Red, NASware 3.0 and clueless vendors

Hello,

The description on the RED NAS drives here say to check with the vendor to see if their current stock has NASware 2.0 or 3.0.  I just called newegg, and the person did not have clue. :cry:

Told me to check with WD !!! 

Looks like newegg does not even know what they have in stock. Now, as a Western Digital customer, how am I supposed to deal with this? If I take the plunge with them, how do I know, upon arrival if got a 3.0 or a 2.0 ?

On a side note, if I do get a 2.0, is there a firmware update I can do to bring it up to 3.0?

Thanks!

Sorry, I thought this forum was to help customers witih a wide range of concerns regarding Western Digital products.

26 views and no one seem to have anything to say. :confounded:

Was my inquiry to insicive?  Maybe I should have complained about a WD drive crashing within two months. That seems to get attention.

Hello,

The WD Community was created for Users -such as yourself- to help one another and to share your experiences and ideas with one another.  As Moderators, we are simply here to facilitate and oversee the Community. If you have a question or issue related to the WD Community itself, us Moderators will be happy to respond and assist you. However, if you are looking for technical support from WD, you will need to contact them directly.

To Contact WD for Technical Support:

http://support.wdc.com/contact/index.asp?lang=en

You can also contact WD Red Support.

  WD Red Phone Support

I’ll try that. Thanks.

I don’t mean to hijack the thread here, but I feel it’s pertitent to the discussion. I just purchased 8 of the WD10JFCX (2.5" 1TB) from Amazon, and received a mix bag of NASWare 2.0 and 3.0 drives, so I too am wondering if there is a way to update the firmware on the 2.0 drives to 3.0, so that I can put them all into production with the newer firmware version.

I have submitted a case to support to see if they can answer, but figured I’d post here too since it seems relevent to the conversation.

They’ll most likely say NASware is not upgradable. That is what WD tech told me.

I dislike the two different version in my NAS specially when I am doing a RAID 1. No way of telling what’d happen when it comes time to rebuild.

If I were you, I’ll send them back to Amazon and get them directly from WD.

That is what I did and got two v3.0.

Hello

Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to upgrade NASware on a WD Red drive. In our testing we did not find any issues mixing both NASware 2.0 and 3.0 in the same environment. However, you may want to verify with your enclosure/controller manufacturer to verify compatibility with their hardware.

We are no longer producing NASware 2.0 drives, so there shouldn’t be a lot left on the market. In addition, all 5TB and 6TB drives have only been manufactured with NASware 3.0.

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Well, LB_WD, I banked and hoped on what you said being correct. Unfortunatelly it was not.

I just ordered a Red 4TB from newegg on Cyber Monday. It arrived today. Guess what. It has NASware 2.0 !!!  :angry:

SO WARNING: Newegg stil has and old batch!!! DO NOT BUY FROM THEM!

The compatiblity with NASes do not worry me. What worries me is if one of my RAID1 with 3.0 fails. Am I guarrantied that the rebuild with a 2.0 is going to go well?

That is key.

Hi Winchy,

Unfortunately, it does sound like they still have old stock.

If a NASware 3.0 drives fails, you should have no problems if you switch it out to a NASware 2.0 drive. The RAID should still rebuild fine.

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Its better to have a nasware 2.0 drive that works for many years just fine instead of having a nasware 3.0 drive that breaks on the first month… just an example…  

You shouldnt worry about it realy

if its possible  great have the new firmware… if not no big deal :slight_smile:

Where do you see the “NASWare” version of a drive? I also just received a WD40EFRX 4TB Red with old firmware (80.00A80) from Newegg. The notion that there are few of these left in the pipeline is a load of BS if one of the largest suppliers in the country is still shipping them.

The version is right on the label. I know I will not go to any vendor anymore for my drives. I’ll be going straight to WD to purchase. I’m done with all of them.

Can the firmware on the Reds be updated to the latest? From other threads in this forum I see that new firmware updates are available for other drives.

There is a firmware update for the WD Red to adjust the load/unload counter, but none that will update the firmware to a different version.

WD Red Load/Unload

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=619&sid=201&lang=en

I’d be willing to pay extra for upgradable NAS version firmware.

LB_WD wrote:

There is a firmware update for the WD Red to adjust the load/unload counter, but none that will update the firmware to a different version.

 

WD Red Load/Unload

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=619&sid=201&lang=en

 

Is that a recommended update? Or recommened for certain applications? And is it necessary with the most recent version of the firmware?

It’s more of a per user/case basis than recommended. Some software may list a drive with a high load/unload as a potential SMART failure, even though the drive is perfectly fine and the load/unload is just a counter and not an indication of drive failure. All new production drives should have this new update applied, so anything produced in 2014 should already be updated.

It actually wont help to try and buy nasware 3.0 drives from the WD store; I have been told at least 5 times now, that they do not sell nasware 3.0 at the store, but I could get 2.0.

Seems like a disgusting scam to me. I have been loyal to WD for years, championing their use at work too. I am seriously tempted to switch manufacturers now.

Tell your marketing/branding team to stop scamming us by using the same model number for completely different drives.

Completely untrue statement. I have purchased SEVERAL 3.0 at the WD Store. Only problem is they are ussually out on back order, so I have to wait. So, who ever told you that is lying to your face!

I used to be able to see the 3.5’’ drives on the WD store, but never the 2.5’'. What was the process you followed? Did the nasware 3.0 have to be advertised? Was it by phone?

I was told this twice on email, and at least three times by phone.