LS-WV2.0TL/R1 Disk 2 Error

[mlange]

Two weeks ago I bought this great little Linkstation. I then put the 2 disks into a RAID 1 array so that they mirror one another.  A week later, the system reported an error saying that Disk 2 was removed due to disk errors.

 

Okay - so I wiped the system, returned it, and received a replacement system.

 

I setup my replacement system in exactly the same manner and guess what, I have the same issue. This time, I can't believe that Disk 2 is bad again! So I have tried a few more things but still not resolved. I upgraded from 1.40 to 1.41 firmware.  That seems to have reduced the severity of the error to an "I12: The RAID array works under degrade mode". But the system / storage menu still shows that Disk 2 has an error. I don't really know what to do next. Any suggestions?

[Jotin]

Go to storage, then under Array choose Array 1. Do you have the option to rebuild the RAID array? 

[mlange]

Thanks. Rebuilding the array may have solved the issue.

[fmfc]

I bought a LS-WVL with 2TB x 2 (configured as RAID 1) two weeks ago.

 

Soon, I had similar issue (disk 2 error) and I restored to factory default. It fixed the problem. However, just now, something weird happened.

 

Nas Navigator reported me that "The RAID array is working under degrade mode." So I checked the Web Admin UI and found that disk 2 was error again, but Array 1 status showed Normal.

 

A few minutes later, I got a daily e-mail activity report from Linkstaton, saying that

 

[DISK error status]
DISK1 0
DISK2 0

What's going on? I am really confused.

 

It seems to be a software bug. I am using firmware 1.41.

 

 

[Jotin]

Does disk 2 still show an error? Can you access the data still? Does a restart remove the error?

[fmfc]

No. Restart didn't fix anything. But I was able to access the data.

 

However, now it becomes worse. Two disks are "Error" and Array 1 shows "Not configured". Storage in the left panel shows "Not Available". I can still access LinkStation through SMB but all folders are empty!! All files are gone.

 

Does it mean that I've lost all my data on LinkStation?

 

I don't think it is a hard disk problem, but the LinkStation itself.

 

 

Update:

 

After restarting again, amazingly Disk 1 and Array 1 are now back to normal (Array 1 is NOT degraded? weird) , but Disk 2 still shows error.

The data is also back.

 

 

[fmfc]

Since the problem is still there, I moved the hard drive for disk 2 to PC to do a complete check (using HDTune Pro). All are OK. No bad sectors, nothing abnormal.

 

Now I am sure it's the LinkStation that has something wrong. Either poor hardware quality or poor firmware. How come  Buffalo can rank no.1 in consumer NAS by shipping quantity at this quality level, since apparently I am not the only one who face this problem (or similar one).

 

Maybe I should return this unit before its too late.

 

 

 

[Jotin]

I doubt that you have lost your data. I think that a simple restore will fix the issue. Go to system, restore/erase and choose restore. This will not erase your data.

[fmfc]

 

 

I've done whatever I could. Resotre, Erase.....

 

I even tried to remove the hard disks, connect them to PC to delete all partitions, and then reconnect to LinkStation.

 

LinkStation then proceeded the initial setup by pressing Function key.

 

This worked for a couple days. However, again, this morning, Disc 2 became Error again.

 

 

 

[Jotin]

It sounds like its a physical problem with that slot in the unit.  I would get it exchanged for a replacement.

[fmfc]

Although I've got a replacement of the NAS, firmware 1.42 seems to fix that issue:

 

[Firmware Release Note]
* Ver.1.42 [2011.6.x]
?- Fixed the problem that E23 error was mistakenly displayed and RAID array was unable to be used when using the drive as RAID1.  <<<<<<<======
?- Fixed the problem that configuration in the LinkStation was corrupted if the power was not off in the correct procedure.
?- Fixed the problem that the USB drive which was formatted in FAT32 using BUFFALO's utility "Disk Formatter" was not recognized.