If my Nas Duo fails can I read the disks on a PC/Mac via USB
Hi all,
I am currently running a Nas Duo v.1 with two 2TB Western Digital drives running in Raid 1. Back in September 2011, my Nas Duo stopped working and although I was able to fix it with a factory reset and re-installing the firmware, I noticed that when I took the drives out and placed them in a USB caddy I could not assess the data on a MAC or PC.
I would like to know is it possible and if so is it easy, to take disks out of the Duo (if it fails) and mount them via a USB caddy to a MAC or PC?? as I am afraid my Duo will fail and the disks will be fine but I will not be able to access them and I will have to try and purchase a Duo v.1 to read them again.
I have tried to find the solution on forums and I have seen posts talking about the 16k block size on the duo causes problems, but I do not know much about this and I have no Linux experience.
Re: If my Nas Duo fails can I read the disks on a PC/Mac via
Well given 4 days, plenty of views and no answer I am guessing know one has the answer to my post above.
My research and communication with Netgear tech support has lead me to find a solution, which I thought I would share with everyone in case anyone ends up in the position where there Nas drives dies and they can't read the hard drivers without buying the same device again.
Netgear Tech support have confirmed their hard drives format as Ext2/Ext3, this is a Linux format. If you have a Linux computer great, connect the drives and I am sure you'll be fine, but if you are like me and have never even used Linux let alone own a copy then you will need a different solution.
Most Forum posts and web links seem to relate to 2008 and pre windows 7. However I have found a program called Linux Reader 1.6.3.0 which works on Windows 7 and is freeware :). It opens up a screen similar to 'My Computer' where you can see the disk you have taken out of your Nas Device and preview the files.
E.g. I was able to take an old 1.5TB Western Digital hard drive which I used to run in my Netgear Nas Duo 1 (before I replaced it with two 2TB drives in September 2011), this drive had not been connected to PC or Mac since I took it out of the Duo. I placed the 1.5TB drive into a USB Caddy and connected it to my PC running Linux Reader; I was able to download any data off the drive I wanted.
Previously when I connected the drive to PC I could see the drive was connected in the 'Computer Management' program found in the admin tool but no drive letter could be assigned so I could not read it. And when the drive was connected to a Mac the only options where to 'Ignore', 'Erase' or 'Eject'. Neither options were helpful.
The only downside to this program is you have to download the data off the drive to open it and view it. e.g. If you have a video file on the drive you can not just plug in and play. However the file transfer rate when I tested the computer was fast (sorry the program does not tell you the speed).
I have only found the program tonight; I am pleased with the results as it means if my Nas dies I will not be left with hard drives I can't read.
I hope this is helpful, should I have any problems with this program I will post a follow up reply.
The web link below will take you to the program; I hope it benefits others too.
