LinkStation 421e does not recognise USB3.0 Drives

[ice2k8]

Hey,

i try to attach a USB drive to the Linkstation. Under 'Advanced-Settings - Drives - USB Drives' nothing shows up. I tried three different drives, with three different enclosures (all USB 3.0) - none is working. A USB 2.0 Stick does work, though.

Any Ideas?

[davo]

What capacity are the USB 3.0 devices? What sector size is on them? (512bytes or 2k)?

[MikeRubin]

My USB 3.0 or 2.0 USB devices are not seen on my 421e. I replaced my first unit because of this, at tech support's suggestion, after tech support could not determine why neither port would work with any of these devices. Same problem with the new unit.

I have tried connecting the EXT3 drive that mounts as usbdisk1 on my older Linkstation, an NTFS drive that I use with a PC, and two USB thumb drives, trying all of them on both of the USB ports on both the original and replacement units. I have to think this is a firmware iisue, as the likelihood of identical hardware failures across multiple units is small.

[davo]

I'll test this on my unit and get back to you.

[wafer]

Hi Davo,

I think current LS421DE firmware v1.11 is not working for ext3 formatted USB drive. Somehow, the firmware does not auto-mount ext3 drive!

Please verify & share your results.

wafer

[MikeRubin]

I think that the firmware does not support any USB device.  I hope that something is done to fix this shortly, as USB 3.0 support was one of my specific reasons for purchasing this device. (Right now, I would settle for any USB support.)

[wafer]

I'll test this on my unit and get back to you.

Hi Davo,

Can you duplicate the problem we have?

wafer

[davo]

I'll test this on my unit and get back to you.

Hi Davo,

Can you duplicate the problem we have?

wafer

Nope, tested and works fine with a 3TB HD-LBU3 Drivestation. (see image)

[wafer]

Hi Davo,

Strange! I've tried a NTFS portable drive, but failed! I run out of idea. I have tried FAT32, XFS, ext3. All failed!

Do you have internal disks in array mode? I wonder if it matters if the internal disks are in RAID1.

Manual mount is okay. In fact, I managed to make the usb drive share in smb! The GUI just refuses to recognize it!

Wafer

[MikeRubin]

Hi Davo,

Strange! I've tried a NTFS portable drive, but failed! I run out of idea. I have tried FAT32, XFS, ext3. All failed!

Do you have internal disks in array mode? I wonder if it matters if the internal disks are in RAID1.

Manual mount is okay. In fact, I managed to make the usb drive share in smb! The GUI just refuses to recognize it!

Wafer

I remain in the same boat.  I am on my THIRD 421de.  All exhibit the same problem.  I can get a thumb drive to mount fine.  However, powered drives do not.  I have tried three of them, in NTFS, XFAT, and FAT32 formats.  (Can't figure out how to format EXT3 in Windows or with freeware.)  I also have my internal disks as RAID1.  Tech support says they have heard of this issue, but it is not universal.  I am out of ideas, too, though, and wonder if I should not have purchased another brand of enclosure.  This should not be a hard problem to solve. 

EDIT:  I did succeed in formatting one drive as EXT3.  Still not recognized.

[DaveJJ]

I notice that your screen shot shows a Buffalo drive.  Does this mean that Buffalo have tied us in to their products.  Also, Buffalo state that only XFS and FAT32 formatted drives are R/W.  I note also that there is basically no data on the drive, did you try writing to it?.  I have managed to get one USB HDD to be recognised by the system but I can't write to it at all, FAT32 or XFS.

I can't even get the built in Backup software to write to the internal drives (Disk 1 & 2).  The backup stutters to a halt after anything from 2GB up to 9GB out of a 384GB backup, no matter how long I leave it.

I'm presently going through the painful excercise of exchanging e-mails with the online support (Probably just a robot called Artur (sic)).

The version1.3 F/W must be flaw because as well as the USB and Backup issues, I formatted Drive 1 to default XFS 3 times (because the web admin said it was unformatted) rebooted each time and it continued to say unformatted until I returned the box to factory default (Not good)

Definitely wish I'd never bought this broken technology.

I'll test this on my unit and get back to you.

Hi Davo,

Can you duplicate the problem we have?

wafer

Nope, tested and works fine with a 3TB HD-LBU3 Drivestation. (see image)

[DaveJJ]

As an add-on to my previous post, I got up this morning and interrogated the web admin page for this NAS and found that having left a backup running, the Drives screen is reporting Disk 1 is unformatted (again). :o

[luger]

Well, it took four tries, but success counts for something...

Enclosure is a new Thermaltake ST0020U, with an old Seagate Sata II formatted MBT NTFS nominal 2TB HD. Bought a pair just after the Thailand flood before the price hike, so you know this is an old drive. Wanted an enclosure with a fan (this has two) that I could leave on 24/7, and the older Rosewill combo esata/USB 3.0 wouldn't mount. Two different docking stations didn't mount either. One 2.5inch Sabrent would mount sometimes, but freak out and refuse to disconnect. Huh?

Anyway, firmware is current for now - 1.30-0.85 - on the LS421DE. Dismount works fine, and mounting goes smoothly so far. Expect if I put a different drive in the box it would work too. Box says it will work with Sata III at full speed, up to 3TB. Read and Write via the connection to the rest of the home network is just north of 40MB/s.

Attachment shows this really works. Anyway, I was starting to think the USB 3.0 was useless for me unless I bought a Buffalo USB External, but happy to report this is not the case. This enclosure is a little pricey but not ridiculous. It meets the need. It even works on my A*S*U*S RT-AC56U router on the USB 3.0, so whatever chipset this thing uses is probably the charm right now with firmwares being used.

Hope this helps others struggling with the USB 3.0 recognition issue out there. TTFN...

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rtaylor187]

Ls421e - I tried Thermaltake dock (usb2) with 2TB drive - no recognize.

Same device was recognized by TeraStation...

Firmware 1.31

- Rich

[steamship]

Now wishing I had seen this post before going out and buying a LS421 after having issues with a LS-WXL29C. Installed 2x4TB disks and set up as RAID 1. Copied 1TB of data across to it from my LS-WVL08D which is nearing capacity. Then tried to do a backup using a 3TB Seagate USB3 external drive. The LS-WVL08D recognises it and will back up to it, but the LS421 won't even recognise it. The firmware was 1.0, which the Management screen said was the most uptodate. I went onto the Buffalo site and downloaded version 1.3. Even after a reboot, it still won't recognise the external drive. I've even had to pull the power on the LS421 today, as it had totally disappeared off my network. It wasn't there on my hub and couldn't access it in Windows Explorer or the web page.

Can anyone recommend another NAS unit that isn't a Buffalo one, as this is now the second different model I've had issues with. The LS-WXL29C spent 4 days (96 hours) backing up about 0.5TB of data to an external drive, before Buffalo support in the UK basically told me to pull the plug on the NAS unit.