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#151
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
HalRogers,
I still believe the text file end-of-file issue has more to do with the Argosy/Tritton NAS. Like you, I had tried many applications, and as I previously posted, was able to reproduce the outcome we all have verified with Notepad also with Open Office. Tonight, I verified that again. Using the exact same procedure in all applications, I saw the same outcome with Notepad, OpenOffice 1.1.3 and OpenOffice 2.0. Now, its possible that all these applications close the file in a manner that creates an issue ... but I don't believe that to be the case. My reasoning is that I cannot reproduce this end of file issue under any other circumstances. I have tried ALL of the following (which took some time), and none of these configurations cause any problems. - IDE connected hard disks formated to NTFS and FAT32 running Windows XP - USB connected hard disk formated to NTFS and FAT32 running Windows XP. - taking the FAT32 formated hard disk out of the Argosy/Tritton NAS, IDE connecting it in the WinXP PC, and writing directly to it. - writing to a FAT32 formated USB Flash drive connected to PC running WinXP. - writing to a NTFS formated hard disk being shared out by another WinXP PC. - writing to a EXT3 formated hard disk being shared out by a Linksys NSLU2 NAS. - writing to an EXT3 formated hard disk connected to a WinXP via USB and interfaced to via EXT2 file driver for windows (see http://www.fs-driver.org/ if interested). The ONLY place I can create this end of file error with these applications is when saving the file to the Argosy/Tritton NAS. If the issue has to do with how Notepad, OpenOffice 1.1.3 and OpenOffice 2.0 all close their files, how is it I can only produce the issue when saving the file to the Argosy/Tritton NAS? |
#152
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
General Request for Help
Since the 06-1013 firmware came out, I've had serious issues with the NAS copying large directories to it. For example, a directory with which I regularly have this issue is: 2.07 GB in size, has 6,819 files, and 848 directories ... it is a collection of program install files, so the files range in size from very small to many tens of MB. When I attempt to copy this directory from the PC to NAS, at some point along the way, I receive a Windows popup error window that says "Error Copying File to Folder", "Cannot copy filename: The specified network name is no longer available." Now comes the seriousness of the issue, at this point the NAS can become unresponsive. I can no longer access files on its disk, I cannot access its web page, I cannot turn it off, I cannot reset it by holding the power button in for a long time. I eventually have to unplug the unit. And, if I repeat this several times, it never seems to have the issue with the same file. When I get the Windows popup error window, every time there is a different file name in it. And, it isn't every time that the NAS becomes completely locked up, requring the plug to be pulled. Sometimes I can turn it off by just hitting the power button. Would anyone be willing to try copying a large directory a few times, like the one I described, to see if you might generate the same outcome? I'm running Windows XP from the PC that I'm copying the files from. If I look at the log file on the disk in the NAS, it doesn't show any signs of an error or issue. The last entry in the log file is its attempt to write the named in the popup window. This is happening with both Argosy and Tritton devices. |
#153
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
Another Tritton/Argosy Like NAS w/ USB?
I noticed that CoolMax has a new Network Attached Storage device on the market, model CN-550. Reading through its manual, it appears to have functionality very, very similar to the Trittona and Argosy devices. They don't have any firmware updates listed on their site, so I can't yet compare the firmwares. What's unique about this device is that it also incorporates a USB interface to the drive. That's a feature I would use. |
#154
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
Fixuser:
I got the same kind of error when I tried to copy a DVD-R full of my install files to the NAS, almost 4 gb. I was using the 6-1013 firmware and Windows 98. One other thing I noticed was while it was copying the DVD, there would be furious network activity for about 10 seconds, then it would pause for several seconds before resuming. Also: There is unpopulated artwork for a USB connector on the circuit board of my HD363N. I was looking at it because I am thinking of mounting the board and a removable drive bay in an old external 5 1/4 SCSI case so I can make use of all my old drives without buying a separate NAS for each. |
#155
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
There is a difference between file closing on a drive connected on a
Windows platform (all of the examples that worked) and a file closing across a network to a different operating environment (SAMBA). There may indeed be a simple fix in SAMBA to deal with windows apps that do not close files the way Word, UltraEdit, Excel, and other apps do it. Windows does not have a single standard for closing files, which is nice I suppose, it gives the developer flexibility to choose the standard instead of following a single one. The reason for the problem is related to the allocation of file space in chunks. There are always extra bytes at the end of a file, in the same cluster, so determining the end of file has to follow either the ASCII standard (an EOF "MARK") or the binary standard (setting the filesize in the directory entry). The extra bytes used to be used by some developers to stick extra code on the end of an EXE file, then close the file and alter the directory entry to a new size, leaving the extra bytes on the disk, but they would not get copied if the user moved the file rather than re-install it (since COPY honors the filesize in the directory when determining when to stop copying). The errors noted are all fixable if the directory entry is changed to reflect the actual number of bytes in the usable content of the file -- notice the errors reported are always due to extra characters appearing AFTER the expected END OF FILE. Bytes that are on the disk, but should not be read into the application, but ARE read in because the filesize is wrong. Yes, it would be nice to see this fixed, but it's being caused by the way the files are closed and the directory is (not) updated. As to problems with DVD ISO images: DVD-R ISO images may exceed the 32-bit FAT limitation of 4 GB (or thereabouts). Microsoft describes the FAT-32 limitations for file size as "You cannot create a file larger than (2^32)-1 bytes (this is one byte less than 4 GB) on a FAT32 partition" - since DVD images may be more like 4.7 GB, it's possible that you are exceeding the FAT-32 limit. Hal |
#156
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
Hal,
There is a difference between file closing on a drive connected on a Windows platform (all of the examples that worked) and a file closing across a network to a different operating environment (SAMBA). Yes I know. That's why I also included results referencing a 'file server' and the 'Linksys NSLU2 NAS' in my previous posts. But, I didn't make that very clear in presenting details about it. The NSLU2 is a network attached storage device that's running a linux kernel with samba. It can support disks formated with EXT3 (native to the device), FAT32, or NTFS (a new addition to its abilities). I've been running this device on my network for a few weeks now. If I edit a text file stored on the NSLU2 using Notepad (or OpenOffice), I cannot create the same issue that occurs on the Argosy/Tritton device. And, I've tried this with disks on the NSLU2 formated to EXT3, FAT32, and NTFS. So, with this network device running Linux not causing any issues, why should Notepad have a problem with the Argosy/Tritton devices ... again, I believe its problem in the file storage on the device, not the Notepad or OpenOffice programs. And, following up to:[quote:cfcc62c488]As to problems with DVD ISO images:[/quote:cfcc62c488] I don't believe [b:cfcc62c488]segbert[/b:cfcc62c488] was implying he copied an image of the DVD to the NAS, but more so the contents of the DVD to the NAS ... suggesting he had lots of files on the DVD like I had described in the issue. [b:cfcc62c488]segbert[/b:cfcc62c488], Thanks for checking that out ... very helpful!! |
#157
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
Well, I've given up on the Argosy/Tritton device.
Even with the latest 06-1013 firmware release, I've not been able to get a reliable file server. I've waited patiently for 6 months, but cannot wait any longer to get a good file server up and running. Thus, I've returned to investigating other devices available, and have now setteled into using the Linksys NSLU2. The NSLU2 has matured over time, and now supports EXT3, FAT32 and NTFS disk formats. The security features of the device (password protected storage, user allocated space, for example) cannot be used with FAT32 and NTFS formats; all the data is public on these types of disks. But, this is the first NAS device I've seen that can both read and write FAT32 and NTFS. I will caution that performance with NTFS disks is not as good as FAT32 and EXT3. I've seen many postings on the internet complaining about disks formatted to EXT3 being useless to PC users. Well, I've found two EXT2/EXT3 drivers for Windows that work very well. I've had no issues reading and writing to EXT3 disk on my PC. So, I have no concerns all the features of the NSLU2 with EXT3 formatted disks. If I need to work with those disks, I can easily. Everything I tried to do with the Argosy/Tritton devices I have been able to do with the NSLU2 ... including keeping my Outlook *.pst files on the network. I've been running with my *.pst file on the NSLU2 for more than a week now without a single issue. The NSLU2 is slightly slower in write speed, and comparable in read speed. Given how the NSLU2 has been able to do everything I wanted, this slight speed loss it trivial in my eyes. dilettante you may be interested to know that others (at www.nslu2-linux.org) have been able to load a slimserver onto the NSLU2 ... FYI. As for the XBox users out there, I believe the NSLU2 properly supports SMB and works with the XBox. If not, I have seen someone at the nslu2-linux group post about adding a package to the NSLU2 to work specifically with the Xbox Link I image I'll still check back in now and again ... don't know why, but maybe after trying my best and contributing what time I could, I'm curious if they ever live up to their potential. Good Luck everyone! |
#158
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
fixuserwrote:
Well, I've given up on the Argosy/Tritton device. Even with the latest 06-1013 firmware release, I've not been able to get a reliable file server. I've waited patiently for 6 months, but cannot wait any longer to get a good file server up and running. Thus, I've returned to investigating other devices available, and have now setteled into using the Linksys NSLU2. The NSLU2 has matured over time, and now supports EXT3, FAT32 and NTFS disk formats. The security features of the device (password protected storage, user allocated space, for example) cannot be used with FAT32 and NTFS formats; all the data is public on these types of disks. But, this is the first NAS device I've seen that can both read and write FAT32 and NTFS. I will caution that performance with NTFS disks is not as good as FAT32 and EXT3. I've seen many postings on the internet complaining about disks formatted to EXT3 being useless to PC users. Well, I've found two EXT2/EXT3 drivers for Windows that work very well. I've had no issues reading and writing to EXT3 disk on my PC. So, I have no concerns all the features of the NSLU2 with EXT3 formatted disks. If I need to work with those disks, I can easily. Everything I tried to do with the Argosy/Tritton devices I have been able to do with the NSLU2 ... including keeping my Outlook *.pst files on the network. I've been running with my *.pst file on the NSLU2 for more than a week now without a single issue. The NSLU2 is slightly slower in write speed, and comparable in read speed. Given how the NSLU2 has been able to do everything I wanted, this slight speed loss it trivial in my eyes. dilettante you may be interested to know that others (at www.nslu2-linux.org) have been able to load a slimserver onto the NSLU2 ... FYI. As for the XBox users out there, I believe the NSLU2 properly supports SMB and works with the XBox. If not, I have seen someone at the nslu2-linux group post about adding a package to the NSLU2 to work specifically with the Xbox Link I image I'll still check back in now and again ... don't know why, but maybe after trying my best and contributing what time I could, I'm curious if they ever live up to their potential. Good Luck everyone! you've been a great asset to this forum and your hard work has helped me a lot. Sad to see you go. BTW - how much was that Linksys NAS? Where did you buy it? |
#159
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
Yes. I was referring to copying many files from a DVD-R to the NAS in
one operation. The smallest file was a few bytes, and the largest was in the range of 1/2 gig. fixuser: I was initially also looking at one of the Linux based NASes (not the Linksys one, but I don't remember exactly). The Tritton/Argosy had the inherent drawback that it would not handle 4gb files, but a review of the Linux one mentioned it would not handle file names containing spaces. I never put spaces in my names, but a lot of Windows stuff I might want to put out there does, especially MS stuff, so I thought this was a deal breaker. (Plus I found my Tritton on sale at Fry's for $50 after rebate) Will the NSLU2 handle spaces in names? I personally would be interested if you did report back on your experiences with other units. I like my two HD363N type units very much, but I don't feel confident yet using them for working storage, such as the local copy of a web site, which gets edited a lot. I'm going to hang in a little while longer, and in any event I can always use them as simple file servers for bulk data storage. However, I may eventually be willing to invest in a somewhat more expensive device to house working data. |
#160
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ARGOSY - HD363N - Network Storage
I bought two more HD363N cases and the latest ones seem to have
quieter fans, much quieter. Not sure if they were using sleeve bearing fans and switched to ball bearing types, but there are ball bearing 25x25x10mm fans available for less than $5 so I bought some and the shipping was about $7 for the batch of fans. My primary use of the devices is to setup FTP servers. The HD363 lets you setup ports other than 21, which is helpful, and it supports both Anonymous and Username/Password access, which isn't supported by some SOHO NAS devices. As to all the messages about EOF problems, it would be helpful to have a list of applications that don't work. A list of apps that DO work include Word for Windows, WordPad, Ultraedit, Edlin, Edit. If you have Notepad, you have Wordpad. Try the "open with" Wordpad, do the experiments described for Notepad, and you will find that the filesize is correctly reported, and none of the extra characters appear at the end of the file as they do in Notepad (because Notepad file close doesn't cause the directory filesize to be updated). Excel also works fine. Create a worksheet with 200 rows of 2 columns, the row number and lots of Asterisks, save it. Close Excel. etc etc., you will find that the directory entry (in the file properties) properly reflects changes in the filesize, and inserting, deleting rows does not produce the problem seen with Notepad. I think the file closing problem is a Windows application issue as much as anything, and using Notepad for editing text files --- well, there are better text and other editors, that work correctly. Notepad, unfortunately, isn't a very capable text editor and it clearly has problems. Hal |
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