Troubleshooting the SC101/SC101T Storage Central Device

The SC101/SC101T Storage Central Device: Troubleshooting

Update the firmware and Storage Central Manager (SCM) utility to the latest version.
Is the SCM installed correctly? If you closes a "Hardware Found" prompt during installation, uninstall and then reinstall again.
When the Ethernet cable is disconnected, the SC101/SC101T reboots. It takes 2 minutes for the SCM to recognize it again, or longer if many partitions are defined.

Troubleshooting topics :

Restarting network devices in the right order
Hard drive moved to (or from) PC isn't readable
Hard drive won't work
Drive type is correct, but drive won't work
SC101/SC101T drops off network
Error "Unable to enumerate drive", and drive letter can't be added
How to remove a drive which did not create successfully
Windows stops with Blue Screen or Memory Dump installing SCM Utility
SC101/SC101T PC setup software starts automatically after PC reboot
Getting the SC101/SC101T to work with D-Link or FritzBox routers
SC101/SC101T drives disappear from network
Shared drive shows on one computer, but not another
Password request shows twice, or only occasionally
Right side of GUI screen is cut off

When using the SC101/SC101T, restart your network in this order

The order of powering on is crucial, the order of powering off is simply what's most convenient for you. (However, it's best to protect your most valuable equipment by powering it off first, i.e., power off your computers, first.)

Power off network computers. If you have a modem or router, you will need to power down all computers to regain Internet connection, even ones that will not access the SC101/SC101T.
Power off the router (if you have one).
Power off the modem (if you have one).
Power off the SC101/SC101T.
Power on the SC101/SC101T.
Power on the modem (if you have one).
Power on the router (if you have one).
Power on the computers.

A hard drive that is moved between a PC and the SC101/SC101T will not work

The SC101/SC101T does not use the same data format as a computer disks — so they can't be moved from one to the other without completely reformatting the drives (and destroying the data).

An old disk drive won't work in the SC101

Only ATA6 drives, which are labeled Ultra-DMA/100, Ultra-DMA/133, Ultra ATA/100, or Ultra ATA/133 are supported. The newer 133 drives are recommended. (Older drives cause the green power LED to flash 4 times after power on.) The differences between types of ATA are explained on this page.

The SC101/SC101T drives don't work after installing (especially Hitachi drives)

Some disks come configured as Master disks by default. Power off the unit, and change the disks to "Cable Select".

SC101/SC101T occasionally drops off wireless network

To maintain a wireless connection, a small amont of data throughput must be available. The SC101/SC101T may drop off when operating at the extreme limits of wireless range. NETGEAR may release firmware shortly which needs even less throughput.

Repeated driver error “Unable to enumerate drive”, and drive letter can't be added

This is a Windows issue: Even though the drive is already mapped, the Windows function returns whatever letter it thinks is the next highest. Examine the mapped drives in the Windows Explorer: Most likely you have manually mapped a letter drive to a shared network folder or network drive. The drives you mapped are not properly recognized by Windows.

To solve this problem, re-map your drives: Instead of starting a low drive letter such as E, F, or G, map from Z: and go down (Y, X, W...).

After you re-map the network drive to Z:, try to detach and re-attach the SC101/SC101T partition, it should get the drive letter without problem.

How to remove a drive which did not create successfully

For various reasons (such as a network disconnect during drive creation), a drive may appear in the GUI which cannot be used. The ut.exe utility, run from a Command Line Interface, is available to fix this. (This kind of interface is described in What is a CLI? )

The DOS utility “ut.exe” comes with the installation. By default, it is C:\Program Files\NETGEAR\SC101 (OR SC101T) Manager Utility. Use it to remove the bad drive.

Open a DOS window, go to that folder and type “ut” to see the available commands.

Type Start > Run > cmd. A Command Line Interface window appears.

Type cd C:\Program Files\NETGEAR\SC101 (OR SC101T) Manager Utility.

Type ut. In case you need them on another occasion, this lists all the commands you can run.

Type ut listall. This lists all partitions created on the SC101/SC101T.

Type ut remvpart IP_of_Disk IP_of_partition admin_password” will remove the specific partition

Windows stops with Blue Screen or Memory Dump installing SCM Utility

Temporarily disable any SCSI device drivers or processes, install the SCM Utility, then re-enable the SCSI devices and processes.

Why does the SC101/SC101T PC software setup sometimes automatically start after a PC reboot?

This happens if you:

Used the “check for updates” to download the latest SCM setup.exe, or

Removed the current SCM installation and rebooted the PC.

The program is set up this way so after you download the new setup.exe, and remove the previous installation, the new setup.exe will automatically start after PC reboot to complete the new SCM installation.

The SCM can be removed entirely. Delete C:\Program Files\NETGEAR\SC101 (OR SC101T) Manager Utility\Client\setup.exe.

Getting the SC101/SC101T to Work with D-Link or FritzBox Routers

The latest SC101 firmware, 4.14.0, fixes the issue that caused the D-Link router DI-624 to continously reboot. The FritzBox incompatibility was caused by it's DHCP server implementation. FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7050's new firmware 14.03.88 (Released on 10/28/05) now works with the SC101/SC101T. Periodically check the FritzBox Web site to download new firmware for their products.

The SC101/SC101T drives disappear from the network

Detact and reattach the drive from the SC101/SC101T, or

Restart the network as described above, in "When using the SC101/SC101T, restart your network in this order".

A shared drive attached with one computer doesn't show on other computers

This doesn't happen automatically: use the "Attach Drive" feature on each of the other computers to attach the drive to them.

Why does administrator password request show occasionally, or show twice?

A password is needed for:

A firmware upgrade

Changing the hard disk drive name

Changing the password

Deleting a drive

The password is entered once for a Storage Central Manager session, however if you mirror the drive, each one needs a login.

Right side of GUI screen is cut off

This may happen if your computer fonts are set to larger than default. It's possible to reset font size in a number of ways. If the SC101/SC101T GUI is cut off, probably either the fonts were changed on your graphics card or in the Windows appearance properties. If you manually change the font size in different places, the results will be very unpredictable, since most of the font-changing features assume you will only change them in one place.

To check the Windows appearance properties, select Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Appearance. Examine the value in the "Scheme" drop down. See if the scheme name ends with the words "(large)". Alternatively, if the scheme is a name that you gave it, you may have changed the font when you customized the other boxes in that window.

While the above window is open, check your graphics card settings. Click Settings > Advanced. The font size for the card is usually under the General tab. See if "Font Size" is set to "Large" or "Other".

If either of these is set to a larger size, try setting the font back to the default. If both settings were changed from the default, consider changing one back to the default, leaving all your font alterations in one place. This is important for your whole computer, not just the SC101/SC101T GUI. (Note that when solving general Web font problems on your computer, Web browsers also have a font setting.)

N101541.asp Nov. 7, 2005