EXT4 disk formatting options on the router

[Zonkd]

Reading thiat section, I saw:

“Stop any processes/scripts that may be utilizing the disk before continuing.”

How would one go about that, ie what would be the command to list which scripts/processes are using the disk, and, then, what would the command be to stop a typical script/process?

Would it be a better use of your time if your answer was added to that page and just linked to here, to save you getting the same question in the future?

That is a question I hope someone can answer for me. I stopped short of outright instructing the user to kill processes at the command line, because that sounds like a very bad idea. More generally I was trying to suggest that people temporarily suspend applications like Diversion and Skynet using their respective commands. I haven't explored any deeper than that.

My hope is that if a user encounters problems unmounting such as "device or resource busy" then they'll try and be successful unmounting with web GUI.

Definitely let me know if you have any ideas or new info.

 

[Zonkd]

Using it for network file sharing/backup(personal cloud).
fdisk -l shows HPFS/NTFS...so I guess it came formatted/was never formatted according to this (uh-oh...there's stuff on there - can it be saved?)

Leaving it as-is with NTFS filesystem should be fine in that case. Hell its probably more convenient leaving it that way because Windows operating system can read/write natively to NTFS filesystems, which means you could just plug it into a PC and backup the files. Give it a try, but be careful if it asks you to format the disk because it isn’t supported.

Reading/writing an ext filesystem on Windows or MacOS often requires 3rd party drivers which is very inconvenient and you may end up paying for them. I personally just use ext for flash drives that remain permanently attached to the router. For large capacity drives I’m happy using NTFS if in a Windows household or HFS+ if an Apple Mac household. ASUS supports both just fine in my experience.

Backup the data to your computer, connect it to the new router and see how you go. I think it’s unlikely to give you any grief. Enjoy your new AC86U.

 

[martinr]

That is a question I hope someone can answer for me. I stopped short of outright instructing the user to kill processes at the command line, because that sounds like a very bad idea. More generally I was trying to suggest that people temporarily suspend applications like Diversion and Skynet using their respective commands. I haven't explored any deeper than that.

My hope is that if a user encounters problems unmounting such as "device or resource busy" then they'll try and be successful unmounting with web GUI.

Definitely let me know if you have any ideas or new info.

No intention of doing that sort of thing - all the more so after your explanation. It was just for interest’s sake and possibly discovering new commands.

Whilst the router run flawlessly, I like to leave well alone, unless it’s a command that merely gives information; that’s as far as I like to tinker!

 

[heysoundude]

Leaving it as-is with NTFS filesystem should be fine in that case. Hell its probably more convenient leaving it that way because Windows operating system can read/write natively to NTFS filesystems, which means you could just plug it into a PC and backup the files. Give it a try, but be careful if it asks you to format the disk because it isn’t supported.

Reading/writing an ext filesystem on Windows or MacOS often requires 3rd party drivers which is very inconvenient and you may end up paying for them. I personally just use ext for flash drives that remain permanently attached to the router. For large capacity drives I’m happy using NTFS if in a Windows household or HFS+ if an Apple Mac household. ASUS supports both just fine in my experience.

Backup the data to your computer, connect it to the new router and see how you go. I think it’s unlikely to give you any grief. Enjoy your new AC86U.

Thank you. I'll have to look up how to make the link to the drive from the WinXP and Win10 machines that use the drive as personal/local cloud storage/backup if it doesn't still work. (the IP of the router has changed and I seem to recall that has something to do with the link path I set up)

 

[bROTHER]

Hi,

In case you need formatting a bigger that 2TB disk, please check this: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/how-to-partition-bigger-than-2tb-disk-with-gpt-and-ext4.55025/

 

[maxbraketorque]

Folks, I have some disks that are just a hair larger than 2 TB that I would like to format as EXT4 with MBR. Does the built-in disk formatting code simply reject the option of using MBR with any drive >2 TB, or is it possible to have the disk formatting code ignore any disk space >2 TB?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Folks, I have some disks that are just a hair larger than 2 TB that I would like to format as EXT4 with MBR. Does the built-in disk formatting code simply reject the option of using MBR with any drive >2 TB, or is it possible to have the disk formatting code ignore any disk space >2 TB?

By "disk formatting code" are you referring to the router's fdisk command?

Try it and find out. My guess is that it will allow you to create an MBR. If so then you should be able to create partitions as normal up to the 2TiB boundary.

 

[maxbraketorque]

By "disk formatting code" are you referring to the router's fdisk command?

Try it and find out. My guess is that it will allow you to create an MBR. If so then you should be able to create partitions as normal up to the 2TiB boundary.

Yep, I meant fdisk. I was hoping you'd know if it works, but it sounds like I need to try. I must admit that I was hoping that, if fdisk will format 2 TB of a >2 TB volume, you folks would add that capability to the AMTM disk formatting script which I really like because its so easy to use. As it is right now, the AMTM disk formatting script won't work for disks larger than 2 TB.

 

[ColinTaylor]

fdisk doesn't format anything, it's a partitioning tool. Provided you can create the partitions the other utilities (like mke2fs) will be able to format them.

I don't have any >2TiB disks available to test fdisk with. I also don't know whether the version of fdisk varies between routers (e.g. HND vs. non-HND).

If you can try it and show us the output @thelonelycoder might be able to do something with amtm. - Although I do foresee some problems trying to incorporate that into amtm, so don't hold your breath.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Folks, I have some disks that are just a hair larger than 2 TB ...

What are the exact sizes of these disks? Can you plug them into your router and issue the following command to find out:

blockdev --getsize64 /dev/sdb

Change sdb as necessary.

 

[maxbraketorque]

Sorry I meant to respond sooner, but work and family stuff came up.

Running the blockdev command gives a size of 2000054960128 bytes. Just a smidge above 2 TB. The two drives are identical models. Rather frustrating being so slightly beyond the limit.

I'll look at the commands discussed in this thread and try to get one of both of the drives set up how I want (3 equal size EXT4 partitions on each drive).