Nice to meet you.
I have started using the TS233 as a home NAS in a Windows environment.
I also use IO-DATA’s RockDiskNext NAS, but I am aiming to consolidate everything onto the TS233.
On my Windows PC, I use a file management software called FenrirFS to organize photos and videos stored on the NAS.
FenrirFS is a software that manages files in specified folders by attaching labels, and by using the “Automatic Synchronization Mode,” files are automatically labeled when added, modified, or deleted, which makes it very convenient.
I am trying to manage the files on the TS233 in the same way, but I am having trouble making it work.
Although I can specify the TS233 folder as a target folder for “Automatic Synchronization Mode” from FenrirFS, none of the files in the folder are recognized at all.
I suspect it might be an issue with the TS233 settings and have been trying various things, but I haven’t been able to solve it.
If anyone knows how to resolve this, I would appreciate any advice. Thank you very much.
Is the situation that, although you can access from devices with Fenrir installed via Explorer and such, automatic synchronization is not working properly?
When accessing from Fenrir, do you do so with the shared folder mounted as a Z drive or similar? Or do you access by specifying the IP address?
In the latter case, if the internal process is something like “try guest access first → if that fails, try username and password,” there may be cases where it gives up just because guest access fails. If Fenrir allows you to pre-set the username and password for accessing the shared folder, setting them in advance might improve the situation.
If it’s the former, since the system holds the access information, I don’t think access rights would be an issue.
I’ve never used FenrirFS, so my opinion may be off the mark, but I hope you can check these points.
Thank you for your prompt reply.
I apologize for the lack of explanation.
Is the situation such that, although you can access the device with Fenrir installed via Explorer and so on, automatic synchronization does not work properly?
That’s correct.
From the device with Fenrir installed, I can open (specify) the folder I want to automatically synchronize using Fenrir, but it does not recognize the files inside the folder.
However, if I switch to manual management and register the files, I can manually add labels or double-click to open them with the associated software.
When accessing from Fenrir, do you do so with the shared folder mounted, such as on the Z drive?
Yes, I am doing this with the shared folder mounted.
Is my understanding correct that automatic synchronization is set up using the method described here?
I took a quick look myself, and I think you set up the automatic sync folder by “adding a junction to the FenrirFS portal directory.”
Normally, “c:\user\username\FenrirFS Storage” would be the portal directory, but under this directory, I don’t think you can create a junction link like “MyNAS.profile” (for example) to “z:\Photo.”
*It seems the junction destination needs to be a local volume.
If possible, I would appreciate it if you could share the procedure for setting up automatic synchronization, within the limits of what you can disclose.
Harinezumi-san
Thank you for your continued replies.
You can set up automatic synchronization by following the on-screen instructions from the FenrirFS menu.
The process is as follows:
[Menu] - [Create New Profile] - [Select Profile Type → Automatic] - [Browse for Automatic Sync Folder] - [Enter Profile Name (any name)] - [Specify File Types to Manage → All Files] - [Specify Options] - [Finish]
This time, as an experiment, I created folders with identical contents on both a local drive and a network drive, and then created automatic sync profiles for each.
On the local drive, labeling of files in the folder started immediately after the profile was created (see image).
On the network drive, although the profile creation was completed, none of the files in the folder were displayed at all.
However, I noticed for the first time this time that if you add files to the network drive’s automatic sync folder (profile) while it is open in FenrirFS, only the added files are recognized.
If you switch to another profile or close FenrirFS, any files added during that time are not recognized.
On local drives and RockDiskNext network drives, any changes that occurred while FenrirFS was closed are immediately reflected when you reopen it.
I also tried creating a junction link in a local drive folder to a network drive (already mounted), but an error message appeared saying “The local volume must complete the operation,” and I was unable to create it.
It might be related to the TS233’s SMB settings. I’ll try a bit more.
I’ve been observing the behavior on my end,
- For local folders, automatic synchronization is performed.
(If you add photos to a local folder targeted for automatic sync via Explorer or similar, FenrirFS will also automatically add information about the new files.) - For network folders, automatic synchronization does not occur in real time, and syncing is limited to specific actions such as switching profiles.
That’s how it seems.
As far as I can see, I suspect that the API used within FenrirFS may have a limitation where it can only detect real-time updates for local folders.
Why not try contacting Fenrir Inc. once?
(On the other hand, if you can accept an operation where you switch profiles to trigger updates, that might be fine as well.)
Harinezumi-san
Thank you for your reply.
When I contacted Fenrir Inc., they told me that files added while FenrirFS is running are recognized, so it seems that files on the NAS can be recognized, but they had no idea why automatic synchronization is not working.
I also sent a help request to QNAP’s help desk.
If there are any developments, I will report back later.
I also made an inquiry myself (sorry for meddling 
) and received the following response.
Thank you for using FenrirFS.
The automatic sync mode uses a Windows API that detects changes in folders,
but as a known issue, this Windows API does not work with network folders,
so real-time updates do not function.
I’m sharing this for your reference.
Harinezumi,
I am reporting that the issue has been resolved after I sent a help request to QNAP’s help desk.
Instead of using the user folder created when introducing the TS233, I created a shared folder directly under the volume and granted read permissions to the local group: everyone. By setting this folder as the auto-sync target for FenrirFS, I was able to build the desired usage environment.
Thank you very much for your repeated advice.
I’m glad to hear the issue has been resolved!
So it needs to be accessible with “everyone”… I thought it would work if it could be accessed with a username, so that was unexpected.
If anything else comes up, please feel free to share!