Connecting USB HDD locks up the management interface of D7000v2

[Brendyman]

Hi,

I just bought the D7000v2 router to replace my current one. One of the features I rely on is the USB drive sharing (including DLNA sharing). Unfortunately the router doesn't want to cooperate.

What is happening:

The router right now is configured and operational, however, the moment I connect the USB HDD I use (1,5TB Seagate Expansion 2,5" HDD, 1 NTFS partition on it) and try to configre it under the ReadyShare section of the management interface, the whole interface locks up and becomes inaccessible. Mind you, the basic functionality of the router remains operational. The only thing that allows me to access the interface again is to disconnect the HDD and power cycle the router.

What did I try?

1. Upgrading/downgrading firmware (I tried 1.3something, 1.4, 1.52, currently at 1.52 - behaviour was the same in all cases)

2. The drive is operational - Seagate Diagnostic tool gave a green light, I copied all the data to a different drive, ran chkdsk a couple of times - no issues detected. This drive (while about 3 years old) has seen continuous usage and had no issues at all working with my 3 previous routers (a FritzBox, a D-Link and an ASUS).

3. I was able to connect a different USB drive (using an old, empty 120GB SSD in a USB case) and this drive did not cause this issue, leading me to believe this may have something to do with drive indexing, issues while attempting to do so or something about the file structure that causes the router to lock up. The drive I want to use has approximately 900GB of various media files, I really wouldn't like to be forced to copy it all again...

4. I used both the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports - no difference.

5. When the issue occurs, the management interface is inaccessible from both WiFi and wired connections.

6. I tried leaving it in the locked-up state overnight (in case it just needed some time to finish whatever it was preoccupied with), but this had no effect too. After over 6 hours, the interface was still locked up.

I'll take any suggestions, at this point I'm very close to just returning this device.

[Brendyman]

Additional information:

1. I tried copying some files to the empty drive, copied about 80GB of movies and music files. When connected to the router, I was able to start the SMB share which worked without issues both via browser and windows explorer. When I went to the DLNA server section and clicked apply to start it, the interface became unresponsive, SMB share stopped working, the router remains in this state now.

2. Slight clarification on the firmwares I tried - obviously I shortened the version numbers, however, just to clarify, right now I'm using the latest available firmware - V1.0.0.53_1.0.2, I used at least 4 other versions, I won't be listing them here. The router was also reset to factory settings numerous times and on different firmware releases. I believe the firmware upgrade/downgrade doesn't have any effect on the issue, however, if you have a specific firmware release you'd like me to check out - please let me know.

[Brendyman]

Well... by the amount of replies I can surmise that choosing Netgear wasn't a wise decision. I guess it's time to return it. It's just a shame that products with such severe issues are sold and at a premium price. I probably won't buy a Netgear product in the future.

[michaelkenward]

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@Brendyman wrote:

Well... by the amount of replies I can surmise that choosing Netgear wasn't a wise decision.

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You seem to be impatient. You should know that this community is essentially a user-to-user venue with some input from a small band of Netgear techies.

Most of the answers come from fellow users who have no connection with Netgear. They just have a lot of collective experience and are familiar with the sort of problems that turn up here.

They are not sitting here ready to leap into action at the drop of a hat. We also live in different time zones. Most of the world was asleep while you were sitting their poised for an instant response.

If you want "official" support then you should go through the right channels.

Contact Us | Support | NETGEAR

[Brendyman]

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@michaelkenward wrote:

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@Brendyman wrote:

Well... by the amount of replies I can surmise that choosing Netgear wasn't a wise decision.

---

You seem to be impatient. You should know that this community is essentially a user-to-user venue with some input from a small band of Netgear techies.

Most of the answers come from fellow users who have no connection with Netgear. They just have a lot of collective experience and are familiar with the sort of problems that turn up here.

They are not sitting here ready to leap into action at the drop of a hat. We also live in different time zones. Most of the world was asleep while you were sitting their poised for an instant response.

If you want "official" support then you should go through the right channels.

Contact Us | Support | NETGEAR

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Ok, not sure why are you angry, I didn't personally point out you or anyone else for a reason. I realize you didn't reply because you probably didn't know the solution or didn't have time to reply and judging by the fact that you decided to criticise my approach to this forum instead of addressing the issue, I believe you're just as confused with it as me.

I believe I was clear in why I'm disappointed in Netgear. It's not your fault, it's Netgear's. It's their fault that a premium-segment product has a serious firmware issue out-of-the-box. I'm being impatient because I just bought this device and instantly I get an issue that prevents me from utilizing the features I bought the device for. I have little doubt that this is in fact firmware and not hardware related, as the hardware works fine... as long as there are no files on the USB HDD. I was hoping this is a common matter that can be solved with something that eluded me during my battles with the router but the lack of replies is a clear indicator that nobody knows what to do. I'm pretty sure had I been a user not interested in the DLNA/SMB server functionality, I'd be a very happy Netgear user now. This is not the case though.

This is 100% on Netgear and not the first time I'm disappointed by their products. Honestly, only 50% of the Netgear devices I own(ed) worked without any issues. This case just shows how little regard for quality control the company has. Their devices are pretty and maybe some even work well, but that's not enough.

I'm no longer interested in solving the problem. I'm just waiting for the return shipping label from the shop and I'm returning it. Luckily my country allows me a no-questions-asked refund within 14 days of purchase, this is also one of the reasons I'm not exactly patient here. Besides, would you keep this device in my situation? Don't answer.

All the best to you and don't feel bad, it's the QA tester who should feel bad, or the manager who let this through.

Cheers!

[1TimOz]

gotta agree , I'm also have no success with either readyshare nor connecting usb drives to the d7000v2 , and bw currently the official channel has it in the too hard basket and I'm awaiting a call back but not expecting same .

really is a pity the promised support is not avaibable .