ReadyNAS Pro 6 USB Backup to WD Passport help needed

[proteinnerd]

Hi,

I'm on a ReadyNAS pro 6 Business Edition running 4.2.30

I'm looking to backup all my data (about 2.2TB) worth so I can then install OS6 on the NAS.

I purchased a WD Passport 4TB USB drive to do this.

I'm having issues with what I would have assumed should be a fairly straightforward procedure.

When I insert the USB into my ReadyNAS and navigate in Frontview to Volumes>USB Storage, I see this.

Device Part. Description                 Used   Size     FS Speed

WD My Passport 25E2 [Partition 1] 0 MB 196 MB FAT 480

So it thinks the drive is only 196MB? Its empty, its been erased numerous times, in OSX it shows there are 4TB free and only 1 partition. If I try to start a backup proedure, after a few seonds it fails and says the drive is full....obviously the 196MB.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 
 

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

FAT has some severe file size limits, which you will are very likely to run into if you have video files on the NAS.

NTFS is best, since it lets you read the backup on both your Mac and your windows PC.

Another option is to get the Paragon ExtFS software for your mac, and then format the drive with that.  Ext is a linux format, so the NAS will understand it.  But you still probably need to unpartition the disk, and I don't know what OSX tools there are for that.

[StephenB]

I think your passport has two partitions.  You certainly don't want to use the FAT file system for your backup.

Do you have access to a Windows PC?  I don't know what formatting tools are available on OSX.

[proteinnerd]

Hi,

I have a work laptop running Windows 7 but its pretty locked down and I dont have any admin rights. I'll see if I can use that to Format the drive. Which format would be better than FAT?

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

FAT has some severe file size limits, which you will are very likely to run into if you have video files on the NAS.

NTFS is best, since it lets you read the backup on both your Mac and your windows PC.

Another option is to get the Paragon ExtFS software for your mac, and then format the drive with that.  Ext is a linux format, so the NAS will understand it.  But you still probably need to unpartition the disk, and I don't know what OSX tools there are for that.

[proteinnerd]

Thanks StephenB,

I got the Paragon NTFS for mac software as suggested and erased and reformated the drive into NTFS.

In Frontview USB Volumes it still saw that small partition (not sure why it wasnt erased) but there was a second partition of just under 4TB.

I directed the backup of my media files to that partition and it appears to be working now!

Thanks so much for the help and suggestion.