Usb 3 and 3 to 5 T drives not working right.

[skeal]

The only way my big drives work is in the USB 2 slot. Even then the firmware reports the drive as red not mounted. It is however mounted in the usb 2 slot. IT also works this way but slow at usb 2 speeds. Asus has had poor usb 3 service for a few years but the problem here is hard drive block size. This makes the router think the disc has errors and won't mount well enough to be used as a media device. Will this ever change? Each firmware upgrade I hope for its fix but it stays broken. Merlin can you help? Router is rt-AC68U.

 

[RussellInCincinnati]

Am hoping Merlin does not spend time on this issue, particularly since the speed gains when moving from USB 2 to USB 3 drives on an AC68U are modest, based on my own measurements. Also the Asus USB 2 drivers handle USB 2 hubs really well, the same cannot be said of USB 3 hubs.

My users do not notice any difference between using USB 2 or USB 3 ports for small-network storage when they are accessing documents, etc.

It is also super unlikely that Merlin has access to the low level USB 3 driver code. Would be interested in knowing if any other Merlin users care about the issue you raise. If I were to care about this issue a lot, or wanted to do frequent backups of large media files, I would simply get a proper $100 dollar network attached storage device and enjoy tons of other benefits beyond 2 terabyte drive compatibility with a USB 3 port.

 

[skeal]

You missed the point! These are large drives three and five terabyte drives. They use a different block size. Usb 3 would be nice but it doesnt work.Also using as a media server won't work using usb 3. My problem has just as much right as yours to be solved. Please Merlin have a look at this!

 

[sfx2000]

I have had issues with some external drives and the factory partitioning scheme causing issues with Linux in general... my fix there has always been to go into fdisk (on linux) and blow away all the partitions and start over from there... this can also be done on Windows thru Disk Management...

 

[L&LD]

skeal, RussellInCincinnati did not miss the point. His advice is spot on.

RMerlin has repeatedly stated he cannot do any work on the closed source USB implementation.

I don't know what $100 towards a NAS would get you (I would only consider QNAP and Synology), but it is still money better spent than using external USB drives off a consumer router.

What file system are the drives formatted in? Consider sfx2000's advice and try recreating new EXT4 partitions and seeing if your issues are solved.

If they continue (or, you can't or don't want to move from the file system you're using now), then a NAS is the next best step.

RMerlin can't offer any further help in this area.

 

[RMerlin]

Disable Reduce USB 3.0 Interference under Wireless -> Professional.

 

[john9527]

This makes the router think the disc has errors and won't mount well enough to be used as a media device.

This one is directly related to hardware limitations.....there just isn't enough memory (remember the router only has 256MB) to be able to successfully run a disk check on the larger drives. For ext formatted drives, by default it's run automatically after a certain number of mounts, so you are sure to run into it unless you disable the mount count check.

 

[RussellInCincinnati]

You missed the point! These are large drives three and five terabyte drives...Usb 3 would be nice but it doesnt work.Also using as a media server won't work using usb 3. My problem has just as much right as yours to be solved. Please Merlin have a look at this!

Am not sure "problems" have "rights".

And am not saying you don't have "the right" to ask for whatever you want, asking some person that nobody is paying to do work on a topic you care about.

My own point/guess/opinion is that you are asking without thinking the whole thing through. Not saying you are "evil" or "wrong", am more narrowly guessing there are many more important things for Merlin to think about than how to bring some bit of barely-noticeable added functionality, to a part of the Asus software that almost nobody cares about and Merlin has no access to...

...In a plastic consumer router with an old-cellphone-level CPU, that is neither advertised nor capable as a replacement for a network attached storage box. Logically you can probably afford a low-end/refurb NAS if you had the cash to buy a nice Asus router, and a real NAS can handle any disk drive you can think of.

 

[popxunga]

The only way my big drives work is in the USB 2 slot. Even then the firmware reports the drive as red not mounted. It is however mounted in the usb 2 slot. IT also works this way but slow at usb 2 speeds. Asus has had poor usb 3 service for a few years but the problem here is hard drive block size. This makes the router think the disc has errors and won't mount well enough to be used as a media device. Will this ever change? Each firmware upgrade I hope for its fix but it stays broken. Merlin can you help? Router is rt-AC68U.

Check the answer above. Your disks will probably work connected to the usb3 port if you follow Merlin's advice.

 

[sfx2000]

Keep in mind that one thing with USB3 is the quality of the cable itself - the connector are backwards compatible, so it is easy enough to use a USB2 cable by mistake if not careful...

Also be careful of USB3 hubs - there are some out there that have known issues with legacy devices used in conjunction with super speed devices that can result in either devices failing to be found, or showing up a legacy instead..