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

Beta or build - that's the question... :-)

(has been discussed here and elsewhere about a hundred times, I believe...

Cheers,

Emacs

@Thiam: As laid out by D-Link the "b" stand for "build" not for Beta. Anyway, it's as buggy as a Beta.
@Tilly: I think any Raid 1 users upgrading from 1.03 would have suffered the same way (see changeloch for b63)
@DLink: The downgrade worked without problems. Thanks. Only the config is lost.

keule wrote:

@Thiam: As laid out by D-Link the "b" stand for "build" not for Beta. Anyway, it's as buggy as a Beta.
@Tilly: I think any Raid 1 users upgrading from 1.03 would have suffered the same way (see changeloch for b63)
@DLink: The downgrade worked without problems. Thanks. Only the config is lost.

OK - let's look at what the changelog says

changelog wrote:

Version 1.04b63:

11/26/2007 1.Raid: fixed upgrading from a older f/w to the latest 1.04 will request to reformat hard drives issue.
11/27/2007 1.Password courrupted: user's password will get corrupted after changing.

Seems to me it says that was fixed.

Thiam wrote:

keule wrote:

This is realy the worst piece of Raid 1 Hardware I've ever seen in my whole life (...and I've seen a lot!)

You do realise that the 'b' in 1.04b63 stands for beta? As in: my contain bugs?
If you are not prepared to face such issues, simply do not use beta firmware.
There are stable versions after all.

Thiam

Regardless of whether the 'b' stands for build or beta, the point is this is a pre-release firmware, correct?

[you know, 'DLink', assuming that's an official D-Link poster tells us it's not released officially, the latest available on my local D-Link support site is 1.03, so I think we're pretty safe to assume it's pre-release, if not a beta build]

Whether or not posters think Thiam is correct in saying b stands for beta, his point remains correct:

At time of posting, anything later than release 1.03 is most likely 'pre-release' and likely has bugs not ironed out, or hasn't been extensively tested (assuming these firmware releases are tested at all).

Which means that backing up files before upgrading firmware, which is basically a must anyway is doubly important if you plan on 'testing' the 1.04 firmware.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but pulling him up on getting what 'b' stands for wrong is pretty pointless. Not taking precautions when upgrading any firmware, moreover a pre-release firmware is likewise, pretty ill-advised, unless you really can afford to lose your files.

Incidentally, build numbers tend to be ommited from the designations of releases don't they? (e.g. 1.03 is just called 1.03 and not 1.03bxx) So while it might stand for build, I think we can pretty safely assume that a release designation with a build number attached indicates that it's not the final build and therefore, effectively a beta anyway...

Last edited by WindyCN (2007-11-30 05:31:23)

raid1king wrote:

2 B or not to b.  Makes no difference the firmware is for testing only.  I trying the B version because the RAID1 on 1.03 has problems and I will not trust it with my data.  I found that my 10 steps works with all versions (1.03 and 1.04B61) for setting up RAID1.  I'm using this forum to report on my findings and if the Dlink techs read our posts this may give them feedback on the progress.  I would like to see this product ironed out to a solid state. So I can trust the 750G raid1 without having to backup every few weeks onto a spare 750G hdd.

If that's your plan - EXPECT to lose your data.

I don't care how reliable the DNS-323 does or does not become, I don't care if the data is on a DNS-323, or an emc2 SAN - if you rely on RAID1 and do NOT backup to an alternate media or device - EXPECT TO LOSE THE DATA.

raid1king wrote:

2 B or not to b.  Makes no difference the firmware is for testing only.  I trying the B version because the RAID1 on 1.03 has problems and I will not trust it with my data.  I found that my 10 steps works with all versions (1.03 and 1.04B61) for setting up RAID1.  I'm using this forum to report on my findings and if the Dlink techs read our posts this may give them feedback on the progress.  I would like to see this product ironed out to a solid state.  So I can trust the 750G raid1 without having to backup every few weeks onto a spare 750G hdd.

Although we would like this to be the case, it is more or less unrealistic for any Nas device. There are multiple things that could affect your drive operation and it is ALWAYS wise to have a secondary backup source whether it be another NAS, USB Drive etc for your most valuable data. If you are backing up to two identical drives in the NAS from the same batch and both fail within a few days from each other because they are from that identical batch it would be good to have that data on a second source. If by some chance Lighting strikes your box, *knock on wood*, and your drives fry then no matter how reliable the NAS itself is it would not save the drives.

We can make this the most stable feature rich box available and you would still be at risk of losing data. Its just the nature of the beast.

Also regarding the fights between "b" next to version numbers. D-Link US does not release BUILD versions of firmware like other UK/Euro D-Link sites do. On final release the build that is going to be released will always be renamed to the next version number, i.e 1.04, 1.05 etc.

Also a better place to report findings for issues with CURRENT Firmware on the DNS-323 would be our forums at http://forums.dlink.com.

D-Link

Last edited by Dlink (2007-11-30 21:03:03)

bfaber wrote:

Dude.. at this point you're just being an ass...

And YOU are getting personal - which is totally unnecessary.

The FACT of the matter is, and after thirty years (and counting) in the IT tech support business, along with HP ASP, Dell DCSE & IBM certified business server support certifications, I think I have both the qualifications & the experience to know the facts - too many people make the mistake of thinking that RAID relieves them of the need to backup their data.

It does not - it never did - and it was never intended to. 

I have seen too many people make this mistake and then get upset when a hiccup occurs and the data is lost.

fordem wrote:

- too many people make the mistake of thinking that RAID relieves them of the need to backup their data.

It does not - it never did - and it was never intended to. 

I have seen too many people make this mistake and then get upset when a hiccup occurs and the data is lost.

Yes, i agree to 100%

I think most of hobby users should made a IT-Licence before using a NAS with RAID!

Tilly you're an idiot, those links are to other product's firmwares which he was not referring to.

I have perceived from your previous posts that you lack a proper grasp of the English language so for now I'll let it pass as a miss-interpretation. But before you say something like "I can't no longer take you seriously" (which by the way means you CAN take him seriously, double negatives ftw) be sure to have your facts straight.

Let me lay it out for you -

1.00, 1.01, 1.02, and 1.03 for the DNS-323 all when extracted have those same file names.

1.02b for the DNS-323 when extracted has the filename that includes the build number. You can probably pat that one down to being in a rush to fix the ext3  issues.

Sorry for the name-calling, but when you put someone down like that with false information, it gets on my nerves.
As for him really being a D-Link rep, well there's a guy in the D-Link DNS-323 forum with the username D-Link Multimedia with a very similar grammar and paragraph style as the Dlink user here.
While that's hardly solid proof it shouldn't entirely matter since he or she has provided very good information and assistance in the posts he or she has made.