DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum
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#1 2007-11-15 09:07:44
- karyudo
- New member
- Registered: 2007-11-15
- Posts: 2
Firmware Update (1.02 to 1.03) Questions
I've recently bought a couple of DNS-323s. One had firmware 1.02, and the other had 1.03, right out of the box. Unfortunately, I used the 1.02 one first, setting up and copying over almost 500GB of data before I discovered the other one had 1.03 (and therefore that my 1.02 could use updating). I formatted the drives in the 1.03 unit, but I haven't done anything else yet.
I want to be able to flash the 1.02 unit to 1.03 without having to re-format the drives.
Can I remove the (RAID 1) drives from the 1.02 unit, put in the empty drives from the 1.03 unit, flash the 1.02 unit, and then put the original drives back and expect them to work? I'm thinking "yes," but I don't want to bet 500 GB of data on my hypothesis...
The wussy way is to reformat the 320 GB drives in the 1.03 unit as separate drives, copy all the stuff off the 1.02 unit's 500 GB RAID 1 to the 1.03 unit, flash from 1.02 to 1.03, and then copy everything back. But that seems like an awful lot of copying that might easily be avoided!
Any advice??
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#2 2007-11-15 15:22:17
- fordem
- Member
- Registered: 2007-01-26
- Posts: 1938
Re: Firmware Update (1.02 to 1.03) Questions
I'm seem to be saying this over and over.
BACK IT UP - NOW
Do NOT feel that because you are running a RAID1 array that you cannot loose data - RAID1 was not intended to be used as a backup method.
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#3 2007-11-15 19:52:46
- Emacs
- Member
- Registered: 2007-06-24
- Posts: 110
Re: Firmware Update (1.02 to 1.03) Questions
The basic question is (and that is one, that I have myself): does a firmware upgrade require a reformat or not.
Can anyone comment on that?
Cheers,
Emacs
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#4 2007-11-15 21:24:11
- Thiam
- Member
- Registered: 2007-06-18
- Posts: 43
Re: Firmware Update (1.02 to 1.03) Questions
An upgrade from 1.02 to 1.03 does NOT require a reformat.
An upgrade pre-1.02 to 1.02 does require a reformat + you can't use ext3 anymore.
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#5 2007-11-15 22:08:33
- mig
- Member
- From: Seattle, WA
- Registered: 2006-12-21
- Posts: 532
Re: Firmware Update (1.02 to 1.03) Questions
Emacs wrote:
Can anyone comment on that?
Let me try to comment...
Consider this dialogue were 'T:' is tech support (D-link, user on this forum, or Chuck from the Buy-More)
and U: is the user (DNS-323 owner)
---------------------------------------------------------------
U: Does a firmware upgrade require a reformat or not?
T: I'm not sure. I don't' think so. Why does it matter?
U: Well, if firmware upgrade requires a reformat, then all the data I stored on my DNS-323 will be erased.
T: Yes, you are correct, that is what a reformat will do. Why are you so concerned?
U: GAWD!!! BECAUSE I'LL LOSE ALL MY DATA!!!!
T: No you won't. You can just restore the data from your backup.
U: But, I don't HAVE a backup, so I WILL lose all my data!!
T: Well sir, that is your choice.
--------------------------------------------------------------
No one can guarantee what will happen when you upgrade your firmware, even if they
have experiences of doing the same upgrade. There are multiple ways the drives are
configured on the DNS-323 (Raid0, Raid1 , JBOD), you just don't know if their configuration
was exactly the same as yours. Firmware upgrade is supposed to be flawless, but this forum
has multiple posts of firmware upgrades which have resulted in unexpected drive reformats.
So, you gotta ask yourself... Do you feel lucky? Well... Do you?
Or, you can make a backup... just in case.
Yes, it will take a bit of time. Yes, you might have to purchase more hardware,
but compare the pain of making a backup to the pain you would feel if something
went wrong and you lost all you data. The choice is yours.
DNS-323 • 2x Seagate Barracuda ES 7200.10 ST3250620NS 250GB SATAII (3.0Gb/s) 7200RPM 16MB • RAID1 • FW1.03 • ext2
Fonz's v0.3 fun_plug http://www.inreto.de/dns323/fun-plug
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#6 2007-11-15 22:22:29
- fordem
- Member
- Registered: 2007-01-26
- Posts: 1938
Re: Firmware Update (1.02 to 1.03) Questions
Thiam wrote:
An upgrade from 1.02 to 1.03 does NOT require a reformat.
An upgrade pre-1.02 to 1.02 does require a reformat + you can't use ext3 anymore.
You can upgrade an ext2 pre-1.02 system to 1.02 or later without a reformat. The reformat is only necessary if you were using ext3
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#7 2007-11-24 22:48:46
- karyudo
- New member
- Registered: 2007-11-15
- Posts: 2
Re: Firmware Update (1.02 to 1.03) Questions
Just to follow up on my own original post:
I put a few files on the otherwise-blank drives in my 1.03-from-the-box DNS-323, then took the drives out and put them in the 1.02 case.
First I checked that I could read said files. I could. So that means you can take a pair of RAID 1 drives from one DNS-323 case and put them in another, preserving the RAID. As you'd expect.
Next, I updated the 1.02 box (now with very few files, duplicated elsewhere) to 1.03.
I checked that I could read the test files again, and I could: no reformat necessary.
Finally I moved the full-of-data drives back to the newly-upgraded 1.03 case, which also worked with no problems.
So now I have two DNS-323s, both with firmware 1.03, and pretty solid evidence that no reformat is necessary going from 1.02 to 1.03 -- as everyone has already said.
Presumably updating to the eventual 1.04+ firmwares will be even easier and angst-free, 'cause 1.03 adds the ability to upgrade firmware with no drives installed!
Thanks to everyone who posted information -- very cool to have found this forum!
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