Setting up external hard drive on USB port of AC68U

[wouterv]

Without any changes to Windows (10 or 11), I am since "ever" using a 16 GB USB stick as swap drive and quick backup device in the RT-AC68U router.
Due to vague rumors of possible interference of the USB 3.0 port of the router, the USB stick is in the USB 2.0 port.
The USB stick is formatted from the Network Map page where the USB device shall pop up after it is connected.
The router Samba setup is straight forward:

The map "data" is made from the above router page, which is the map you can access over the network.
Because I named my router "router1", basic access from Windows is in my case by accessing \\router1\
To make it easy you can make it a mapped network drive, which also remembers the router credentials.

Maybe you can start easy and try a plain USB stick as drive first, if that works, then try the larger HDD, the basic steps are:

1. Plug in the USB device in the router.
2. On the Network Map page, open the USB device and Format it.
3. In the USB Application > Servers Center > Network Place (Samba) page:
   • Make the required settings.
   • Note or set the Device Name
   • The Work Group name shall be identical to that of your computers (Windows 10 or 11 default is WORKGROUP).
   • There shall already be one user with the router admin credentials (which you cannot remove), you can make additional users (you better do to avoid the need to disclose the router admin credentials to others).
   • Make a new map and set access rights to the map (R/W by default).

 

[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.

OK, this seems to have done the trick! Thank you!

Only weird thing still going on is that my router wouldn't recognize the drive on the USB 3.0 port. It seems to be working fine on the USB 2.0 port. I'll see if I can figure that out later tonight.

 

[Dash Riprock]

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.

To be clear, the drive works fine when connected directly to my laptop. Something wonky happens when I format it through the router. That indicates to me a problem with the router, not the drive.

 

[bennor]

Only weird thing still going on is that my router wouldn't recognize the drive on the USB 3.0 port. It seems to be working fine on the USB 2.0 port. I'll see if I can figure that out later tonight.

Looking back it doesn't appear you've posted the make, brand, capacity, USB type of the external hard drive you are using. There could be a specific conflict with the drive you are using and the Asus router's USB 3.0 port. Might help others if you post details about the external hard drive.

 

[Dash Riprock]

Looking back it doesn't appear you've posted the make, brand, capacity, USB type of the external hard drive you are using. There could be a specific conflict with the drive you are using and the Asus router's USB 3.0 port. Might help others if you post details about the external hard drive.

It's a Toshiba Canvio Basic 1TB. The router recognized it on the 3.0 port when I was working on this earlier in the week but for some reason didn't today. But it's working on the 2.0 port. I don't know, I'll reboot the modem later and see if that helps.

 

[L&LD]

It's not the router (assuming you don't want to replace it), it's the drive.

Not all are compatible.

And formatting it on the router should make it as compatible as possible. As this isn't the case, I would be looking for another drive to use (ideally, an SSD in an external USB enclosure).

 

[follower]

It's a Toshiba Canvio Basic 1TB. The router recognized it on the 3.0 port when I was working on this earlier in the week but for some reason didn't today. But it's working on the 2.0 port. I don't know, I'll reboot the modem later and see if that helps.

Your HDD doesn't have an external power adapter. That's why. You can test USB 3.0 port with USB Flash drive.
Do not format with a router. Format with a PC.(NTFS)

 

[bennor]

It's a Toshiba Canvio Basic 1TB. The router recognized it on the 3.0 port when I was working on this earlier in the week but for some reason didn't today. But it's working on the 2.0 port. I don't know, I'll reboot the modem later and see if that helps.

If you have a Windows PC connect the Canvio drive to the Winows PC and check the drive for errors. Also make sure to properly eject the USB drive from the Asus router via the eject option in the router GUI.

While my old Toshiba Canvio 1TB HDD worked fine on a RT-AC68U USB 3.0 port its possible your newer Canvio is having a conflict (either slightly out of spec power draw or USB chip incompatibility) which might cause mounting issues with the router. As a troubleshooting step to eliminate power being an issue you could try using a powered USB 3.0 hub in between the drive and router if you have one available.

 

[Dash Riprock]

If you have a Windows PC connect the Canvio drive to the Winows PC and check the drive for errors. Also make sure to properly eject the USB drive from the Asus router via the eject option in the router GUI.

While my old Toshiba Canvio 1TB HDD worked fine on a RT-AC68U USB 3.0 port its possible your newer Canvio is having a conflict (either slightly out of spec power draw or USB chip incompatibility) which might cause mounting issues with the router. As a troubleshooting step to eliminate power being an issue you could try using a powered USB 3.0 hub in between the drive and router if you have one available.

I rebooted the server this afternoon and tried again on the USB 3.0 port and it's working fine now.

Thank you very much for your help. This is a project I've wanted to do for a while and it feels really good to finally make some progress.