SSD drive not detected/mounted on RT-AX88U Pro after router's reboot

[BrimoXD99]

I'm running Merlin latest 3004.388.7 version on my router Asus RT-AX88U Pro.
Asus RT-AX88U Pro is the main unit, apart of it I have in wired connection second unit: Asus RT-AX88U running stock AsusWRT version 3.0.0.4.388_24209.
Addons I use:
Diversion,
BACKUPMON
spdMerlin
uiDivStats
YazDHCP

Few days ago I replaced SanDisk USB stick 32 GB with Samsung Evo 870 SSD Drive with basic USB to SATA adapter.
Once I attached Samsung Evo 870 SSD Drive to the router's USB port I ran amtm fd command to format this drive with default settings (ext4, journaling enabled) and sw command to set SWAP file.
I did restore configuration using BACKUPMON. It is described here: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-step-by-step-install-guide-l-ld.56237/post-916123

Then I detected an issue: after router's reboot SSD drive is not mounted. I had to unplug the cable from router's USB port and plug it again in order to get drive detected and mounted.
Then I have been told it might be USB to SATA adapter so I get enclosure #1 but the result was the same as with USB to SATA adapter.
Then I got suggestion to use another enclosure #2 for which it was mentioned that it "works" not causing missing mounting issue: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-step-by-step-install-guide-l-ld.56237/post-916376
I purchased this model but getting still the same result: after router's reboot SSD drive is not mounted.
The same issue is with USB Mode 2.0 as well as with USB Mode 3.0.

cat /sys/kernel/debug/usb/devices gives me the following:
T: Bus=02 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#= 2 Spd=5000 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 3.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 9 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=152d ProdID=0578 Rev= 2.04
S: Manufacturer=JMicron
S: Product=External USB 3.0
S: SerialNumber=201703310007F
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=896mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=uas
E: Ad=81(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=02(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 1 #EPs= 4 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=62 Driver=uas
E: Ad=01(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=82(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=83(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=04(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms

I have enabled Debug log level as well as Debug messages.
Result is uploaded to: https://jumpshare.com/s/8OmPjk3OIamrPRCtMpfw


Is there something what can be done to pinpoint the root cause of this issue?
Is it a hardware problem of my router or Merlin port of AsusWRT on this specific Asus RT-AX88U PRO?

 

[Tech9]

basic USB to SATA adapter

You may have to replace this with something else tested working.

 

[BrimoXD99]

You may have to replace this with something else tested working.

Please read all what I reported.
I have already replaced USB to SATA adapter with enclosure that is confirmed is working in other Asus models: RT-AX86U and RT-AX88U.
So maybe I will ask another question: is there anyone who can confirm SSD drive used with enclosure is working in RT-AX88U PRO?
Working I mean is detected and mounted when reboot sequence is completed.

 

[octopus]

I'm running Merlin latest 3004.388.7 version on my router Asus RT-AX88U Pro.
Asus RT-AX88U Pro is the main unit, apart of it I have in wired connection second unit: Asus RT-AX88U running stock AsusWRT version 3.0.0.4.388_24209.
Addons I use:
Diversion,
BACKUPMON
spdMerlin
uiDivStats
YazDHCP

Few days ago I replaced SanDisk USB stick 32 GB with Samsung Evo 870 SSD Drive with basic USB to SATA adapter.
Once I attached Samsung Evo 870 SSD Drive to the router's USB port I ran amtm fd command to format this drive with default settings (ext4, journaling enabled) and sw command to set SWAP file.
I did restore configuration using BACKUPMON. It is described here: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-step-by-step-install-guide-l-ld.56237/post-916123

Then I detected an issue: after router's reboot SSD drive is not mounted. I had to unplug the cable from router's USB port and plug it again in order to get drive detected and mounted.
Then I have been told it might be USB to SATA adapter so I get enclosure #1 but the result was the same as with USB to SATA adapter.
Then I got suggestion to use another enclosure #2 for which it was mentioned that it "works" not causing missing mounting issue: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/amtm-step-by-step-install-guide-l-ld.56237/post-916376
I purchased this model but getting still the same result: after router's reboot SSD drive is not mounted.
The same issue is with USB Mode 2.0 as well as with USB Mode 3.0.

cat /sys/kernel/debug/usb/devices gives me the following:
T: Bus=02 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#= 2 Spd=5000 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 3.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 9 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=152d ProdID=0578 Rev= 2.04
S: Manufacturer=JMicron
S: Product=External USB 3.0
S: SerialNumber=201703310007F
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=896mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=uas
E: Ad=81(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=02(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 1 #EPs= 4 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=62 Driver=uas
E: Ad=01(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=82(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=83(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms
E: Ad=04(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS=1024 Ivl=0ms

I have enabled Debug log level as well as Debug messages.
Result is uploaded to: https://jumpshare.com/s/8OmPjk3OIamrPRCtMpfw


Is there something what can be done to pinpoint the root cause of this issue?
Is it a hardware problem of my router or Merlin port of AsusWRT on this specific Asus RT-AX88U PRO?

I have same problem with my GT-AX6000 not mount after reboot and after software update.
Have to manually unplug/plug in ssd drive (SSD Crucial CT250MXS) to get it to mount. It have been than many software back.

 

[bbunge]

Please read all what I reported.
I have already replaced USB to SATA adapter with enclosure that is confirmed is working in other Asus models: RT-AX86U and RT-AX88U.
So maybe I will ask another question: is there anyone who can confirm SSD drive used with enclosure is working in RT-AX86U PRO?
Working I mean is detected and mounted when reboot sequence is completed.

If you replaced one USB device with another it is possible the OS does not recognize the new device as the old. The old USB drive was likely identified as sda while the new is sdb. Or, the OS is still trying to use the old drive label. In a terminal run "DF" and see what is mounted in /tmp/mnt then compare that to the drive settings in the scripts.
Might be best to remove all addons, format the drive again and start afresh.

 

[bennor]

Not clear if you indicated such; but does the issue persist with the router when you initially formatting the drive for use on the router using AMTM before installing scripts or swap file to it? Or is the issue only happening after you install scripts and swap file to the drive?

 

[BrimoXD99]

If you replaced one USB device with another it is possible the OS does not recognize the new device as the old. The old USB drive was likely identified as sda while the new is sdb. Or, the OS is still trying to use the old drive label. In a terminal run "DF" and see what is mounted in /tmp/mnt then compare that to the drive settings in the scripts.
Might be best to remove all addons, format the drive again and start afresh.

I asked for the details what should be the steps for replacing USB stick with SSD drive. This is in details on the other thread I pasted in my original post.
One of the prerequisites was to format new SSD drive with the same label as the old one and I did that typing SWAP as the label.

Result of cat /sys/kernel/debug/usb/devices when SandDisk USB stick is attached:

result of cat /sys/kernel/debug/usb/devices when SSD Samsung EVO is attached with enclosure:

With both devices result of df is exactly the same:

Also: all scripts are running fine when I do the trick and unplug -> plug the cable in the router so it proves nothing is wrong with SSD disk and configuration.
The issue is with SSD disk not being detected and therefore mounted when router is rebooted.
As you can see above @octopus is reporting the same issue with GT-AX6000.

 

[BrimoXD99]

Not clear if you indicated such; but does the issue persist with the router when you initially formatting the drive for use on the router using AMTM before installing scripts or swap file to it? Or is the issue only happening after you install scripts and swap file to the drive?

No, I did not catch what happened after only formatting SSD drive and before restoring configuration from BACKUPMON, maybe because it was no reboot performed after format was done but I did just after that restore from BACKUPMON backup... I can't recall.
Indeed this is somehow a test for narrowing down potential root cause.
If SSD drive won't be detected and mounted in such scenario then it would indicate Merlin OS issue at least for RT-AX88U PRO.
I will test that tomorrow and post result here.

 

[Tech9]

Just tested with a usb memory and its not getting mounted.

So for every reboot you have to be present there and reconnect your USB drive manually? This is far from convenient.

Perhaps copy/paste @Viktor Jaep drive/enclosure solution? He runs the same GT-AX6000 with no issues, as far as I know.

 

[Ripshod]

All that switching between fat, ext4 and ntfs - how is this drive patitioned/formatted?

 

[BrimoXD99]

I performed a test with formatting SSD drive and:
- format done by fd command in amtm ends with router's reboot. After reboot SSD drive not detected and therefore not mounted
- format done by format action from GUI and after manual reboot the same: SSD drive not detected/mounted.

In both cases a "fix" is to unplug and plug the cable of USB closure.

I think it's a bug in Merlin for RT-AX88U Pro (at least my case) and for GT-AX6000 like @octopus reported.
Apparently it's not the issue for other models.
As I mentioned: in first post I linked to debug syslog file which can be used by devs for troubleshooting. Space I uploaded the log is valid only 24h so it will gone soon and if anyone from devs would like to review that log file - let me know and I will share again.

 

[Darek]

I have the same thing with GT6000. The Seagate SSD worked fine on the previous router, but on the GT6000 it is exactly as you describe. This happens on Merlin as well as on the original software.

 

[BrimoXD99]

I have the same thing with GT6000. The Seagate SSD worked fine on the previous router, but on the GT6000 it is exactly as you describe. This happens on Merlin as well as on the original software.

This is valuable information that the issue occur on stock AsusWRT firmware as well.
I wonder if Asus is aware about this problem
I don't know if there is an official Asus forum where it could be checked if people reports this issue.

[EDIT] As I have my routers registered in Asus I created a support case for them with this issue. I don't know if they will take an action as I have AsusWRT-Merlin installed. Lets see.

 

[bbunge]

This is valuable information that the issue occur on stock AsusWRT firmware as well.
I wonder if Asus is aware about this problem
I don't know if there is an official Asus forum where it could be checked if people reports this issue.

[EDIT] As I have my routers registered in Asus I created a support case for them with this issue. I don't know if they will take an action as I have AsusWRT-Merlin installed. Lets see.

But, did you factory reset the router, manually configure and then add the drive and add-ons? I also feel there is no real advantage to going with an external SSD unless it is externally powered for my use an USB2 16 GB in the USB2 port works just fine. I also format the drive in a Linux PC with Gparted and the drive has a 2 GB swap partition before the EXT4 data partition. I then mount the swap partition with a post-mount file in scripts.

 

[Darek]

I have a 2TB USB3 drive and it works great. I have a LAN transfer of 198MB/s download and 145MB/s upload (on 2.5G infrastructure, of course). It's enough for home use for several people. I have FTP for this and it also works perfectly. I don't see the point in buying a QNAP NAS. I have two such NASs in my company and it works well there, but the operating characteristics are completely different.
Coming back to the question of whether there was a system restore, hard resets, etc... The answer is YES. Everything was done. This is clearly a manufacturer's error. I will only add that when the router is restarted, if the disk cannot be mounted, the indicator light flashes. Just unplug it for a second and plug it back in and everything works.

 

[BrimoXD99]

But, did you factory reset the router, manually configure and then add the drive and add-ons? I also feel there is no real advantage to going with an external SSD unless it is externally powered for my use an USB2 16 GB in the USB2 port works just fine. I also format the drive in a Linux PC with Gparted and the drive has a 2 GB swap partition before the EXT4 data partition. I then mount the swap partition with a post-mount file in scripts.

Come on, factory reset when my goal was to replace one USB drive with another one?
And again: everything is absolutely fine when unplug and plug the cable when router is already rebooted and running.
It clearly says something is wrong withe the OS itself that it doesn't detect and mount the drive within boot sequence.
Especially that other guys here reporting it used to work with previous version of AsusWRT (or AsusWRT-Merlin)
I would rather say it's a bug in newest AsusWRT firmware which then had been "imported" into AsusWRT-Merlin.

 

[saison2023]

I will add my voice to recommend a full factory reset (router and external hard drive) for the only reason that I had to do it recently. I had a lot of trouble with AdGuardHome and DNSMASQ. Formatting hard drive wasn't enough. I had to factory reset and configure from scratch (no restore from any kind, manual setup everything). Starting from scratch with a manual setup can be time-consuming but often ensures that any lingering problems are eliminated.
I agree that my main trouble was not the drive mounting/unmounting but maybe there is something "sticked" somewhere that is causing the trouble.
As you mentioned that you used BACKUPMON, even if this is a great tool, there is a possibility something wrong happened. And you could be sure that Asus support will ask for a full reset of everything.

 

[Darek]

I don't know how many times you have to write it for it to reach non-believers? Configuring from scratch does not change anything about the disk. I did this configuration several times, changing the software. It is a cure for many ailments, but not for the disc problem. Another piece of advice like this will add nothing to the discussion.
Asus needs to improve this in their software. It looks to me like an attempt to mount the disk too quickly when the system is not ready yet. Maybe some additional USB power cut-off would help, but this is a topic for the Asus support.

 

[Ripshod]

Another piece of advice like this will add nothing to the discussion

I'll not add nothing to it then. If you want to ignore the final and most powerful diagnostic tool there is......

 

[bennor]

It looks to me like an attempt to mount the disk too quickly when the system is not ready yet. Maybe some additional USB power cut-off would help, but this is a topic for the Asus support.

Maybe a temporary workaround is to write up some sort of script that gets called at router boot (after the firmware does it thing) and which checks for the USB drive; and if the USB drive is not found, the script attempts to mount it.