Asus RT-AC68P - Setup attached strorage ....????????

[spydeyrch]

Hey there!

First time poster to snb forums.

EDIT: Just realized I posted my 1st thread back in 2014 ..... it has been a while!!! lol

I have been racking my brain trying to figure this out. Hours of online videos, forum searches, articles, trial and error, etc. I can't seem to get it to work.

What I want to do should seem quite simple, and I have done it in the past, but for some reason now it doesn't work.

Setup:

• Computer 1
  • Windows 10 Pro x64
    • version 1803 (OS Build 1734.165)
    • Custom built desktop
• Computer 2
  • Windows 10 Pro x64
    • version 1803 (1734.191)
    • Lenovo Yoga 920
• Asus RT-AC68P
  • Main Router, connected to ISP
  • Operation Mode: Wireless Router
  • Firmware ver. 3.0.0.4.384_20648
  • Computer 2 connects via wi-fi
• Asus RT-AC1750
  • Operation Mode: Access Point
    • It connects to the AC68P wirelessly
  • Computer 1 connects via ethernet cable to this router

Goal:

• Connect a USB 3 drive (external HDD, thumbstick, etc) to the USB 3 port on the RT-AC68P.
  • The name of the drive is NSD.
    • The drive has a single folder on the root labeled: Databases
    • It is formatted with NTFS and is currently 64GB.
• Allow access to the drive from both computer 1 and computer 2 but only via my LAN. No external access to drive needed.

Process taken so far:

• I attach the drive to the USB 3 port on the AC68P.
• The router identifies it, as seen in the router config page.
• In AC68P Router config, USB Applications > Media Services & Server > Network Place (Samba) Share / Cloud Disk
  • I enable SHARE
    • There is only one user listed with R/W access to the only folder in NSD

• I attempt access to NSD via computer 2
  • File Explorer > Network > NSD
    • I am prompted for a Username and Password
    • I provide the U&P and can now see the contents of NSD
      • I cannot create any additional files/folders on the root of NSD
      • If I enter the only folder, Databases, in the root of NSD, I can create new folders/files
  • I can map the folder on the root of NSD but not NSD

• I attempt access to NSD via computer 1
  • File Explorer > Network >
    • Nothing shows up. NSD is not present
  • I try to gain access via RUN and inputting the IP of the router (I can do this with computer 2 and no issues)
    • Example: RUN > \\123.456.7.8\ (not actual IP)
    • Error Message given

Issues:

• I cannot add to the root of NSD from computer 2
  • I would like to add new folders, files, delete folders/files, etc.
• I cannot gain access to the drive via computer 1
  • The drive doesn't appear in my network in File Explorer
  • If I try and connect directly via run I get an error.
    • The error message I get is:
      • You can't connect to the file share because it's not secure. This share requires the obsolete SMB1 protocol, which is unsafe and could expose your system to attack. Your system requires SMB2 or higher. For more info on resolving this issue, see: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=852747

Is this typical? What am I doing wrong? Did I setup my router incorrectly to allow device sharing?

I looked in to the SMB1 vs SMB2 error from computer 1.
Computer 1 is a few years old ... or I should say that the OS was installed a few years ago and I never tried to use it to access shared drives like this until recently.
Computer 2 is fairly new, as in this week.

From the link that the error message gave me, I gathered that Win 10 comes with SMB1 installed if the Win10 installation was an OEM installation, but if it isn't used in the first 15 days, it is automatically removed from the OS .... unless it is a clean install in which case it is not installed at all.

Computer 1 was a custom build so it was a clean install of Win 10 Pro. Thus SMB1 was never installed.

Computer 2 is an OEM install (Lenovo), so it has SMB1 installed. Being as I just got it this week and started using it to access the shared drive, SMB1 is available to be used.

So what do I do?????

I would like to get access to the shared drive attached to my main router, via both my desktop and laptop. I am working on a number of database files and would like the convenience of working at both my desktop and from my laptop.

Any ideas? Suggestions? Thoughts?

I am at my wits end and am not sure what to do from here on out .....

And sorry for the lengthy read ...

-Spydey

 

[OzarkEdge]

On Windows 10, enable Control Panel\Programs\Windows Features\SMB1.0/CFIS Client and restart. You should then be able to see shares on the router USB device.

(If this ain't it, I should have read your entire post!)

OE

 

[ColinTaylor]

I cannot add to the root of NSD from computer 2:

You can't access files in the root of NSD. That's the way Asus designed it. You can create additional "shares" in the root of NSD by using the router's Samba GUI. Click on the "+" (Add new folder) icon.

I cannot gain access to the drive via computer 1:

What @OzarkEdge said.

 

[spydeyrch]

On Windows 10, enable Control Panel\Programs\Windows Features\SMB1.0/CFIS Client and restart. You should then be able to see shares on the router USB device.

(If this ain't it, I should have read your entire post!)

OE

OzarkEdge,

Thanks man for the reply. I will give that a try and let you know what the result is.

-Spydey

 

[spydeyrch]

I cannot add to the root of NSD from computer 2:

You can't access files in the root of NSD. That's the way Asus designed it. You can create additional "shares" in the root of NSD by using the router's Samba GUI. Click on the "+" (Add new folder) icon.

I cannot gain access to the drive via computer 1:

What @OzarkEdge said.

ColinTaylor,

I figured that is how it was designed, but I was hopeful there was a way around it or that maybe I missed something ... * sigh * .... oh well.

If what @OzarkEdge said works, then I guess I will just have to add new shares via the GUI as I need them ....

 

[spydeyrch]

Alright!!! Just tried what @OzarkEdge recommended and it worked!!!

Thanks a ton guys!!! I can't believe it was something so simple.

-Spydey

 

[ColinTaylor]

I figured that is how it was designed, but I was hopeful there was a way around it or that maybe I missed something ... * sigh * .... oh well.

Don't think of it as a normal disk with files and folders in the root. Conceptually, it is a piece of storage that you are creating shared network folders on.

There is one alternative, but it's not a good one. Turn on "Allow guest login". Then the entire disk becomes one giant shared folder, which means you can read and write to the root. Of course now you don't have any access controls in place.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Alright!!! Just tried what @OzarkEdge recommended and it worked!!!

Thanks a ton guys!!! I can't believe it was something so simple.

-Spydey

BTW, my RT-AC86U has settings for USB HDD Hibernation under Administration\System; and USB Mode under Network Map\USB 3.0\External USB disk status\Information.

I use Cobian Backup to a WD BLK 1TB HDD in an Inland USB 3.0 enclosure... an initial backup benchmark is ~33.1 GB over SATA3 and Gigabit Ethernet in about 72 minutes... not too shabby!

Incidentally, when I reset and configured the router with the USB HDD attached, the router defaulted the Media Server and Network Place Share to ON. I then turned OFF the Media Server... that may be a later project, if it has any merit.

Does anyone know if we need to ALWAYS 'eject' the router USB HDD before turning it OFF and/or disconnecting it from the router?

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

There is one alternative, but it's not a good one. Turn on "Allow guest login". Then the entire disk becomes one giant shared folder, which means you can read and write to the root. Of course now you don't have any access controls in place.

So, no guest access and work below the root!

OE

 

[spydeyrch]

BTW, my RT-AC86U has settings for USB HDD Hibernation under Administration\System; and USB Mode under Network Map\USB 3.0\External USB disk status\Information.

I use Cobian Backup to a WD BLK 1TB HDD in an Inland USB 3.0 enclosure... an initial backup benchmark is ~33.1 GB over SATA3 and Gigabit Ethernet in about 72 minutes... not too shabby!

Incidentally, when I reset and configured the router with the USB HDD attached, the router defaulted the Media Server and Network Place Share to ON. I then turned OFF the Media Server... that may be a later project, if it has any merit.

Does anyone know if we need to ALWAYS 'eject' the router USB HDD before turning it OFF and/or disconnecting it from the router?

OE

That isn't too shabby at all!!!

I would love to have some of those setting, then I could attach my 2TB external to it and use it as a backup!! I guess I could now but ..... I would rather of those options .... but that would require me getting a newer router ... which I don't really want to spend the $$$ on right now.

Yup, No guest access and gotta work below the root .... oh well ....

 

[spydeyrch]

Don't think of it as a normal disk with files and folders in the root. Conceptually, it is a piece of storage that you are creating shared network folders on.

There is one alternative, but it's not a good one. Turn on "Allow guest login". Then the entire disk becomes one giant shared folder, which means you can read and write to the root. Of course now you don't have any access controls in place.

Yeah .... I thought about guest access but then my kids and others might get access to it, which I don't want at all!!

So gotta stick with no guest access and work below the root ..... oh well!

Thanks again @ColinTaylor for your help!

-Spydey

 

[Barry Demchak]

On Windows 10, enable Control Panel\Programs\Windows Features\SMB1.0/CFIS Client and restart. You should then be able to see shares on the router USB device.
OE

Thanks! This is just what the doctor ordered!

Fellow users: SMB1 is the file interchange protocol Microsoft invented last century. Since then, there has been SMB2 (2007), SMB3 (2012) and so on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_Message_Block#SMB_/_CIFS_/_SMB1

SMB1 has security flaws, and Windows 10 (as of September 2017) disables it for many of us PC users. OzarkEdge's great advice leverages Microsoft's workaround for those of us desperate for SMB1. (Thanks, OzarkEdge!!!)

ASUS tech support apparently doesn't know about this workaround, and dismisses the problem as "Microsoft's problem" ... a very unsatisfying answer. Of course, by this time, each of us has invested a couple of hours into the problem.

Note to self: when buying an SMB device (e.g., ASUS Router), make sure it supports at least SMB2.

Also, note to self: each of the storage device's top level directories will be presented as mountable shares to an SMB client (e.g., Windows Explorer). For example, if your router is named RT-AC68P and the thumb drive you add contains \Dir1 and \Dir2, you'll be able to mount \\RT-AC68P\Dir1 and/or \\RT-AC68P\Dir2 as network drives.

Happy computing!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Also, note to self: each of the storage device's top level directories will be presented as mountable shares to an SMB client (e.g., Windows Explorer). For example, if your router is named RT-AC68P and the thumb drive you add contains \Dir1 and \Dir2, you'll be able to mount \\RT-AC68P\Dir1 and/or \\RT-AC68P\Dir2 as network drives.

I'm trying to understand this... I thought the router/Unix mounts the HDD and SAMBA shares its top level directories. Those are then visible to a Windows user having the requisite access control credentials defined in the router. That user can then reference \\RT-AC68P\Dir1 directly and/or map a logical drive (letter) to \\RT-AC68P\Dir1. Yes?

OE

 

[ColinTaylor]

I'm trying to understand this... I thought the router/Unix mounts the HDD and SAMBA shares its top level directories. Those are then visible to a Windows user having the requisite access control credentials defined in the router. That user can then reference \\RT-AC68P\Dir1 directly and/or map a logical drive (letter) to \\RT-AC68P\Dir1. Yes?

Yes. You've just repeated what he said.

EDIT: I think I see the confusion. It's just a difference in terminology. On the client side: A linux machine would mount the shared drive, a Windows machine would map it (or browse it in Explorer). Even though he's a Windows user he's used the term "mount" which in this context is the same as "map" or having it appear in Explorer.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Yes. You've just repeated what he said.

EDIT: I think I see the confusion. It's just a difference in terminology. On the client side: A linux machine would mount the shared drive, a Windows machine would map it (or browse it in Explorer). Even though he's a Windows user he's used the term "mount" which in this context is the same as "map" or having it appear in Explorer.

Agreed. I suspected as much but wanted him to explain his use of 'mount' in case my understanding of this was incomplete. Thanks!

OE

 

[Barry Demchak]

Agreed. I suspected as much but wanted him to explain his use of 'mount' in case my understanding of this was incomplete. Thanks!

OE

Indeed, my loose wording confused the situation - sorry, OE. Thanks, CT, for picking this up. I think we're all saying the same thing.

If anyone can influence ASUS to update their SMB support (... to SMB2 or SMB3), please do. This is causing real user heartache.