It has come to our attention that some of the new QNAP NAS firmware versions, specifically those starting with versions released 2021-05-15, breaks the Samba (SMB) protocol used by NovaBACKUP client software. This is due to some of the newer firmware releases from that date mentioned and possibly going forward Enable a feature called "Kernel-Mode SMB Daemon", which disables SMB encryption. Specifically we know that this QNAP firmware update: 'QuTS hero h4.5.3.1670 build 20210515' does this. Some QNAP NAS devices OS software now support a new feature called "Kernel-Mode SMB Daemon". Installing this new firmware on a QNAP NAS device that supports Kernel-Mode SMB Daemon (we are not sure which NAS models do or do not support this feature), will auto-enable that new feature, which then breaks the NovaBACKUP backup functions. The Samba protocol is used by most backup software, and other funtions that move data. It is not known whether this change only affects specific Samba protocol versions or just one specific version; if we know more we will update this KB article.
In this case most forms of backup will fail if the QNAP NAS firmware, which contains the change to Samba in the release notes of the firmware, is installed on a QNAP NAS. This was discovered by reviewing the release notes for that 20210515 firmware here, where it contains a change to SAMBA. In order to get around this issue take the following single step:
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Disable the Kernel-Mode SMB Daemon option (in QNAP DSM under "Control Panel > Win/Mac/NFS > Advanced Options") and backups, or any operation that performs data moving, should work again in NovaBACKUP client software. For more help check the QNAP Knowledge Base here (not yet updated to reflect this new option / feature however). Note: If you do not see "Kernel-Mode SMB Daemon" listed under Advanced Options, like the example screenshot below shows, then your firmware or QNAP NAS model does not contain this feature / option, so you do not need to worry about this setting. If NovaBACKUP is still broken and you have a QNAP NAS, it is not likely to be due to this issue, and you will need to contact Support.
Firmware notes for 'QuTS hero h4.5.3.1670 build 20210515':
Enhancements
SAMBA
- QuTS hero now supports Kernel-Mode SMB Daemon. Enabling this feature disables SMB encryption.