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fixuser · Forum Regular Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 48

Well, it worked. I was able to load the Tritton firmware into the Argosy device.

With the Argosy 4-0317 firmware, my write speeds were 28-30 Mbits/s (approx. 3.5 MB/s), and read speed was 21-22 Mbits/s (just under 3 MB/s).

After updating to the Tritton firmware 5-0607 firmware, write is 37-40 Mbits/s (just under 5 MB/s), and read a steady 29 Mbits/s (3.5 MB/s).

Not bad

benjamintm · Contributor Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

I was also able to successfully flash on the Tritton flash.

One thing I noticed that I didn't see elsewhere is how loud the fan is on this device. I ended up unplugging the fan and leaving the case off because of the sound. Much quieter now.

Ben

o0moowear0o · Member Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 3

Hi all,
just picked up this NAS. Been searching but haven't found the answer yet;

1.The free space indicator consistantly reads 0 even after I've uploaded files to it. I've even pulled files from the NAS so it would appear the files are on the drive. I've tried formatting it and it gives me a number that is again either 0 or far greater than the capacity of my installed drive.

2.I'm using flash fxp to upload/download files to the drive; I have one file at 1.91gb but everytime I try to upload it, it disconnects prematurely and I end up getting only a few hundred mb's onto the NAS.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I'd really appreciate any help. Thank you.
I'm using the latest firmware, NetHDD004-0317

edit So it would appear that I've uploaded the full 1.91gb according to flash fxp but when I try to download it onto another pc, it stops at 3.14mb or so. Does this have anything to do with the software I'm using? I'm using it with passive mode by the way.

benjamintm · Contributor Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

It might be the FTP portion of the NAS. I've uploaded/downloaded 2GB+ files via SMB without any problems.

I'm also using the Tritton firmware instead of the Argosys.

One thing I noticed is that the time of the modification time of the files uploaded to the NAS are rounded to the minute. So a file last modified at 08:05:28 is rounded down to 08:05:00. Not that big of a deal as I can adjust my backup software to ignore difference below 60 seconds.

Ben

o0moowear0o · Member Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 3

Thanks for the response Benjamintm,
curious though, how do you go about transferring via smb? I'm not familiar with that. Does it have an interface similar to ftp? sorry, i'm somewhat of a noob in networking. thanks.

benjamintm · Contributor Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

I assume you are using Windows. For XP or NT, take a look at this site:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308582&sd=tech.

If you are using Windows 98, look here:
http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/kis/docs/howto/network/networkdrive/win98.htm

Ben

jmmcd · Member Joined: 30 Jun 2005 Posts: 1

I have many problems using this NAS with FileSync (Windows shareware version of rsync) to backup my PCs. I bought it to have an independent "backup" device + I had an extra 160GB drive. I really like the idea of a cheap DIY NAS, but not if it doesn't work.

I flashed it with the latest Triton firmware as mentioned in this thread It now seems reliable (the original firmware would lock up when I ran FileSync). But I wonder if anyone has suggestions re the problems I have encountered:

1) Files dated prior to 2000 show up as +100 years (e.g., 1999 becomes 2099). This is semi-fatal.

2) The NAS timestamps seem to drop the seconds and FileSync can't ignore more than a 2 second difference.

3) The sleep feature does not seem to do anything. Is it supposed to? I currently have it in my bedroom (that's where the WAP/router is) and am a light sleeper. I can take it apart to remove the fan (as another posting suggested) if I have to.

Thanks in advance - Michael

fixuser · Forum Regular Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 48

In response to:

1) Fan Noise
Removal works. Another might be to lubricate the fan. I wouldn't suggest using WD40 or similar oil based lubricant. I would suggest silicone or teflon based. You can buy an aerosol can of these at most hardware stores for about $3-5. Very useful for other fix-it squeaks around the house.

2) File Time Stamp
I've sent a message into Tritton tech support to ask about an update/fix for this in the firmware ... I'll post back as I learn more from them..

3) File Dates
I'll have a look at the file dates prior to 2000 and then log another request for an update/fix with Tritton.

4) Sleep Feature
All the sleep feature does is turn off the hard drive ... it does not turn off the fan.

5) Time Zone Note
I've noticed the time zone difficult to work with. Where I live, we apply Day Light Saving and Standard Time. The NAS does not support adjustment for these operations. Thus, I have to move adjust the NAS timezone manually if I want it to sync to the right time. Tritton and Argosy are looking into this as a possible feature update.

6) Password are Not Case Sensitive Note
When connected to a shared folder with a password, I've noticed that the password checking is not case sensitive. When creating the password, the NAS IS case sensitive. But, when checking the password for sharing the folder on a PC, it is not. I have logged this with Tritton and Argosy.

7) No more cluster size
For those that try out the latest firmware from Tritton, you may notice that there is no longer an option to set the file cluster size when formating the hard drive. This is because Tritton decided to fix/set the cluster size to 32 kB. They found this helped with the performance improvement.

8) FTP access
I haven't tried the FTP server at all, I have it disabled. But, as Benjamintm suggests, I would fully verify you're getting what you what first by mounting the shared folder from a PC first. You don't necessarily have to map it to a drive letter, go straight to the server\folder and check it out directly \\server\folder\ ... \\storage\shared_folder for example.

I'll report back as I learn more.

benjamintm · Contributor Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

I also noticed the year issue. I thought it was my backup program (SyncBack) because I noticed that Explorer showed the date correctly. I might have mis-read the Explorer date.

For the time rounding issue, SyncBack allows you to ignore changed files within a customizable range of times. I recommend the freeware version of the software and am currently debating on buying the SE version.

One thing that I noticed is that after about 4 days, my XP mapped drive to the NAS stopped working correctly. I'm not sure if it was a problem with XP or the NAS, but my Mac was still connected. Either way, I wrote a quick batch file that will disconnect then reconnect to the NAS before each backup (another capability of SyncBack).

Ben

o0moowear0o · Member Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 3

Thanks benjamintm,
So SMB is just another way of saying "mapped drives"?

I am going to flash my firmware to the tritton one in hopes that it will resolve some other issues i have. thanks again.

edit thanks to fixuser as well..:P, clicked submit in haste

Edit 2 I've upgraded the argosy firmware to tritton's latest but now when i go to format the drive, it gives me an error..."Command Failed=Error Code: General Error" I went to tritton's page and they said that this was a known error with the firmware??? I really don't understand that but whatever. Anyhow, how did you guys get around this? thanks again.

benjamintm · Contributor Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Posts: 7

I don't remember if I formatted my drive before or after I flashed the Tritton firmware. I'm using the drive for my backups, so I can't try a format.

Ben

fixuser · Forum Regular Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 48

I'm not sure what to suggest about not being able to format the hard drive ... I too don't recall if I formated the drive before or after the firmware upgrade. But, then again, I was playing with two different hard drives when I was trying out the different firmware versions.

Because the latest firmware uses only 32 kB clusters, I might suggest returning to firmware version 4-0317 (Argosy or Tritton), format the hard drive with 32 kB clusters, update the firmware again to the latest, and then try to format again.

Also, I initially had a problem when I first flashed the Tritton firmware, I couldn't get the device to shut down. After disconnecting power for awhile, like 10 to 15 minutes, I powered the unit back up and it worked fine from there after ... so maybe a couple things to try between different firmware version and power cycling.

Here's some updates:

2) File Time Stamp
Tritton had already confirmed that the time stamp is rounded to the nearest minute, and is already working on a fix.

3) File Dates
I ran a variety of test with files just before and after 2000. Here's some interesting results:

If you copy a file from your PC to the Simple NAS, then back from the Simple NAS to the PC, you'll see that all the file dates stay in tact ... except for the time ... which for some files I noticed was rounded to the nearest minute as noted previously.

So, I decided to find out exactly what is on the disk. I took the hard drive out the NAS unit and put it into my PC (I have swappable hard drive caddys, and I modified the NAS to use the same caddy, so I can do this quickly) and viewed the file information. The files are stored on the disk with the exact proper date and time.

Thus, the files are copied to the drive correctly, it's just that their date and time are being misreported by the firmware.

While the files are copied to the drive correctly, this doesn't help with backup programs. I have sent all this same information to Tritton, we'll see what they have to say after the 4th of July holidays.

I'll keep reporting as the info comes in.

fixuser · Forum Regular Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 48

Oh, forgot to report on the FTP service.

I enabled it and tried out all the features. I used an anonymous account, a custom account with password, and a variety of read and write accesses. All worked as they should. I'm using the FileZilla FTP client.

The FTP service doesn't help with the dates and time, they are still in error as when you read the files from the SMB network access (\\server\folder).

Hope this helps.

ikill · Member Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 2

I have put by drive together however I can't get the GUI to come up. I have typeed in http://storage/ and 169.254.0.1 and have not been able to get the GUI.

Thanks

fixuser · Forum Regular Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Posts: 48

For those that might be interested in a review of the Tritton product, Tom's Networking has a review that compares it to a similar Hawking product.
http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Reviews-208-ProdID-H2H4-1.php

The Tritton did not test well, shows very slow speeds. The speeds I achieve on my home network are much, much faster. Perhaps it is because they ran the tests from a Machintosh machine??

I've continued to find additional issues I have forwarded to Tritton:

1) If you change the default administrator name, from 'admin', it never shows it changed in the Web GUI. It changes, as you need to use the new name to login, but it never shows the change in the GUI.

2) I requested that somewhere on the Web GUI they show the device's MAC address.

3) I requested the option to allow the user to enter an IP address for the time server, instead of/in addition to of their predefined servers.

As for ikill, I don't know what to suggest at this time. Perhaps run Angry IP Scanner (search the web, you should find it) and see if you can find the device on your network. Also, see if your router shows it connected (some routers have the option to show the devices connected to the network). Lastly, it may be that your router assigned it a different IP address ... the IP Scanner program could help determine that.

I don't know why it doesn't show up under http://storage though, that usually works.

If all else fails, I'd power it down for awhile (say 10+ minutes), then turn it back on and see what happens. If problems continue, try powering down/up with and without the hardrive installed.