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Solved RT-AC66U B1 USB desapire after restart

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barutchiev

Regular Contributor
Hi, I have a problem. Why, when I remove the USB device in a safe way and restart the router through the GUI, when it starts, the USB flash drive is no longer visible? I must to format it and install everything again.
I changed the flash drive and everything is repeated
RT-AC66U B1-384.18
 
Can you spell out your steps, exactly?

What does the disk check log in amtm state about the condition of the drive?

When you don't safely remove the USB drive and reboot, is the same issue appearing?

When was the last time you did a full reset on the router to factory defaults, including formatting the JFFS partition on the next reboot (and the USB drive on a PC in NTFS format before plugging it back into the router and formatting it as Ext4 w/journaling and creating a 2GB swap file, after fully resetting the router and formatting the JFFS partition, without using a saved backup config file to secure and configure the router)?

Why are you still running 384.18_0? Even the 384.19_0 has been effectively depreciated today with the availability of 386.1 Alpha 2 which is proving extremely stable for many.



If you haven't done a full/proper reset on the firmware you're currently running (or, if you've jumped back and forth between firmware to find a 'stable' one), I would suggest testing 386.1 with a full reset as described above (after you flash the newest firmware you want to test first).
 
Can you spell out your steps, exactly?

What does the disk check log in amtm state about the condition of the drive?
The health of the disc is good

When you don't safely remove the USB drive and reboot, is the same issue appearing?

I restart it extremely rarely and only once did it not cause me a problem.

When was the last time you did a full reset on the router to factory defaults, including formatting the JFFS partition on the next reboot (and the USB drive on a PC in NTFS format before plugging it back into the router and formatting it as Ext4 w/journaling and creating a 2GB swap file, after fully resetting the router and formatting the JFFS partition, without using a saved backup config file to secure and configure the router)?

After each version I do a hard reset and always adjust everything manually. Well ... since when is .18

Why are you still running 384.18_0? Even the 384.19_0 has been effectively depreciated today with the availability of 386.1 Alpha 2 which is proving extremely stable for many.
Many people have returned from .19 to .18 because it is stable


Now I can't install anything because it doesn't see the flash drive. I have to format it on a computer first and then everything from the beginning via amtm
 
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The health of the disc is good



I restart it extremely rarely and only once did it not cause me a problem.



After each version I do a hard reset and always adjust everything manually. Well ... since when is .18



386.1 Alpha 2

Now I can't install anything because it doesn't see the flash drive. I have to format it on a computer first and then everything from the beginning via amtm
When you format the USB for use in the AC66U_b1 use a NTFS, FAT32, EXT2 or EXT3 format. The AC66U_b1 does not like an EXT4 format for some reason.
 
When you format the USB for use in the AC66U_b1 use a NTFS, FAT32, EXT2 or EXT3 format. The AC66U_b1 does not like an EXT4 format for some reason.

First I always format in NTFS from the computer, and then in EXT4 from AMTM according to L&LD recommendations
 
Thank you @barutchiev for the additional information.

I think you missed the specific steps that were asked though when you do the safely remove of the USB drive.

It may be a longshot, spelling those steps out, but it is the only thing that we don't know enough about right now.
 
When you format the USB for use in the AC66U_b1 use a NTFS, FAT32, EXT2 or EXT3 format. The AC66U_b1 does not like an EXT4 format for some reason.
ext4 is fine for the RT-AC66U_B1. It's only the original RT-AC66U that doesn't support it, so amtm won't even present it as an option.
 
I think you missed the specific steps that were asked though when you do the safely remove of the USB drive.
Hello @L&LD
What are these specific steps that I am missing? Everything is going very well. I noticed that if I safely remove the USB flash drive through the GUI, then remove and put it physically - no problem. If I restart the router, however, it disappears and no longer sees it.

@ColinTaylor
You are right, there is no such option in AMTM
 
EDIT.
I have ext3 and i will try. @bbunge ,thank you for that idea.I will try this format. I will test and give feedback.

IMG_20201107_120121.jpg
 
@ColinTaylor
You are right, there is no such option in AMTM
Your screenshot in the previous post clearly shows ext4 as the recommended option. You're also running 384.18 which would not be possible on the older models that lack ext4 support.

When available ext4 (with journalling) is a better choice than ext3. The only time there are issues using ext4 is if you have used another device (like a RaspberryPi or Ubuntu PC) to do the formatting. This might be what @bbunge was thinking of. Provided you use amtm to format your device you should have no issues.
 
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Your screenshot in the previous post clearly shows ext4 as the recommended option. You're also running 384.18 which would not be possible on the older models that lack ext4 support.

When available ext4 (with journalling) is a better choice than ext3. The only time there are issues using ext4 is if you have used another device (like a RaspberryPi or Ubuntu PC) to do the formatting. This might be what @bbunge was thinking of. Provided you use amtm to format your device you should have no issues.
I was writing f rom experience when I said to use EXT2 or 3. I do not use AMTM to format but Gparted
 
I do not use AMTM to format but Gparted
That's likely why you had issues then. Using formatting tools other than the router's own mkfs will probably create ext4 filesystems containing incompatible features. This was one of the driving forces behind adding the formatting option (mkfs.ext4) to amtm. There are no issues when using amtm to format a drive as ext4.
 
Hello @L&LD
What are these specific steps that I am missing? Everything is going very well. I noticed that if I safely remove the USB flash drive through the GUI, then remove and put it physically - no problem. If I restart the router, however, it disappears and no longer sees it.

@ColinTaylor
You are right, there is no such option in AMTM

We don't know what steps you're missing (or not) if you don't specify it for us. :)

Please review the original question in my first post in this thread and refer to your post for context.
 
Just did a test with my AC66U_B1 and an EXT4 formatted USB drive on 386.1 alpha2. drive unmounted.
 
Just did a test with my AC66U_B1 and an EXT4 formatted USB drive on 386.1 alpha2. drive unmounted.
As I keep saying, that will happen if you don't use the router to format the partition. If you look in the router's syslog you will see "unsupported features" messages.
 
I did a test in ex3 format. No problems for now. All add-ons work without a problem and start after safe removal and reboot. I'll wait a little longer and give it a try 386.1
Thanks to Merlin, to all the authors of the great add-ons and to all who know and help us
 
As I keep saying, that will happen if you don't use the router to format the partition. If you look in the router's syslog you will see "unsupported features" messages.
Nope, did not work. Formatted EXT4 journaled with AMTM. Still unmounted. I know you guys think I'm blowing smoke about this but I have tried over and over to get a thumbdrive formated with EXT4 to work on my AC66U_B1 and it just dosen't! So, with all caution (and kindness) I recommend to others what does work for me.
 
Nope, did not work. Formatted EXT4 journaled with AMTM. Still unmounted. I know you guys think I'm blowing smoke about this but I have tried over and over to get a thumbdrive formated with EXT4 to work on my AC66U_B1 and it just dosen't! So, with all caution (and kindness) I recommend to others what does work for me.
If you're willing to spend some time trying to identify the issue you can PM me. It would be good to fix it if it's a bug of some sort.

EDIT: The contents of /jffs/addons/amtm/amtm-format-disk.log would be a good place to start, as well the syslog.

EDIT2: Fortuitously John has just posted an updated firmware that exhibits the same problem that I believe you are seeing so I was able to recreate this. It looks like the update to e2fsprogs 1.45.6 that came in with 386.1 defaults to adding an option that the kernel doesn't support (metadata_csum). This was the exact problem that amtm was trying to solve. See this post from two years ago.
 
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@bbunge are you restoring a backup after formatting? Or, are you doing a clean install of all the scripts you use?
 
If you're willing to spend some time trying to identify the issue you can PM me. It would be good to fix it if it's a bug of some sort.
Really do not see it as an issue. EXT3 format works on the AC66U_B1. For-the-record I did try the EXT4 format via AMTM one more time. Then I did an EXT3 format and that worked.
For now I've taken the AC66U_B1 back to Asus firmware and am preparing it to be the main router in a small office with two AC68U's for nodes.
@bbunge are you restoring a backup after formatting? Or, are you doing a clean install of all the scripts you use?
Do not use scripts on this device. No data on the thumb drive. No swap file on thumb drive (do not use swap file - do use swap partition as there is less less chance of swap corruption)
Also do not restore backups unless there is a very good reason to do so.
 

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