Buffalo Forums

   

Hello everyone,

 

I just bought the NAS Flexnet 2Share HD-CELU2, and now much to my regret I noticed that it's impossible to change the drive-format from FAT32 to NTFS (or sth. else).

 

The thing is, I'd like to encrypt the whole drive and still be able to decrypt it in LAN-mode.

I simply wanted to create a container with Truecrypt, but since I can't change the drive format, Fat32 only allows a maximum filesize of 4gb.

 

Is there any possibility to update the Firmware of this storage in order to use another drive-format? Or do you even have a solution how to encrypt the drive?

 

 

best regard,

Q-Dog from Germany

 

/Edit

what about FreeNAS for example?

   Fat32 is the only format you can have for the unit if you want to use the lan functionality. No firmware can change that.

   

Actually, on page 19 of the user manual PDF, it says:

 

"With a LAN connection, the maximum file size is 127 GB. Files larger than 4 GB will not be accessable from the USB interface."

...

"With a USB connection, the maximum file size is 4 GB."

 

I would think if this is a typo in the user manual then you are due a refund.

eric,  Thats no typo.  It cannot handle transfers over 4 GB due to the filesystem.  If you need to make larger transfer I suggest buying a linkstation.

   Please read again.  Am I not reading this right?  "With a LAN connection, the maximum file size is 127 GB."

No, you aren't reading it wrong.  You can make transfers larger than 4 GB, but due to the limitation of the filesystem, the file will be chopped up into 4 GB files.  This isn't a hassle unless you try to access that same data via USB.

   

I see how it handles large files over 4GB but now I see another issue.  Whenever a large file gets copied to the device, the device overrides the file date to 1/1/1980 7:00pm.  It really needs to maintain the original timestamp instead of changing it.  Otherwise most backup applications will not work as expected.  Is there a fix available for this?

You should be able to find the time settings in the Web UI->Basic area. Are these set correctly? To access the Web UI you would need the IP address of the Flexnet when it is in NAS mode. This can be found via the Drive Navi software on the CD included with device.

   Yes the time is set correctly and we're using NTP server 0.pool.ntp.org.  Files smaller than 4GB (copied over LAN) get timestamped correctly on the device.  For files larger than 4GB (copied over LAN), the device overwrites the date with 1/1/1980.

To clear the air on this the FlexNet is running in a FAT32 filesystem and if corruption of the data doesn't occur then the timestamp would be a minor sacrifice. I would go with what PCPiranha said in the first place and due to the file system limitations get a LinkStation Live or the like. A NAS running with a FAT32 filesystem just isn't going to do the job here.

   Well I bought two of these devices.  Is Buffalo going to refund my money?  This limitation really needs to be published on the product packaging.

   My guess is that the refund would be down to the retailer to offer a refund as the drivestation is working as designed.

   Thank you all for the quick replies.  It sounds very much that Buffalo does not stand behind this product for customers looking to store files larger than 4GB even though the manual explicitly says the products supports up to 127GB files.  I will return these to Microcenter.  I will continue to publish this terrible experience with Buffalo across every review site of the HD-CELU2 product.  And I will never NEVER purchase a Buffalo product again due to very poor quality.

Eric,

 

The 4 GB limitation is a limitation of the filesystem, not the product itself.  In order to have a "LAN" and "USB" feature the unit must be formatted to Fat32.

 

"It sounds very much that Buffalo does not stand behind this product forcustomers looking to store files larger than 4GB even though the manualexplicitly says the products supports up to 127GB files."

 

It will support 127 GB files in LAN mode but because of the filesystem these files will be broken down into 4 GB files.  If this isn't the case then let me know.

 

 "And I will never NEVER purchase a Buffalo product again due to very poor quality."

 

This is an incredibly inexpensive way to have network attatched storage.  It is a great product for home uuse with small files.  It sounds to me like you were expecting it to be a full-featured NAS device, so we are suggesting a different product that meets your needs.

 

Sorry for the frustration.

   I understand the limitation of the file system and I understand why that limitation exists. I hear what you're saying that the files get broken into 4GB chunks. That would be fine if it could do that AND maintain the file's timestamp. But it replaces the timestamp with 1/1/1980 even though NTP is setup correctly. That's my problem with the device. This timestamp issue is NOT a limitation of FAT32. Call it a bug in the device. Call it poor quality. But the bottomline is a simple firmware upgrade will resolve this issue. Until then, I will continue the public dialog about this product.

   

PCPiranha -

 

I received my DriveStation Flexnet today and am trying to use it with a MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard. I can connect to the drive via smb://my-ip-address and read from and write to the drive. If I try to copy a large file (35 GB data file), I do not get the 4GB chunks that you are describing - the operation simply fails immediately with the following error:

 

"The operation can't be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code 0)."

 

Can you provide some insight into this issue? If I can't back up my files, then I bought the wrong drive.

 

Dave