RT-BE88U USB drive disconnects

[a_lunatic]

Is Bad Blocks: 22, from a bad firmware update and can it be fixed or is it a hardware problem?

Linux RT-BE88U 4.19.294 #1 SMP PREEMPT Sat May 10 12:04:37 EDT 2025 aarch64 ASUSWRT-Merlin

mtd0: 10000000 00020000 "brcmnand.0"

# mtd_check /dev/mtd0
Flash type of /dev/mtd0 is 4 (NANDFLASH)
Flash flags are 0x400 - WRITEABLE
Block size 131072 (128K)  Page size 2048 (2K)  OOB size 108
Device: 268435456 (256M) bytes, 2048 (2K) blocks
MTD Stats:  Bad Blocks: 22  ECC Corrected: 0  ECC Uncorrected: 0

B Bad block; . Empty; - Partially filled; * Full; R Reserved (BBT); S has a JFFS2 summary node

***.*****.*****.----------------------------------------------------------------
------***********-****-***-****--*-****---****---*---*-------*-**--***-*---***--
***-*******-**-************-*******-*****-*-********-**-***-*****-**************
***-**-**-******-***--*****************************************************-****
********-*************-*-************-******-***********************************
**-***********-******-*****-**********-**-*******************************-******
**-****-*-*****-**-***-***********-*-*--**--*---*-*----*-***********************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
**************************************B***********************************-*-***
****-**********************************-******B**-*-**-***-********--*-*-***-*B-
***----******---**--*--**-*****---*---**---*----*-*-**-*-**--*-*--*----*-***--**
---****-************-*-**-*-*-*---**-***-*----*****--******--*--*----*--***-****
B-*-*-*-*-*-*****-*****-**-*-**-------*--***--*-*-****************-************-
**************B*****************************************************B***********
********-*************-*--*****B-*********************-**********B**********B***
**---******-*********B*****-*********************************B******-***********
*-*B*******-******************-******-***--**-**-*****-*-*****-***-**********-**
*--*-----*-------*----*-***********-****--*--**-*****B---****-*****--**********-
*****-***-********---*B***-*-*-*--***-B*******--------*-*-******-----*---------*
----------------------*****************-****************************************
***************-***********************************-***********B**B*************
**--*****-************************************-*****************-***********-***
*****-***********B******-*-*****-**-*-********B***-**********-***B**************
****-*******B-************--*----------------------------------------**--**-----
----*-----************-**-*B*******-****....RRRR
Summary /dev/mtd0:
Empty Blocks: 7, Full Blocks: 1558, Partially Full: 457, Bad Blocks: 22, Reserved Blocks (BBT) 0

mtd2: 0fd00000 00020000 "image"

# mtd_check /dev/mtd2
Flash type of /dev/mtd2 is 4 (NANDFLASH)
Flash flags are 0x400 - WRITEABLE
Block size 131072 (128K)  Page size 2048 (2K)  OOB size 108
Device: 265289728 (253M) bytes, 2024 (1K) blocks
MTD Stats:  Bad Blocks: 22  ECC Corrected: 0  ECC Uncorrected: 0

B Bad block; . Empty; - Partially filled; * Full; R Reserved (BBT); S has a JFFS2 summary node

----------------------------------------------------------------------**********
*-****-***-****--*-****---****---*---*-------*-**--***-*---***--***-*******-**-*
***********-*******-*****-*-********-**-***-*****-*****************-**-**-******
-***--*****************************************************-************-*******
******-*-************-******-*************************************-***********-*
*****-*****-**********-**-*******************************-********-****-*-*****-
**-***-***********-*-*--**--*---*-*----*-***************************************
********************************************************************************
********************************************************************************
**********************B***********************************-*-*******-***********
***********************-******B**-*-**-***-********--*-*-***-*B-***----******---
**--*--**-*****---*---**---*----*-*-**-*-**--*-*--*----*-***--**---****-********
****-*-**-*-*-*---**-***-*----*****--******--*--*----*--***-****B-*-*-*-*-*-****
*-*****-**-*-**-------*--***--*-*-****************-************-**************B*
****************************************************B*******************-*******
******-*--*****B-*********************-**********B**********B*****---******-****
*****B*****-*********************************B******-************-*B*******-****
**************-******-***--**-**-*****-*-*****-***-**********-***--*-----*------
-*----*-***********-****--*--**-*****B---****-*****--**********-*****-***-******
**---*B***-*-*-*--***-B*******--------*-*-******----****-------*----------------
------*****************-*******************************************************-
***********************************-***********B**B***************--*****-******
******************************-*****************-***********-********-**********
*B******-*-*****-**-*-********B***-**********-***B******************-*******B-**
**********--*----------------------------------------**--**---------*-----******
******-**-*B*******-****
Summary /dev/mtd2:
Empty Blocks: 0, Full Blocks: 1548, Partially Full: 454, Bad Blocks: 22, Reserved Blocks (BBT) 0

 

[ColinTaylor]

Looks like failing flash memory to me. A firmware update (or any other software) wouldn't cause something like this.

Has this router been physically abused in any way, e.g. located in a very hot environment, subject to frequent power interruptions, etc?

 

[a_lunatic]

Has this router been physically abused in any way, e.g. located in a very hot environment, subject to frequent power interruptions, etc?

No it's only a couple of months old and in a well ventilated area that never got over 27°c and no power issues, it seems to work fine but as it uses the USB drive for addons and swap file once it disconnects it doesn't show log files by scribe and anything that needs the USB drive.

Using Home Assistant I set up a automation to track the USB connection so I can log when it happens.

Rebooting router doesn't make it work and I need to remove and plug it back in to get it to work again.

Also found this in the logs file.

Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand: device found, Manufacturer ID: 0xc2, Chip ID: 0xda
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand: Macronix MX30LF2G28AD
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand: 256 MiB, SLC, erase size: 128 KiB, page size: 2048, OOB size: 128
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: bcm63xx_nand ff801800.nand: Adjust timing_1 to 0x6532845b, timing_2 to 0x00091e94
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: bcm63xx_nand ff801800.nand: detected 256MiB total, 128KiB blocks, 2KiB pages, 27B OOB, 8-bit, BCH-8
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: Bad block table found at page 131008, version 0x01
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: Bad block table found at page 130944, version 0x01
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x000005ec0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x0000069c0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x000006dc0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x000008200000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x000008dc0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x000009480000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x0000099e0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x000009e20000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x000009f80000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000a2a0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000a7a0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000aa60000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000baa0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000c0c0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000c2c0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000d9e0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000da40000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000e820000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000ebc0000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000ee20000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000f180000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: nand_read_bbt: bad block at 0x00000fd60000
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: 2 cmdlinepart partitions found on MTD device brcmnand.0
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: Creating 2 MTD partitions on "brcmnand.0":
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: 0x000000000000-0x000000200000 : "loader"
Jan  1 08:00:44 kernel: 0x000000200000-0x00000ff00000 : "image"

 

[ColinTaylor]

I'm not sure why you're referring to issues with your USB drive when the errors you posted are to do with the router's internal flash memory.

 

[Ripshod]

Agreed, this in flash memory failure. The ssd being ejected is just a symptom of this.

 

[a_lunatic]

It's the reason I asked if it can be a hardware issue or just a bad firmware update that causes the issue and to see if it can be fixed or do I need to get replaced under warranty.

 

[ColinTaylor]

It's the reason I asked if it can be a hardware issue or just a bad firmware update that causes the issue and to see if it can be fixed or do I need to get replaced under warranty.

It's a warranty case IMHO. If you want to be sure put the stock firmware back on it, reset to factory defaults and run it for a while like that. Monitor the System Log for errors.

 

[a_lunatic]

I did a factory default restore and loaded stock firmware and tried to install Download Master and during install the drive dropped off and had to format drive to fix it got it installed but not long after it dropped again.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Can you go to System Log - General Log, Save the log file and post it here?

 

[Ripshod]

I did a factory default restore and loaded stock firmware and tried to install Download Master and during install the drive dropped off and had to format drive to fix it got it installed but not long after it dropped again.

Of course. It'll never be stable with failing flash memory.