QNAP NAS Community Forum

Hello,

I'm under version 4.3.6 and although I can see the option to convert from thick to thin in one of my volumes, another thin volume does not have the option to convert it to thick.
That thin volume holds the NAS System. Would someone know if that is what is preventing the volume to be converted?

Thank you.

alrosot wrote: ↑Thu Jan 03, 2019 6:48 pm Hello,

I'm under version 4.3.6 and although I can see the option to convert from thick to thin in one of my volumes, another thin volume does not have the option to convert it to thick.
That thin volume holds the NAS System. Would someone know if that is what is preventing the volume to be converted?

Thank you.

Screenshot of Storage Manager would help.

Nope, nothing in docs about not possible on (system) volume.

Don't try any conversion without backup!

Sure, glad to provide a screenshot. It is attached.
There is no error or grayed option. It is simply not there.
And very interestingly, on the thick volume the same menu shows "Convert to Thin Volume"

Can you create another small thin volume and see what that says?
Once again lack of Qnap documentation/white papers disgraceful, looks like they've decided videos are the best they can manage these days.

alrosot wrote:Hello,

I'm under version 4.3.6 and although I can see the option to convert from thick to thin in one of my volumes, another thin volume does not have the option to convert it to thick.
That thin volume holds the NAS System. Would someone know if that is what is preventing the volume to be converted?

Thank you.

That is most likely due to what QTS version the volume was originally created under (I.e. what version of qts did you build the system on).


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Trexx wrote: ↑Thu Jan 03, 2019 8:22 pm

alrosot wrote:Hello,

I'm under version 4.3.6 and although I can see the option to convert from thick to thin in one of my volumes, another thin volume does not have the option to convert it to thick.
That thin volume holds the NAS System. Would someone know if that is what is preventing the volume to be converted?

Thank you.

That is most likely due to what QTS version the volume was originally created under (I.e. what version of qts did you build the system on).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hence why I asked to create a test thin vol.

But where is this documented???

And why no message "this volume was created with bla bla and cannot be converted"??? - Would be useful!

storageman wrote: ↑Thu Jan 03, 2019 9:04 pm

Trexx wrote: ↑Thu Jan 03, 2019 8:22 pm That is most likely due to what QTS version the volume was originally created under (I.e. what version of qts did you build the system on).

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hence why I asked to create a test thin vol.

But where is this documented???

And why no message "this volume was created with bla bla and cannot be converted"??? - Would be useful!

I don't disagree with you on that. Thick to thin was introduce in QTS 4.3.4 and thick to thin in 4.3.5. My guess (as they don't specifically mention it on the slides) is that the volume had to be created with QTS 4.3.4 (maybe .3) or later.

It is discussed in this presentation.
https://live.qnap.com/en/video/show/1070

I know there was a similar type requirement when in-place QTier migration was released as well that the volume had to have been created with a certain QTS version or newer for the feature to be enabled.

The big change was 4.2.x. I would say any thick or thin from then onwards should be convertible. What's the significance of 4.3.4?

Anyway we're just guessing.

Perhaps Qnap are too busy playing with their new AI box to spare the time for useful white papers and user manual updates.

alrosot, you left the community hanging. Did you try the test???

Apologies, I did the test just now (screenshot attached again)
And in the brand new volume I can convert from thin to thick.
So the issue might be related to the time the volume was originally created, as suggested.

I don't think it's related to the firmware version the volume was created in, I have volumes that were created in 4.3.6 and the thin volume that the system occupies can not be converted to thick, just like what alrosot is experiencing.

the 52.7% is a known, but mostly unavoidable thing. There are N steps to a particular process; Step 1 = 10%, step 2=18%, step 3=52.7%, etc... step n=100%. Sadly, step #3 takes 95% of the time and that's why it seems "stuck". This behavior is seen in many places in the QNAP and other systems when reporting progress, usually when the operation is calling other OS commands and it has no window into their progress. e.g. I've been shrinking a volume and it's been on 52.7% now for about 3hrs. This isn't an answer, just reassurance, that the job is probably still progressing.

jmelquist wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 6:20 am the 52.7% is a known, but mostly unavoidable thing. There are N steps to a particular process; Step 1 = 10%, step 2=18%, step 3=52.7%, etc... step n=100%. Sadly, step #3 takes 95% of the time and that's why it seems "stuck".

Are the 95% a more or less "precise" statement? I started the process of shrinking our thick volume, been "stuck" at 52.7% and if your calculation would be correct, I´m having just about 1 hour left before colleagues arrive at work.

Otherwise I´d have to delete everything ( Naaaah!) and copy all over from backup which takes 1.5 days ( not better).
Could transfer needed directories first, but that's a lot dull work to do …

alrosot wrote: ↑Sat Jan 05, 2019 3:03 pm Apologies, I did the test just now (screenshot attached again)
And in the brand new volume I can convert from thin to thick.
So the issue might be related to the time the volume was originally created, as suggested.

Pitty no one can answer your problem, I encounter the same, No way to convert to thick volume.

What I noticed in your screenshot is that the icon in front is like a blue lock, and the other a green check mark, is the volume you cannot convert encrypted and may that be the reason you cannot convert?

I ran into the problem that the thin volume ran out of capacity. By shrinking the volume this helped (there was actually enough space in de pool weird enough). I also have this blue icon in front of the thin volume...

I also read that encryption cannot be removed unless you wipe the volume, which I cannot do as I have no way to backup all the data. Which leaves me with a thin volume that is like 16TB big, on a pool of 18 but I cannot make the thin volume bigger as this causes the system to make it read only due to storage shortage... I have only 1 volume, should have opted for a thick volume to begin with (though qnap recommends thin when using snapshots).