Author Topic: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??  (Read 9763 times)

Autumnsboy

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I just bought a new LS421DE and two 3TB Seagagte Drives.  I have been unable to get things up in running. During three phone calls to support we have tried to force a firmware update but I keep getting an unable to format disk error.  One of the techs suggested that my new drives might already contain a partition that could be causing an issue.  He indicated that I might need to install the drives in a desktop and unformat the drives??  Perhaps he meant reformat.  Is there a special way that I need to reformat the drives to try to get this to work?

davo

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2014, 11:16:12 AM »
Remove ALL partitions of the HDDs in disk management.
Put the HDDs into the unit and boot it up, once you get a solid white AND red LED, press the function button for no more than half a second, let the unit install the firmware and leave it alone, shouldnt take more than 10-15 minutes.
PM me for TFTP / Boot Images / Recovery files  LSRecovery.exe file.
Having network issues? Drop me an email: info@interwebnetworks.com and we will get it fixed!

Autumnsboy

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2014, 02:24:52 PM »
Can you be specific as to the procedure to remove all partitions from Disk Management?  I can see the hard drive there but I don't see a specific command to remove partitions (non IT person here). 

FYI, I was eventually able to get the system up and running on one drive.  I cleaned the drive with the clean function in diskpart.  This eventually allowed me to get the first drive formatted and firmware uploaded, however I have yet to get the 2nd drive properly formatted and mounted.  The linkstation attempts to format to XFS however fails every time.

Autumnsboy

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2014, 10:48:55 PM »
Problem solved.
Both drives needed to be cleaned with diskpart (although these were brand new drives) and installed at the same time for them both to be properly initialized and formatted.

This problem would have been avoided if the installation instructions were put together a little better and actually stated such important required.  The picture book they call a Quick Setup Guide is totally insufficient.

davo

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #4 on: March 05, 2014, 01:31:10 PM »
You're welcome.
PM me for TFTP / Boot Images / Recovery files  LSRecovery.exe file.
Having network issues? Drop me an email: info@interwebnetworks.com and we will get it fixed!

LesterZhang

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2014, 08:38:25 AM »
Can you be specific as to the procedure to remove all partitions from Disk Management?  I can see the hard drive there but I don't see a specific command to remove partitions (non IT person here). 

FYI, I was eventually able to get the system up and running on one drive.  I cleaned the drive with the clean function in diskpart.  This eventually allowed me to get the first drive formatted and firmware uploaded, however I have yet to get the 2nd drive properly formatted and mounted.  The linkstation attempts to format to XFS however fails every time.

Hi, I am wondering what specific steps you did to make the LS421DE to get the one drive formatted. I was trying to use one drive with LS421DE, and I encountered the format failed error, would love to know how to get it working. I have tried to connect the drive to my PC to clean it using the Diskpart tool, and I still get the same error.

Thanks
Lester
« Last Edit: April 17, 2014, 08:48:58 AM by LesterZhang »

Eastmarch

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2014, 05:53:22 PM »
Take a look at the partitions in disk manager. Some drives come with a tiny partition on it with various manufacturer's tools. This picture is just a drive with a partition taking up 2 TB.

 

Then we’ll need to run diskpart.

Type ‘diskpart’ in the command line and in the Diskpart prompt type ‘List Disk’.

 

You’ll see that this 3TB drive is split into two volumes.

Select the disk you are trying to clean. It is VERY important to select the right disk, because Diskpart is very powerful and can wipe your windows partition right out from under you if you select it instead. *

 

Now that we have the right disk on the chopping block, clean it by typing ‘clean’.

 

You’ll notice that it didn’t ask me if I was sure. Now this disk is totally clear and ready to be made into a NAS drive. It now looks like this in windows :

 

And that's it, should be ready to go.

* Actually, diskpart won't clean a boot or system partition. It will still mercilessly delete all your data on a storage hard drive.
**A single copy of data, even on a RAID array, is NOT a backup! Hard drive failure is not a question of IF, but WHEN! Don't take my word for it, take Google's!**

LesterZhang

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2014, 09:49:21 PM »
Take a look at the partitions in disk manager. Some drives come with a tiny partition on it with various manufacturer's tools. This picture is just a drive with a partition taking up 2 TB.

 

Then we’ll need to run diskpart.

Type ‘diskpart’ in the command line and in the Diskpart prompt type ‘List Disk’.

 

You’ll see that this 3TB drive is split into two volumes.

Select the disk you are trying to clean. It is VERY important to select the right disk, because Diskpart is very powerful and can wipe your windows partition right out from under you if you select it instead. *

 

Now that we have the right disk on the chopping block, clean it by typing ‘clean’.

 

You’ll notice that it didn’t ask me if I was sure. Now this disk is totally clear and ready to be made into a NAS drive. It now looks like this in windows :

 

And that's it, should be ready to go.

* Actually, diskpart won't clean a boot or system partition. It will still mercilessly delete all your data on a storage hard drive.

Thanks for the quick response. I put the disk in an USB docking station connecting to my PC. I followed your steps to clean the disk using diskpart, and I still get the disk not format error. When I tried to format it from the webaccess, I still got same error format failed. 

Any other suggestion will be appreciate, otherwise, I will have to send the unit back to the shop.

LesterZhang

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #8 on: April 21, 2014, 04:47:50 PM »
I recover the NAS to the default mode, took about over 12 hours, and thereafter it works fine.

NAS Guy

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Re: LS421DE Can't force firmware update - need to reformat disks??
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2016, 03:59:03 PM »
I installed two Hitachi 2TB drives for RAID 1 in my new LS421DE. 20 hours went by before I could try firmware update. Update failed. Removed drives and installed a single WD Green WD20EZRX from "supported drive" list. Was able to update firmware. Removed WD and reinstalled Hitachi drives, 20 hours to initialize for RAID 1 and it works OK now. NOTE: All drives were installed in a desktop system and used DISKPART to CLEAN each drive before installing. Updated firmware is rev 1.81. So rev 1.81 supports more drive models. Getting 53 MByte write speed and 105 MByte read speed.