SMB goes down sometimes

[nikkoaki]

Ok so, RT-AC66U still on 380.66_6

I've been having this strange problem with the smb share i have enable.
Sometimes when i want to watch a movie i have stored on a usb flash drive plugged to the router, i notice that my computer can't detect it.. i try with my phone and a different computer and they can't find it either.
The problem goes away if i reboot the router or if i simply turn off/on the smb share in "USB Application - Network Place (Samba) Share / Cloud Disk" on the webui.
I do have the router configured to reboot itself every other day so i'm guessing it happens because of this.
It's very hard to reproduce the problem because a week can go by and the smb daemon comes up fine all the time, but sometimes (like today) it doesn't (i'm guessing it was down the entire day, i don't know for sure because i only checked it now at the end of the day).
The system log shows nothing irregular, at least not in the default message log level.
What's the best way to troubleshoot this?

PS: yes i know, i will update the firmware later.. i just don't thing it should be happening, even if it's an old version and i'm kind of curious to see what it's making the share fail to start, maybe it's a bug that also affects the latest version.

 

[martinr]

Is there a reason why you reboot the router every other day? Have you, for example, had other examples of errant behaviour? (Depending on your answer I might then ask which firmware were you on before 380.66_6 and when did you last reset to factory default settings, time-wise or firmware-wise.?)

 

[nikkoaki]

Is there a reason why you reboot the router every other day? Have you, for example, had other examples of errant behaviour? (Depending on your answer I might then ask which firmware were you on before 380.66_6 and when did you last reset to factory default settings, time-wise or firmware-wise.?)

Thank you for your reply

Is there a reason why you reboot the router every other day?
It's something that i got used to. My old router (DIR-655) required a reboot at least 2 times a week because it would just freeze, my second one running dd-wrt as an AP starts getting slower as days go by so i also have it rebooting itself in the middle of the night. This way i have the routers running at 100% without needing to touch them.
It's true that i never even tried do run this new asus router without rebooting it every other day to see if the performance decreases or something weird happens, i got so used to it that i configured it that way as soon as i bought it.

Have you, for example, had other examples of errant behaviour?
Just one time, in traffic monitor, the "per device" page was blank and the log was full of errors like "cstats[294]: Problem loading /mnt/AsusWRT/System/tomato_cstats_1cb72c36a3f0.gz."
The file itself seemed corrupted. Resetting the data files solved the problem and it's still running fine.

Depending on your answer I might then ask which firmware were you on before 380.66_6
I was on 380.66_2 and did not factory reset the router when i updated to "_6". The last factory reset i did was when i updated to 380.66

 

[martinr]

Is it at all possible the usb drive might be the problem? For example, if you move it slightly when it is plugged in, does it break and remake the connection? Is it worth trying the other usb slot on the router (I'm sure you have)? But probably worth trying a different usb stick just to rule out that as a possibility.

 

[nikkoaki]

Is it at all possible the usb drive might be the problem? For example, if you move it slightly when it is plugged in, does it break and remake the connection? Is it worth trying the other usb slot on the router (I'm sure you have)? But probably worth trying a different usb stick just to rule out that as a possibility.

I thought of that, but the logs show it always mounts successfully and never had a "disconnect". I also never had problems seeing movies, sending files, etc. The router is also mounted on a wall, there is no way the usb stick would move (it's also plugged in very tightly, i have to make a good amount of force to move it)
That's why i was curious to see why the smb daemon fails to load some times (if that is the case). Does the daemon have its own log file or everything goes to the system log?

 

[martinr]

By the way, did you search the forum (using Google, too)? Smb problems do occasionally get posted eg https://www.snbforums.com/threads/samba-disconnects-when-big-files-are-copied.32212/

You might get some ideas, if you haven't already searched.

 

[nikkoaki]

By the way, did you search the forum (using Google, too)? Smb problems do occasionally get posted eg https://www.snbforums.com/threads/samba-disconnects-when-big-files-are-copied.32212/

You might get some ideas, if you haven't already searched.

I searched in the first six or seven pages but no, i didn't make a proper search. Will do one now.
Btw, about that thread.. i'm using a simple 8GB usb stick and the files are usually under a gig.. i never had any problems transferring to and from the smb share.

 

[nikkoaki]

I searched in the first six or seven pages but no, i didn't make a proper search. Will do one now.
Btw, about that thread.. i'm using a simple 8GB usb stick and the files are usually under a gig.. i never had any problems transferring to and from the smb share.

Search done, found nothing related to my problem.

 

[martinr]

Is it worth backing up your settings, factory defaulting the router and then restoring the settings? I'm clutching at straws now! Of course, if the problem were down to a setting, you could be reimporting it.

Better would be to factory default and manually set to the minimal required to get going, eg no messing with QoS, NAT acceteration......... and then if SMB works, start slowly introducing the other settings.