Reading about all the problems with the upgrade. I’d like to know if people are happy with the upgrade and recommend it? Or shall I just wait a few more months?
Thanks for your comments!
Stay on 3 as long as you can.
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Only the developers, have to pretend to do something to keep the job. Just scan through the list of latest threads to get a pulse on OS5 reception. As the poster above wisely said, stay on OS3.
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OS5 has improvements over OS3.
However. . . .I do not trust the “privacy” aspects of OS5. It seems very “web aware” for a private network device.
The OS5 web applications, as least back in November, were an abomination.
If you can block internet access to the device (AT THE ROUTER); OS5 is fine. However, I need to leave it open to the internet for access via VPN. . .therefore my main NAS box shall run OS3 (until I upgrade to DSM. . .but that is another topic)
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I don’t expose my NAS to internet outside LAN. My primary concern with OS5 has been the bugs and reduced functionality set. Over time many features of OS3 (transmission, remote dashboard, etc) have been brought back while some others (web file viewer being the most important) are still MIA, official company line being they’re deprecated. Redundant or sparsely used features are deprecated not the ones used frequently. NAS keeps waking up after OS5 upgrade although WD has attempted to fix that with multiple firmware updates. There’s a basic expectation of improved feature set with any major software upgrade and what WD delivered was a hack job with reduced functionality riddled with bugs.
Mobile access is another privacy beef for me, why do I need to sign in to WD servers to access data hosted on my own NAS on the same network, doesn’t make sense. Also why can’t I access my data without WD having to index everything if I can live without thumbnails. If WD server shuts down, which won’t be a big surprise given the current state of affairs for NAS business, there’s no way for mobile devices to access data even on the same network as the NAS.
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What do you mean by “web file viewer” being deprecated? Do you mean access to the My Cloud NAS via “files.mycloud.com”?
Thanks!
Peace…
Well. . . . .then there is everything @mirge101 said.
I personally could not believe the WD web apps didn’t have a “copy” function; and that share-to-share (not mention NAS to NAS) access was dropped. (I mean. . . SERIOUSLY?)
bulk file operations at the NAS O/S level (i.e. major copy jobs) should all be able to be done via a GUI direct to the box. . .without requiring tying up a computer on a network connection. . . OR using the somewhat kludgy backup functionality. . .and CERTAINLY shouldn’t require a network connection.
The sleep issue is an old problem. . .that eludes resolution (huh? Why?)
Don’t get me started on indexing. The amazing tone-deafness of WD regarding this topic has been breath taking.
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No, that’s an app in OS3 for file management from within the dashboard and is pretty useful, you could move around some folders within the same share or across shares or check status of backup writes etc. without everything having to go through the PC. OS5 doesn’t have any file/folder management functionality which is ironical in my opinion for a file storage server. There’s no analogue in OS5 and no plans in motion to restore this functionality as far as I’m aware.
files.mycloud.com doesn’t work without indexing and was pretty limited last I checked couple of months back, for example I couldn’t move around folders or check for backup write status since that wasn’t available without indexing first which I assume everyone is aware how slow that is. Again from a privacy standpoint, I don’t want WD or any other firm to have access to my data, that’s why a NAS compared to cloud hosting services. Last one is obviously a personal preference.
Thanks for the explanation. I understand now. I’m still very new to the OS5 update, so I haven’t found what I like or don’t like yet. Speaking of indexing, the drive is currently indexing our files (or was as of yesterday (5/1)) now. Your point about going with a NAS vs using cloud hosting services is very well taken and I share your view. At first, I wasn’t exactly sure what “indexing” meant (I mean I understand the concept but not the practical application in the context of the WD My Cloud NAS). I did enable cloud access to our My Cloud NAS because I need to access the files remotely (I’m starting to work through GoodSync setup now). Your point about privacy is good and something I’ll have to give some serious thought to.
Thanks!
Peace…
its about form over function.
See, someone said that “Thumbnails are important”.
I mean, I often browse folders by thumbnail. . . You probably have noticed that thumbnail browsing can be slow, as the computer must generate the thumbnails for display. Now - - that’s with PC/MAC class processors. Imagine thumbnail creation using the CPU’s that are in these NAS units. . .much slower. Combine that with the paltry upload speed of typical US internet connections - - -and the pretty thumbnails are nigh impossible.
This is a very big disadvantage (inherent) in a personal cloud vs. a Cloud Service. First, the cloud service will have GB internet connections (not 5mbs); and will have proper servers that can power pretty graphics. The only way to compete with that is (I believe in the view of WD) to PREGENERATE all the thumbnails in advance.
So in an effort to make it pretty. . .they made it unusable. (I am sure it worked fine in the PowerPoint presentation, where they had a Pro Grade NAS (with intel processor) and an imagine library consisting of about 40 images.
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I understand. I haven’t spent enough time with the OS 5 upgrade/update to know whether or not I like or dislike it yet. I’m still getting things setup and learning as I go. Thumbnail generation can certainly be slow, especially when the user isn’t interested in the thumbnails at all. lol On my ancient laptop, thumbnails load quickly because they’ve been cached. For a ton of new files, thumbnail generation takes some time but it’s not “painfully” slow or anything. I have no clue how long the index process will take on our My Cloud NAS, since the process started, automatically, after enabling cloud access.
What I don’t know is what impact the thumbnails will have on accessing files via mycloud.com site. I’m sure, time will tell once I get to that point. 
With regard to thumbnails being a “feature”, I do think that’s certainly up for debate and probably should have been a configurable setting, not some default behavior. At this point, my main concern is getting GoodSync setup with the remote My Cloud NAS as a device for synchronization.
Thanks!
Peace…
It bricked my DL4100. Very happy with the OS5.
On the matter of thumbnails, it should be user’s choice instead of WD’s unilateral call. I’ve moved to a Synology and use WD only for backup now. I’ve remote access to all my content on Synology (without thumbnails obviously since I haven’t enabled indexing) right from day 0 and I know I can enable indexing whenever I want. Obviously, there will be users who would want thumbnails straight away and that’s their choice. What WD has done is take that choice away from the user and that I’ve an issue with - you can’t have remote access to your files without WD first prettying it up with thumbnails through their horribly inefficient indexing process. In fact WD prioritizes indexing so much, any non-PR lineup may find their device practically unusable for days, if not weeks after setting it up.
I’ve seen multiple reports of disks failing post OS5 upgrade and a few reports of devices bricking, which is really sad for those affected. In my country, cigarette manufacturers are obligated to print a health risk disclaimer and in my opinion WD should be forced to print a similar disclaimer that users are going to install a sparsely tested bug ridden OS supported by a bunch of newbie developers who can’t even seem to fix sleep-wake issue, the half-feature set upgrade will render the device unusable for a couple of days if it survives the upgrade process so proceed at your own risk. I’ve suggested everyone to not upgrade and immediately move back to OS3, stupid waste of money for me but a solid lesson to stay way from all WD products in future!
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I like you comment on health risk disclaimer
I would not like to be the engineer standing up at that meeting and telling the boss
User must connect a UPS to NAS before all firmware updates and aim an external FAN at unit while it is indexing or doing a raid re-build and both can last days.
My WD was totally fault after upgrade to OS5
personnellement, je ne l’utilise presque plus comme au temps de IOS3.
Avant j’y avais accès sans problème via le réseau, maintenant avec IOS5 , pas d’accès direct, il faut passer par le cloud que je n’aime pas. Dommage pour mon PR4100, il vie ces derniers instant à la maison…
Ich bin nicht happy mit OS 5. Meine MyCloud 3 TB geht nicht mehr in den Energiesparmodus (Spin Off). 
Here are my issues as of now (some predate OS5) and some thoughts:
- [
] Dearth of apps; WD should contract with some devs to beef up the options. Heck, allow paid apps of high quality. - [] Removal of ability to move files between shares via the GUI. While the prior version wasn’t great, it was something. When necessary, I either use SSH or just access the mounted volume from my OS (macOS). If WD pushed a solution that’s slightly better than that of the prior OS, that would be super (especially if there’s support for bulk operations)
- [
] QuikFynd actually functions! Thanks, though I’m just now realizing that it’s not free.
I’m neither for or against, I use the OS5’s WD provided utilities and services only a little. Now, I use the SSH Linux shell and took the time to learn how to use this to do at least the minimum useful operations.
It’s possible to do a lot. Change ownerships of files, move huge directories in an instant, backup and restore iSCSI container files. Install Entware and then using opkg to install SoftEther and you’ve got yourself a pretty fully featured VPN server for the cost of $0.00. ZeroTier is also there too. Actually, there are a lot of other useful packages. With a few limitations it’s a full headless Linux server.
I guess if someone does not want to use SSH or Linux then they use what WD provides and there I have met people who need to how to read and write or believe that when there is an eclipse of the Sun they believe (I kid you not!) that the moon is crashing into the Sun?!
I would love to know why when upgrading the firmware and Linux, that for some it fails and for others it works as expected.
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I think with the latest version of OS5 the main remaining issue is the forced thumbnailing (there are others but that’s the biggie)
If WD would have that off by default then they’d be back to having a halfway decent product line.
There’s no sane reason to force these previews. So I think there must be some kind of management directive, because of this new EdgeRover product.
