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April 21, 2008

Buffalo TeraStation Date/Time Stamps Incorrect

I noticed that my date/time stamps for files created on the TeraStation were off by 17 hours. This is because the new files/folders are getting the date-time-stamp from theTterastation.

The TeraStation technically does show the right date/time stamp when I look at it through a web browser, but there’s a "Time Zone" setting in there and I had GMT + 9 hours instead of GMT – 7 hours.

So all files created on the TeraStation showed a time that was lagging by about 16 hours.

In a nutshell, the Buffalo TeraStation Date/Time handling feature is not it's strong suit.

If you click on the button that says "Use Local Time", it will get the date/time stamp from your local computer, but the date/time displayed is just a ruse.

You have to ignore the date and time that the TeraStation displays because they are only displayed in order to trick you. They are not used as date/time stamps when new files are created on the TeraStation.

I attempted to get the TeraStation to sync with a time server. So I clicked "enable" in the NTP Server Section and put in "time-a.nist.gov" and clicked "apply" and got this:

The entered NTP Server IP Address is not a valid address.
Connection with the specified NTP Server failed.

http://www.drobo.com/

So I looked up some NTP servers and changed the time server to the equivalent NTP IP address "129.6.15.28" and got this:

Connection with the specified NTP Server failed.

So I tried a different NTP time server IP address "192.43.244.18" and got the same error:

Connection with the specified NTP Server failed.

So, I can't get my TeraStation to sync with an NTP time server. Perfect.

Buffalo Technology (USA), Inc.
11100 Metric Boulevard, Suite 750
Austin, TX 78758 USA

Monday through Friday
8:30am-5:30pm CST
Phone: 866-752-6210

So I finally picked up the phone and called the guys at Buffalo Technology and discovered that my model number is HD-H1.0TGL/R5. The guy didn't really have a clue about my NTP time server issue, but he told me to upgrade the firmware from a "buggy" 1.12 to the more stable 2.16. For some reason, I fell for it. So I downloaded the update firmware.

They said it probably wouldn't lose my configuration, but I did screenshots of all the configuration panels into Word just to be safe. They said it for sure wouldn't wipe my data. Also suggested that the best way to run it was to hook a PC directly into the Buffalo TeraStation, which was something I'd never tried. So I took Jen's PC and ran the ethernet cable directly into the TeraStation. Then, to access it, I clicked Start - Run - \\192.168.1.4 and accessed it that way. I ran the software to upgrade the TeraStation from her PC and the firmware was successfully upgraded to 2.16.

Then, I reconnected the cables the way they were originally so that everything hangs form the router now.

Went back into TeraStation configuration and tried to sync with the NTP and same message:

Connection with the specified NTP Server failed.

Sill have the same problem. When I create a folder on the TeraStation, it now gives a date/time stamp one hour different from the date/time stamp that the TeraStation displays.

After upgrading the firmware to version 2.16 and restoring the factory defaults and rebooting the TeraStation, I can now synchronize the time with a NST time server.

However, there is a bug in the software, so that it's not possible to have the TeraStation date/time stamp be right on the TeraStation home page and on the files that are created locally. You'd think that the time stamp shown on the home page of the TeraStation was the same time that would be put on the files. You'd be wrong.

I've wasted too many hours of my life on this bug. I'm moving on. I finally decided to just hammer in a date/time that's an hour earlier than the current time. This means that the home page time is wrong for the Buffalo TerrorStation, but the date/time stamp that is applied to the files is correct. For a TerrorStation, this is the best you can hope for.

My advice? Sell your TerrorStation and get a Drobo.

Posted by Rob Kiser on April 21, 2008 at 1:20 PM

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