Disable JFFS custom scripts and configs

[dobri]

What exactly "Enable JFFS custom scripts and configs" does? More specifically, what does setting it to "No" do?

I had a working router, with Entware, a few custom scripts, a few custom configs, all perfectly working. One day I notices something strange and decided to troubleshoot it by removing all the things that I added. I have my backups, but decided it will be easier if I just temporary disable "JFFS custom scripts and configs", check how it is, then enable it again. The way it sounds setting this option to "No" should disable all custom scripts and configs, and without them the router should work as if I never installed anything additional on it. It didn't work this way. My router refused to boot. It also refused to boot without the attached USB drive with Entware either. Or based on what I see on the LEDs, it boots, but a couple of seconds after initializing the network ports it reboots.

Not a big deal, right? The WIKI page for postconfig scripts ends with:
"Make sure those scripts do exit properly, or the router will be stuck during boot, requiring a factory default reset to recover it."

I couldn't reset it back to factory default setting. The Hard Reset didn't help either. Even flashing the original Asus firmware through Firmware Restoration utility didn't change anything - it says it successfully recovered the system, but I still can't get to the router. As a matter of fact none of those actions changed anything that I can observe.

I can't come up with any explanation how my action led to everything that happened after that, but I don't believe in coincidences either....

So, what does setting "Enable JFFS custom scripts and configs" to "No" do? Is this a legitimate way of temporary disabling all custom scripts?

 

[L&LD]

Without safely removing the USB drive that holds Entware, the swap file, and scripts, I wouldn't turn that setting off.

Setting it to 'No' more than likely makes it read-only (at least from the user's perspective).

What 'Hard Reset' didn't work? Flashing different firmware on the router won't change the configuration it's in.

I would say it's not a legitimate way of disabling scripts. If you wanted to do that, safely removing the USB drive and then physically removing it, and followed by a reboot, would have been what I would have suggested to you.

 

[RMerlin]

So, what does setting "Enable JFFS custom scripts and configs" to "No" do?

It simply tells the router to ignore any of the supported custom scripts or configs, as the description says.

 

[dobri]

It simply tells the router to ignore any of the supported custom scripts or configs, as the description says.

Thank you for confirming this. So my plan should have worked, but it didn't.