External Devices

Under External Devices, you can view a list of external storage devices connected to your DiskStation.

External Disk

By connecting an external disk to the system, you will be able to share its disk capacity through a system-created shared folder named usbshare[number] (for USB disk) or esatashare[number] (for eSATA disk). The shared folder will be removed automatically when the external disk is ejected from the system.

DiskStation recognizes the following formats: EXT3, EXT4, FAT, FAT32, and NTFS. Any unrecognized external disk will have to be formatted first before being used on the system.

To get the information of the disk:

You can access disk information by clicking Get Info.

To eject the disk:

  1. Click the Eject button to eject the disk.
  2. Remove it physically.

Important: Be sure to eject the external disk before unplugging it.

To format the disk:

Click Format and follow the wizard to complete the setup. You can format your external disk to EXT3, EXT4, and FAT32 format in DiskStation.

    Note:
  1. Make sure you have backed up data before formatting the external disk. All data will be deleted during the procedure and cannot be restored.
  2. To format the external disk to EXT3 or EXT4 format, the disk size must be larger than 1 GB.
  3. When the disk is formatted as EXT3 or EXT4 format, it is only recognized by DiskStation.

Limitations:

You will not be allowed to click the Format button in the following situations:

Troubleshooting

  1. Fail to format the external disk. Why?
  2. The file system of the external disk is shown as Not Supported, or the system does not create the usbshare[number] or esatashare[number] shared folder for the external disk. What should I do?
  3. I cannot access the usbshare[number] or esatashare[number] shared folder. What should I do?
  4. Can my external disk with EXT3 or EXT4 format be connected to my PC and Mac and accessed directly?
  5. Why do I see a folder named "lost+found" in my external disk?