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Forum Discussion
Moving from RN104 to RN312
I've been really unhappy with the RN104 I purchased just over a month ago. The initial installation was really simple and I put in 2 x 3TB WD Red WD30EFRX RED SATA 6Gb/SE drives to start with. Problem is that for any kind of usage I get high CPU load averages, unstable services and generally a dog-slow performance - and I find myself picking through the process list on the RN host trying to identify stuff to knock out, not what I expected when purchasing this device. So it's going back to the retailer as 'not as advertised' - and I've been reading that the RN312 may be a decent step up - seems like it's got sufficient RAM and CPU grunt to do basic stuff.
The main reason I'd stick to Netgear and move up the food-chain with the RN312 is what I'm hoping is a simple migration path which will retain all my data on my drives which have been commissioned with the 104 unite?
So my question folks is - if I have a new RN312 box, can I take my 2 x 3TB WD Red WD30EFRX RED SATA 6Gb/SE drives with all my data and slot them in - and have the RN312 box effectively pick up from where I left off? It's taken significant time so far to get all my data onto that pair of drives, so could someone help me out here and ideally point to a step by step migration procedure?
(Also does Plex work on the RN31x range? It would not stream any video on the RN104 because of some transcoding (aka lack of CPU performance) reasons. Given centralising my media collection for multiple devices was one of the primary drivers to purchase, and given Plex is in the list of apps to download onto the RN104 - it's a little poor that the 104 is such an empty-shell when it comes to CPU/RAM. Serves me right for not researching enough before....but it's still staggering how badly underpowered it actually is)
Thanks in advance.
The main reason I'd stick to Netgear and move up the food-chain with the RN312 is what I'm hoping is a simple migration path which will retain all my data on my drives which have been commissioned with the 104 unite?
So my question folks is - if I have a new RN312 box, can I take my 2 x 3TB WD Red WD30EFRX RED SATA 6Gb/SE drives with all my data and slot them in - and have the RN312 box effectively pick up from where I left off? It's taken significant time so far to get all my data onto that pair of drives, so could someone help me out here and ideally point to a step by step migration procedure?
(Also does Plex work on the RN31x range? It would not stream any video on the RN104 because of some transcoding (aka lack of CPU performance) reasons. Given centralising my media collection for multiple devices was one of the primary drivers to purchase, and given Plex is in the list of apps to download onto the RN104 - it's a little poor that the 104 is such an empty-shell when it comes to CPU/RAM. Serves me right for not researching enough before....but it's still staggering how badly underpowered it actually is)
Thanks in advance.
9 Replies
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- Yea you can put the drives into the 312. If you get one, first use a spare drive to set up the 312 and ensure that the firmware on it is the latest. Then power off, remove the single disk, insert your 2 disks from the 104 ( in the same order) and power on.
You should have an up to date backup before you do this.
The 312 will transcode, but not hd material. - Hi Van, thanks for the reply - sounds like there is some hope for a seamless migration. FYI I managed to get an eChat session with someone from Netgear who stated clearly that based on the CPU architecture differing between the 104 (x86) and the 312 ( ARM) that there was no way possible to use the drives without reformatting ! I did query this on the basis that I can't work out why a CPU variant would mean the file-systems were not compatible - but what do you make of that opinion?
- That is incorrect.
You can migrate the disks, as long as there are only 2 as of course the 312 is a 2 bay unit.
As well as making sure the firmware is up to date you should do an OS reinstall after you have installed the disks into the 312. The OS reinstall does not wipe data. Do not do a factory default.
Do a backup first and whatever you do do not insert the disks with the NAS on as this will wipe them. Power down, insert the 2 disks and then power on.
There'll be others in the next 12 hours or so who will confirm what I have said if you want more reassurance. - Again my thanks for the clarification, will et you know how I get on when the new unit arrives
- Sorry one final query - how do I initiate an OS reinstall on the 312 unit?
By following the instructions on pages 31 and 32 of the hardware manual, conveniently downloadable from support.netgear.com :shock:Wertster wrote: Sorry one final query - how do I initiate an OS reinstall on the 312 unit?
The link is http://www.downloads.netgear.com/files/ ... ct2013.pdf It is simpler on the 4 and 6 bay units, the LCD lets you avoid counting the blinks.
BTW, if you need HD transcoding you should get an RN500 series system.- ok got it thanks.
- Thanks Guys. I took my existing/commissioned drives 2 x 3TB WD Red WD30EFRX RED SATA 6Gb/SE drives from my damned RN104 unit and threw the 104 unit as far as I could. RN312 unit arrived. I had 2 temporary/blank drives ready. I installed those blank drives and commissioned the 312 unit as normal. I then did firmware upgrade and OS reinstall. I could tell already my life was better as the user interface was way more responsive, and 'top'ping the process list showed hardly any CPU load when doing stuff that made the 104 melt. Once commissioned I powered down. I then swapped the drives out and put in my important drives with all my data on. Booted. Sprang into life and after a little fine tuning of my configs, I'm back in business with all my data on a 312 unit which is doing what I'd expect ! Many thanks to those of you who provided the steer/guidance. Way better than the 'computer says no' answer got from the Netgear tech support ! Oh and Plex works perfectly fine, finally. Thanks guys.
- I think you misunderstood me, you need to do an OS reinstall now, this will put the 312 OS onto the disks.
I think this is recommended to ensure the correct hardware is identified in the OS.
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