Step-by-step: 2.0TB Western Digital disks, WD20EARS-00MVWB0

willbldrco wrote:

As the 2.0TB Western Digital disks, WD20EARS-00MVWB0, which are now available via Amazon and other retailers are not yet on ReadyNAS' hardware compatibility list, I wanted to post this step by step showing how I got them setup to work on my ReadyNAS NV+: RESOURCES: - TechZ's Sat Apr 09, 2011 2:58 am post with step-by-step process for using WD Greens for ReadyNAS NV+: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=52211 - Western Digital RE2GP Idle Mode Update Utility from http://support.wdc.com/product/download ... 13&lang=en Following are the steps I used in my particular environment: PC: Win7 ReadyNAS: NV+ Disks: 2.0TB Western Digital WD20EARS-00MVWB0 Step 1: From PC, download ISO: http://www.readynas.com/contributed/Com ... DIDLE3.iso Step 2: From PC, create a bootable image with the WDIDLE3 tool. For bootable CD see A. For bootalbe USB, see B: A: CD Step 3: Place blank CD in your burner Step 4: Right-click the ISO image downloaded in step 1 above and select "Burn disk image" (Proceed to step 5) B: USB Step 3: Use the tool at the following URL to 'burn' the ISO from step 1 above to create a bootable USB drive from which to run the WDIDLE3 tool: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ (Proceed to step 5) Step 5: Make sure you have all the HDDs installed in the computer from which you'll be booting from the USB you prepared in steps 1 and 2. If you don't have enough bays for all your disks, you can do steps 5-9 for each WD hard drive you want to config for the ReadyNAS Step 6: Reboot the system and verify the BIOS is set to boot off the CD or USB Step 7: Boot from CD or USB Step 8: Type WDIDLE3 /R Typically it will tell you that the IDLE is set to 8seconds (the default for WD "Green" drives) Step 9: Type WDIDLE3 /S300 This sets the idle to 5mins (300seconds) which will "fix" the problem of using these drives in a ReadyNAS unit. Step 10: Type WDIDLE3 /R (again, to make sure its changed to 300 seconds from 8 seconds) Done! Upgrade firmware to latest version - Connect to your ReadyNAS via a browser (can be achieved by clicking "Setup" button through the ReadyNAS "RAIDar" utility) - From left nav bar: System -> Update o I updated to RAIDiator 4.1.8 (sparc) Reset ReadyNas to factory default: (THIS WILL DELETE ALL DATA YOU MAY HAVE ON THE DISKS IN THE ReadyNAS!!! - I was using new disks, so this wasn't a worry for me) - For my ReadyNAS NV+, I used a paperclip to push the reset switch in the back next to the USB port while the power was off. Keeping the reset switch pressed with the paperclip, I powered on the ReadyNAS NV+ and held the reset switch in place for 30 seconds (display will switch to "Factory reset"). I then released the paperclip and let the ReadyNAS NV+ reset and boot - For other ReadyNAS units, look for instrcutions listed on this page: http://www.readynas.com/kb/faq/boot/how ... _boot_menu - Once I saw "Booting... Awaiting RAIDar," I started RAIDar on my PC and followed the instructions to set the raid config I wanted. - The ReadyNAS NV+ LCD display showed several messages while going through the config process ("Installing FW," "Create C: 1.0%," "Create C: 10.0%," "Disk 4 sync 1%," etc...). This last step might take a long time (hours) before the new volume is initiated and ready for use.

Excellent post and thanks for taking out the time to give a step-by-step on how to complete it. I actually picked up the two WD20EARX which are the replacement for the WD20EARS model and was able to successfully set the Intelli-Park from the 8 second default to 300 seconds. Unfortunately, I already installed one drive in my NAS before setting this variable and inside of 6 days already have 1,540 Load_Cycle_Count. I intend to remove that drive and set it's LCC value and hopefully won't have any issues in changing it, but super happy I at least got one done before installation. There seems to be mixed responses on whether or not this makes any difference but I didn't want to take a chance given the difficulty in obtaining drives at a reasonable price right now. I presume setting the value to 300 seconds is the only option? I thought I saw a few posts where the Intelli-Park could be disabled all together? Thanks again!