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#1 2008-06-07 16:40:44

weasilman
New member
Registered: 2008-06-07
Posts: 3

Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

I bought a DNS-323 and have upgraded to 1.0.5 firmware.

It has 2 1TB drives, and I set it up for RAID mirroring. It is now about 2/3rds full.

My questions is, if I have changed my mind and would prefer to have 2 1TB volumes, can I do that now, or would I have to backup all the data on there and start over with a new reformat? If i can do that, what are the steps?

My thinking is that this will be a media server, thus once it is loaded, it will not change very often. I would rather setup a sync program (on any PC) that runs once a day or week over just the stuff I care about not losing, and backs it up to the second volume. I realize that creates a window of time I could lose stuff, but I am more than willing to risk 1 days media to get more use out of the 2TB of space.

Any help appreciated.

Weasil

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#2 2008-06-07 17:52:53

bq041
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-03-19
Posts: 709

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

Yes you can back out without losing your data.  I can give you the instructions, or a script that I have written to do it automatically.

A few things first.

1) You will need ffp installed.  I'm using 0.5.  It can be removed after if you don't want it.
2) Was your RAID set-up with F/W 1.05?  If not, what version?
3) Does your web admin access work correctly (no errors about swaping drives or wanting to reformat)?
4) Is all your space set-up for RAID1, or do you have JBOD at the end of the disk?

Last edited by bq041 (2008-06-07 17:59:09)


DNS-323     F/W: 1.04b84  H/W: A1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 400 GB Seagate SATA-300
DNS-323     F/W: 1.05b28  H/W: B1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 1 TB  WD SATA-300
DSM-G600   F/W: 1.02       H/W: B                Drive:  500 GB WD ATA

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#3 2008-06-07 18:01:45

fordem
Member
Registered: 2007-01-26
Posts: 1938

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

Push the reset button on the back - it will reset the unit to default and one of the side effects is that it breaks the RAID1 array leaving you with two separate volumes.

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#4 2008-06-07 18:07:54

bq041
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-03-19
Posts: 709

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

Does not always work with 1.05.  Since it does not zero the superblocks, sometimes when rebooting the unit, it will pick the array back up in a degraded status, then drop it again, etc.


DNS-323     F/W: 1.04b84  H/W: A1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 400 GB Seagate SATA-300
DNS-323     F/W: 1.05b28  H/W: B1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 1 TB  WD SATA-300
DSM-G600   F/W: 1.02       H/W: B                Drive:  500 GB WD ATA

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#5 2008-06-07 18:11:46

weasilman
New member
Registered: 2008-06-07
Posts: 3

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

>> Yes you can back out without losing your data.  I can give you the instructions, or a script that I have written to do it >>automatically.

Great!

>>A few things first.
>>
>>1) You will need ffp installed.  I'm using 0.5.  It can be removed after if you don't want it.

OK, I will get it. Don't know what it is, but I will figure it out.

>>2) Was your RAID set-up with F/W 1.05?  If not, what version?

Raid was set up with 1.0.4 before I upgraded to 1.0.5.

>>3) Does your web admin access work correctly (no errors about swaping drives or wanting to reformat)?

No errors. Works correctly.

>>4) Is all your space set-up for RAID1, or do you have JBOD at the end of the disk?

All RAID1. No JBOD.

Much appreciated that you are willing to help me figure this out.

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#6 2008-06-07 18:34:30

bq041
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-03-19
Posts: 709

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

find ffp here: http://dns323.kood.org/howto:ffp

You will also need putty or another telnet program on your computer.  http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgta … nload.html

I will attach the script.  Currently I have not written the safeguards into it that I want to, but I have been testing this for several weeks (both breaking and creating RAIDs) and have not lost any data, regardless of what has gone wrong.  (Just so you know, the safeguards are against having the wrong F/W or not having the drives set-up correctly in the first place -- they do not apply to your situation.)

You will need to follow instructions exactly.

1) Copy the attached script file to the root of your DNS's hard drive (usually Volume_1)
2) Install ffp (give the unit around 5 minutes after installing it to allow it to be fully synced)
3) After you get the ffp installed (instructions on its page) will need to telnet in.  Using putty is easy, just enter the address of the dns and make sure telnet is selected.
4) Once you have established the telnet session type: (you will not type the "/ #" that will already be on your screen)

Code:

 / # /mnt/HD_a2/break_raid.sh

5) After that runs, there will be a line of instructions.  I will also put them here: (lines 6-12)
6) Type exit and hit enter; the telnet window will disappear.
7) Go to the web admin tool and shutdown the unit.
8) Eject drive 1 (left bay)
9) Start the unit up.
10) Shortly after all the lights stop blinking, you can telnet back in again.
11) Push in drive 1 (yes with power on).
12) once all the lights stop flashing type:

Code:

/ # /mnt/HD_a2/break2.sh

13) Unit will automatically reboot and you are good to go with 2 drives with all your data on each.  (If you forget to push the drive in, you will get a message reminding you.

Ask if you have any questions or worries BEFORE you try things.

As alway, I do recommend a backup of data, but that is your choice.

NOTE: THIS IS FOR F/W 1.04 or 1.05 ONLY!!

Last edited by bq041 (2008-06-07 18:53:22)


Attachments:
Attachment Icon break_raid.sh, Size: 2,336 bytes, Downloads: 275

DNS-323     F/W: 1.04b84  H/W: A1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 400 GB Seagate SATA-300
DNS-323     F/W: 1.05b28  H/W: B1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 1 TB  WD SATA-300
DSM-G600   F/W: 1.02       H/W: B                Drive:  500 GB WD ATA

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#7 2008-06-07 18:51:18

weasilman
New member
Registered: 2008-06-07
Posts: 3

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

Excellent thanks. I will take the time to backup, so this will take me a while to implement. Thanks.

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#8 2009-04-20 09:54:47

twinkil
New member
Registered: 2009-04-20
Posts: 2

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

What are the results? Did it worked? I'm about to do the exact same procedure. Please let me know if it really worked...

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#9 2009-04-21 11:26:22

twinkil
New member
Registered: 2009-04-20
Posts: 2

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

Ok, I've broke the mirror, but it went slightly different then expected. After step 9 the machine was unable to telnet! All the data was also lost on the disk!

I hot inserted the second disk and waited until it showed up as a mount point. I was pleased to see that the data on the hot inserted disk was still there!

Because my nas was not booting with ffp (because it is empty), I downloaded a new ffp and installed it at the empty disk. After booting the nas, I was able to telnet to the nas again. I executed the 2nd script and manually copied all the content from the second disk back to the first one (including my original ffp).

Ok, all seem to work really fine right now. But I'm stuck with just one minor issue which is that when I login into the webadmin console, it notifies me that the disks are not in raid anymore and that they need to be reformatted. Of course I don't want to, but is there a reason why the firmware thinks this is necessary? Are there any concerns about not doing what the firmware wants? And how to get rid of this message?

Last edited by twinkil (2009-04-21 11:27:24)

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#10 2009-04-29 06:14:57

bq041
Member
From: USA
Registered: 2008-03-19
Posts: 709

Re: Can I back out of RAID mirroring protection without losing data?

If the disk was empty at that point, you did something wrong.  The reason that the web admin tool is saying it wants to format and setup the array is because the configuration files are not correct in one or more of the following locations: disk 1, disk 2, flash block 0, flash block 1.


DNS-323     F/W: 1.04b84  H/W: A1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 400 GB Seagate SATA-300
DNS-323     F/W: 1.05b28  H/W: B1  ffp: 0.5  Drives: 2X 1 TB  WD SATA-300
DSM-G600   F/W: 1.02       H/W: B                Drive:  500 GB WD ATA

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