NETGEAR SC101 - Storage Central NAS Server User manual

NETGEAR SC101 - Revised Troubleshooting Guide
Update the SC101 firmware and SCM utility to the latest version, found here.
Warning! Use the power adapter that came with the SC101. Other adapters, such as laptop
power adapters, may destroy the hard disks!
Viewing and Accessing Drives ............................................................................................ 3
Troubleshooting Tips ....................................................................................................... 3
Windows Disk Management Unallocated Partitions ....................................................... 3
annot See Partition (Old Firmware Problem) .................................................................... 7
If a partition has never been seen on a particular computer ............................................ 8
If a partition disappears — one that a particular computer could see before .................. 8
annot reate a Mirror ........................................................................................................ 9
Prerequisites ..................................................................................................................... 9
heck LED Lights (URL Link) ................................................................................. 10
heck ables ............................................................................................................. 10
heck the Drive Partition ........................................................................................... 10
Hardware ............................................................................................................................ 11
LED Indicators ............................................................................................................... 11
D-Link or FritzBox Routers ........................................................................................... 11
LAN onnection ............................................................................................................ 12
Defragmenting ............................................................................................................... 12
Hard Disk Problems and Drive Errors ........................................................................... 13
S M Software .................................................................................................................... 14
Right side of GUI screen is cut off ................................................................................ 14
S M Installation ............................................................................................................ 14
Error Messages ................................................................................................................... 15
List of Error Messages ............................................................................................... 15
“No entral Storage Device was Found” in SmartWizard ............................................ 16
SmartSync Pro Activation Error .................................................................................... 18
Error "Drive attachment failed" when Attach Partition Fails ........................................ 19
About the S 101 ................................................................................................................ 20
System Requirements ..................................................................................................... 20
What operating systems cannot be used? ................................................................... 20
Heat and the S 101 ....................................................................................................... 20
Does vertical disk mounting affect disk life? ............................................................ 20
S 101 and Heat Generation ....................................................................................... 20
How does heat affect the Storage entral performance? ........................................... 21
S 101 Performance ....................................................................................................... 21
1

Self-certifying File System (SFS) .................................................................................. 22
New Technology File System (NTFS) .......................................................................... 22
SAN and Network Attached Storage (NAS) ................................................................. 22
S 101 ommand Line Interface ( LI) for Advanced Users ............................................ 23
Using LI ommands ................................................................................................... 23
ommand: ut_full getpart .............................................................................................. 25
Fixing orrupted haracters .......................................................................................... 25
Removing an Unusable Drive with ut.exe ..................................................................... 28
Data recovery with SFSExtract.exe ............................................................................... 28
2

Viewing and ccessing Drives
Troubleshooting Tips
Problem Solution
SC101 drives disappear from the
network
etach and reattach the drives from the SC101,
or
Restart the network as described in "When using the
SC101, restart your network in this order".
A shared drive attached with one
computer does not show on other
computers.
This doesn't happen automatically. Use the "Attach rive"
feature on each computer to attach the drive to it.
SC101 occasionally drops off
wireless network
To maintain a wireless connection, a small amount of data
throughput must be available. The SC101 may drop off
when operating at the extreme limits of wireless range.
NETGEAR may release firmware shortly which needs even
less throughput.
Windows Disk Management Unallocated Partitions
This section explains what to do if you have created partitions with the SC101, but they show the
unallocated partition attribute in Windows isk Manager.
Use the Windows isk Management Utility to work around an unallocated partition. Review the
following procedure and be sure to follow these steps exactly as they are listed below. This
procedure is not a fix.
To use Windows Disk Management Utility for the Unallocated Partition workaround
1. Click Start->Run. Type diskmgmt.msc and click OK.
2. This command launches the Windows isk Management Utility which should look like the
screenshot below. If your disk is “Basic” then proceed to Step 4. If your disk is “Unknown”
then continue to Step 3.
3

The blue volume above represents a known working partition and the black volume
represents the non-working partition that the following steps will fix.
3. Right click the red circle, select Initialize isk, and click Next to continue.
4. Right click the black unallocated portion of your volume. Select New Partition and click
Next.
4

5. Select Primary partition and click next.
6. Leave Partition size in MB at the maximum or default value.
5

7. Select the default “Assign the following drive letter” and click next.
8. VERY IMP RTANT – DO NOT FORM T THIS P RTITION should be selected.
Formatting the partition from isk Manager will result in loss of user data.
9. STOP! o not click the Finish button until you read this screen’s selected setting’s output
and have confirmed that your File System reports None.
6

10. If your File System reports None, then click Finish.
Once you have selected Finish, your partition should change from black to blue in the
isk Management Utility.
Example: Seagate1 and Seagate2 are both SC101 volumes and do not list a file system type
under the column titled “File System”.
11. Reboot your PC to complete the Unallocated Partition workaround.
Note: If a partition is attached and shows up in Windows Explorer with a drive letter, but
can’t be accessible, then the utility SFSExtract.exe which is bundled in the S M
installation package can help to get the data out. See Data Recovery with SFSExtract.exe.
Cannot See Partition (Old Firmware Problem)
Upgrade to the latest version of the firmware and utility: Firmware version 4.19.0 and SCM
version 1.5.6.
The situation described in this article resolves a problem with earlier versions.
7

Once an SC101 partition is attached to a computer, it is visible in a file browser on that computer.
Sometimes there is a small delay before the computer recognizes it is there and the partition
shows. If the partition does not show at all, or if it once showed, but now has disappeared, then
read this article.
•In some places a partition — which is one area of a disk which is sectioned off from the
rest — is confusingly called a drive with the SC101. For example, in Step 3 below, where
the GUI reads "Attach rive", it really means "Attach Partition".
If a partition has never been seen on a particular computer
1. Click Start > Programs > NETGE R > Storage Central Manager Utility. (The menu
item may read SCM, instead, depending on what version is installed.) Some time will go
by before the next screen appears.
2. Ignore the automatic update by selecting the other radio button, clicking Next, then
dismissing the popup by clicking No.
3. Select ttach Drive (either in the Wizard mode, or in Advanced Configuration mode) and
click Next. Wait till the window displays the drives which are available to the computer,
but which have not yet been attached.
4. Click to highlight one of the drives listed under "Select an available drive".
5. Enter the password for the partition/drive. Leave it blank if you didn't set any password
(The password in this step is the password for a one particular partition. This is NOT the
password for the whole disk, which is defaulted to the word "password".)
6. Click ttach Drive.
7. If you enter the wrong drive password, a message "Incorrect password" appears.
Highlight the partition, and reenter the correct password. If you forget the password,
you can reset it to blank by clicking Reset Drive Password. If you do this, you are asked
for the SC101 administrative password — be aware that you cannot cancel out of this
screen, and if you click Exit, the Wizard will close, and you'll have to repeat the above
steps. Once the partition is successfully attached to a computer, it disappears from the
list of attachable partitions.
8. On each computer that will access the SC101, repeat the above steps.
If a partition disappears — one that a particular computer could
see before
1. Power off the computer and SC101 as described in “Power off and restart your network in
this order”.
2. Click Start > Programs > NETGE R > Storage Central Manager Utility. (The menu
item may read SCM, instead, depending on what version is installed.) Some time will go
by before the next screen appears.
3. Ignore the automatic update by selecting the other radio button, clicking Next, then
dismissing the popup by clicking No.
4. Select ttach drives and then click Next.
Several minutes later a screen displays showing drives which are available to the
computer, but which have not yet been attached.
5. If the partition is listed under "Select an available drive", then it is not attached. Attach it
again:
i. Click to highlight one of the drives listed under "Select an available drive".
8

ii. Enter the password for the partition/drive.
Leave it blank if you did not set a password. The password in this step is the
password for a one particular partition. This is NOT the password for the whole
disk, which is defaulted to the word "password".
iii. Click ttach Drive.
iv. If you enter the wrong drive password, a message "Incorrect password" appears.
Highlight the partition, and reenter the correct password. If you forget the
password, you can reset it to blank by clicking Reset Drive Password. If you do
this, you are asked for the SC101 administrative password — be aware that you
cannot cancel out of this screen, and if you click Exit, the Wizard will close, and
you'll have to repeat the above steps. Once the partition is successfully attached
to a computer, it disappears from the list of attachable partitions.
6. If the partition appears on the Broken rive screen then the partition is broken (for
example, a broken mirror if one disk is removed) and needs to be removed using the
" elete Broken rive" button on that screen.
7. If the partition still does not show in either the "Manage rive", "Attach rive" or "Broken
rive" screens, then there are two methods to resolve it, the first method is easiest and
safest.
o Method 1: Uninstall the SCM, then reinstall it. All partitions will need to be
reattached again.
oMethod 2: Alternatively, edit the Windows registry. Don't do this unless you
have experience registry editing. Mistakes can cause the operating system
to stop working.
oMicrosoft explains the purpose of the registry in this article.
oIt's advised to back up the registry before changing it manually. The process is
described in this Microsoft article.
oNETGE R IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROBLEMS C USED BY EDITING
THE REGISTRY !
a. Start the registry editor.
b. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\ZNS\Client. There
should be multiple sub-entries under Client.
c. Highlight the sub-entry in the left pane which shows in the right
pane the name of the missing partition as "User efinedString"
and click Delete.
d. Confirm to remove this key ( Make sure you do not delete the
Client key itself, only the sub-key with the missing partition
name)
e. Quit the registry editor.
f. Reboot the computer. The partition now shows in the "Attach
rive" screen.
g. Attach the partition again.
Cannot Create a Mirror
Prerequisites
•The SC101 has two disk drives installed.
9

•Hard drives are on the rive Compatibility List.
•Hard rives must be ATA6 or above (Parallel ATA) and configured as “Cable Select”
(CS).
•The Power LE light must light up solid green.
•The HCP Server must be present.
•Use a wired PC to configure/modify the SC101 (see diagram).
Also check the following:
•Do not use a drive that was formatted on a PC. The data will not be usable on the
SC101, and may be corrupted, even if you do not explicitly overwrite the PC partitions.
You cannot mirror a drive that uses the format of another operating system. The drive
must be completely reformatted (destroying all previous data) with the SC101 file system
through the Storage Central Manager Utility (SCM).
•Make sure no other network users are connected to the SC101 during the mirroring
process. This may slow or kill the mirroring process. If the drives are attached or shared
on a network, detach and unshare these drives before mirroring. It is normal for the
mirroring to take a long time to complete.
Check LED Lights (URL Link)
1. Confirm that there is an Ethernet link, if not, check your Ethernet cable.
2. Look for the blinking patterns on the green LE to see whether they are correct.
If the green LE flashes 3 times, something is wrong with the HCP server and the SC101
cannot obtain an IP address.
Check Cables
1. Confirm that I E and power cables on the drives are firmly connected.
2. Confirm that the Ethernet cable is firmly attached. When the SC101 detects a cable
disconnection and reconnection, it will reboot automatically.
Check the Drive Partition
1. Make sure that you partitioned the drive. Use the UT commands to see a list of all the
partitions that you have created. (See Using CLI Commands.)
2. If you only see the root partition, create a new partition.
3. Confirm that the mirrored drive has space to do the mirror. The mirrored drive must have
at lest as much partition space as the drive that is it mirroring.
4. o the mirroring process through a wired connection, not a wireless one.
10

Hardware
LED Indicators
This table describes how the SC101 LE s work.
Light Light State What It Means What You Should Do
All lights off Off SC101 has no power or
it is not plugged in
•Check if plug has power
•Plug in the SC101
Red disk light
Off There is no disk activity Normal state, do nothing
On There is disk activity Normal state, do nothing
Green power
status light
Off Self-test is not finished Normal state, do nothing
On SC101 is working
normally Normal state, do nothing
Fast constant
blinking
No working hard drives
are inserted
Power off the SC101, insert working
hard drive
1 blink at
intervals (rare) Error on disk 1
•If operation continues normally, do
nothing.
•Back up the disk or replace it
because disk errors may lead to
some unreadable files.
2 blinks at
intervals (rare) Error on disk 2
•If operation continues normally, do
nothing.
•Back up the disk or replace it
because disk errors may lead to
some unreadable files.
3 blinks at
intervals
HCP network
addressing problem See the User Manual on HCP
4 blinks at
intervals
An older, incompatible
disk is inserted
Power off the SC101, replace disk with
ATA6 I E disk or newer
Yellow
Ethernet status
light
Off isconnected cable Check Ethernet cable connection
On No data is being
transferred over network Normal state, do nothing
Blinking ata is being
transferred over network Normal state, do nothing
D-Link or FritzBox Routers
•-Link router continuously reboots: To fix this, upgrade the SC101 firmware to level
4.14.0.
•FritzBox: Upgrade the router to FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7050 new firmware 14.03.88
(Released on 10/28/05). Periodically check the FritzBox Web site to download new
firmware for their products.
11

LAN Connection
When the Ethernet cable is disconnected, the SC101 reboots. It takes 2 minutes for the SCM
to recognize it again, or longer if many partitions are defined.
Defragmenting
The SC101 uses a SAN File System (SFS), and includes its own defragmenter. For the SC101's
own defragmenter to work properly — and as with any hard disk, to avoid poor performance —
leave 10% free space on each disk or drive. (Remember, the SC101 uses the word drive to mean
what is usually called a disk partition.)
You do not need to defragment the drives, or to use other Windows utilities such as
chkdsk.
12

Hard Disk Problems and Drive Errors
The table below describes hard disk problems and drive errors.
Hard Disk Problem ction
Hard disk does not work 1. See SC101 Hard rive Compatibility.
Older disk drives do not work in the SC101. The
green power LE flashes 4 times after power on.
2. SC101 hard disk format is required.
The SC101 hard disk data format is different from a PC
hard disk. To move a PC hard disk to the SC101, back
up the data, reformat the drive for the SC101, and then
copy the data onto the hard drive.
1. Configure the hard disk as Cable Select.
To do this, power off the SC101, change the disk
setting to “Cable Select," and then repower.
For information about computer hard disk Interfaces,
and types of ATA, click here.
Errors: “Unable to enumerate drive”,
and drive letter cannot be added
This is a Windows issue. Even though the drive is
already mapped, Windows returns whatever letter it
thinks is the next highest.
1. Use Windows Explorer to see if a letter drive is
mapped to a shared network folder or network drive.
These mapped drives are not properly recognized by
Windows.
2. To fix this, re-map the drives with a letter toward the
end of the alphabet, such as Z. Then work your way in
reverse, (Y, X, W...).
3. Then detach and re-attach the SC101 partition. It
should get the drive letter without problem.
Unusable drive
If a drive was not successfully created,
an unusable drive may appear in the
GUI. If this happens, remove the drive.
You can use the OS utility ut.exe from the Command
Line Interface to remove a disk drive. See the CLI
section of this document for instructions.
13

SCM Software
Right side of GUI screen is cut off
This can happen if the computer fonts are set to larger than the default.
Solution
Return the default font settings to the Windows appearance properties and the graphics card.
To adjust the Windows appearance properties
1. Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > ppearance.
2. Check the value in the "Scheme" drop down.
3. See if the scheme name ends with the words "(large)" or has a name that you gave it.
4. Set the font back to the default. Adjust the font and click OK.
To adjust the graphic card settings
1. Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > ppearance.
2. Click Settings > dvanced.
3. The font size for the card is usually under the General tab. See if "Font Size" is set to
"Large" or "Other".
To customize font settings
If the user wants to adjust font settings, suggest adjusting the font in only one place (either the in
Appearance or the graphics card). This is a more reliable method for the whole computer, not just
the SC101 GUI. Note that Web browsers also have a font setting.
SCM Installation
•Incomplete installation. If you close a “Hardware Found” prompt, during installation,
then the installation may fail. If this happens, uninstall and then reinstall.
•Windows stops with Blue Screen or Memory Dump. uring installation of SC101
SCM utility, there is either a blue screen, or the computer crashes or hangs.
This is due to a conflict between SCSI disk drivers and SC101 device drivers. You can
use the CLI to temporary disable SCSI device drivers during installation. See the CLI
section in this document.
14

Error Messages
List of Error Messages
The table below lists error messages for the S 101.
Error Message Meaning and ction
can’t resolve hostname to IP address Mirroring error, see SmartSync Pro Activation
Error
Error occurred during activation Mirroring error, see SmartSync Pro Activation
Error
No Central Storage evice was Found SmartWizard error, see “No Central Storage
evice was Found” in SmartWizard
can’t resolve hostname to IP address SmartSync Pro Activation Error
Error occurred during activation SmartSync Pro Activation Error
rive attachment failed Attach partition failed. See Error " rive
attachment failed" when Attach Partition Fails.
Unable to enumerate drive See Hard isk Problems and rive Errors.
15

“No Central Storage Device was Found” in SmartWizard
First, check these items:
•At least 1 hard disk must be plugged into the SC101.
•Hard disks must be ATA6 or later, and configured as "Cable Select" (CS).
•Use a wired connection to configure and modify the SC101.
If there is still a problem, see the table below.
No Central Storage
Device was Found
ction
Check the Power LE . •The Power LE light should be lit solid green.
•If it flashes green three times periodically, then something is
wrong with the response from the HCP server.
Was the computer or
SC101 recently
rebooted?
•The SC101 takes more than 2 minutes to reboot.
•If there are many partitions it takes longer.
•Wait a few minutes after rebooting before running the SCM to
locate the disks.
•Make sure to shut down and restart in the correct order. See
How To’s or the User Manual.
Are the Microsoft
Security, Socketwatch,
or Socketlock utilities
installed?
•These freeware utilities can conflict with the SC101.
•Run the utility again, and remove it (Source to uninstall
utilities).
For more information about problems with these utilities, see
reference.
Which firewall is
used? •The SC101 automatically works with the Windows XP
Personal Firewall.
•For other firewalls such as Trend Micro Personal Firewall and
Norton Firewall, disable the firewall or open U P port 20001.
Check the LAN
connections and subnet
setup.
•The computer and the SC101 must be connected to the same
LAN and subnet (and not across different routers.
• For example, these two IP addresses are not in the same
subnet: 255.255.0.0 for the computer and 255.255.255.0 for
the SC101.
Have the hard disks
been partitioned? •Use the UT commands to see a list of partitions that were
created. See Using the UT Command and the SC101
Command Line Interface.
•If there is only the Root partition, this means that you have not
partitioned your hard disks.
Create a new partition as described in section "If a partition
has never been seen on a particular computer" in this article.
Wireless network To keep a wireless connection between your computers and the
SC101, there must regularly be a small amount of data throughput.
The SC101 may drop off when operating at the limits of wireless
range.
IP address from HCP
server.
See Using the UT Command and the SC101 Command Line
Interface to confirm that the SC101 got an IP address from the
16

No Central Storage
Device was Found
ction
HCP server.
17

SmartSync Pro Activation Error
Symptoms
•Message “can’t resolve hostname to IP address”
•Message “Error occurred during activation"
Cause
The computer that you are using to install the SmartSync Pro is not connected to the Internet.
Solution
Connect to Internet, or use another computer that is already connected.
18

Error "Drive attachment failed" when Attach Partition Fails
Symptom
While using the SCM utility to attach a new partition, the error " rive attachment failed" displays
in the Status line (as shown).
Cause
The SC101 partition information is corrupted. This can happen if:
1. You disconnect a hard drive while the SC101 is powered on.
2. You move a hard drive from one SC101 to another SC101.
3. The hard disk has a hardware failure.
Solution
Use the CLI to view the corrupted characters with the ut_full_getpart . (See the CLI Reference
(need link)
19

bout the SC101
System Requirements
•Operating systems
oWindows XP SP1 or higher, or
oWindows 2000 Service Pack 4 or higher, or
oWindows 2003 Server.
•CHP must be running on the network.
•SC101 software must be installed on each network computer that accesses the unit.
What operating systems cannot be used?
•Macintoshes
•UNIX
•64-bit operating systems
Heat and the SC101
Although it is hotter than most networking products, the SC101 is within normal safe operating
limits.
What disks are compatible with the SC101?
See S 101 Hard Drive ompatibility.
Does vertical disk mounting affect disk life?
Manufacturers usually specify horizontal or vertical mounting, but some even say any orientation
is ok. For an outstanding site that includes hard drive information, see The P Guide, which
includes every aspect of hard drive operation, selection, and maintenance.
SC101 and Heat Generation
The SC101 is tested by NETGEAR to make sure that it operates in safe temperature limits.
Computer owners are used to touching the outside case of a computer which is near room
temperature, however it is not necessary for electronic devices to be at room temperature to
operate safely.
Always follow a product's safety instructions for use. As noted in the manuals the Storage Central
should be placed:
•Standing upright on its feet
•With ample ventilation
•With nothing placed on top
•Where it cannot be easily knocked over
The Storage Central is hotter when:
20