DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum

bigkahuna · 2009-07-17 01:07:11

Does anyone know if I can upgrade the firmware from 1.03 to 1.07 without reformatting my drives? I don't want to lose any data. I've heard stories where an update of firmware can cause DNS-323 to re-format the drives.

Has anyone any experience of this?

mig · 2009-07-17 03:42:24

Most of the time upgrading firmware does not require reformatting of drives;
however, as you have heard stories... you may experience a different result.

If you REALLY don't want to lose any data, backup it up before upgrading the firmware.

BTW, you haven't told us what configuration you setup your drives, RAID1, RAID0, JBOD, single disks?

Last edited by mig (2009-07-17 03:42:49)

bigkahuna · 2009-07-17 12:14:47

I have 2 500gb disks in a RAID-1 configuration using ext2. I have a DNS-323 Hardware Revision A1.

The whole point I bought the NAS was that I could use RAID-1 so I would have some degree of data resiliency. In the past I used just external USB drives which have failed. It would be extremely disappointing if I had to buy another drive so I can backup my data just to update the firmware. I was wondering if anyone has updated their NAS from 1.03 to 1.07 without reformatting as I am loathed to buy a backup drive unless I have to.

On another note I've seen my hard-drives reach 48C on a frequent basis which causes the DNS to shutdown because of my power management settings. Is this normal or is it indicative of impending hard drive failure?

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

fordem · 2009-07-17 14:31:39

RAID1 will only provide limited data resiliency - it's purpose is to reduce (and hopefully eliminate) downtime in the event of a disk failure, it will not protect against data loss caused by accidental or deliberate deletion of data, corruption of data caused by a power outage, a virus or other malware, and it will not provide any resiliency in the case of hardware failure, other than a disk failure.

You either backup the data or risk losing it.

The disk's partition structure was changed with the 1.03 to 1.04 upgrade, and you may be prompted to reformat the disks if you upgrade from 1.03 to 1.07, as I believe one of the subsequent upgrades does check for the correct partition structure.

Please don't feel that you can simply stay at 1.03 and be safe - you can stay at any firmware revision, but in doing so, you deprive yourself, not only of the additional features of the later firmware revisions, but also of the bug fixes, and without a backup, your data will still be at risk.

mig · 2009-07-23 02:50:55

bigkahuna wrote:
It would be extremely disappointing if I had to buy another drive so I can backup my data just to update the firmware.

Seems to me you already know the solution to your problem. Somehow you suspect that your data may be at risk by
"just" updating the firmware. You are right! RAID1 will not help preserve your data from a reformat, required
from a firmware update.

Backup your data, then update the firmware with the confidence that you have protected your data.

bigkahuna wrote:
I am loathed to buy a backup drive unless I have to.

What more do you need to convince yourself?

Dlink · 2009-07-23 21:45:27

fordem wrote:
The disk's partition structure was changed with the 1.03 to 1.04 upgrade, and you may be prompted to reformat the disks if you upgrade from 1.03 to 1.07, as I believe one of the subsequent upgrades does check for the correct partition structure.

It has been a while but I think this is incorrect. The only change in structure should be from 1.02b > 1.03 when we removed EXT3. 1.03 and above should not require any form of formatting when upgrading.

fordem · 2009-07-24 04:48:39

Dlink wrote:
fordem wrote:
The disk's partition structure was changed with the 1.03 to 1.04 upgrade, and you may be prompted to reformat the disks if you upgrade from 1.03 to 1.07, as I believe one of the subsequent upgrades does check for the correct partition structure.
It has been a while but I think this is incorrect. The only change in structure should be from 1.02b > 1.03 when we removed EXT3. 1.03 and above should not require any form of formatting when upgrading.

There has been one more change since then - going from memory it was the 1.03 to 1.04 upgrade, the number of partitions was increased from three to four and the location of the print spool folder (the ./lpd) was moved from HD_a2 to HD_a4

It's been a long time since I looked at the partition structure, my memory is not that clear and I have no intention of reflashing the earlier firmware(s) and reformatting just to prove a point.

BTW - is it really correct to describe the removal of ext3 support as a change in partition structure? As I understand it, the difference between ext2 & ext3 is the addition of the journal, an ext3 file system can be read as ext2 (but should not be written), and an ext2 file system can be converted to ext3.

DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum

Announcement

#1 2009-07-17 01:07:11

DNS-323 and upgrading firmware from 1.03 to 1.07

#2 2009-07-17 03:42:24

Re: DNS-323 and upgrading firmware from 1.03 to 1.07

#3 2009-07-17 12:14:47

Re: DNS-323 and upgrading firmware from 1.03 to 1.07

#4 2009-07-17 14:31:39

Re: DNS-323 and upgrading firmware from 1.03 to 1.07

#5 2009-07-23 02:50:55

Re: DNS-323 and upgrading firmware from 1.03 to 1.07

bigkahuna wrote:

bigkahuna wrote:

#6 2009-07-23 21:45:27

Re: DNS-323 and upgrading firmware from 1.03 to 1.07

fordem wrote:

#7 2009-07-24 04:48:39

Re: DNS-323 and upgrading firmware from 1.03 to 1.07

Dlink wrote:

fordem wrote:

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