Upgrade on 2x 4TB HDDs

[wd9895]

Hello Experts,

I currently run the 2big2 by using 2x 1,5TB HDDs and I want to upgrade it with 2x 4TB green WDs.
As I read about the bottleneck of this model to address >2TB I'd like to know if this is an impossible project.

What can I do ? Any way to go ahead or is the max capacity 4TB ?
What about the 4K problem ?

[fvdw]

It depends on the u-boot version on your 2big2.
Its main function is to load the kernel from partition 6. If it (the bootloader) supports gpt partition tables then you can use gpt partition tables and system disks bigger then 2 TB. If the bootloader doesn't support gpt then it can only read dos partition tables and you are stuck with the 2TB limit for the system disk. This because it means the system disk must have a dos partition table to enable the boot loader to load the kernel. Dos partition tables can only address a disk space of max 2 TB. (ps There are ways to bypass this limitation but they are not straight forward) . of course the bootloader can be updated, but that needs writing something to flash memory. if that fails or you write a not correct version of u-boot, your 2big2 will become a brick and difficult to bring back to life.

The second (non system disk) can be 4TB as the kernel supports gpt partition tables and it will find the second disk and mount it just fine.

So check your bootloader , for instance by looking in dmesg output

Code: Select all

dmesg | grep gpt

It will give as ouput something like this

Code: Select all

Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sda7 ro reset=0 productType=BIG2_KW cap=gpt,lba64

If it contains cap=gpt,lba64 then the bootloader supports gpt partition tables and you can use a 4TB disk as system disk. If not then the system disk will be maximum 2 TB as explained

[fantomel]

And let's say that i have 2pcs 2big network 2, one with gpt one without. How can i update the bootloader on the one without?
I have given the command :
dmesg | grep Kernel
and i have the results:
First one:
[ 0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sda7 ro reset=0 productType=PRO_KW
Second one:
[ 0.000000] Kernel command line: console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sda7 ro reset=0 productType=PRO_KW cap=gpt,lba64

So the second one has GPT and the first has not.

[fvdw]

you have three options

(1) I think the bootloader for kirkwood based devices is the same, it means the one from the nwsp2 should also run on the 2big2...but I never tried that. If you are brave you could write the adapted u-boot present in the fvdw-sl console for the nwsp2-classic ! to flash on the 2big2

(2) copy the the bootloader from the 2big2 that has gpt support and write that to the other one using the u-boot console of the fvdw-sl console

(3) if the 2big2 has the same flash as the nwsp2 we ccould access via userland, which means using the fvdw-sl firmware and kernel. If the flash is recognized we can copy and write to the flash using the dd command


To find out the versions of u-boot present on these devices you could connect using the u-boot console present in the fvdw-sl console
On the marvell>> prompt type as command: version

[fvdw]

I edited above post

[fantomel]

I am planning on getting all data from old one on another drive and the "new" one it's on as a virgin not being used since i kept it as a test machine for fvdw version with raid :) . So you can say i have the time and will to play with the 2 of them.

P.S. Can i contact you on PM for another proposition - project since Jocko told me that he has not the time for it?

[fvdw]

ok but writing to flash has a risk if it fails or we write something to it that is not correct then your nas will become a brick and needs other tools to bring it back to life. So if you do it it is at your own ris, I flashe my nwsp2 a lot but I never did it on a 2big2

yes sent me a pm to see what you have as proposal

[wd9895]

Hi fvdw,

just tried to install FW 15.3 or 16 on my test HDD (750GB) in my 2big2 but it failed.
Several month ago you gave me a test FW containing 14.1 but the sinple update via the web interface reports

Firmware upgrade step 2 started...
Firmware upgrade failed, upgrade process aborted, reason:
fw upgrade MD5 check failed firmware image is corrupt

I will try it once more with the console most likely tomorrow :)

Good news: the bootloader on my 2big2 reports GPT comaptibility, so I'll try to save some money for two 4TB HDDs.

console=ttyS0,115200 root=/dev/sdb7 ro reset=0 productType=PRO_KW cap=gpt,lba64

Another question:
Will FW 16.0 support Raid 0 or JBOD ?

Have a good new year party and a happy new year !
Read you soon.

[fvdw]

you must have something wrong with file because if the MD5 check fails then it is really corrupt. I saw some problems with this in the past from another user it had to do with the way he downloaded downloaded the file or put it on the disk.
If for instance you use ftp in ASCII mode and you did not use binary mode then executables will be damaged as ftp will then add a <CR> (carriage return character) after each <LF> (linefeed character) it finds in the file.
Then it becomes corrupt. It may also break executables and jpg files. This not an error but it is the way ftp protocols were designed. Be sure to use binary setting when using ftp and never ASCII (text) mode. More info see for example here http://www.serv-u.com/newsletter/NewsL2008-03-18.asp

If you use the fvdw-sl console installation should go fine of 15-3, after that you can upgrade to 16-0

about the raid questions.
in fact JBOD is not raid but just a bunch of disk. Yes he firmware support thats it is using it without raid.
raid 0: We don't plan to create a guide for raid0 even if this feature will be available with 16.1

happy year wd9895

[Jocko]

Hi wd9895,

Indeed FW 16.0 supports Raid 0 but I didn't plan to post a tutorial for this feature even if you will be able to do it later with 16.1.

Raid0 has no redundancy. So as soon as a disk has a fault, you will lose all your data! This type of raid is to consider only if your data is backed further and you want to improve read performance.

If you really want to use a raid0, I can post a tutorial to do it next week.