amtm Creating a 2GB Swap file in amtm lasts forever, what's wrong?

[koaly]

Hello everyone,
I tried to replace the USB stick in the USB2 port by a smaller one with bigger volume and something went wrong. I have reset the router's settings to factory defaults over WebUI and then with the button. After that I reconfigured the router and formatted 8GB Sandisk Cruiser drive as ext4 in amtm. After formatting, the process of creating a 2GB Swap file in amtm lasts indefinitely, I waited more than an hour before closing Putty. Tried it multiple times. The 8Gb flash drive is formatted within 5 minutes, but then everything hangs on SWAP file creation.

The stick itself has a metal shell and it gets something hot up to 50 degree Celcius. I already tried another 128Gb flash drive from Lexar and it died completely after the first attempt, showing bad blocks on PC afterall.

Spoiler: Putty

PLease give me a hint what I did wrong?

 

[L&LD]

Cheap 'new' USB sticks (the older ones were much more robust).

That is why most using amtm recommend an external enclosure with an SSD (either SATA or m.2).

I would guess you didn't wait enough for the swap file to be created. But even if you do, I would not be counting on that drive to be reliable in the least either.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Cheap 'new' USB sticks (the older ones were much more robust).

That is why most using amtm recommend an external enclosure with an SSD (either SATA or m.2).

I would guess you didn't wait enough for the swap file to be created. But even if you do, I would not be counting on that drive to be reliable in the least either.

I created a 5GB swap on my externally-enclosed SSD, and it took a good bit of time... I'd say about 30+mins... and I was definitely getting worried! But be patient @koaly ... it will eventually complete.

 

[robinjoo1]

i used a 16GB sandisk usb 3.0 and it took like 5 min orso this was tho via using 1 of the 2 usb 3.0 ports on a ASUS RT-AX86U

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hello everyone,
I tried to replace the USB stick in the USB2 port by a smaller one with bigger volume and something went wrong. I have reset the router's settings to factory defaults over WebUI and then with the button. After that I reconfigured the router and formatted 8GB Sandisk Cruiser drive as ext4 in amtm. After formatting, the process of creating a 2GB Swap file in amtm lasts indefinitely, I waited more than an hour before closing Putty. Tried it multiple times. The 8Gb flash drive is formatted within 5 minutes, but then everything hangs on SWAP file creation.

The stick itself has a metal shell and it gets something hot up to 50 degree Celcius. I already tried another 128Gb flash drive from Lexar and it died completely after the first attempt, showing bad blocks on PC afterall.

Spoiler: Putty

View attachment 48749

PLease give me a hint what I did wrong?

Go back into amtm and enter fdl to show the log file.

 

[Phil Mcavity]

As others have said , I'd highly recommend an external SSD. Far quicker and reliable.

 

[Tech9]

I created a 5GB swap on my externally-enclosed SSD, and it took a good bit of time... I'd say about 30+mins...

Imagine if the router actually needs to use this swap file...

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Imagine if the router actually needs to use this swap file...

It's a sad day when JFFS is using more space than your swap file!

But I'll be ready when RTRHTR and WXMON start dumping TB's of telemetry and weather data from around the globe!

 

[Tech9]

It's a sad day...

It's a happy day. When this swap is actually used the router goes into coma state.

 

[koaly]

Go back into amtm and enter fdl to show the log file.

Thank you guys for replies. It is clear for me that it is either USB stick or router is causing an error. I hope it is USB stick, but when I came home yesterday and looked at log file, there was nothing about a command of swap file creation, which lasted more than an hour.

Spoiler: log file fdl

Then I typed again sw command and swap created just within a second.
Nevertheless, neither diversion (has not passed device test), nor skynet (read-only file system and writing failed) could be installed. They showed kind of a write error.

Spoiler: error messages

I am going to try it again with the new USB stick.

 

[koaly]

As others have said , I'd highly recommend an external SSD. Far quicker and reliable.

Thanks, I am going to buy one. The question is what kind of an external SSD is recommended: USB with 1) 2,5" SSD, 2) m2 SATA or 3) m2 NVME?
What would be the most reliable and quick?

 

[robinjoo1]

i pray its the usb stick indeeed , would be bad if its the router itself

 

[koaly]

Cheap 'new' USB sticks (the older ones were much more robust).

That is why most using amtm recommend an external enclosure with an SSD (either SATA or m.2).

I would guess you didn't wait enough for the swap file to be created. But even if you do, I would not be counting on that drive to be reliable in the least either.

Thanks for the hint. Is there any difference in speed or anything on Asus router between SATA, m2 SATA and m2 NVME?
What kind of SSD makes more sense in this case?

 

[Ripshod]

Thanks for the hint. Is there any difference in speed or anything on Asus router between SATA, m2 SATA and m2 NVME?
What kind of SSD makes more sense in this case?

I've switched between m.2 and 2.5" ssd and noticed no real world difference. The essential thing is to make sure the enclosure matches or is better than the usb3 socket on your particular router (eg in my case 3.1 gen 1) if you want to chase the best speed.
But in the day-to-day would you really notice?

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Thanks for the hint. Is there any difference in speed or anything on Asus router between SATA, m2 SATA and m2 NVME?
What kind of SSD makes more sense in this case?

This is what I purchased... Definitely overkill, but much more reliable than a flash drive.

SAMSUNG 870 EVO SATA SSD 250GB 2.5” Internal Solid State Drive, Upgrade Desktop PC or Laptop Memory and Storage for IT Pros, Creators, Everyday Users, MZ-77E250B/AM https://a.co/d/a4ShJI5

Plus you can't beat it being on sale for $39.

Using this enclosure...

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP) https://a.co/d/95NrmmQ

 

[L&LD]

The only difference I've noticed in speeds from old 4GB USB keys to a 512GB Samsung T7 is only when setting them up.

During normal router/script use, they respond identically to me (my internal millisecond clock is broken though!).

 

[koaly]

Thanks to all of you. I have ordered an USB-NVME enclosure and will move the NVME OCZ 256Gb Gen3 drive from Unraid server to the router. It will be also overkill, but given the marginal price difference it makes more sense if Asus goes with the 3.2 Gen2 USB ports in the future.

 

[JGrana]

Thanks to all of you. I have ordered an USB-NVME enclosure and will move the NVME OCZ 256Gb Gen3 drive from Unraid server to the router. It will be also overkill, but given the marginal price difference it makes more sense if Asus goes with the 3.2 Gen2 USB ports in the future.

The latest RT-AX88U Pro has one 3.2 Gen2 USB port.
Just one USB port on this router.

Wonder if a hub will work???

 

[visortgw]

The latest RT-AX88U Pro has one 3.2 Gen2 USB port.
Just one USB port on this router.

Wonder if a hub will work???

Regardless of whether a hub "works", a router will never function as a real NAS.

 

[JGrana]

Regardless of whether a hub "works", a router will never function as a real NAS.

Totally agree. Years ago I tried using the built in Media Server. Seemed like a nice central spot for a media server. Ran into all kinds of problems with a rather large Photo folder.
This was probably before things like Plex, Kodi, Serviio and Emby.
Moved the function over to a NAS - works much better.

Lesson learned - don't try to turn a good router into a server.