Drobo Firmware Release Notes

Drobo Firmware

Release Notes

Release Date: October 25, 2011

CONTENTS

VERSION INFORMATION

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

KNOWN ISSUES

RELATED TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

VERSION INFORMATION

Drobo Firmware: Version 1.4.1 [1.254.43359]

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

This is a new release of Drobo Firmware. Improvements included in this version:



Support for drives larger than 2TB.



Support for formatting Drobo volumes using Disk Utility on Mac OS X Lion.



Fixed disconnect problems when Drobo is connected via FireWire to newer Mac systems.



Fixed Drobo firmware update failure when Drobo is connected via FireWire.



Fixed DroboShare compatibility. This firmware release can be used with Drobo Gen 2 connected via DroboShare.

Important!



This version of Drobo firmware is compatible with Drobo Gen 2 only. You can check if your Drobo is a Gen 2 device by looking at the back of the unit for a FireWire connection.

BEST PRACTICES

In accordance with industry best practices, always backup your data before any firmware upgrade. For more information, visit http://www.drobo.com/support/best_practices.php

.

KNOWN ISSUES

All Systems



Symptom: Upgrading a disk pack from firmware version 1.3.7 (or earlier) to version 1.4.0 by hot adding it to a Drobo running firmware version 1.4.0 and after that downgrading it back to firmware version 1.3.7 or earlier will cause the disk pack not to be loaded.

Condition: Downgrading a disk pack after it was upgraded to version 1.4.0 by hot adding it

(inserting the drives in an empty Drobo running 1.4.0 while the unit is running) is not supported.

Workaround: None available.

Mac Specific



Symptom: Non-destructive repartitioning is not supported.

Copyright 2011 Drobo, Inc., Data Robotics, Inc. Data Robotics, DroboPro, Drobo, DroboElite, DroboShare and BeyondRAID are trademarks of Data Robotics, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice.

1/1

P/N 081-00005-008

Rev 02

Condition: In Mac OS X 10.5 and later, Disk Utility allows you to repartition a volume without losing the data on it. Drobo volumes do not support this functionality and should not be repartitioned once data has been placed on them.

Workaround: Copy your data onto another drive and use Drobo Dashboard to reformat your Drobo device ’s volume to a smaller size.



Symptom: Migrating the disk pack from a Drobo Gen 2 running firmware version 1.4.0 mounted on a

Mac to Drobo S running firmware version 2.1.1 and earlier or a DroboPro running firmware version

1.2.1 and earlier will fail.

Condition: Disk pack migration from Drobo Gen 2 running firmware version 1.4.0 mounted on a

Mac to Drobo S firmware version 2.1.1 and earlier or DroboPro firmware version 1.2.1 and earlier is not currently supported. The next firmware release for Drobo S and DroboPro will fix this issue.

Workaround: Copy your data onto another drive, insert the disk pack in the new device, reset the pack and copy the data back.



Symptom: Upgrading firmware via FireWire when no drives are installed fails with error message.

Condition: Attempting to update a FireWire connected Drobo with no drives installed will fail with the error message “The Drobo firmware update was unsuccessful.”

Workaround: Upgrade firmware using an USB connection.



Symptom: Removing and reconnecting the FireWire cable very rapidly will cause Drobo volumes not to be remounted upon reconnecting the cable.

Condition: When removing and reconnecting the FireWire cable, the Drobo volumes will remain in a “disconnect” phase which will prevent the system from remounting upon reconnecting the cable.

Workaround: Remove the FireWire cable and reinsert it after 30 seconds. This will ensure that the volume is properly disconnected by the operating system. Rebooting the computer or rebooting Drobo will fix this issue as well.

Windows Specific



Symptom: Full format does not complete when using the Windows Disk Management Utility.

Condition: Drobo does not support a full format for a volume bigger than the space available in the internal drives.

Workaround: W e recommend that you use Drobo Dashboard to format volumes on your Drobo devices. If you use the W indows Disk Management Utility choose the quick format option to format the volume.



Symptom: A volume formatted as FAT32 or NTFS is not detected by W indows Server 2003.

Condition: If Drobo is formatted in FAT32 or NTFS using the Drobo Dashboard or a different OS, such as XP, W indows Server 2003 does not recognize the FAT32 or NTFS volume.

Workaround: Use the Disk Manager OS utility on Windows Server 2003 to manually assign the

FAT32 or NTFS volume a drive letter.

RELATED TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

Current Drobo technical reference materials are available on the Drobo Support Website

( http://support.drobo.com

). This includes:



Knowledge Base



Best Practices



Product Documentation



Drobo Help for Mac



Drobo Help for PC

Copyright 2011 Drobo, Inc., Data Robotics, Inc. Data Robotics, DroboPro, Drobo, DroboElite, DroboShare and BeyondRAID are trademarks of Data Robotics, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice.

2/1

P/N 081-00005-008

Rev 02