Backup to USB fails due to lack of space; but it's an empty drive and there are no files on it!

[JanSolo]

I've upgraded my NV+ v1 (4.1.14) with 4x 2TB drives and I ran into the 4k block size problem. So I'm trying to backup my device so I can factory reset it.

The current size of the volume is 1.3TB, so I took out one of the 2TB drives to use as a backup via USB. 1.3TB should fit easily into 2TB, right?

I added the 2TB drive to the front USB port and formatted it as ext3, it shows up just fine in the shares and has the expected free space.

So I made a backup task and source=share/ dest=USB/Sharename/ and ran it.

it runs for a few minues and stops with this error: 

Error encountered copying data from source path ==> /USB_HDD_4_1//blah due to lack of disk space. [Job 003]

I look at the USB drive and it is FULL. Zero bytes available. It has made a few folders, but they are all empty.

What is going on?

Are there hidden files (.appledouble, etc)? I ran BlueHarvest on the volume before the backup and it deleted a bunch of these. But not 2TB's worth.

I use this volume mainly with my mac... is there anything I'm missing? 

 Any help is appreciated! Thanks

[JanSolo · Accepted solution]

OK, I figured out the multiple partition problem.

When partitioning a drive with Disk Utility on Mac, it creates a HIDDEN FAT32 partition called EFI which is used for some boot info. This EFI partition is confusing RAIDiator and causing it to try and use the small EFI partition instead of the large main one.

Since I'm not booting this drive (it's only for backup), it's safe to remove it. You need to enable a debug option in order to see the partition in Disk Utility. Search google for 'Remove EFI partition on mac' to see how to do it.

Also, I used EXTfs for mac by Paragon Software which allows you to create and mount ext3 partitions on your mac. http://www.paragon-drivers.com/extfs-mac/

Backup job is running now... hopefully it will complete successfully!

[JennC]

Hello JanSolo,

Did format the disk before plugging it to the USB port? What's file system format?

Regards,

[JanSolo]

I used the usb volume page in raidiator to format it as ext3.
Im gonna try to format it manually on my Mac, but macs don't support ext3. What should I use?

[JennC]

Hello JanSolo,

Can you try FAT32?

Regards,

[JanSolo]

Some of my files are > 4gb... won't the backup fail because of that?

[JanSolo]

I tried to format the drive on my mac... I end up with two partitions like this:

USB Storage Devices

The following USB storage devices are connected.

	Device	Part.	Description	Used	Size	FS	Speed
	USB_HDD_6	1	Voyager S3 [Partition 1]	0 MB	196 MB	FAT32	480	Options	Go
		2	Voyager S3 [Partition 2]	0 MB	1862 GB	FAT32	480	Options	Go

The small partition is not big enough to backup to and the large partition is not accessible as a device!

Also, trying to reformat the small partition using raidiator works, but reformatting the big partition causes the http service on the nas to restart.

What is going on? Is there any way to get a USB drive to work? This should be simple, no?

[JanSolo · Accepted solution]

OK, I figured out the multiple partition problem.

When partitioning a drive with Disk Utility on Mac, it creates a HIDDEN FAT32 partition called EFI which is used for some boot info. This EFI partition is confusing RAIDiator and causing it to try and use the small EFI partition instead of the large main one.

Since I'm not booting this drive (it's only for backup), it's safe to remove it. You need to enable a debug option in order to see the partition in Disk Utility. Search google for 'Remove EFI partition on mac' to see how to do it.

Also, I used EXTfs for mac by Paragon Software which allows you to create and mount ext3 partitions on your mac. http://www.paragon-drivers.com/extfs-mac/

Backup job is running now... hopefully it will complete successfully!

[JanSolo]

Backup is still running 1 day later... It seems awfully slow. My volume is 1300GB in size, but only 400GB has been used on the backup USB drive.

At this rate, it will take another 48 hours to complete the backup! Is that normal? The USB Volume setting state the USB speed is 480MBPS

1.3 TB / 480MBPS is about 45 minutes..... why is it taking 3 days?

Thanks.

Jan.

[StephenB]

---

@JanSolo wrote:

.

 At this rate, it will take another 48 hours to complete the backup! Is that normal? The USB Volume setting state the USB speed is 480MBPS

---

USB 2 runs at 480 megabits, not megabytes.  That is also the raw usb bus speed, not the actual disk throughput.

That said, it is normal.  Your old NV+ doesn't have good USB performance.

@chirpa wrote:
The speeds are something close to this: NTFS = 2.5MB/s FAT32 = 5MB/s EXT3 = 10MB/s EXT2 = 14MB/s

 10 MB/s should take about two days, not three.

[JanSolo]

Backup was successful. 

I reset the device, restored the backup and everything is good.

Thanks for the help, amigos!