Setting up external hard drive on USB port of AC68U

[Dash Riprock]

I'm trying to set up an external hard drive through a USB port on my RT-AC680 to use as a backup storage for our home laptops, and (hopefully) eventually use it as cloud storage for my daughter's kabillion iPhone pictures.

I'm not really sure how best to explain the problem. When I try to open the files I've backed up to the external drive, it takes me to the Microsoft Edge browser. It's as if nothing but the filename is copying over. But, when I remove the hard drive from the router and hook it directly to my laptop, the files function as normal.

For example, when I double click on, say "VacationPicture.jpg" when the hard drive is mounted on the router, it opens Microsoft Edge. But if I remove the hard drive from the router and connect it to my laptop, it opens as a .jpg picture. Which tells me the file is there but apparently something in the router/network doesn't recognize its contents, or seems to think all the files are associated with Microsoft Edge. It does the same no matter what type of file it is (.jpg , .pdf , .doc etc.)

Does this make any sense? Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere? I'm reasonably computer literate but this networking stuff has always thrown me for a bit of a loop.

Thanks!

 

[bennor]

What program are you using to view the files on the hard drive while the drive is connected to the RT-AC68U? Windows File Explorer, Mac Finder, or some other file manager or web browser? Are you connecting to the router on the same local network or through some sort of remote network connection? How are you "backing up" the files to the hard drive connected to the router?

Note: Trying to use the RT-AC68U as a NAS is generally not advisable by more than a few here for a number of reasons. Main one being the limited hardware capability of the router. One is better off either buying a dedicated NAS or building their own using spare/old computer. Plenty of DIY guides out there for building an NAS that will be infinitely more capable than using the router as one.

 

[Dash Riprock]

What program are you using to view the files on the hard drive while the drive is connected to the RT-AC68U? Windows File Explorer, Mac Finder, or some other file manager or web browser? Are you connecting to the router on the same local network or through some sort of remote network connection? How are you "backing up" the files to the hard drive connected to the router?

Note: Trying to use the RT-AC68U as a NAS is generally not advisable by more than a few here for a number of reasons. Main one being the limited hardware capability of the router. One is better off either buying a dedicated NAS or building their own using spare/old computer. Plenty of DIY guides out there for building an NAS that will be infinitely more capable than using the router as one.

1. I'm using Windows File Explorer to view the files (Windows 11 Home)
2. All I have is the home router, so I'm trying to connect to the local network. Nothing remote yet, although if I can get this to work I might take that next step.
3. For now, "backing up" was just manually copy/pasting some files from my laptop hard drive to the external drive mounted to the router, mostly to see if this will work. I'd like to set up some type of automated backup system eventually, but first things first.

As far as setting up a dedicated NAS, I hadn't really considered that since it seems like overkill for what I need. I envisioned more or less a simple, plug and play external hard drive run through my wi-fi router that all the computers on the wi-fi network could access. Unfortunately this has turned out to be a much more difficult project than I anticipated. But food for thought, thanks!

 

[PunchCardBoss]

Note: Trying to use the RT-AC68U as a NAS is generally not advisable by more than a few here for a number of reasons

@Dash Riprock

@bennor is right. He is referring to the CPU and USB capabilities of the router. Some of Asus's higher CPU horsepower router are better suited, but still a minimum use case. If you have many files on your HDD, the router may take a long time to read the index and report.

It has been a while since I connected a HDD to my Asus router USB port. But if I remember correctly, many of the issues reported by others was associated with the HDD formatting choice. My guess is that your HDD is formatted as NTFS. And, that could be an issue for your router. Again, it has been a long time ago, but I think your router has a HDD format option (I may be confusing this feature with my NAS). If it does, you may find that you must use the router's format option for it to work properly with your router.

 

[bennor]

As a troubleshooting step. Do you have another computer, preferably one that isn't Windows 11, that you can use to test with? Could be there is something with Windows 11 that changes which "default app" it uses when it comes to opening an image across the network versus opening up an image on a USB hard drive attached to the computer's USB port. Also check the default app setting in Windows for image files to ensure all the image file formats (jpg vs jpeg, etc.) are set to use an image program rather than a web browser.

 

[Dash Riprock]

@Dash Riprock

@bennor is right. He is referring to the CPU and USB capabilities of the router. Some of Asus's higher CPU horsepower router are better suited, but still a minimum use case. If you have many files on your HDD, the router may take a long time to read the index and report.

It has been a while since I connected a HDD to my Asus router USB port. But if I remember correctly, many of the issues reported by others was associated with the HDD formatting choice. My guess is that your HDD is formatted as NTFS. And, that could be an issue for your router. Again, it has been a long time ago, but I think your router has a HDD format option (I may be confusing this feature with my NAS). If it does, you may find that you must use the router's format option for it to work properly with your router.

Funny you mention formatting, because when I first started this project I reformatted the external hard drive through the router's interface, because whatever I was reading said to do that, and it got stuck during the process. I thought I'd ruined the drive (it wouldn't even read from my laptop) but I was able to reinitialize it and try again. That happened three times before I finally said "OK, don't reformat through the router again".

I know once I tried FAT, once NTFS (even though that's how the drive came formatted). I don't recall if I was offered another option. But I thought it was really weird that the router software wouldn't do a reformat. I guess that should have been my first red flag.

 

[Dash Riprock]

As a troubleshooting step. Do you have another computer, preferably one that isn't Windows 11, that you can use to test with? Could be there is something with Windows 11 that changes which "default app" it uses when it comes to opening an image across the network versus opening up an image on a USB hard drive attached to the computer's USB port. Also check the default app setting in Windows for image files to ensure all the image file formats (jpg vs jpeg, etc.) are set to use an image program rather than a web browser.

I did look around for an oddball default setting but nothing obvious popped up. But as I hinted at earlier, my knowledge of networks is tenuous at best so there may well be some deeply hidden settings I'm not finding.

I'm not sure what version of Windows my wife's laptop is running. That was on my list of things to try but I'm not too keen on messing with her stuff unless I absolutely have to. I rebooted hers one day for some reason I can't now remember and got fussed at because I lost her 25 open browser tabs.

This has been a really good router for our needs thus far and I hate to have to replace it just for this. But, I didn't realize it until I looked it up this morning that I've had it for 5 years now. That's like twice as long as anything other router has lasted. So maybe it's time, 5 years of anything tech related seems like a good run.

Plus, I didn't go into a lot of detail but it took me an AWFUL lot of trial and error to get to the point where I was able to even copy some test files from my laptop to the router mounted drive. Things did not go the way the varous tutorials said. It should not have been that hard.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Plus, I didn't go into a lot of detail but it took me an AWFUL lot of trial and error to get to the point where I was able to even copy some test files from my laptop to the router mounted drive. Things did not go the way the varous tutorials said. It should not have been that hard.

I think this might be a relevant clue. Regardless of the pros and cons of using a router a NAS you should be able to copy a file to the shared drive and then read it back again. So ignoring the issue of what program your PC is using to open the files, can you copy files back and forth successfully without error?

 

[bennor]

Don't remember having any issues, beyond painfully slow USB 3.0 speed when using a NTFS formatted USB 3.0 SSD drive, on a RT-AC68U. There are basic Asus instructions for using the Samba (SMB) media server here, the process is pretty simple and straight forward:
[Wireless Router] How to set up Media Services and Servers- Network Place (Samba) Share/ Cloud Disk?

No problems using Windows 10 - Windows File Explorer to copy movies and pictures to that router attached USB drive and having the files open properly in the media or photo app I've configured as the default on Windows 10. The fact you were having issues with initial setup may be the reason. Perhaps if you explain more about what specific problems you were having during setting up the media share on the router could lead to the issue you are experiencing.

 

[Dash Riprock]

I think this might be a relevant clue. Regardless of the pros and cons of using a router a NAS you should be able to copy a file to the shared drive and then read it back again. So ignoring the issue of what program your PC is using to open the files, can you copy files back and forth successfully without error?

I was able to copy from the laptop to the mounted external drive on the router, but I did not try copying the other way. (it's not mounted now and I'm about to have to leave so I don't have time to try that atm).

 

[Dash Riprock]

Don't remember having any issues, beyond painfully slow USB 3.0 speed when using a NTFS formatted USB 3.0 SSD drive, on a RT-AC68U. There are basic Asus instructions for using the Samba (SMB) media server here, the process is pretty simple and straight forward:
[Wireless Router] How to set up Media Services and Servers- Network Place (Samba) Share/ Cloud Disk?

No problems using Windows 10 - Windows File Explorer to copy movies and pictures to that router attached USB drive and having the files open properly in the media or photo app I've configured as the default on Windows 10. The fact you were having issues may the the reason. Perhaps if you explain more about what specific problems you were having could lead to the issue you are experiencing.

Well, for one thing, I was never able to get the router/drive to appear under the "Computer" tab of File Explorer (step 11 in your attachment, which was one of the sources I was using for this). I had to manually enter the IP address (198.168.1.1) in the File Explorer box to get the drive to appear. That seemed like a rather clunky way to do it but it worked - except that it won't open the files I copied over.

I can't even remember all the other things that didn't work as described. At one point I got so frustrated I hard rebooted the entire router so I could start fresh, and the only thing that did was force me to reset the wi-fi connection on every device in the house. Not doing that again if I can help it.

 

[bennor]

I was never able to get the router/drive to appear under the "Computer" tab of File Explorer (step 11 in your attachment, which was one of the sources I was using for this). I had to manually enter the IP address (198.168.1.1) in the File Explorer box to get the drive to appear.

That could be a Samba (SMB) version issue if the router is using SMBv1.0 and the Windows PC has SMBv1.0 disabled. Microsoft typically disables SMBv1.0 for security reasons via update patch(s) for Windows 10. They likely disabled it in Windows 11 as well, one may have to enable it. Note the links a the top of the Asus instructions that point to this Samba issue:

Note: If your computer operating system version is Windows 10, please manually enable SMBV1 in Windows 10. Please refer to the following Microsoft Support Site article :
[Microsoft]How to detect, enable and disable SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 in Windows and Windows Server?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-au...-disable-smbv1-smbv2-and-smbv3-in-windows-and
[Network Place (Samba) Share] How to Access Files on Network Devices Using SMBv1 on Windows 10?

You should also post the firmware version you are running on the router.

 

[follower]

@Dash Riprock

@bennor is right. He is referring to the CPU and USB capabilities of the router. Some of Asus's higher CPU horsepower router are better suited, but still a minimum use case. If you have many files on your HDD, the router may take a long time to read the index and report.

It has been a while since I connected a HDD to my Asus router USB port. But if I remember correctly, many of the issues reported by others was associated with the HDD formatting choice. My guess is that your HDD is formatted as NTFS. And, that could be an issue for your router. Again, it has been a long time ago, but I think your router has a HDD format option (I may be confusing this feature with my NAS). If it does, you may find that you must use the router's format option for it to work properly with your router.

No. NTFS works fine.

 

[follower]

I'm trying to set up an external hard drive through a USB port on my RT-AC680 to use as a backup storage for our home laptops, and (hopefully) eventually use it as cloud storage for my daughter's kabillion iPhone pictures.

I'm not really sure how best to explain the problem. When I try to open the files I've backed up to the external drive, it takes me to the Microsoft Edge browser. It's as if nothing but the filename is copying over. But, when I remove the hard drive from the router and hook it directly to my laptop, the files function as normal.

For example, when I double click on, say "VacationPicture.jpg" when the hard drive is mounted on the router, it opens Microsoft Edge. But if I remove the hard drive from the router and connect it to my laptop, it opens as a .jpg picture. Which tells me the file is there but apparently something in the router/network doesn't recognize its contents, or seems to think all the files are associated with Microsoft Edge. It does the same no matter what type of file it is (.jpg , .pdf , .doc etc.)

Does this make any sense? Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere? I'm reasonably computer literate but this networking stuff has always thrown me for a bit of a loop.

Thanks!

1. HDD size?
2. Using SMB?
3. Using FTP? If yes Authorization Rules?

Recommend: FTP.

 

[Dash Riprock]

That could be a Samba (SMB) version issue if the router is using SMBv1.0 and the Windows PC has SMBv1.0 disabled. Microsoft typically disables SMBv1.0 for security reasons via update patch(s) for Windows 10. They likely disabled it in Windows 11 as well, one may have to enable it. Note the links a the top of the Asus instructions that point to this Samba issue:

Note: If your computer operating system version is Windows 10, please manually enable SMBV1 in Windows 10. Please refer to the following Microsoft Support Site article :
[Microsoft]How to detect, enable and disable SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 in Windows and Windows Server?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-au...-disable-smbv1-smbv2-and-smbv3-in-windows-and
[Network Place (Samba) Share] How to Access Files on Network Devices Using SMBv1 on Windows 10?

You should also post the firmware version you are running on the router.

Hmmm... I'll try that later. I checked and SMBv1.0 was not enabled. I kinda suspect it's something really obscure like this. fingers crossed

(edit to add: I saw that when I was going through those steps but ignored it because I was running Windows 11, not 10)

firmware version is:

 

[Dash Riprock]

1. HDD size?
2. Using SMB?
3. Using FTP? If yes Authorization Rules?

Recommend: FTP.

1. 1TB
2. Yes, I think so (that's Samba, right?)
3. I tried it with and without the FTP box on, it didn't seem to make any difference. Again, I'm not well versed in networks but doesn't FTP mainly pertain to sharing files over the internet? I'm not at that point yet.

 

[bennor]

3. I tried it with and without the FTP box on, it didn't seem to make any difference. Again, I'm not well versed in networks but doesn't FTP mainly pertain to sharing files over the internet? I'm not at that point yet.

Asus has some articles on how to properly setup FTP on their routers. In your case however do not select the option "Enable WAN access" when setting up FTP per the following Asus support article at this time.

[Wireless Router] How to set up Servers Center - FTP Share

The base FTP protocol is an insecure protocol and subject to intercept when used for remote access/WAN access. There are ways to secure it but it requires configuring extra settings on the router. There are more secure methods, for example VPN, of remote access than FTP which you can review and implemet when you get to that stage.

Plenty of popular FTP clients like the ever popular and free FileZilla that can be used to access the router with FTP enabled.
https://filezilla-project.org/

 

[PunchCardBoss]

No. NTFS works fine.

Others have had issues, including myself...

Best file system to use for USB HDDs on Asus Routers

I'm sure this has been debated to death, but I've been looking into this and haven't found anything definitive. I currently have an RT-N66U (and am planning on getting a RT-AC87U soon). What might be the better, compatible, and faster file system to use on a USB HDD for these routers? ext2...

www.snbforums.com

If the router can't format the drive and @Dash Riprock has tried 3 times without success, there is something spooky about the drive.

 

[follower]

Others have had issues, including myself...

Best file system to use for USB HDDs on Asus Routers

I'm sure this has been debated to death, but I've been looking into this and haven't found anything definitive. I currently have an RT-N66U (and am planning on getting a RT-AC87U soon). What might be the better, compatible, and faster file system to use on a USB HDD for these routers? ext2...

www.snbforums.com

If the router can't format the drive and @Dash Riprock has tried 3 times without success, there is something spooky about the drive.

Those NTFS issues are not NTFS Format issue but Cluster Size issue. It's like a following issue.

Only 1 HDD Not recognized on router

Hello, I have 2 10tb desktops hard drives and various other portable hdd's but for some reason only one of the 10TB drives are undetected on my network when I plug it in to my router. Ive formatted it to NTFS and all of the permissions are equal to the others but for some reason it still wont...

www.snbforums.com

 

[follower]

1. 1TB
2. Yes, I think so (that's Samba, right?)
3. I tried it with and without the FTP box on, it didn't seem to make any difference. Again, I'm not well versed in networks but doesn't FTP mainly pertain to sharing files over the internet? I'm not at that point yet.

Enable smb v1 in your Windows.
USB Applictation>Media Server>Enable UPnP Media Server> Enable.