3TB drive on Asuswrt-Merlin??

[bpearse]

I am currently using dd-wrt with 2.6 kernel. That kernel does not support drives over 2TB using NTFS. I am looking for alternatives that will allow me to use a 3TB drive and allow me to use very large files (over 4GB file size). Can Merlin do this?

 

[RMerlin]

I am currently using dd-wrt with 2.6 kernel. That kernel does not support drives over 2TB using NTFS. I am looking for alternatives that will allow me to use a 3TB drive and allow me to use very large files (over 4GB file size). Can Merlin do this?

Yes, but only with ext3. The closed-source NTFS driver that we use had troubles with large NTFS filesystems when I tested it, but ext3 was fine.

 

[bpearse]

Thanks. EXT3 is fine. So I will be able to have a >2TB disk size and large files over 4GB with EXT3? That would be excellent.

Also, as I am coming from dd-wrt, I had 2 other questions:

1- Is the NVRAM still 32K with Merlin? I see a different router is said to be working with larger size, but did not see anything about the RT-N16.

2- Other recommendations for coming from dd-wrt? I know I will have to do a factory reset, but can the trx file be loaded in the dd-wrt interface or will I need to do the reset-loader.

 

[joegreat]

Hi,

EXT3 is fine. So I will be able to have a >2TB disk size and large files over 4GB with EXT3? That would be excellent.

Yes, this will work.

One more unrelated question. Is the NVRAM still 32K with Merlin?

No, 64k NVRAM is supported already long time ago (for routers who have 64k NVRAM).

I see a different router is said to be working with larger size, but did not see anything about the RT-N16.

The RT-N16 has only 32k NVRAM.

With kind regards
Joe

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks. EXT3 is fine. So I will be able to have a >2TB disk size and large files over 4GB with EXT3? That would be excellent.

Be warned that some USB enclosures are not Linux-compatible in general. While compatibility was greatly enhanced with those broken enclosures through recent kernel patches, they're not all guaranteed to work.

Otherwise yes, ext3 will support large files without any problem.

Also, as I am coming from dd-wrt, I had 2 other questions:

1- Is the NVRAM still 32K with Merlin? I see a different router is said to be working with larger size, but did not see anything about the RT-N16.

The RT-N16 only has 32 KB of nvram. This is a limitation of the bootloader.

2- Other recommendations for coming from dd-wrt? I know I will have to do a factory reset, but can the trx file be loaded in the dd-wrt interface or will I need to do the reset-loader.

When moving between totally different firmwares, it's usually best to use the Asus Firmware Recovery tool, and make sure you clear nvram before and after flashing.

 

[bpearse]

The RT-N16 has only 32k NVRAM.

The RT-N16 only has 32 KB of nvram. This is a limitation of the bootloader.

That does pose a problem, eh? Sorry, I thought N16 was 64K. I think I was getting confused reading up on some of the 3.X kernel work going on for dd-wrt on the RT-N16. I could have sworn there was talk about getting 64K NVRAM space and just assumed it had the hardware to support it.

Thanks so much, guys!

 

[Quiller]

Be warned that some USB enclosures are not Linux-compatible in general. While compatibility was greatly enhanced with those broken enclosures through recent kernel patches, they're not all guaranteed to work.

Otherwise yes, ext3 will support large files without any problem.

It's a good thing I saw this post, because I'm planning on buying a WD My Book esstential 2TB or 3TB this week. Good to know that I have to change the filesystem on the 3TB from NTFS to ext3. What I didn't know is that not all external drive enclosures aren't linux compatible. I have to look that up, but maybe someone else already has one. If so please let me know. Meanwhile I'm going to look for it myself.

Thx for the post Merlin.

 

[Quiller]

I'm using the RT-AC66U btw with Merlin's latest fw.

 

[GoNz0]

3tb ext3 drive working fine here!

 

[RMerlin]

It's a good thing I saw this post, because I'm planning on buying a WD My Book esstential 2TB or 3TB this week. Good to know that I have to change the filesystem on the 3TB from NTFS to ext3. What I didn't know is that not all external drive enclosures aren't linux compatible. I have to look that up, but maybe someone else already has one. If so please let me know. Meanwhile I'm going to look for it myself.

Thx for the post Merlin.

I used a NexStar CX (USB 3) enclosure with a WD Caviar Green 3 TB HDD here in my tests. It won't work with the original Asus FW (or any Linux version older than this year), but it works with mine thanks to this kernel patch.

 

[Quiller]

I decided to take the 2TB version. That way I'll avoid a lot of potential problems. I'll give NTFS a try before I convert it to ext3. I'm storing the media player database and download manager on my old ssd at the moment, which has a ext3 and NTFS partition.

Once I have the WD mybook, the ssd will only have a ext3 partition and the mybook only NTFS. Hopefully that will work.

Is that kernel patch part of your custom firmware (3.0.0.4.372.32)? Because that would possibly change my mind and opt for the 3TB drive.

Thx for the reply.

 

[RMerlin]

Is that kernel patch part of your custom firmware (3.0.0.4.372.32)? Because that would possibly change my mind and opt for the 3TB drive.

Thx for the reply.

Yes, it was implemented in 3.0.0.4.354.29.

 

[fernando_montalban]

Hi, sorry I was not able to follow.

Higher than 2TB HDs (example WD MyBook) formatted to NTFS won't work? it must be ext3?

If a connect a 3TB HD formatted to ext3 on a windows machine, will it still behave normally as if plugging a USB drive and accessing the files (just like in NTFS)?

Thanks.

 

[RMerlin]

Windows cannot read ext3 formated disks.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[fernando_montalban]

Thanks.

How about the...
Higher than 2TB HDs (example WD MyBook) formatted to NTFS won't work? it must be ext3?

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks.

How about the...
Higher than 2TB HDs (example WD MyBook) formatted to NTFS won't work? it must be ext3?

Just what that line says: if you need to use a hard disk larger than 2 TB with the router, it must be formatted as ext3.

 

[GoNz0]

it isn't the end of the world, you can get ext apps for windows if you want to hook up the drive.

 

[spawn026]

Not sure if anyone else had the luck I had but I'm running 3 3tb drives in a 4 bay enclosure connected with usb as ntfs and they are all working just fine.

 

[F5ing]

Not sure if anyone else had the luck I had but I'm running 3 3tb drives in a 4 bay enclosure connected with usb as ntfs and they are all working just fine.

Do you have these set up as GPT or MBR drives? Do you really have access to the full 3TB of each drive? How are they partitioned?

 

[spawn026]

Do you have these set up as GPT or MBR drives? Do you really have access to the full 3TB of each drive? How are they partitioned?

All 3 are gpt and all show the full space available. There's just one large 2794.517 GB partition for each drive, just lots of space to go around. I attached a couple of screenshots just to show my drives being read