Problem writing to LinkStation Quad LS-Q4.0TL/R5

[ray]

   

LS Quad, 4TB, RAID5, firmware version 1.05 loaded and device restored to factory defaults and rebooted.

 

While writing 10s of gigabytes, both small files and large, some  transfers taking hours, the device will repeatedly stop accepting data. Using a gigabit connection, I get between 7% & 9% network utilization. When the device stops accepting data, network utilization drops to 0% and the drive LEDs go solid. They stay solid for about 30 seconds then blink one after the other in order from 1 to 4. They each blink one time, then all go dark, then all come back on solid, then all blink one time again in order and become solid. All LEDs then usually start blinking with regular activity as the file copy continues. The device sometimes stops long enough for Windows to give up on the file copy and report that the networked device is no longer available.

 

I think the problem is worse when the front cover is on though it doesn't go away with the front cover removed and a fan blowing across it. The problem may be heat related, but the room is at 75 degrees fahrenheit and the unit doesn't seem too hot. The same problem has occurred with every version of firmware from the original to the current version 1.05.

 

I have put a 500GB LinkStation Pro in place of the LinkStation Quad, using the same network settings and cabling, and have no problem and also get around 12% network utilization continuously.

 

Is there any hope that a future firmware upgrade will fix the problem or do I just need to RMA the device?

[agh3]

   Did you ever solve this?  I just bought one and I've tried copying about 340Gb of files over to this and I'm seeing the same issue.  I've tried from Vista, XP Pro, and Windows Server 2003 using TeraCopy, Explorer and RoboCopy..they eventually just stop.   You can't access the unit via \\hostname or \\ipaddress for 3 to 10 minutes.

[IrishGuy]

   

From my own experience with the LS Quad after being a happy user of Terastations for nearly 10 years, I couldn't recommend the Quad at all.

 

I'm RMA'ing our Quad after a power outage turned it into a brick.

 

It's not only my experience that's prompting me to do this; there seems to be a plethora of issues on these forums relating to hardware issues with the Quad.

 

Even when I first received the Quad, something about the flimsy build quality (there were loose pieces of plastic rattling around in the case) made me have the gut feeling that I should hold onto all the packaging as I might be RMA'ing it soon.

 

I've no choice now except to purchase a 4tb/6tb TS-Pro III and brick the Quad.

 

 

[Dustrega]

I will conceed to the fact we have received a lot of issues and negative regarding the Quads and are working to address these issues and concerns in a quick fashion. Apparently, there's a lot of ground to cover but rest assured we're taking all issues into account :)

[JasonCollins]

   Did you ever get your issue solved or did you just return the unit?

[IrishGuy]

   

The unit died *again* on me three months later, here's the full story:

 

BEWARE THE LINKSTATION QUAD!

 

I've been a satisfied user of Buffalo NAS products for the last five years, having owned a 2 TB TeraStation and a 1TB LinkStation Live.

 

Last November I decided to purchase a LinkStation Quad 4TB. Right out of the box the unit didn't feel 'right'. The poor build quality was evident when I first unpacked the Quad. The front face fell off easily and there were a couple of plastic tabs rattling around in the case which I removed by taking out the last disk in the array. Build quality was exceptionally poor.

 

I configured the drives as a RAID5 array. After about two months' happy motoring one of the drives started blinking and the logical volume refused to mount after a cold reboot. There didn't appear to be anything physically wrong with the disks.

 

After much hand-wringing, the only option left was to update the bios and force a reset via the undocumented command line parameter for the bios updater.

 

Back to square-one. Three months later I was copying files onto the unit and deleting some files from the trashbox folder when KABOOM! the unit reboots and hey-presto I'm back with a bricked unit again. Somehow the file system corrupted itself and all 4TB of my data went south.

 

I imaged all the drives and am now in the (very lengthy) process of recovering all 4TB of data via the excellent UFS Explorer recovery tool.

 

Summary: The Linkstation Quad isn't fit for primetime. Poor build quality + poorly quality embedded software = your data, lost.

 

[CB3Dot]

   

It seems as if I came to the Quad Party a bit late.  I purchased A 4TG quad recently and, after one RMA, had a unit that appeared to work.  I decided to use it as a store for years of software, database application, Images, Tutorials, etc.  The intent was to get all these files on one primary source and then implement deduplication.  At the 2.7tb level of utilization, I purchased two 2tb drives and attached them to the Quad.  I formatted the first drive, checked the size to insure it was all OK, and it was.  I did a reboot of the QUAD and processed the second 2TB drive.  Rebooted the QUAD and noted that the second 2TB drive was good.  I turned my attention 2.7 TB QUAD to start the second phase of backup and noted the drive usage was 0.0% with availability 2.7TB.  Everything gone.

 

I placed a call to Buffalo and asked them if they had any previous experience, where the format of one USB attached drive to their QUAD would FORCE a format of the RAID.  The gentlemen said, "No."  Long pause.  He then asked, "Did you have a backup of all the data?"  I explained that I was in the process of creating the infrastructure for backups when the process trashed the RAID."  The second pregnant pause.  I then asked, "Do you have any suggestion how I might be able to recover the data?." He suggested a website that did data recovery.  I asked him if his company, that manufactures RAID storage devices, to insure a robust level of file security, frequently had to refer people out for data recovery services.  The pauses were getting a bit long of tooth, so I rang off and contacted the referenced website.  The good gentlemen first asked how much data was lost, and I replied, "Approximately 2.5TB."  His next question was,"So, how much of the data do you want back?"  With teeth moving into clinch mode, I answered, "All of it, sir."  He followed, "Well, take the four drives out, number them in order and send them to us. It'll take about a week to analyze all the data and see what can be recovered. Then we will go into the recovery process.  The cost for the operation will be $3000 to start and we promise that the total cost will NOT exceed $13,0000."

 

I purchased a five bay sata RAID enclosure and UFS Explorer 3.15.4. I installed the drives appropriately and created by virtual RAID.  The process to find the XFS file system data has been somewhat bumbling.  I'm working with one person in the +20 GMT code zone and we communicate once a day via email.  Sometimes twice.  At this time I have about 2800 Innode file folders and unidentifiable data.  I'll have another email session tomorrow morning, as I'm GMT -8 and he is +20.  Tonight begins an All Nighter  as I prepare to have an email conversation,  as I struggle to find out what simple step I missed in attempting to SEE MY DATA?