Transferring large files BETWEEN 2 x MBLD ; with one system problematic

HI,

My original MBLD is 2 x 3 tb drives Raid- (call this System A with Drive 1 and 2) The actual data is good and the system works BUT after a recent firmware upgrade the system (A) loses network connection at regular intervals and restarts.

I have a NEW MBLD - same config.( call this System B drive 1 and 2)

What i want to do is get the data off System 1 A onto System 2 A.  However the transfer is 1.6 Tb and because of the very long transfer through the router (both systems connected to the router) the System A device crashes and restarts losing the transfer.

Any ideas of how to get my data off System A onto the new System B device easily and quickly?

I have thought about placing the Drive 1 from System, A into System B drive 1 slot and letting the System B drive 2 rebuild / mirror and then take drive 2 from Syst B and putting it into the drive 1 slot and using the second drive in the new system as the mirror drive and let it now rebuild / mirror what is on drive 1 (formerly drive 2 of suystem B ) 

Complicated but I hope you can all follow the issue and have some ideas for me!!

Cheers

Have a look at this Guide-

http://community.wd.com/t5/My-Book-Live-Duo/GUIDE-Debrick-a-MyBookLive-DUO/td-p/544860

It is quite lengthy and covers a few people’s experiences, including mine towards the end. Guide 1 deals with preserving data while restoring the operation of the NAS. Clearly, your unit is not totally bricked, but there are instructions for just about any circumstance. NFODIZ et al have done a great job of collecting information from many sources.

I removed the System 1 Drive A and System 2 Drive A from the MBLD and connevcted them both to teh Windows 7 PC- via SATA. Neither was readable.

I then installed and downloaded the Linux program Diskinternals as suggested by the link Kieren provided. However this program seemed to view both drives in a number of partitions and when I opened each partition the information shown it really did not mean much to me so I did not proceed with any copy/transfer of files. The program would not allow me to copy the physical drive to the other physical drive.

So I am still at square 1 - I have a need to transfer a large set of data from 1 drive in System 1 to the new drive in System 2. The system 1 is the problem as it seems to stop working and / or restarts or requires a restart to be recognised on the network. All this started after doing a firmware upgarde from WD to System 1 !!!

I’m sorry to hear that there are obstacles. I had my best success with Hiren’s Boot CD, in Linux default mode. This particular desktop provides a file manager, as well as many recovery tools, drive mount utility, etc.

The multiple volumes are different Linux partitions. Some hold the operating system (firmware), while the largest partition will hold your data. Try to copy from the largest partition on your source drive, to the largest (ext4) partition on your new drive.

Just so you know, while I have succeeded in some pretty involved tasks on the MBLD, I almost never got it right on the first try. Just take it slow, and think twice about any choices which might involve the loss of data. Having a second drive from a RAID 1 does give you a fall-back, but don’t get to where you need that if you can help it.

Thanks again Kieren,

I found the Hiren’s Boot CD, and yes it does have quite a large number of utilities / software on it. Can you please advise this novice whoich particular application on the CD you would suggest I use to copy the data?

Kind regards

Michael

Hi,

Sorry I did not notice your latest post until now. I will have to get out the Hiren’s disk and boot from it to give better information. I will add to this post when I get the correct names of things for you.

UPDATE: Boot from Hiren’s disc

From the menu, select “Linux based rescue…” (first Linux line)

Select “Live with default” (also first line)

Hit enter

When you reach the desktop, go to the File Manager in the upper left of the desktop. Remember that this all will be easier if you disconnect all HDDs except the Source and Destination. In the File Manager you should be able to examine the partitions to find the one which contains your data files, and the corresponding one on the other drive which is empty.

HI Kieren,

Thank you for your support in the community. I have not proceeded to date with the Linux solution as I have been liaising with Level 2 support at WD - sadly they have not been able to resolve the transfer of the files.

They do not recommend Linux as they do not support this method so …

I am getting ready as what appears now to be my only solution  to retrieve my data.

The drives are Healthy it is the enclosure that has been the issue.

So … in your opinion will I be able to work through the Linux file management utility given I know nothing of this utility myself.  I have made the boot CD and will remove all but the source and destination drives from my PC (including the C: drive) 

Any steps you care to suggest?

CHeers

Michael

I’ve done this transfer 3 times now; because i upgraded with each new generation of WD NAS. The best solution i have found is to login to the target NAS via SSH as user=root.  And then mount the other drive using the linux commands. Then instruct one drive to copy over to the other.  This method does not tie up your PC with resources. It involves data moving directy from one NAS to the router to the other NAS.  If you have a fast router with Gigabit ethernet connection, it will not overload your network at all.  You can just let the process run until it is done. For the aount of data you are talking about; I’d guess about 24 hours.

Here is the instrucitons on how to do it  Transfer Files Guide

Thanks very much for that information. I also believe a significant part of my problem was that the enclosure was faulty and was losing the connection to the router and hence the transfer would stop several hours into the job.

Regards