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Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Delta_Skies
Aspirant

Major problems copying files to external drive

I'm now tearing my hair out with my Readynas 104.  I've attached a 2TB external hard drive and want to copy a whole load of folders and files across to it from the NAS.  My problem is that it sets going but keeps going offline and is unresponsive to anything from my mac or even pressing the buttons on the box itself.  I have to switch the power off and back on for it to come back to life.  Then when I look at what has been copied I suddenly find that files have disappeared and I know it showed they had been copied before going offline.

 

Any help would be very gratefully received to reestablish my faith in having a NAS setup

Message 1 of 15

Accepted Solutions
BrianL2
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Hi Delta_Skies,

 

You may want to format your external drive on FAT32 via the USB settings in the UI or exFAT on the Disk Utility page in your iMAC.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

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Message 10 of 15

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BrianL2
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Hi Delta_Skies,

 

It seems that your ReadyNAS system acts out during file transfer. I have some questions (listed below) that may help us find the root cause of this issue.

 

1. Does this issue only happen when you are transferring files from your external drive to your ReadyNAS (vice-versa)?

2. Have you tried creating a backup job that will transfer your files from your external hard drive to your ReadyNAS without doing the traditional copy/paste procedure?

3. What is the Firmware version of your ReadyNAS?

4. What is the File format of your External drive (please include its brand and model number)?

 

I look forward to your response.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

Message 2 of 15
Delta_Skies
Aspirant

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Thanks for the reply Brian.  Some answers to your questions:

 

1. I was transferring from the NAs to the external drive

2. No not yet

3. Version 6.2.5

4. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) WD My Passport 2Tb

 

Since posting I plugged in another WD My Passport drive and it worked ok.  There are two differences though.  The one that worked was a 1Tb drive but maybe the biggest difference is that is formatted as a FAT32 drive.

 

Am I right in concluding I need to reformat my 2Tb drive?

 

Message 3 of 15
StephenB
Guru

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

HFS+ is listed on the data sheet as a supported format.

 

I am wondering if the external drive is healthy.  Do you have a windows PC you could use to test it with LifeGuard?

 

Also, is it powered through the USB port, or is there a power adapter connected to the drive.

Message 4 of 15
Delta_Skies
Aspirant

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Thanks Stephen.

 

I can test it on a Windows machine at work tomorrow.  It's powered via the USB cable as is the 1Tb drive that works ok.  After copying the files off the NAS off the 1Tb drive I've then copied them to the 2Tb drive using them both plugged into the Mac.  I've not had any problems doing this so far so it seems the NAS unit doesn't like it.

Message 5 of 15
StephenB
Guru

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

If you have a power adapter for the 2 TB drive I would try that.  USB power is sometimes marginal for the larger passports, and you are doing sustained transfers.

Message 6 of 15
Delta_Skies
Aspirant

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

This may help give a clue as to why I've had the problem.............

 

When I connected the drive to a Windows PC I got the message "wd ses device usb device no driver found".  The drive also didn't appear in Explorer.  I then tried Lifeguard as recommended above and whlist it didn't appear in the list of logical drives it did appear (after about 5 minutes - the time it takes to do a Quick Test) in the list of physical drives.  I ran a quick test and it passed.  I did start doing an extended test but it reckoned I'd have to wait about 18 hours so I aborted that.

 

Would it be better to reformat the drive to FAT32 and go from there?

 

Any thoughts are gratefully received.

Message 7 of 15
StephenB
Guru

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

FAT32 can't handle files > 4 GB, so it's not ideal.  If you need to reformat, I'd try NTFS.  You can read that on the mac, but you might need a windows PC to format it.

Message 8 of 15
Delta_Skies
Aspirant

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

NTFS isn't any good to me as I'm a Mac user and only use Windows at work.  Seems like FAT32 has to be the way to go

Message 9 of 15
BrianL2
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Hi Delta_Skies,

 

You may want to format your external drive on FAT32 via the USB settings in the UI or exFAT on the Disk Utility page in your iMAC.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

Message 10 of 15
StephenB
Guru

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive


@Delta_Skies wrote:

NTFS isn't any good to me as I'm a Mac user and only use Windows at work.  Seems like FAT32 has to be the way to go

If you have any HD movies or large ISO images you probably have files that are too large for fat32.

 

For ~$20 you can buy paragon, which will let you read/write ntfs on the mac.  http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/download.html

Message 11 of 15
Delta_Skies
Aspirant

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Thanks Brian.  Thanks Stephen.  I've done a check on my files and I don't have any files greater than 4Gb so it's not going to be a massive problem.  Something to be aware of though.  I've heard of that Paragon software before so maybe an option to investigate.  In the meantime I'm copying files around so I can reformat the drive and then copy them all back again.

 

Many thanks for all the help.

 

Peter

Message 12 of 15
BrianL2
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Hi Delta_Skies,

 

You're welcome. Just let us know if formatting the non-working external USB HDD to FAT32 or exFAT solves the problem.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

Message 13 of 15
Delta_Skies
Aspirant

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

After reformatting the drive to FAT32 everything appears to working again.  Files are copying across ok.

 

Thanks

 

Peter

Message 14 of 15
BrianL2
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: Major problems copying files to external drive

Hi Delta_Skies,

 

Thank you for your feedback. We're happy that the issue that you raised here in the community was resolved. I hope that you will continue to contribute in the community by raising issues, asking questions and giving out suggestions to others.

 

 

Kind regards,

 

BrianL
NETGEAR Community Team

Message 15 of 15
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