Support: FAQ: Duplidisk/EzRaid Questions

Q: One of the LED lights on my DupliDisk or EzRAID front panel has turned red or is flashing. What does this mean?

A:The diagrams below show the meaning of the various panel light combinations. For additional information, you may wish to consult your specific user’s manual. The following general rules apply to the LED indications: For Primary and Mirror drive status LEDs: A solid green indicates the drive has been identified as a valid drive by the DupliDisk or EzRAID. A solid red indicates that the drive has not been identified as a valid drive by the DupliDisk or EzRAID. A flashing red indicates the drive has failed. A yellow indicates the drive is busy. This may occur when the drive is being mirrored, when the DupliDisk or EzRAID is scanning for a new drive, or when the Operating System is performing intensive reads or writes to the drive. For the Master or Slave Status lights: A solid red indicates the drives are not in mirror mode. A flashing green indicates the drives are in mirror mode but are not identical. A solid green indicates the drives are in mirror mode and are identical. LED Indicator Lights for DupliDisk or EzRAID2 (DD2):
led_display_chartfaq


Q: Once I figure out what the LEDs are telling me, how do I remedy the situation?

A. It is possible that the drives may fall out of mirror due to mishandling of the computer, repeated restarts or a power failure. If you think this is the case, simply run the DupliDisk or EzRAID utility. It will inform you of the status of the drives and, if appropriate, guide you through remirroring the existing drives. In the event that a drive has ceased to function, it will alert you to this and advise you which drive needs to be replaced. You can then replace the drive and run the utility to set up the new mirror.


Q: I’m new here. A drive has failed. The DupliDisk or EzRAID kept the system up and running but now I’m tasked with replacing the drive and establishing a new mirrored array. I’ve installed the new drive. What should I do next?

A: In order to remirror the drives, you will need to run the DupliDisk or EzRAID ACP or EzRAID utility software. If you are running a Windows operating system and the software is already loaded on your computer, you can simply run the application and follow the instructions for mirroring. If yours is an older DupliDisk or EzRAID product or you are not running a Windows operating system, you will need to boot from a floppy or CD-based copy of the software. Full instructional manuals for all DupliDisk or EzRAID products can be downloaded from our Manuals page. Utility software can be downloaded from our Downloads page. If you will need a disk you can boot from, select one of the boot disk maker downloads.


Q: Windows “detects” a new device after installing the DupliDisk or EzRAID. I thought the DupliDisk or EzRAID was invisible to the O/S and did not require drivers.

A. Windows is detecting that the drive “BRAND” has changed from “DupliDisk or EzRAID” to Maxtor or whatever drive brand you have installed. This is normal.


Q: Will the DupliDisk or EzRAID double as a backup device?

A. Yes, The DupliDisk or EzRAID models Raidcase and EzRaid have removable drive drawers and hot swap technology. Once the drives are identical, one drive can be safely removed and kept as a bootable backup while your system is running. In addition, DPS offers the EzBackup product line, which has been specifically designed for bootable backup drives.


Q: Must I use identical drives with the DupliDisk or EzRAID?

A: No, the DupliDisk or EzRAID can be used with dissimilar brand and size drives as long as the Mirror drive is equal to or greater in size than the Primary Drive.


Q: My computer does not have a free IDE controller or its IDE controller does not support hard drives. Can I connect the DupliDisk or EzRAID to an after-market IDE controller that installs in a PCI slot?

A: No. The DupliDisk or EzRAID must be connected directly to the computer’s IDE controller on the motherboard. It will not operate through an add-on IDE controller.


Q: I purchased my DupliDisk or EzRAID unit from a reseller. Do I contact the Reseller or DPS?

A: First, review the FAQ and Troubleshooting areas on Arco’s website. If your problem is not resolved by the information contained there, contact the reseller from whom you purchased your unit.


Q: Can I use the DupliDisk or EzRAID to “clone” drives?

A. Sure, but be aware that you are responsible to comply with software licenses installed.


Q: Is there an “upgrade” program from either DupliDisk I to DupliDisk II, or from DupliDisk II to DD3 or DD4?

A. No.


Q: Will DupliDisk or EzRAID work with Scan Disk, Defrag and other disk utilities?

A. DupliDisk or EzRAID users have reported problems with the DupliDisk or EzRAID dropping out of mirror when Diskkeeper is run. If this occurs, users are directed to recopy the drives to put them back in mirror mode and to cease use of Diskkeeper. DPS is aware of no other problems or conflicts when running Windows (or third party) drive utilities such as ScanDisk or Defrag.


Q: Will DupliDisk or EzRAID work with Third Party Drive Drawers?

A. Because of the large number of variables in the construction of removable drive caddies and drawers, DPS cannot support the DupliDisk or EzRAID in conjunction with these non- DPS devices. If you are using third-party caddies and are having difficulties with the DupliDisk or EzRAID, please remove the drives from the caddies and test the system without the drive caddies. If you continue to experience problems once the caddies have been removed, please contact our technical support department for assistance.

If the DupliDisk or EzRAID and drives function normally without the drive caddies, we recommend that you discontinue use of the caddies. If this causes a hardship, you may wish to consider replacing your DupliDisk or EzRAID and existing caddies with a RAIDcase or EzRaid product from DPS.


Q: I have installed a DD4 EzRAID device on my Dell Optiplex 755 and now it won’t boot up even though the EzRAID is detected by the computer’s system BIOS. What should I do?

A. The computer’s system BIOS has the following setting options for SATA:

a. RAID Autodetect / AHCI
b. RAID Autodetect / ATA
c. RAID

The default is RAID Autodetect / AHCI. Change the SATA option to RAID Autodetect / ATA and the system will boot.


Q: I have a DD4 EzRAID device installed on my computer. It works fine but periodically the EzRAID device just shuts down. What can I do to prevent this from happening?

A. You will need to change the Windows Power Settings. The default Windows Power Settings options are:

a. Turn Off Hard Disks – after 5 min.
b. System standby – after 5 min.
c. System Hibernates – after 5 min

Change all options from “after 5 min” to Never.


Q: I am running Windows NT and had been successfully using a DD3 BayMount unit for a number of years. I recently switched to another DD3 model but the mirroring application refuses to see the new DD3 hardware. What should I do?

A. The DD3 mirroring application currently shipping with new DD3 controllers and enclosures now includes support for 64-bit operating systems and does not support Windows NT. In order to set up mirroring under NT, you will need to revert to an earlier version of the software. The recommended version is 3.5. This can be found on a Version 3.10 DupliDisk/EzRAID Windows Applications CD. If you do not have a Version 3.10 CD available, click here to download it from our website.


Q: I am having a problem using WD Caviar Blue (PATA) drive on my DD3 RAID controller. What should I do?

A. A. WD Caviar Blue (PATA) drives are not compatible with any RAID systems. This has been confirmed with WD Engineers. The “Blue” line is considered a Desktop Edition drive which does work correctly with any RAID systems from any company. These drives cause the DD3 RAID controller to show an incorrect number of hours required for rebuild and also cause read write errors that result in a “stop-and-go” rebuild process. Here is a link to the WD Knowledge Base which contains this information on the WD Caviar Blue drives: WD Caviar Blue Knowledge.