N3200 Questions

[Duane]

I just bought an N3200 and I have a couple of questions before I throw it in the bin or buy 3 new drives.

Firstly, just how fussy are they about what drives are put in them? I am using 3 WD5000AAKS drives using RAID 5. I know that these drives aren't on the drive list. It has basically taken me a day and a half to get it to create the array. The first few times it just crashed and came up with an error on the display along the lines of "system not responding". I'm interested in opinions before I go and spend almost the price of the unit on hard drives again. The box has now crashed for the second time in 30 minutes while I've been transferring data to it. So much for a reliable storage device.

Finally, when it did finally create the array today, it took 6 hours. Is this normal or a symptom of drive compatibility problems. The guy in the shop actually made a comment about how the previous models had a lot of problems with not supporting many drives.

Thanks in advance

Duane

[spiken]

The link below is the N3200 HDD list compatibility.

However the thecus main page says that new features is comming for the N3200, so a new firmware is going to appear soon.

www[dot]thecus.com/download/other/N3200_HDD_list_2007-11-15.pdf

[Duane]

The link below is the N3200 HDD list compatibility.

However the thecus main page says that new features is comming for the N3200, so a new firmware is going to appear soon.

www[dot]thecus.com/download/other/N3200_HDD_list_2007-11-15.pdf

Thanks, but I've already checked out the list and worked out what drives I'll buy to replace the WD's (if I do).

I haven't seen anything about new features for the 3200 anywhere at the Thecus website. Maybe you're getting different "ads" than me?

[spiken]

Curtain call for the N3200M
enjoy our all new mediacenter-solution on CeBIT 2008
featuring remote control, HDMi and surround sound.

More here :
Thecus News Release

So a new firmware is coming...

[jcmo34]

Curtain call for the N3200M
enjoy our all new mediacenter-solution on CeBIT 2008
featuring remote control, HDMi and surround sound.

So a new firmware is coming...

I thought the 3200M would be built with different hardware, since its in collaboration with AMD & will have HDMI and surround sound outputs?

[spiken]

I think the N3200M will have the same hardware than the N3200.
According to me, the only difference will be adding a card in the N3200 proprietary slot that will transform the nas into a kind of mediaplayer (you just have to plug it to your TV with the HDMi cable) and watch your video files stored into the nas.

I ve no information about that, and that's only my opinion.

[Duane]

UPDATE: If I could change this topic to be "Biggest Piece of rubbish I have ever purchased" I would.

I bought 3 Samsung HD501LJ Hard Drives which ARE on the Hard Drive compatibility list (there goes good money after bad)

I waited over 5 HOURS for the piece of junk to build the array AGAIN. I then installed the firmware as per the instructions.

Finally, I started to transfer data only to have it drop the connection after less than 1GB. Thinking it might need rebooting, I restarted the unit only to discover it had decided to build the array AGAIN!!!!
I let it go for a while until it got to about 4% and let out the high pitched scream that I have come to expect over the last extremely frustrating 4 days. Lo and behold I go to the unit to see the also familiar "system no respond" message on the LCD display.

I am just about to rip the hard drives out of the unit, pack it up and return it for a refund.

IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING BUYING A 3200, MY RECOMMENDATION IS TO LOOK ELSEWHERE

Thecus has successfully made it onto my list of brands to recommend people don't touch. I'd like to thank them for allowing me to spend an additional amount of money almost the same as the price of the piece of junk on hard drives that will allegedly work with their product.

BUYER BEWARE