External USB drive shows up as ready only, backup fails
Hi,
I have 3 ReadyNAS units I use in my home; an older Ultra 6+, which thinks its a Pro Business Edition, and which I use as my primary file server; a ReadyNAS 316, I use as a backup (backs up the Utlra nightly via RSYNC); and an NV+ I which I use as a paperweight.
The 316 runs 6.9.4
A few weeks ago I connected an external USB drive to my 316, as an additional backup. It is formated NTFS, to make it easy if I need to access the files from a Windows PC. I defined a backup job for each share, and set the system to do incremental backups nightly. All seemed well. The incremental backups ran successfully each night.
Then I turned the 316 off for a few days.
When I turned it back on, all the backups fail; the error message is "Error backup job jobname. Destination is read-only or files/folders could not be created. Check if these files or folders meet the destination file system limitation."
I keep network access to the USB drive disabled for security, but even if I enable it for SMB I get the same error message. I can view all files on the USB drive from Frontview on the 316 fine. If I enable SMB so I can mount the USB drive over the network on a Windows PC, I can see the files, but the share is read only.
If I physically move the external USB drive to a Windows PC (it is formatted NTFS) I can read and write to the external drive, and what I write is visible in Frontview when I move the drive back to my 316.
I suspect I have some obvious setting or permission wrong in OS6, but I don't know what it is. (I am more familiar with OS 4.x than 6.x).
Re: External USB drive shows up as ready only, backup fails
OK, I think I have it solved. This was one of those "that's not a bug it's a feature!" issues.
Buried in the Readynas system log was this statement "System: External storage 'My_Passport_25E2' might not have been safely ejected after last use. This device will be read-only. Plug it into its native operating system and repair it before it will be writeable." The log entry was flagged with a green dot, meaning "no worries," and was only visible if one knew to check the system log. (the message didn't appear in the backup log)
So, accidentally by me or due to a race condition in the Readynas when I shut it down, my external drive was disconnected without being unmounted. The OS recognized this, and rendered the drive read only. I connected the drive to a Windows PC, repaired it, and all seems well.
