Compatible? Seagate ST3500641AS-RK 500GB ???

[cyberwolf42]

I have ordered an N5200BR from eAegis.com but have not yet received it.

I have three ST3500641AS-RK 500GB drives that I wish to use in the 5200BR.

Does anyone know whether or not these will work? I am concerned because you have a 500GB Seagate listed as incompatible. If these are incompatible I am not sure what I will do as I must use these drives. I would like to know if there is a work-around for using these and what may happen if I do use them if they are incompatible.

Thank you.

[cyberwolf42]

Thecus Support has emailed me stating that the 7200.9 drives, of which this is one, are incompatible because they won't spin up until they receive the "start unit" command from the host, which the n5200br apparantly does not issue.

This sounds to me like a shortcoming of the n5200br, and NOT of my Seagate drives which are merely following the SATA spec.

I would like to formally request from Thecus that they fix this issue in a firmware release. Otherwise it will cost me a significant amount of time and money to unload these drives and replace them with either the significantly more expensive 500gb 7200.10's, or worse, lower capacity 400gb 7200.10's which are comparable in price.

How does one make this formal request of Thecus? I am not satisified with merely being told it will not work, I'd like to know what the plan is.

One last note that others might find helpful: Seagate tech support was VERY knowledgable and VERY helpful. They said that this particular .9 drive with the 3.AAH firmware (found on the drive label or using the SeaTools software) is basically a .10 drive and it MIGHT work. I would like Thecus to confirm if this is the case or not BEFORE I muck with my drives and waste (more) time on this.

I am most unhappy with Thecus right now and hope that they remedy this issue.

Thanks!

PS - Here was the email correspondence with Thecus. Notice specifically how they ignored most of my questions and only said "it wont work."

================

Dear Sir,

I am afraid the N5200 does not support Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 Series drive because of the series drive won't spin up until receive "start unit" command from the host. So we do not recommend using all Seagate 7200.9 series in N5200 NAS.

Best Regards!!
David
[phone] ext 612

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To: Thecus
Subject: Thecus Support Tech: Hard disk compatibility question

Email : <removed>
First Name : <removed>
Last Name : <removed>
Product : N5200
Serial Number : not yet received
Current Firmware Version : 1.00.01.3
HDD Model Name : ST3500641AS-RK 500GB
Subject : Hard disk compatibility question
Message :
I have ordered an N5200BR from eAegis.com but have not yet received it.

I have three ST3500641AS-RK 500GB drives that I wish to use in the 5200BR.

Please confirm whether or not these will work. I am concerned because you have a 500GB Seagate listed as incompatible. If these are incompatible I am not sure what I will do as I must use these drives. I would like to know if there is a work-around for using these and what may happen if I do use them if they are incompatible.

Thank you,
<removed>
phone: <removed>
email: <removed>

[marty]

Seagate Support page says they can upgrade SCSI hdd but not SATA or IDE drives unless the drive is an OEM version.

[cyberwolf42]

According to Seagate Support Engineers it turns out my drives were shipped with the v3.AAH firmware. I guess I will give it a try.

I am very disappointed by the support I'm getting from Thecus on this. They have not replied to my email replies or to this posting about which version firmware was in the 7200.9 drives they determined to not work.

[cyberwolf42]

Still no replies from Thecus support on my MULTIPLE messages to them asking what firmware version of the 7200.9 drives they tested with.

Most discouraging. So much so that I may abandon my Thecus box for good and go with the more well developed and better supported Infrant ReadyNAS NV.

[marty]

Do you own a N5200BR? Why not just insert your Seagate 7200.9 and try to build RAID on it? Seems like testing it yourself will be much faster than waiting for Thecus Tech Support's HDD firmware version.

[cyberwolf42]

Mine just arrived today. (Yippie!)
I was trying to find out because I had about 10 days while the N5200BR was back-ordered where I needed to decide if I would be on a quest for new drives or not. But since I never got an answer I've been wasting time sitting on my hands wondering. To say the least, Thecus has underwhelmed me in their responsiveness. eAegis.com has been great so far; they informed me that Thecus is "considering" fixing this issue in a future firmware release. I would still like an official statement on the topic though FROM THECUS themselves and to know where on the roadmap this issue is slated to be fixed.

I will try the 7200.9's and let people know what happens.

[cyberwolf42]

N5200BR seems to work fine (so far) with my Seagate 500GB 7200.9 drives.

Although I am not ready to trust it with any sensitive/important data, at least not yet.