WD Sharespace, the NAS you DO NOT want to rely on.

[Unregistered]

Not Mac Compatible!

Warning Mac users! This device will not accept certain file names containing some characters you can use on a Mac. Result= WD will change your file name after copying to something unidentifiable or worse - skip it during the copy.
There is nothing you can do to fix this, WD tech support told me it is Apple's problem.

The Remote access for Mac users is still in "Beta" (as of 09.20.09) . And is "single" file web based access.

I was prepared for slow, but not this SLOOOWWW.

 

[tom]

I have exactly the same problem like Feudal. Did anyone found the way to get back access to the device using web GUI?

Thx Tom

 

[Unregistered]

Same as last post

I've had the 4tb unit since January and it functioned rather flawlessly. a couple of weeks ago i decided i needed more space, so i grabbed four 2tb WD Green drives from the office, and replaced all four drives in my unit (after backing up of course). It immediately began "resyncing" with a estimated completion time of 69 hours. So i let it run.
2 days later, it completed, i now have a 6.39tb RAID 5 volume. Woo hoo! It worked perfectly I migrated the data from the backup. No problems. I setup the usernames, admin password, etc. Everything works great. I updated the firmware to the latest edition, just for good measure.
Within 24 hours, all passwords no longer work. All data is still accesible, but FTP and Sharespace manager all claim bad passwords, including the default "Admin" account. I've tried the 'email WD' route which takes 4 days to get a response just for standard troubleshooting q&a. I'm supposed to call in and ask for level 3 tech support next.

So you're not alone out there.

 

[ginandan]

XML error: no wixnas object found!

I too have this problem...

I have been doing some reading in various places and see that it has something to do with spce running out on the linux system partition, most likely due to twonky filling it up. There is even a series of steps to take to clear the problem on wd support pages if you still have access to the Web front end.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc...nNlYXJjaF9mbmwmcF9wYWdlPTE!&p_li=&p_topview=1

The probelm for me is that I no longer have access to the Web utility (all I get is the XML error) and all of the fixes I can find mean following complex procedures first of all to set up telnet and then other processes to clear sufficient space to allow it to function.

I am not a linux guru and dont stand a chance of being able to complete the processes successfuly.

Does anyone have a 'simple' answer to this issue to get me going again?

You are not alone out there...

 

[Unregistered]

WD Sharespace

I own "two" wd sharespace 4 tb drives both in Raid 5

I did have one fail (I purchased it in 2008)

I called WD tech support they sent me a label for RMA and shipped me out my replacement

I got my new drive and put it in the unit and it automatically began the resync process - The process did take quite a while (Which is typical for a raid 5 with a large quantity of data and I have almost 2 tb filled up on the unit in question) but I did 'not' lose any data.

I will agree that the tech support person was not a technological genius but I did not need a genius only a drive replacement so I did not really care to be honest.

For the $ of the WDSS versus other redundant NAS' out there I am quite pleased with mine and my restore of the bad drive.

I see that your problem occurred in 2008 so perhaps (the units were quite new still) you encountered an issue that they just had not come to in testing. Being a DBA I know that it is not impossible for something to slip through the cracks in testing (not saying it is right but it can happen)

So would I buy another WDSS - you bet I want the new 8 TB unit

Susan
mydanes@me.com

 

[Unregistered]

firmware update location

hi, guys.

I'd like to upgrade firmware on WDSS, but i do not understand where to get . WDSS tells me that it can upgrade automaticaly, but it does not. It downloads something, but then happens nothing. i waited a "miracle" for 2 hours - nothing.

I find and download file WD-ShareSpace-v2.1.92-GPL.tar.gz. From WDSS product page.
Is it a firmware?
This hellbox dont accept this file.

Where i can find firmware update (links)?

And YES, it do not let to delete files from root.

Thanks.

PS: please, forgive my english,i am from Russia.

 

[thiggins]

It looks like the only way to get firmware is via the built-in firmware update function. The latest version is 2.1.92, released in August 2009. (Release notes).

If that's not working, contact WD Support.

 

[Venne]

Same problem

I have this problem too, nothing flashes on my ShareSpace 4TB, but I can't access anything. It shows up under tthe 'Network' tab in Windows explorer, but when i double click it to connect, it says that the drive cannot make connection. I also cannot access the html configuration page, so there isn't anything I can but wait for the response of WD...

Do you guys have found a solution? because there was some precious data on those disks, who I hope to be able to retrieve... Is there any way to just put those disks in another system, also with RAID 5, and just access my data on those disks?

I am very worried that I might lose those files, I thought my RAID 5 config was safe... So far goes my trust in WDC...

Sorry if my English is a bit bad, but I'm from Belgium

 

[thiggins]

Have you tried contacting WD support?

 

[Venne]

Yes, i did contact them, but I haven't heard from them since. My reseller says I should return my drive to him, so he can send it back to WD. But I am almost sure to lose all my data that is on that disk, so do any of you guys know how I could retrieve my data? It's configured in RAID-5 With 4 1TB disks...

 

[thiggins]

Yes, i did contact them, but I haven't heard from them since. My reseller says I should return my drive to him, so he can send it back to WD. But I am almost sure to lose all my data that is on that disk, so do any of you guys know how I could retrieve my data? It's configured in RAID-5 With 4 1TB disks...

Unfortunately, that's not a simple task, even for people comfortable with Linux.

 

[Venne]

I found a tool that says it can reconstruate a raid 5 on windows machine, from *.img files from 3 of the 4 disks. I hope it works, I am now taking those images. I had a reply from the WDC support that they have to much work, so their answer will be delayed. I will post my results if the program works or not (It's named Runtime Raid Reconstructor)

 

[thiggins]

Hope it works. Let is know if it does.

 

[Venne]

It didn't work, All I recovered were half of the files (even with the 4 drives) all named like numbers (123123.jpg and so on). I had much trouble to find the RAID config parameters, so I will post them here, that people can find them.

SHARESPACE 4TB RAID parameters

Raid Type : Raid 5
Disk Order : Make it the same as in your device (numbers are besides the disks)
Block Size : 512K
Block Order : Left Asynchronous

The WDC support people have contacted me, but so far without results. They said it was because I was running Windows 7, and the Sharespace is incompatible with that.
(As far as I know http is platform-independent, but I can be mistaken)
So I tried both with XP and Vista PC's, but without any luck. I'll keep you posted if any solution comes up.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for posting the config parameters and for letting us know how you did.

You're lucky that you recovered anything at all.

This is why it's important to not rely on RAID as backup.

 

[Venne]

I just have e-mailed the WD support my last try to save all my data. I asked them if the NAS has the OS installed on the disks or on the device itself, and aparantly the OS is installed on the device itself. So I will ask my reseller if I can swap drives with another device and see if I can access my data that way. Saddly enough, this is my last chance at a full recovery I think. I will post the results as soon as I get them.

 

[Unregistered]

WD 4TB Sharespace Failure

You know, sometimes when you research a product you intend to buy and there are some neg reviews (largely vehement and abusive) you ignore them and go ahead and shell out the cash...

I bought the 4TB mid last year after 2mths of ummming and ahhhing... For the last six months I have been delighted by it - mostly. I couldn't get the iTunes thing to work and the backup software was weird and did what IT wanted to do and not what I wanted. But, with 100gb+ music, 1Tb photographs and 0.5Gb of underwater video I've recorded to make movies, I had no choice but to get something!

However Last Christmas (there is a song title methinks there) I switched everything off whilst we did the Europe Family Tour, for 12 days... I came back eager to do a complete archive onto BluRay and then rebuild everything as I was upgrading all machines from Win 7 RTM to full products... But guess what... The NAS failed to wake up and I think I have now lost all my data (including my business archive)...

Don't get me wrong: I am an experienced IT Consultant so I didn't do anything rash. I even checked the manual for a 'reset' process (duly followed) and that did not help.

I emailed the 'support centre' only to get automatic drivel in return obsessing about MioNet (which I had never installed, let alone used)...

After 3 wks of this (and the WDC system auto 'solving' the cases) I got through on the phone line and I am still waiting for a replacement RAID ctrlr - which apparently they still have to call me about...

Still waiting, dreading the awful realisation that I truly can't recover my data...

The lesson: Buy a NAS by all means - but buy two and ensure you mirror them!!!

 

[Raja]

WD ShareSpace 8TB Failure

Boy 'o boy! Am I in trouble for transfering TB's of my valuable data to WD ShareSpace!

I experienced the exact frustraction Woody3366 had when he originally started this thread. My 8TB ShareSpace is less than 2 months old. Earlier this month I started transfering all my data from all systems (I had since last 12 years) including all my music/movies/finance/projects - everything into this box and I was still in the process of data transfer mid-month, when this volume started failing. The huge mistakes I had made, besides bying a WD ShareSpace 8TB, were deleting my source files after moving data from each machine and deciding to put off backup until I finished transfering all data from all machines and removing some duplicate data and pictures (which was another 3-4 days away). For that I now feel as dumb as WD folks.

At first the drive manager started claiming random disks as 'unassigned' every time I rebooted - sometimes a disk or two even said 'not installed'. After 2-3 reboots, it consistently started saying Disk3 was 'good' but unassigned. Even though Raid 5 can be accessible in 'degraded' mode, I couldn't access any folder - the entire volume and all shares were unavailable.

I reported this to WD and had them send me a second ShareSpace (by holding $1850) just to ensure the enclosure is not the issue. When I moved all disks to the new enclosure I faced the same issue. Then I pulled the Disk3 and inserted a brand new 2TB disk - but the system maintained the same status, which was very confusing to me. They could have made the system identify a new drive and offer me the option to rebuild right there - but no, I had to figure out what to do next myself, which wasn't documented very well.

Eventually I had to click on the 'clean' icon to clean the third disk. Then the next reboot identified the new disk as 'new' and started rebuilding the array, which took about 40 hours. I was so happy that at least the array is being rebuilt and I can soon recover my data.

But my excitement was shortlived and such illfated I felt to find that the DataVolume wasn't accessible. Looking at the logs, right after the log that said "DataVolume works normally (resync 100% completed)", there was this log that said "DataVolume doesn't exist".

I think as Woody3366 believes, the recovery pretty much wiped all disks? That is outright stupid of WD. What kind of recovery process is that? I am pretty sure it came up with a clean slate after 40 hours - since now I see both 'remove' and 'clean' icons against each of 4 disks, meaning it thinks all 4 disks are used by unrelated to 'DataVolume'.

I think by trying to rebuild the array WD's way I entirely screwed up any chance I had of recovering my data. I have to now wait until Monday to talk to them again - but having talked to their support for a while, I have no hope of getting any meaningful support from them. As Woody3366 correctly pointed out, the support guys do sound primitive and in their learning phases. One guys I had talked to had put me on hold 5 times in 10 minutes to "... just check with his colleague..." for anything I asked of him.

Such a worst experience and loss of sleep - guys, please don't buy these ridiculous systems. I was trying to decide between readyNAS and ShareSpace and somehow fell for ShareSpace. As an unregistered user pointed out above, you often ignore generic feedback from consumers on the web and never hear about specific issues until you have one and google around regarding that issue. :-(

Raja.

 

[Unregistered]

Here's why you can't delete or rename files...

Just spoke to WD reagrding the inability to rename or delete files that other and I have experienced. It's because we're in an Active Directory Domain and it will only (consistently) work when the number of AD users is less than 32! We're currently at 37. WD's tech support solution? Remove 6 AD users!! "Okay, you six employees... sorry, but I need access to my files, so you'll need to go". Seriously!?

Of course on their site and on the product marketing they tout "Can Join Active Directory Domains". But only in the newer manuals (older manuals do not mention the limitation) do they mention is has to be less than 32 users.

According to WD, I should have read their knowledge base BEFORE having purchased the item!! Who does this?! So they're answer in a nutshell is, "congratulations on your successful, growing business and thanks for the hundreds of dollars; sorry about your drive no longer working for you as stated."

They're marketing slogan should be "Western Digital... helping you realize your businesses limitations".

 

[Unregistered]

Workaround to access web interface

I had a similar problem - not being able to access the web config interface from a Mac. I found a workaround. Browse (or "Find") to the device and open the Configuration share. Then double-click on the enclosed file called index.html and accept the certificate. You should be presented with the web config interface.