Status of LS-QL?

[peteguyton]

I've got a less-than-two-year-old LS-QL with four 1GB drives. I'm running a Mac Pro running OS X 10.6.8 (about to go to Lion). But this post is not about LIon

 

I use a "sync/backup" software to backup folders from my Mac to the LS-QL (Synchronize Pro X, similar to Super Duper or Cabon Copy cloner etc).  It has been working perfectly for almost two years. All of a sudden (and it may have happened with 10.6.8)  the sync software  cannot analyze the drive as part of it's backup routine. It's simply reading the folders then comes to a crawl and stops. What took 10 minutes before runs all night now and fails to complete.  The Network is 1GB ethernet, working perfectly. My hunch is that my problem is linked to 10.6.8 and may be similar to problems reported with Lion and this model.

 

Questions

• in the threads about LIon , there's talk of updating firmware to 1.54 on other models but the LS-QL is noticeably absent.  Can you confirm your plans for this LS-QL  model?  Are you going to update the firmware (for Lion anythiing else for that matter)?  This is not a "when?" question.... this is a question "if" you will ever update it. Simple "yes" or "no".
• The firmware is at 1.1, which is 2 years old, do you plan to update?
• Should we LS-QL users assume that our product is dead and move on?
• If your support is truly ended, can the SATA II drives be used in newer model? Like LS-QVL?
• Would you consider a trade in program for abandoned LS-QL users if it is indeed dead?

Obviously, no one likes to see their product abandoned after less than two years and I understand the difficulty of supporting so many different boxes (a situation you created, not me), but there are a bunch of us out there trying to figure what to do for their relatively young, and possibly useless NAS storage.

 

Regards,

PG

[jezarotiades]

I fully support this question.

In case Buffalo will not support OS X Lion for LS-QL and not provide a trade to exchange our only 2 years old NAS with a NAS compatibe with Lion, I will buy a new NAS but certainely not from Buffalo.

 

Trust takes time to build but go away instantly

 

Regards

 

JEZ

 

 

 

[Diver01]

MY LS-QL Drive is 20 months old and I have the same problems, I also support your questions.

 

The information politics and the Customer Care of Buffalo is poor!

 

Regards

D

 

 

[asemg]

Yes I have bought my LS-QL 8TB just last year mainly as a timemachine back for my systems, now I am not able to use it after my upgrade to Lion OS X, so are you telling me that my nearly 2000$ went down the drain? is this something that Buffalo wants to project for new buyers?

[janph76]

Mine is about 1 yr.  The lack of support for 1-2 yr old model just isn't fare to the consumers.  Although I do find Buffalo NAS to be excellent but if Buffalo no longer support less than 2 yr old model I would not be too happy about it.  

 

I eventually have to get a new NAS but it certainly wouldn't be Buffalo.

[Diver01]

Still no answer from Buffalo, still no new firmware, Users have been left alone.

I'm going to sell my Buffalo products now.

 

Good bye Buffalo, we will never meet again!

[Jerrball]

I bought my refurbished 90 days ago.

Not only does it not work with Time Machine, the raid array is failing every day.

[deagles]

I upgraded to Lion last night, and immediately found this problem (and this forum).  I want a solution also ... I purchased my LS-QL brand new only 3 MONTHS ago - i.e. after Lion was released.    How can you STILL be selling a product that you don't support ?

 

Maybe I was just doomed from the start.  The LS-QL i received died on day 3, buffalo US support confirmed it was terminal (led's flashing 7 times & grinding noises) and were going to replace it.  Nearly two weeks later, I received a 'new' one ... couldn't login, phoned US support to be asked to do a factory reset and then absolutely astonished to find someone elses username, details, & shared folders, on the drive.  That one obviously got sent back as well.  Another new(?) one arrived after about another two weeks, and so far, so good ... well, until last night ! 

 

I've got to say the Australian support is extremely ordinary & very unhelpful.  

 

Now this just tops it all off.   For me, if this isn't resolved quickly, it's strike 3 for Buffalo, and i'll be out.

[markyee]

Serious...

LS-QL series is not THAT old of a product to just leave out support for already. I'm going to make sure my friend do not EVER buy their products.

[peteguyton]

Can someone at Buffalo tell the LS-QL users definitively if there

a) will be any firmware updates for this unit?

b) is support effectively cut off for this unit?(as far as LIon users go)

c) will there be an upgrade / trade-in option for owners of this unit?

 

Honestly, this is a legitimate thread and all these people want , including myself, is to know if we need to move on or not.   Buffalo owes us a response, bad news is better than silence.

[davo]

Taken from the latest version of the PDF regarding MAC 10.7 support. I'd say this is pretty offically:

http://www.buffalo-asia.com/support/macosxlion/index.html#networkhdd">http://www.buffalo-asia.com/support/macosxlion/index.html#networkhdd

 

http://forums.buffalotech.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/103iC110E64D566F8E3D/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&px=-1">

 

[peteguyton]

That answers two of three questions

 

a) ... will be any firmware updates for this unit? ANSWER: NO

 

b) is support effectively cut off for this unit?(as far as LIon users go) ANSWER: YES

 

c) will there be an upgrade / trade-in option for owners of this unit? NOT ANSWERED.



You've got people who bought this unit less than 12 months ago. Buffalo should offer some kind of trade-in or answer other than "tough &@$&, buy a new unit"

 

[Umbogo]

It's such a shame. I was a big fan of Buffalo, and very happy with my LS-QL. Now I have to buy a new NAS, and move away from Buffalo because I know that I can't be sure that my poduct will be suppoted after a year.

[deagles]

Hi All ...for those with LS-QL lion/timemachine "bricks" ... here's a solution that worked for me and at least has given me backups until I purcahse a new non-buffalo NAS.

 

1. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4700" target="_blank">apple KB article to allow LS-QL to connect to 'legacy AFP'

2. http://www.levelofindirection.com/journal/2009/10/10/using-a-networked-drive-for-time-machine-backups-on-a-mac.html" target="_blank">how to create a virtual timemachine disk on your external NAS

3. http://msftguy.blogspot.com/2011/07/lion-time-machine-and-afp-feature-bits.html" target="_blank">how to get Lion to think your NAS meets the new lion requirements to stop the 'The network backup disk does not support the required AFP features' message

 

Cheers

deagles

[schievelbein]

Give up people.
I have been fighting this battle for quite a while and here is the short of it:
Buffalo urged all of its vendors to dump the LS-QL series, as they wanted to make more money by releasing the Pro series. I personally bought mine along with 2-3TB drives to plug into the unit and back up the NAS. It was past my return time when I found out that it would not support 3TB drives. Buffalo Customer Support has stated that they will NEVER update the firmware (because 10-20 hours of engineer time is too expensive) and will NEVER release the firmware code so we could do it ourselves. Their constant solution is to buy a Pro series and dump my unit on some unsuspecting person on ebay. As a CIO/CTO for my organization, I will make sure I NEVER buy or allow anyone to buy Buffalo products until they step up and support their products.