[SOLVED] Cannot access MediaCase NAS drive

[logicalduck]

I've just bought a hard drive enclosure which has both ethernet and USB connectivity, and also a brand new IDE hard drive (Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 - 500 GB - 7200RPM - 16 MB - Ultra ATA/100) to go in it. Its purpose is to allow back-up and easy file sharing on a small home network.

The enclosure is this one: www.mediacase.co.uk

I configured the drive as a master (as instructed), installed it in the enclosure and connected this to a spare port on the ADSL router (Netgear DG834G). There are 2 desktop PCs on the network (one has Windows XP SP2, the other Windows 98SE).

Using the XP PC, I successfully accessed the unit's admin pages from the web browser, so the unit itself is accessible over the network. I went to the "Disk Utility" page from where it is possible to format the hard drive for FAT32 (which it needs to be). I did this, and got a success message back, but after only about 10 seconds. This seems a suspiciously short time to format a 500GB disk, but maybe it was pre-formatted.

The main admin page for the unit refers to the disk and gives the free size available.

The problem is, I cannot access the drive to copy files to and from it. It is supposed to come up under "My Network Places" as a node called "Storage", but there is no sign of it. If I type "//storage" into the "Run" command box, an Explorer window is supposed to come up, but I get a message saying Windows cannot find "//storage" I tried using its IP address instead (allocated by the router using DHCP): same result.

The PC has the Zone Alarm firewall, but I disabled this to prove it is not the problem.

I tried connecting the LAN drive unit directly to an XP laptop via its Ethernet port, and got the same results: I could access the unit's admin pages but could not get Windows Explorer access to the drive itself.

I connected the unit to my laptop via its USB connection. This worked, and I could see the drive in Windows Explorer, and created a test file on it. Clicking on "properties" for the drive it confirmed that the file system is FAT 32.

In summary, the hard drive seems fine and is accessible via the USB interface, but not over the network, although the unit's admin pages can be accessed.

Could this be a network configuration issue? Do I have to do something in Windows XP to get the PC to recognise a new node added to the network?

In case it's significant: The router needed rebooting several hours after I connected the unit; it doesn't normally need this.

As I'm getting no response so far from the site where I purchased it, I will have to send it back for refund in a few days if I can't solve this, and the drive as well. So if anyone can suggest things I could try while I still have it, I'd be very grateful.

[johnwill]

If you can't access it by USB or network, I'd guess it's defective, or the hard disk inside is bad.

[logicalduck]

Hi John.

No it's only the network access I'm having trouble with.

Over the USB connection I can see the disk and it's fine.

Over the network, I can access the admin pages. I just can't access files and folders on the disk over the network. Nothing appears in my Netwrok Places for the drive.

So the disk is OK.

Since I can access the admin pages, it makes me think there is just something I need to configure...

[johnwill]

Have you tried formatting it using the web based admin pages?

[logicalduck]

Yes I did that.

It only took about 10 seconds, I thought it would be longer.

When I access via USB, the disk properties show as "File System FAT 32" and I can put files on it.

So I think it is formatted OK.

[johnwill]

I'm at a loss. I've never seen that drive, but my only suggestion would be to talk to their tech support.

[logicalduck]

I've finally managed to solve this problem.
I'll post the details here for anyone else with a Medicase NAS caddy.

I noticed on the 1st of the admin pages that one of the settings is "Group Name" and it's set to "WORKGROUP". This setting was pre-confogured and it doesn't seem to be changeable.

My LAN's workgroup name was set to something like "MSHOME". I set up the LAN again, this time using the name "WORKGROUP" for the workgroup, rebooted and the NAS drive appeared under "My Network Places". I can now access the drive successfully.

The user guide for the caddy doesn't mention the need to do this.

Thanks for your replies, John.

I believe there is a way of marking a thread as "problem solved", but I've been through the FAQs and can't see how to do it.

[johnwill]

Thanks for the feedback, so simple once you stumble across it.