Mediasonic HFR2-SU3S2 Manual

How To Set Up Your Array

1. Please decide on which RAID you wish to build and prepare the right amount of hard drives for your array.

   SINGLE	1-4 HDDs
   RAID 0 SPN, RAID 0 STR	2-4 HDDs
   RAID 1	2 HDDs only
   RAID 3	3-4 identical HDDs only
   RAID 5	3-4 identical HDDs that are rated for RAID 5
   RAID 1+0	4 identical HDDs

2. Plug in your USB or eSATA cable and power cord.
3. Connect USB or eSATA cable to a computer and power on the enclosure.
4. Press and hold the "MODE" button, located at the top right corner of the display panel, for 3 seconds until the RAID icon flashes.
5. Select the RAID you wish to build by clicking on the mode button while the RAID icon is flashing. (Your RAID selection will be signal by the flashing RAID icons)
6. Before the RAID icon stops flashing, you need to press and hold on the "RAID confirmation button" at the rear end of the unit.
   (See "SETUP")
   "RAID confirmation button" is hidden behind the enclosure with a small dust cover. Find that before you start set up.
7. Press and hold the "RAID confirmation button" key until the enclosure shuts off.
8. Power on the enclosure again and wait for 20 seconds.
9. Go to disk management to initialize, partition and format your array hard drives.
10. If you have more than 2TBs of hard drive volume, please select GPT when initializing the drive.
11. Your array is set to go after partition and formatting.
12. NTFS has volume size limit based on different cluster size setting.
13. We suggest user to set cluster size as 64K when formatting a disk volume over 2TB. For more information, please check Microsoft Support. (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302873)

Contents

Main Device x 1
Quick Installation Guide x 1
Screw Driver x 1
USB 3.0 Cable x 1
CD(User's Manual) x 1
HDD Handle x 4
eSATA Cable x 1
Screws for 3.5" HDD x 8
Power Adapter x 1
Power Cord x 1

Quick Installation

When using RAID function, HDDs with the same brand, model and capacity is strongly recommended.

1. Please use the provided handles to secure the 4 HDDs with screws.
   
2. Press the circular depression to open the cover.
   
3. Press down the 2 tabs to detach the metal frame and remove it.
   
4. Take the transport paper board out of the device.
   
5. Slide 4 HDDs into the chassis and make sure they are securely installed in order from top to bottom.
   3.5 HDD
   Make sure the HDD is securely installed first at all times. Otherwise the PC may not recognize the device.
   
6. Reinstall the metal frame that was removed in Step 3. Please make sure the bottom of the frame stays inside the track before closing the cover.
   
7. Connect the power supply to the device, plug in either USB or eSATA cable in the rear panel and power on the device. Make sure computer is ON.

RAID Mode Setup

When using RAID function, HDDs with the same brand, model and capacity is strongly recommended.
There are several mode options for HFR2-SU3S2, RAID 0 (Spanning), RAID 0 (Stripping), RAID 1, RAID 3, RAID 5 and RAID l 0.
The enclosure is NOT default to any of the above. So If you just put hard drives in without setting a mode to use, the enclosure will just turn off after a few seconds of turning it ON.

1. First install the HDD from up to down in the enclosure. Make sure the PC is ON and ready to go, then power on the device.
   
2. The setup procedures are as follows:
   
   • Changing RAID mode may cause data lost, backup your data before making changes.
   • Do not use hard drives containing data to create a RAID array.
   • The RAID confirmation button is hidden in the back, so please find it first before you start.
   • If using a new hard drive or change the RAID disk array mode. All need to format the hard disk, please refer to "hard disk partitioning and formatting".
     1. Press and hold MODE button on the front until mode option LED flashes then let go of MODE button.
        Default setting is at "RAID 5"
        
     2. Press MODE button again and again until it lands on the raid mode you wish to use,
        
     3. Then press and hold the "RAID mode Confirmation button" in the back of the device until enclosure shuts down.
        The RAID confirmation button is hidden in the back, so please find it first before you start.
        
     4. Power on the device again and the RAID mode set-up is completed. Now you just need to partition and format the drives.
        

RAID Matrix Limit Table
: Supported
: N/A

Initialization

Windows

If the HDD is uninitialized, you may have to initialize it by doing steps as followed:
At first click ''Start'', ''Execute'' on your PC and key in ''diskmgmt.msc''. After that please press ''Return'' key.

1. Start disk initialization
   
   Start disk initialization
   Please enable GPT if the total capacity is more than 2TB and enable MBR if the total capacity is less than 2TB.
   Activate GPT if total volume is more than 2TB
   
   Activate MBR if total volume is less than 2TB
   

2. Create new partition and format disk
   

3. HDD format completed
   

Mac OS X 11.6.1 or later

Troubleshooting

1. Changing RAID mode may cause data lost, backup your data before making changes.
2. Do not use hard drives containing data to create a RAID array.
3. Please refer to the instructions when switching the RAID mode, otherwise the execution might fail.
4. When using RAID function, HDDs with the same brand, model and capacity is strongly recommended.
5. When using RAID function, more than one HDD partition is not recommended.
6. In RAID 1, HDD1 and HDD2 must be installed, otherwise the PC (Windows / Macintosh) can not recognize the device.
7. The chart below tells you that the device still functions when one HDD has error.
   RAID MODE: RAID 1, RAID 3, RAID 5
   When one HDD has error, the device still functions well but you may have to replace it with a new one immediately.
   RAID 10
   1. When one HDD has error, the device still functions well but you may have to replace it with a new one immediately.
   2. The chart below tells you that the device still functions when two HDDs have error.
      RAID MODE (RAID 10)
      If 2 hard disks are down at the same time, can I get the data back?

      HDD No.\ Error status	Error1	Error2	Error3	Error4
      HDD 1	Error	Error
      HDD 2	Error		Error	Error
      HDD 3				Error
      HDD 4		Error	Error
      Status of device	NG	OK	OK	OK

8. If users enable MBR by mistake, in order to clean the partition table, you have to switch to another RAID mode and do the RAID mode switch all over again referring to Setup. Then go back to the RAID mode you want, repeat the previous actions and enable GPT when initializing HDD.
9. Under Windows 10/11, users can enable GPT when initializing HDD with a total capacity of more than 2TB.
10. Do not connect the device to the SATA on board port of the motherboard. Either use SATA to eSATA PCI-Express or SATA to eSATA PCI add-on card, otherwise the PC (Windows / Macintosh) may not recognize the device.
11. Setting up motherboard's power management in S3 is recommended. (For more details, please refer to the user guide of motherboard BIOS setting).
12. If the device takes too long to initialize, please check if the HDD is securely installed or update the eSATA host driver version.
13. Rebuild time is based on the capacity, e.g. it takes about 1 hour for 200GB.
14. For Macintosh users: the total capacity of more than 2TB could be recognized only for the operation system is 10.4.11 Tiger or later.
15. for Macintosh users, under macOS X 10.12 or later, It's strongly recommended not to have the same name for all the HDDs.
16. Interface of USB / eSATA can not be used at the same time.
17. When the USB / eSATA cable is plugged out, the device goes to sleeping mode automatically.
    
18. If the transfer rate is not normal, please check if the setting of SATA disk jumper is 1.5 or 3.0Gbps.
19. Support USB transfer speeds of Low speed (1.5Mbps), Full speed (12Mbps),
20. High Speed (480Mbps), Super Speed (5Gbps), eSATA transfer speed (1.5~3.0Gbps)
    To take the HDD out from the device, slightly press down the handle of the tray and pull it out.
21. Smart fan controlled by the built-in thermal sensor and it comes with 2 modes (auto / manual) and 3 levels of speed:
    Level 1: higher than 55°C 2,500rpm ~ 3,500rpm
    Level 2: 45°C ~ 54°C 1,800rpm ~ 2,500rpm
    Level 3: below 45°C 1,200rpm ~ 1,800rpm
22. If there is noise with the fan, power off the device, unscrew the fan, take out the cover, clean the fan and assemble it back.
23. If the noise is still present, you can change the fan with another identical fan of size 80x80x20mm referring.
    
24. If the fan stops working, do not dismantle it.
    Please send back to the retail store immediately.
25. If you have forgotten to attach the metal frame before you closed the cover, simply press down the rib and the cover will slowly release and open outwards.
    Please do not attempt to pull the cover with something sharp.

Office website
www.mediasonicusa.com
Online forum
http://forum.mediasonic.ca/