility of #2 and can successfully copy over a different protocol then that means it is an issue of communication between the PC and NAS over SMB.

[FriarJnr]

OK. I'll try to give that a go in the next few days. I'm currently re-formatting the drives as two individual ones so I can test if one and or both are playing up.

I will also try connecting directly to Mac to eliminate router as a possible issue.

Thanks.

[Biscotte]

In its defence, DNS-323 is not a joke.  I have been using these boxes for some years now. 

They are not fast but it depends on your setup and what you want to get out of it. 

My Cisco Router is not compatible with GA311 NICs - reducing those PCs to transfer at 100 Mbps rather than the full gig rate.  The wireless part of the network runs at 54 Mbps restricting speed further. 

I am like many here, using these boxes for storage rather than live data transfer.  I use these DNS-323 for overnight backup as it seems many do.  For that purpose they are ideal.  Grandfather backup; father backup and off site rotation works for me.  At full chat, it backs up / transfers 35 gig an hour.  Overnight it is much slower, but even if 4 gig of data backup (a lot) takes an hour between 2.00 a.m. and 3.00 a.m. . . .  It is reformatting new discs and populating them that takes all the time. 

Documents, powerpoint, music streaming and similar are all delivered without drama.  It is all good. 
The 323 streams audio over wi-fi without hicups despite the firefly code for the version included in FW1.08 was written on stone tablets.  OK the microwave alongside the audiobox downstairs does cause it to skip after a couple of minutes. 
I'll be trying out a video transfer (by wi-fi) box soon and will report back. 

joke! - no!!