We have 3 Western Digital My Cloud EX4s and until recently had plans to buy more to expand. We are currently using a product called StorageCraft for data backup and recovery. For almost the past year everything has been working beautifully until the latest firmware releases.
We have backups and restores that fail at times. These devices are used to backup the servers on our local network and are also used to receive StorageCraft backup images from remote networks at our client sites. We’re averaging 30 - 50GB of data each day. We also run bi-weekly restores of every critical system.
Over the past 2 months we have been getting repeated errors and each time the extended logging feature of whichever My Cloud EX4 shows an error similar to the following:
2015 Oct 30 00:01:36 SAMBA CIFS: Authentication for user [user name] has FAILED.
Whenever a backup or restore fails, there is a SAMBA error recorded on the EX4 similar to the above example. WD Support advised that we perform a reset - we did. They also said they can offer no further support because we’re using a 3rd party application for backups. Well, in response to that we still get the error when manually transferring files larger than 5GB so something has got to give.
We have also removed all of the EX4s from ActiveDirectory and mapped them as network drives using the static IP address. We have also stopped using Link Agregation and have only 1 network cable connected to each - problem still continues.
StorageCraft who states the My Cloud EX4 is on their list of supported devices. They have reviewed their associated error logs and have told me there are disk errors. So in response we put 4 new hard drives and rebuilt one of the EX4s from scratch.
The problem continues. At this point we are desperate for a solution and are looking to phase these units out of production.
What version of Samba is set in Settings / Network, scroll down until the Windows block appears.
The error message itself is more or less useless as it only states, that a user was not authenticated.
Mostly, there are DNS resolution problems behind such a message. Or you have the incorrect SMB protocol version in use. My Cloud support SMBv1, v2 and v3. If you are using Windows >= 8, then you should set the SMB to v3.
Pointing to an external DNS registrar for purely internal network? Here the initial bug may be located, the internal DNS resolution shall be done by an internal DNS server (like your router od the DNS server on your PDC).
I recommend the other way round, Primary DNS server should be your internal one and Secondary DNS should be the external one; otherwise all internal DNS requests will be shipped to the external and after DNS timeout occurs (with is the case for all internal DNS requests) then the internal will be asked. Time consuming DNS ping-pong “nonsense” which ends up in bad network throughput.
Thanks for the follow-up. I have switched this box over to DHCP and it has obtained an IP address from the domain controller. I have also attached it to Active Directory. The SAMBA CIFS errors continue.
Please note that the DNS does have the domain controller as the primary.
Escalated this to StorageCraft and asked them for help, hopefully we can find a solution. I’ll keep ypu updated as soon as I receive further information.
Already did that and below is their response. After their response I replaced all of the hard drives and reset the WD My Cloud EX4, then ran a full backup. StorageCraft is saying it’s a Western Digital issue.
Attached is a screenshot of the filter Event Viewer with a disk and iSCSI issues on the system, including one trying to access the IP of 192.168.1.192. I also see the system is using iSCSI. The ImageManager clearly shows trying to verify the C_VOL-b001.spf, and then looses connection to the file as shown here:
22-Oct-2015 10:34:53 Sync done
22-Oct-2015 10:34:59 verify C_VOL-b001.spf
22-Oct-2015 10:39:27 ReadCallBack() bytes = 5142216704: The specified network name is no longer available.
22-Oct-2015 10:39:27 Verify exception: C_VOL-b001.spf - read buffer not ready
This continues to be a pattern on the system when trying to Verify the C_VOL-b001.spf, as seen here:
Verify exception: C_VOL-b001.spf - read buffer not ready
Verify exception: C_VOL-b001.spf - read buffer not ready
I also see the system is using the IP Address of IP Address of:
192.168.1.100, fe80::a9d7:f71f:dacf:69ed,
So there is definitely and iSCSI and disk issue on this system that will create the resources to timeout, thus the “read buffer not ready” error… Please fix the iSCSI and disk errors on the system to get the ImageManager working on the chain with all the ImageManager processes.
We’re not using ISCSI, however when StorageCraft reviewed the logs from their application that’s what they saw. I can confirm that ISCSI is turned off. When the StorageCraft errors occur, it is recorded as a SAMBA error in the WD extended logging section under utilities.
StorageCraft responded to me, here is the content of the Email
(Translated from German language)
Read buffer errors mostly point to a performance issue, we see this happen often with different manufacturers with and without NAS devices. If access is using SMB, what version of SMB is in use here? Joerg_A: highlighted in “Settings” inside the “Windows” block.
The message does not mean a broken or defective image / backup file. Sometimes these errors occur occasionally if the NAS is under load. If these errors appear more often, we recommend our Tuning Guide (valid for servers and clients, depending on where the ImageManager is installed). Recommendation is a separate, physical machine.
If it is a virtual machine, it depends on the configuration of either the Hypervisor or the NIC-configuration.
For example: a Hypervisor or ESX with 5 virtual machine, sharing one network interface card – or can I offer one dedicated NIC only for the VM carrying the ImageManager – or do I have 20 VMs sharing all NICs…
To be safe that the backup file is OK, please test it with the help of Virtual Boot (free of cost and included in the product but need to be installed seperately). It’s our recommendation to do this regularly.
The Tuning Guide, together with a fixed sized of the swap file (at least 2 x) combined with actual drivers and firmware for the Storage and the network cards could increase the performance. http://www.storagecraft.com/support/kb/article/241
Another recommendation can be to connect the NAS by iSCSI instead of using SMB. Please note to check the network configuration: NAS and ImageManager shall be connected to the same switch! If the NAS offers more than one NIC, please make use of the port trunking capabilities of the NAS.
Joerg_A: if Port Trunking, then please use a managed switch with LACP Link Aggregation Control Protcol enabled and “802.3ad” as Aggregation mode of the My Cloud NICs.
If all of the above does not solve the issue, please call StorageCraft support, the StorageCraft licence has to have “support included”
I thought you should know that this is not a Storagecraft problem. Until I read this post I have never heard of Storagecraft. I reported this same SAMBA issue to WD on October 15 2015. Support Case Detail ({Deleted}). I became a little concerned when I had to explain to the support person what SAMBA was. I went through 2 levels of support and 3 different support people. WD Support advised that I perform a reset - I did and there was no change. I tried all three SAMBA settings. No Change. I have a simple network with one EX4, one router, one switch and 5 WD TV Live media players. At their request I have sent them several log files. When the WD TV Live media players are streaming videos (Network Share) the player locks up and there is a SAMBA error recorded on the EX4 similar to your above example. When using the WD TV Live media players to connect to the DLNA Sever on the EX4 and the same issue occurs. I cleared the logins to the Network shares on the WD TV Live media players and the error still occurs. The only difference is the message changes the user name.
2015 Mov 13 16:36:06 SAMBA CIFS: Authentication for user [NOBODY] has FAILED…
This also occurs during file transfers between the EX4 and a windows desktop.
It appears that the EX4 does authenticate the login because then there would be no access to the files.
Also, I believe the Mov in the error message is supposed to be Nov for November.
This has made our EX4 and all of our WD TV Live media players unusable.
I now believe that the error message in the log has nothing to do with this SAMBA issue. I just turned on a MyCloud (single drive 4tb) that has not been used for months and the same message is present in the logs, That device has had no firmware upgrades and still works. I do believe the problem is still a SAMBA issue since that is the connection method.
2015 Mar 3 12:00:00 SAMBA CIFS: Authentication for user [nobody] has FAILED.
Thank you for your reply NYZuck. We continue to have the same problem with our 3 EX4s and have started to phase them out of production. I completely reset one of ours which included install of new drives. No difference and WD Support has been helpful, but so far no resolution is available and we cannot wait.
We are still having this SAMBA issue with our Western Digital My Cloud EX4s. We have taken them out of Production and even replaced the hard drives on one of them and performed a full backup using StorageCraft which completed successfully. After a week the same SAMBA errors have returned.
Please note that all 3 of the Western Digital My Cloud EX4s are on the same switch as the PC that is performing the backups and restores. All 3 Western Digital My Cloud EX4s are running DHCP which obtain their IP addresses from the domain controller. The primary DNS IP address is that of the domain controller. SMB3 is also selected and the devices are attached to Active Directory, however they do get disconnected from time-to-time so for testing we are using the local admin account for connecting (NAS Name\admin).
This problem has gone on for months ever since the latest firmware update was presented. At this point I am at a loss and have spent well over $1,000 for each of these Western Digital My Cloud EX4s that are no longer a reliable. StorageCraft has advised that it’s a NAS issue and asked us to contact WD Support. The response form WD Support was to perform a factory reset and run tests - nothing worked. So as mentioned earlier we replaced the drives on one of the units and still have the same problem.
This problem appears related to the latest firmware. Any help will be appreciated. Below is the error that is reported each time a backup or restore fails:
Western Digital My Cloud EX4 SAMBA CIFS: Authentication for user has FAILED.
So what’s the verdict. I’m having similar issues with my new EX4. I’m get the following error message; CIFS: Authentication for user [user_name] has FAILED.
If I’m not able to troubleshoot this issue I will return all EX4 NAS
