Drobo freezes 10.7 Lion Server

Drobo tech support has been helping me with the FS.

They sent me a new unit and have been talking me though this. Once I updated to the 1.2.0 firmware, that unit was just as hosed as my old one.

Basically, they are close to releasing a new Firmware for the Drobo FS to fix the problems casued by FS Firmware 1.2.0. The tech I spoke to flat out stated that they are waiting for Apple to release the first update to Lion (10.7.1) to further test the FS Firmware update to make sure they do not get snagged in another incompatability. They also said that Apple is aware of the problems with networked Drobos and they are working with Drobo to fix it.

In any event, it seems we are in for a bit of a wait.

I can tell the Drobo support team is tired. I assume they are getting slammed with calls. The techs I have spoken to have said as much -- that they are getting a LOT of Lion based support calls.

In their defense, they say Drobo worked fine with early betas of Lion and only the latest developer previews of Lion had changes in NETATALK that broke the Drobo FS. I assume these also broker the iSCSI implementations too.

Thats nice that they checked the early betas... BUT.... beta is exactly that, a beta, they should have been testing with the very latest beta right up to the day it was released and alerted customers when the issue we have all seen had been found and to hold off.

I am back to backing up to a Drobo under Snow Leopard conected via usb, this is not what I paid for when I bought into their simple system.

Custa - totally agree. I have seen several companies proclaiming compatibility with Lion and in fact their products are actually broken with it. I hope that Drobo realize exactly what can of worms they have opened and get people in place to QC everything up to the day before Apple releases anything.

I am in the USB position also now. Both of my Drobos connected using USB. Slow but working. But still - for a stack of hardware that cost a bunch, with 13 disks that also cost a bunch, having to switch to USB is galling to say the least. I wonder if they could re-do their demo video on the homepage of Drobo with a USB2 connection and multiple HD videos playing in Final Cut with real-time rendering (also using Drobo as scratch space)?

Hmm. I think not.

Let's just hope they get the thing sorted swiftly.

Example of a company doing the right thing.

http://support.apogeedigital.com/

Drobo should take notes.

My Drobo 2nd gen has not worked properly since upgrading to Lion despite having the correct firmware and dashboard. It still works and is indicating that everything is fine but copying files to the drive is painfully slow (just not practical). Doesn't matter whether I use firewire or usb. Not using Time Machine on this drive just storing my photos. This situation is disrupting seriosly my workflow that involves Lightroom and Phohotshop accessing these photos.

I've sent in several tickets and diagonistic reports but so far none of their suggestions work. I've asked for clarification of my situation with no response.

I can only hope that new software upgrades are on the way otherwise I will be escalating my frustrations ...

Not pleased.

jnmoore, suggest you revert to SL if you can. Drobo is basically toast with the new OS. Their support is useless even if you paid for DroboCare. Seems most people are back to USB2 to actually having their devices working.

Lion has a few neat features but if you are running your business on it get back to SL asap. See my post above from Apogee - a company that is realistic and honest about the state of their products.

Drobo is simply not compatible (2 if 3interfaces are broken) and you will experience the pain on this thread should you continue. If we get a fix will certainly post here. But SL is by far the more stable OS right now.

I've done all the troubleshooting I'm willing to do right now for my Drobo Pro. I'll keep it as a brick, unplugged and gathering dust until Apple / Drobo release a Lion update / firmware update. I can't afford to lose any of my data on that thing. I'm too scared to try Disk Utility, Disk Warrior, or Tech Tool on a drive like Drobo.

Why does this have to be so complicated? Just another reason not to upgrade to a new system software immediately. It's been over a week since I upgraded to Lion.

DrStrat, It's horrible - but suggest you revert to SL until these problems are sorted out. Lion is not going to see an update that magically fixes this very quickly I imagine, I personally think if you are a pro using Lion right now you should revert given the number of peripherals that just dont work. Including enterprise-level items like Drobo that are just bricks right now. Just FYI I will likely revert in the next week. Lion Server is an even worse joke, The upgrade to Lion Server breaks _everything_ in SL server. So to be prodctive avoid the allure of an upgrade as the pain is not a lot of fun to deal with - and there is still no end in sight.

Okay so that is it. Everything backed up. Time to get out the SLS boot disks. I am going back.

When I saw the Drobo telling me 15 days to complete backup (USB2) I laughed, a little crazily if you must know, and the decision was made for me right there.

SLS works, the drivers work, everything is stable. Snow Leopard Server also actually works and is stable for what I need it for. So goodbye Lion, downgrades are here again!

On a separate note I will be phoning Drobo today because I am fed up with their lack of response to this crisis. I don't expect to get anywhere given the stone wall that apparently is their 'Care' package. But I will try.

See you all in 6 months when Lion Server is actually something, rather than a rage-inducing fail. And good luck to those who persist!

Last year, I made a separate partition on my HD with Snow Leopard. I'm glad I did!

I knew better than to be an early adopter for a new OS. But I had such high hopes for Lion. I'm sure that Lion will be amazing by the end of this year.

Okay, spent some time with Drobo support on line yesterday. Everything seems to be back up and working on FW800. I have not switched to iSCSI yet - leaving that for another day but at least I am on the FW bus. There is hope!

Requires:

Latest Drobo firmware and dashboard:

Shut down Drobo

Disconnest everything from your Mac. Only things that are allowed to be attached are a keyboard (direct to a Mac USB), mouse (same) and monitor.

Unplug Mac power for > 30 secs - then plug power in

Reset using the COMMAND + OPTION + P + R keys held down when you power on - make sure you hear 2 chimes

Wait for the Mac to boot

Attach Drobo to a FW port

Run Disk Utility

Run Repair Disk on your Drobo volumes (not the top level line, but the indented Volume line) - wait for hours to complete

Shut down Drobo using Dashboard

Reboot Mac

Reattach stuff

Further (I have not tried this yet - but I will tonight):

Presuming you already did the above

Shutdown Drobo using dashboard

If it is a DroboPro then disconnect the FW cable

Shutdown the Mac

Restart your Lion in 32 bit mode - hold down 3 and 2 keys during power on. (bemoan the loss of any memory above 4Gb at this point - even cry - my server has 20Gb memory - I cried)

Reconnect ethernet cable when server is started

Apparently iSCSI will then work.

I have done the first part and can report that all of my Drobos are connected and not failing using FW800. Step 1 back from despair. I will do the iSCSI connection tonight and we will see. But so far things appear stable.

Let me know if it works if you get there first :-)

Just as a note of correction, holding down "3" and "2" causes Lion to boot with a 32-bit *kernel*. 64-bit apps still run in 64-bit mode. And all 64-bit apps are able to access more than 4GB of RAM.

Read this to educate yourself:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6.ars/5

"Finally, this is worth repeating: please keep in mind that you do not need to run the 64-bit kernel in order to run 64-bit applications or install more than 4GB of RAM in your Mac. Applications run just fine in 64-bit mode on top of the 32-bit kernel, and even in earlier versions of Mac OS X it's been possible to install and take advantage of much more than 4GB of RAM."

Thanks for clarifying Navarro. Appreciate the update and link and correction.

Well, I tried starting up in both 32-bit and 64-bit kernel mode, and Drobo Dashboard still cannot connect to my Drobo Elite via iSCSI on Lion Server. 😟

I am using a Drobo 2nd Gen (FW 800) and Drobo Elite (iSCSI) and in both cases I would get freeze ups or just bad disconnects. It was so unreliable that I just formatted and went back to Snow Leopard. Sounds like the 32 bit approach may be onto something and hopefully Drobo will stabalize soon.