NASLite Network Attached Storage

I will start off by saying that I am less than a newbie when it comes to Linux. I am using the NASLite Floppy Version.

My NASLite server was unavailable for months, due to a bad fan and my lack of time. I finally got the new fan installed and booted the server, last week. Everything seemed fine, all three HDDs were available for use from my PCs.

Yesterday, I decided to move a folder of photos from Disk-2 to Disk 1. The process was painfully slow, the Windows Move Files dialogue box was indicating close to an hour to move the files when it started. Of course the time kept flipping up and down. After about 40 minutes, based on the names of the folders being moved, it was nearing the end of the task, when the server simply rebooted.

There was no power blip, no cord got pulled, it just rebooted on its own. Of course the file copy process was killed off. And Windows indicated that it could no longer locate the resource. Using Windows Explorer, I was unable to locate the server at all. Eventually it was available, but Disk 2 is no longer visible.

When I click on Disk-2 Info I get the following:



Is there a simple way to regain access to Disk 2?

Why did the server reboot itself? And how do I prevent it from happening again?

I was planning on buying NASLite2 as I have inherited a more recent PC to use as a server but now I am having second thoughts. I hope that someone will be able to explain why this was just an anomaly!

Any help is greatly appreciated.

For your server to reboot on it's own, you are likely facing a hardware problem. Things like heat, bad RAM, poor cable/connector connections, etc. can cause a reboot. I'd address that first.

As a result of the reboot, drives were uncleanly unmounted thus forcing a filesystem check/repair on reboot. If you have insufficient amount of RAM, then it is possible for some drives to fail the check and repair. In addition, on some occasions the filesystem may need a more involved check and repair that is provided in the full versions of the NASLite product as well as NanoNAS but not on the free NASLite floppies. You can also use a live Linux distro to issue a manual filesystem check on the drive in order to correct the problem.

At any rate, the reason NASLite enforces such behavior is to protect your data and not allow the use of a compromised filesystem. Having second thoughts about NASLite-2 is probably a bit premature, but I can understand.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the quick reply. Tony.

I will look into the hardware. I did add some more RAM, when replacing the bad fan, ironically, in an attempt to make the server more stable! If the RAM is not flaky, then the 768 MB should be ample for the check and repair, correct?

If I understand what you have said, in order to regain the use of my Disk 2 I have to install a full version of NASLite, or I have to use a live version of Linux, and run a manual file system check. From my extremely limited knowledge of Linux, I believe there are versions that I can download, burn to CD, and then boot from the CD. Is there are preferred version of Linux to use, and is there a standard command to use?

Conversely, if I buy NASLite 2 is there a simple way to issue the command? I assume if I use Linux I will have to use a command line, is the NASLite method similar, or a little more user friendly?

That is more than sufficient, so provided the RAM is good, you can check that off the list.

You can use any live distro such as Knoppix or Ubuntu. I prefer Knoppix, but that's up to you. With the drive mounted as RO, the command you would issue is as follows:You can also force a bad block check using the "-c" option. Take a look at the e2fsck manpage for details.

NASLite-2 has an option in the admin menu to handle a manual filesystem check that would correct the problem. It also has the capability of using the journaled ext3 instead of ext2.

In any case, you can use a live distro or a NASLite upgrade to fix the filesystem. Once that is done, your files will be available and your drive will be usable.

Hope that helps...

I found an Ubuntu CD that a friend had given me, so I rebooted my server with it.

I found that I could see all three hard drives using Ubuntu, so in what I thought was a bright move, I copied the files that were on Disk 2 to Disk 1, just in case I had to reformat Disk 2, or something. I then ran the e2fsck -c /dev/hdb1 command from the Root Terminal screen.

It did whatever it did for a long time. At one point, it stopped to ask if I wanted to clone a bad block (or something like that) and I said yes. My choice was based on reading all of the posts in the NASLite Free forum which contained the term e2fsck, and noting that a couple of people mentioned using the switch -y, which I surmised automatically inputs a YES to all questions.

I get the feeling that this was not the smart thing to do, as after rebooting NASLite, I have no access to Disk-1 in addition to Disk-2! My gut feeling is that I had a corrupt file on Disk-2 which I have copied onto Disk-1, although I have to admit this does not make sense to me, but I know NOTHING about Linux. I know one of the files that I copied was from MS Backup, and I vaguely recollect that I ran into some problems when I originally put the file onto my server.

I assume that I also did something wrong with the e2fsck command, although it sure seemed like it was finished. I recall that it said there was something like 11,000 bad blocks, and then it asked me to clone the bad blocks 5 or 6 times (I said YES each time) and then the screen was blank for a very long time, so exited from Terminal.

I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to see all of the drives when I reboot with Ubuntu again. I plan on deleting the MS Backup file from Disk-1 and Disk-2 for a start. Of course, rebooting into NASLite takes a very long time, so I am looking for any other ideas which I can do at the same time.

For what it's worth, I have decided to go ahead and buy NASLite 2 (although I will be posting some more questions about it) based on the number of people who post here talking up the product to people who slag it.