Installing entware on HFS formatted partition

[Jordan Klein]

I'm wondering if what I did was a good idea or not. I just installed the latest MerlinWRT on my new ASUS RT-AC86U. I'm replacing an RT-AC66U that was also running MerlinWRT. One feature I want to use is the ability to support Time Machine backups. So, I moved a drive that I had formatted on my Mac to the router. It recognized the HFS filesystem and mounted the drive with no problem. It's a 4TB drive with only 1 partition.

I also decided that I wanted to use that drive to store my entware content. So, I copied the /usr/sbin/setup-entware.sh script to my home directory and modified it so that it would detect the HFS formatted drive and install to it.

I successfully installed entware and a few minor packages after doing so. I've also setup the Time Machine backup and it's currently running through the first full backup.

So my question is that did I make a mistake by using this HFS formatted disk for entware? I tested certain filesystem features that entware might need and it seems to support them. File ownership and permission works correctly. Both hard and soft links work properly. I haven't yet encountered any problems with this.

So, if you're an entware guru and think what I've done is a bad idea, please let me know. I can always experiment with different filesystems on the drive if that makes more sense.

Thanks!

 

[bluzfanmr1]

I'm wondering if what I did was a good idea or not. I just installed the latest MerlinWRT on my new ASUS RT-AC86U. I'm replacing an RT-AC66U that was also running MerlinWRT. One feature I want to use is the ability to support Time Machine backups. So, I moved a drive that I had formatted on my Mac to the router. It recognized the HFS filesystem and mounted the drive with no problem. It's a 4TB drive with only 1 partition.

I also decided that I wanted to use that drive to store my entware content. So, I copied the /usr/sbin/setup-entware.sh script to my home directory and modified it so that it would detect the HFS formatted drive and install to it.

I successfully installed entware and a few minor packages after doing so. I've also setup the Time Machine backup and it's currently running through the first full backup.

So my question is that did I make a mistake by using this HFS formatted disk for entware? I tested certain filesystem features that entware might need and it seems to support them. File ownership and permission works correctly. Both hard and soft links work properly. I haven't yet encountered any problems with this.

So, if you're an entware guru and think what I've done is a bad idea, please let me know. I can always experiment with different filesystems on the drive if that makes more sense.

Thanks!

What I did was use a flash drive (ext4) in one of the usb ports for entware and all the awesome scripts. I used the other usb port to connect a 1.5 terabyte hard drive (hfs) for my time machine backups. I know that doesn't answer your question but I am wondering if you may have issues at some point. That concern led me to the method I used.

 

[Jordan Klein]

I considered doing that but at this point I'd rather not unless HFS doesn't work out or someone warns me off from using it with horror stories or something.

 

[JGrana]

I suspect it will work the "majority" of time - with 2 main issues relating to file names and maximum size of a single file.

As far as how the underlying filesystem code manages the blocks of storage, caching etc make little or no difference to Entware. That's up to the filesystem.

But, file names are where the rubber meets the road. Entware specifies EXT3/4 since it is the base Linux filesystem and programs can create filenames with few restrictions. This is likely the main reason Entware does not want to install on other "non-Linux" filesystems like FAT or NTFS.

Back to your question - from what I can tell, the main file name differences between HFS and EXT4 are the fact that HFS limits filenames to 31 characters versus 255 on EXT4 and HFS does NOT allow the ":" character in a filename. EXT4 allows pretty much any character except the NULL character.

HFS will allow a file to be max size of 2 GB, EXT4 >16GB.

BTW, NTFS is worse when it comes to filenames - it doesn't allow these characters in a file name:

/\:*"?<>|

BTW, are you sure it is plain old HFS? It might be HFS+
If it is indeed HFS+ you are likely not going to have any issues. HFS+ supports file names up to 255 characters and allows all characters in a filename (excepts the NULL character) same as EXT4

 

[Jordan Klein]

I've got a followup to this. I gave up and reformatted the whole drive with EXT4 and now it seems to be working fine.

Here's what happened:
1. Attached HFS+ formatted drive to RT-AC86U running latest ASUS firmware.
2. Configured volume for Time Machine backups.
3. Performed full Time Machine backup successfully.
4. Would not perform any further backups, nor mount the volume successfully for very long.
5. Switched to Merlin's latest firmware and encountered exactly the same problem.
6. Reformatted drive as EXT4 and it's been working fine ever since.
7. Stuck with Merlin's firmware due to ability to run scripts from jffs partition at boot time, or at all for that matter.

So, I guess there were things going on that prevented the HFS+ formatted drive from working properly. What's weird is that the Format Drive option in both ASUS and Merlin's firmware only offered up NTFS, HFS+, and FAT as filesystem choices. No Linux options at all. Never did figure that out. Checked on filesystem compatibility and EXT4 is fully supported by ASUS, so no idea why they don't offer it as an option. Even EXT3 would've been ok, but not offered either.

 

[thelonelycoder]

What's weird is that the Format Drive option in both ASUS and Merlin's firmware only offered up NTFS, HFS+, and FAT as filesystem choices. No Linux options at all. Never did figure that out. Checked on filesystem compatibility and EXT4 is fully supported by ASUS, so no idea why they don't offer it as an option. Even EXT3 would've been ok, but not offered either.

That's where amtm becomes very handy.

 

[Jordan Klein]

That's where amtm becomes very handy.

I just learned of amtm and have installed it and some of the scripts. Pretty cool so far. Also turned on swap! Fortunately, the drive is working fine so I don't need to format it again. I'd lose a few days of Time Machine backups if I did.

 

[L&LD]

I just learned of amtm and have installed it and some of the scripts. Pretty cool so far. Also turned on swap! Fortunately, the drive is working fine so I don't need to format it again. I'd lose a few days of Time Machine backups if I did.

Hope you don't need to do so, but if/when you do, the amtm Step-by-Step guide may be useful for you.

amtm Step-by-Step https://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-step-by-step-install-guide-l-ld.56237/#post-483421