Debian on NSA325 V1/V2

Re: Debian on NSA325 V1/V2

szucsati — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 01:54:41 -0500

Hm... similar.

root@nsa325:~# hdparm -tT /dev/sdb1

/dev/sdb1:
Timing cached reads: 600 MB in 2.00 seconds = 299.75 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 360 MB in 3.00 seconds = 119.91 MB/sec

[ 15.162763] ata2: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl F300)
[ 15.192936] ata2.00: supports DRM functions and may not be fully accessible
[ 15.203654] ata2.00: supports DRM functions and may not be fully accessible
[ 15.211934] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/133
[ 26.823080] EXT4-fs (sda1): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)

I need more time for testing. It's such a shame that I messed up the stock fw on the system and can't go back for comparison. Is there a way to fully re-flash factory image when I wiped partitions I shouldn't have and didn't make a backup...?

Re: Debian on NSA325 V1/V2

bodhi — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:37:50 -0500

Run hdparm test.

This is an HDD I use for daily backup. With SSD you should get a faster disk I/Os.

[    8.522803] ata1: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus 123 SControl F300)
[    8.536972] ata1.00: ATA-9: ST4000DM000-1F2168, CC54, max UDMA/133
[    8.552005] ata1.00: 7814037168 sectors, multi 0: LBA48 NCQ (depth 31/32)
[    8.576862] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133
[    8.592366] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA      ST4000DM000-1F21 CC54 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5

hdparm -tT /dev/sda

/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   592 MB in  2.00 seconds = 295.81 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 364 MB in  3.02 seconds = 120.72 MB/sec

Re: Debian on NSA325 V1/V2

szucsati — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 17:24:57 -0500

Found the box :). Although one HDD tray is missing, hmf...

Anyway. Did a clean install with the latest Debian, and still getting the same network speed. No tuning has been done, SMB Read: ~36MBps, SMB Write ~33MBps
And I tested copying a file internally, different folder on the same SSD (pv -pra test.iso > test/test.iso), it was ~48MBps.

Could this be a bottleneck at the SATA interface?

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 02:46:56 -0500

Pure network benchmarks for NSA325 and GoFlex Net.

Both are connected to a Gbits ethernet switch.

ZyXEL NSA325

iperf -n2000M -i 3 -c 192.168.0.234

------------------------------------------------------------
Client connecting to 192.168.0.234, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 43.8 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[  3] local 192.168.0.227 port 35812 connected with 192.168.0.234 port 5001
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[  3]  0.0- 3.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  3]  3.0- 6.0 sec   281 MBytes   786 Mbits/sec
[  3]  6.0- 9.0 sec   282 MBytes   790 Mbits/sec
[  3]  9.0-12.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  3] 12.0-15.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  3] 15.0-18.0 sec   282 MBytes   788 Mbits/sec
[  3] 18.0-21.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  3]  0.0-21.3 sec  1.95 GBytes   788 Mbits/sec

GoFlex Net

iperf -s -i 3

------------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on TCP port 5001
TCP window size:  128 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------
[  4] local 192.168.0.234 port 5001 connected with 192.168.0.227 port 35812
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[  4]  0.0- 3.0 sec   281 MBytes   787 Mbits/sec
[  4]  3.0- 6.0 sec   281 MBytes   787 Mbits/sec
[  4]  6.0- 9.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  4]  9.0-12.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  4] 12.0-15.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  4] 15.0-18.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  4] 18.0-21.0 sec   282 MBytes   789 Mbits/sec
[  4]  0.0-21.3 sec  1.95 GBytes   788 Mbits/sec

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 02:36:34 -0500

Wiki Thread

Quote

NFS

NFS - HowTo set up NFS shares (and boot NFS rootfs)
Boot your Dockstar (and other plugs) using NFS rootfs
Increase NFSD max_block_size

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 02:25:09 -0500

Wiki thread

Samba tuning

Quote

Samba

Samba smb.conf for a simple set up
HowTo setup Samba/CIFS shares

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 18:21:14 -0500

All,

You will need to look at how you have tuned (or lack of) NFS and Samba.

The network speed iselft is not a problem. It should get you about 700 or 800 Mbs on a Gigabits network.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

szucsati — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 14:12:28 -0500

Just moved to a new place so my NAS is sleeping in a box somewhere... but I had similar experience when I switched to Debian. I think the stock fw used SMB 1, Debian uses SMB 3, and that needs a lot more CPU power. I however checked with NFS and that was pretty slow as well.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

Leviathan01x — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 13:48:29 -0500

First of all, thank you for this thread!
It is awesome to run Debian on my aging NSA-325v2, being able to play with it however I want.

However, I am seeing very slow write speeds.
I have the following setup:

SSD 120Gb (an older Samsung one I had around) connected to a back USB2.0 port, this has only one ext3 partition
WD Green 2tb - one ext4 partition
Seagate 4tb - one ext4 partition

I am only running:

miniDLNA
Transmission
samba
all on top of mergerfs folders

Speeds are very low, I've seen 6-12mbs, while I used to see 30-40mbs over my gigabyte wired network with the stock firmware.
I did disable journaling.

It's not a real problem, I love the freedom I have, so I can live with the decreased write speeds, but I was wondering if maybe I'm doing something obviously wrong that's causing this.
Let me know if I need to supply more info.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 14:14:37 -0500

Hi fgh,

> I would like to make use of the copy button to run
> a simple bash copy command. Tried the script from
> the first post but didnt work. Does anyone have
> any other solution?

We use the esekeyd on these boxes.

It is listed in the Wiki thread

Quote

Key daemon (button control)

Multimedia keyboard daemon for Linux

> Also, i would take the opportunity to again thank
> bodhi so much for helping me out with the
> installation process. You should know that taking
> your time as you do here really makes people happy
> and bring some lights to the world. :-)

My pleasure :)

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

fgh — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 09:21:40 -0500

I would like to make use of the copy button to run a simple bash copy command. Tried the script from the first post but didnt work. Does anyone have any other solution?

Also, i would take the opportunity to again thank bodhi so much for helping me out with the installation process. You should know that taking your time as you do here really makes people happy and bring some lights to the world. :-)

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Mon, 13 May 2019 17:50:34 -0500

Markus,

> it worked great! My initial mistake has been, that
> I just used the flash drive from the back in the
> front (which obviously had more partitions)

Cool!

> furthermore I found that f2fs seems to be to
> "unstable" to be used properly - therefore I am
> going to revert back to ext4 for the rootfs.
>

I think it is OK when you put the f2fs rootfs explicitly in fstab. IIRC, to rely on initrd to mount f2fs is not quite stable (we would need to tweak the initscript).

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

Markus Fuger — Mon, 13 May 2019 13:34:21 -0500

Thanks bodhi!

it worked great! My initial mistake has been, that I just used the flash drive from the back in the front (which obviously had more partitions)
furthermore I found that f2fs seems to be to "unstable" to be used properly - therefore I am going to revert back to ext4 for the rootfs.

-Markus

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Fri, 10 May 2019 17:04:56 -0500

Markus,

> Here is my question: is it possible to have one
> (slow) flash drive at the back USB2 for booting
> with the most basic thing - and then the remaining
> stuff on a faster drive connected to USB3 at the
> front. How would I need to set up this
> configuration?

Yes, definitely. The USB 2 in the back is where you should have /boot. Since the goal here is to use a fast drive for rootfs, you can store the rootfs on the faster USB 3.0 drive in front.

The requirement is:

- The rootfs drive on USB 3 has single partition, and the partition label is rootfs.
- The latest uboot.2017.07-tld-1.nsa325.mtd0.kwb was installed.
- And the u-boot env for bootargs is unchanged from the u-boot installation. If it was changed, then you should make sure the boot device looks like

set_bootargs=setenv bootargs console=ttyS0,115200 root=LABEL=rootfs rootdelay=10 $mtdparts $custom_params

root=LABEL=rootfs is the important arg that tell the kernel where to mount the rootfs.

The kernel will mount the rootfs on the USB 3.0 drive correctly after it booted.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

Markus Fuger — Fri, 10 May 2019 13:49:11 -0500

I am not absolutely sure whether this is the correct thread or if this:https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,12096 or https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,19093 this wouldn't be better.

My NSA325 is working properly with all the given guides.
I am having a flash drive with 2 partitions
/dev/sda1 ext4 with /boot/ dir and uImage and uInitrd
/dev/sda2 f2fs with the rest of the rootfs file system (and named rootfs)

I do understand the limitation that the USB3 port at the front is not available at boot time - but how would it be after loading the kernel?
I found this thread (https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,19093, https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?3,24212, and the boot section from here: https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,23630) - but since it is that old I am not sure if using the newer uBoot 2017.07 wouldn't be better.

Here is my question: is it possible to have one (slow) flash drive at the back USB2 for booting with the most basic thing - and then the remaining stuff on a faster drive connected to USB3 at the front. How would I need to set up this configuration?

With kind regards,
Markus

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 17:33:20 -0500

szucsati,

> Well, I should try to find that memory stick then
> :). At some point I will want to sell this, and
> would be useful to have the chance to get back to
> the official (and outdated) software.
> Isn't mtd0 only the uBoot partition? If I erased
> that, wouldn't I still have the OS?

Yes, it you've erased mtd only, then stock OS is still intact on other mtds. So you only need to restore u-boot image on mtd0 to go back to full stock.

>
> The reason why I wanted to try the official FW was
> that I just bought this NAS second hand, and I
> jumped straight to Debian, before testing the
> speeds. Now I'm getting about 70MBps read and
> 40MBps write (on an SSD, just for testing). Some
> benchmarks on the internet showed 100/80, but I
> also read similar results to mine. So a bit
> confused there, and wanted to check it myself.

Yes, that would be expected. Since stock FW was tuned and tested (often in a way that we don't want to do, i.e. kludge) to maximize the performance (how they were able to sell the box). What I provided here is a basic rootfs and full kernel. I expect users to do the tuning themselves and share the hints here to benefit all.

So if you see the IO or network performance is less than stock FW, you should post the benchmarks, and let other jump in to share theirs. At the end, if nobody figures out the tuning parameters, then I'd try to investigate.

One more thing, a lot of time, it is just how you set up your Samba, NFS, network ... that results in less performance.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

szucsati — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 17:22:14 -0500

Well, I should try to find that memory stick then :). At some point I will want to sell this, and would be useful to have the chance to get back to the official (and outdated) software.
Isn't mtd0 only the uBoot partition? If I erased that, wouldn't I still have the OS?

The reason why I wanted to try the official FW was that I just bought this NAS second hand, and I jumped straight to Debian, before testing the speeds. Now I'm getting about 70MBps read and 40MBps write (on an SSD, just for testing). Some benchmarks on the internet showed 100/80, but I also read similar results to mine. So a bit confused there, and wanted to check it myself.

Btw, what you are doing here is absolutely amazing! The software and the guides you put together are excellent, it was totally my fault that I missed a few bits, there's a lot to understand for someone new, but it's all there, just needs reading. And extre thumbs up for your patience towards those who come here with questions!

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 02:47:11 -0500

szucsati,

> Oh, it's good to know, I don't know why I thought
> it would. Is there a way to set it up though to
> fall back to NAND of there's no usb or sata device
> with rootfs? Or at least to manually configure it
> to boot from there should one would like to boot
> stock FW?

As I said, not possible at the moment. Typically, stock OS is on NAND. The new u-boot won't boot it. When I do get around to work on it, without USB or HDD rootfs, it will fallback to boot either stock OS, or OpenWrt in NAND (but not Debian or Arch).

> And how badly did I mess up the system by erasing
> the full partition?

Pretty bad, stock OS in NAND is gone :) so your box will only boot with USB or HDD.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

szucsati — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 01:51:59 -0500

Oh, it's good to know, I don't know why I thought it would. Is there a way to set it up though to fall back to NAND of there's no usb or sata device with rootfs? Or at least to manually configure it to boot from there should one would like to boot stock FW?
And how badly did I mess up the system by erasing the full partition?

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 20:52:22 -0500

szucsati Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> First of all, big thank you for all who
> contributed to this project. It's awesome to have
> Debian running on this old hardware.
>
> I have one question (or problem) though. I have
> the latest uBoot installed, should it boot the
> factory software if no rootfs partition is found?
> I was careless and managed to use flash_erase_all
> instead of flash_erase on mtd0, and of cours
> misplaced the memory stick where I saved the
> backup. Could this be why the original Zyxel
> system is not starting?

No, you can no longer boot stock OS with my new uboot (it is too modern for stock OS in this box). Even if stock OS is still intact on NAND.

This is something I have not found free time to work on. I think it is possible, though.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

jdwl101 — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 18:15:47 -0500

Hey, the variables for the new uboot are not configured to boot stock from Flash. If there's no rootfs partition on any device your box will not boot.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

szucsati — Thu, 21 Mar 2019 16:48:34 -0500

First of all, big thank you for all who contributed to this project. It's awesome to have Debian running on this old hardware.

I have one question (or problem) though. I have the latest uBoot installed, should it boot the factory software if no rootfs partition is found? I was careless and managed to use flash_erase_all instead of flash_erase on mtd0, and of cours misplaced the memory stick where I saved the backup. Could this be why the original Zyxel system is not starting?

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

mikeinnc — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 20:02:36 -0500

Thanks everyone. Yes, Ray, I agree with Bodhi about power, I agree it can be a problem, but I have tried a USB2 HD drive in that USB3 port and it works perfectly - so I'm pretty confident that's not the problem this time. I like your proposal re: replacing the controller, Bodhi - but I think I'll call it quits for now! As I say, the drive - fundamentally - works, even if only in a USB2 port, and I hadn't planned on using it with the NSA box on a regular basis (I found the problem when I was using it to extract data from the original NSA325 disk that had an unusual 'raid' partition on it). Like most things electronic where software is involved, we just have to accept that not every scenario works. I'll mark it up as part of life's rich experience......

Thanks, again, for all your advice and help - Mike

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 17:04:05 -0500

@Mike,

Quote

So, as you can see, it appears more likely that it is a specific problem with that Toshiba drive.

Yes it seems so.

Quote

I feel that we might be chasing dreams here. As I've said before, the fact that the Toshiba drive works perfectly - if a little more slowly - in a rear USB2 port means that there's really not much to complain about. Interesting? Yes, of course - and, if nothing else, maybe a salutary lesson for others who hit the same or a similar problem.

Quote

*** Plugged Toshiba USB3-HDD into front USB3 port.

root@debian:~# [99878.888209] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: Cannot set link state.
[99878.893653] usb usb3-port1: cannot disable (err = -32)
[99878.899483] usb 3-1: USB disconnect, device number 2

That's what I've asked to see a few times :)

@Ray and Mike,

My bet is the problem is with the USB 3.0 controller on the Toshiba enclosure. The fact that it is working on the USB 2.0 port, tell us that there is enough power for USB 2.0. For testing purpose, if you take the internal disk out and use another USB 3.0 adapter to connect, I think it will work (I've seen USB 3.0 controller on toaster-type docks failed to be recognized in Linux).

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

rayknight — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 16:30:04 -0500

Is the Toshiba Canvio USB 3.0 hard drive powered via USB 3 or does it have it's own power supply? If it is USB bus powered the USB port may not be supplying sufficient power.

Ray

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

mikeinnc — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 06:52:15 -0500

Hi Bodhi - Before I'd seen your reply, I'd already gone down that path! So, I have been and purchased a 32GB USB3 flash drive, and here (below) is what I found - annotated output from the console terminal:

**** CONSOLE OUTPUT ****

*** plugged (new) USB3-32GB flash drive into (front) USB3 port

root@debian:~# [98175.769971] usb 3-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[98175.804802] usb 3-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0781, idProduct=5581
[98175.811563] usb 3-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[98175.818731] usb 3-1: Product: Ultra
[98175.822566] usb 3-1: Manufacturer: SanDisk
[98175.826685] usb 3-1: SerialNumber: 4C530001290901104143
[98175.833857] usb-storage 3-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[98175.840498] scsi host2: usb-storage 3-1:1.0
[98175.999002] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[98176.901078] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     SanDisk  Ultra 1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[98176.914467] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[98176.922005] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] 60063744 512-byte logical blocks: (30.8 GB/28.6 GiB)
[98176.938325] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[98176.948142] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[98176.973730]  sdc: sdc1
[98176.978625] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk

**** Check transfer speed of USB3 flash drive

root@debian:~# hdparm -t /dev/sdc1

/dev/sdc1:
 Timing buffered disk reads: 190 MB in  3.02 seconds =  63.01 MB/sec

**** Check transfer speeds of both (2TB) SATA HDD for reference

/dev/sdb1:
 Timing buffered disk reads: 450 MB in  3.01 seconds = 149.34 MB/sec

/dev/sda1:
 Timing buffered disk reads: 504 MB in  3.01 seconds = 167.45 MB/sec

*** Plugged Toshiba USB3-HDD into front USB3 port.

root@debian:~# [99878.888209] xhci_hcd 0000:01:00.0: Cannot set link state.
[99878.893653] usb usb3-port1: cannot disable (err = -32)
[99878.899483] usb 3-1: USB disconnect, device number 2

*** Verbatim flash drive (USB2) plugged into USB3 port

root@debian:~# [100016.948772] usb 2-1: new high-speed USB device number 5 using xhci_hcd
[100017.126706] usb 2-1: New USB device found, idVendor=18a5, idProduct=0302
[100017.133548] usb 2-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[100017.141076] usb 2-1: Product: STORE N GO
[100017.145102] usb 2-1: Manufacturer: Verbatim
[100017.149629] usb 2-1: SerialNumber: 070B86C16E159425
[100017.159953] usb-storage 2-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[100017.167643] scsi host2: usb-storage 2-1:1.0
[100019.534066] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Verbatim STORE N GO       PMAP PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
[100019.547410] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[100019.553337] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] 60506112 512-byte logical blocks: (31.0 GB/28.9 GiB)
[100019.568221] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[100019.577351] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] No Caching mode page found
[100019.588887] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[100019.608548]  sdc: sdc1
[100019.616559] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk


**** Check transfer speed of USB2 flash drive plugged into USB3 port - cf. with USB3 flash (above)

/dev/sdc1:
 Timing buffered disk reads:  64 MB in  3.02 seconds =  21.16 MB/sec

*** Toshiba USB3-HDD plugged in to back USB2 port

[100141.509378] usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 3 using orion-ehci
[100141.660695] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0480, idProduct=a006
[100141.667700] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[100141.675412] usb 1-1.3: Product: External USB 3.0
[100141.680301] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: Toshiba
[100141.684673] usb 1-1.3: SerialNumber: 2011122050148
[100141.696298] usb-storage 1-1.3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[100141.703863] scsi host2: usb-storage 1-1.3:1.0
[100146.542658] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     TOSHIBA  External USB 3.0 0001 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[100146.556279] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[100146.562162] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] 1953525168 512-byte logical blocks: (1.00 TB/932 GiB)
[100146.576124] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[100146.589486] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[100146.637210]  sdc: sdc1
[100146.644491] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk

**** Check transfer speed of Toshiba USB3-HDD plugged into rear USB2 port - cf. with USB2 flas drive (above)

/dev/sdc1:
 Timing buffered disk reads:  86 MB in  3.03 seconds =  28.43 MB/sec

So, as you can see, it appears more likely that it is a specific problem with that Toshiba drive. I suppose there is a possibility that it is a 'disk-type' problem i.e. rotating HDD vs Flash, but I'd like to think not! The fact that the new USB3 flash drive worked exactly as we would expect indicates there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the USB3 port. The three lines of output that start at [99878.888209] seem to show that the port really doesn't 'like' that Toshiba drive for some reason. Can you make anything from those three lines?

I feel that we might be chasing dreams here. As I've said before, the fact that the Toshiba drive works perfectly - if a little more slowly - in a rear USB2 port means that there's really not much to complain about. Interesting? Yes, of course - and, if nothing else, maybe a salutary lesson for others who hit the same or a similar problem. Thanks again for all your invaluable help and advice!

Regards - Mike

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 02:32:36 -0500

> There
> is certainly NO detection when plugged in front
> (USB3) port - but, as I've said previously, it is
> immediately recognised when plugged in a back
> (USB2) port.

That is very strange. You should try a different USB 3.0 thumb drive. See what will happen in dmesg when you do that.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

mikeinnc — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 08:24:03 -0500

It is a 2.5 inch HDD - model "Toshiba Canvio V63700-C 1TB 2.5" USB 3.0 Hard Disk Drive". There is certainly NO detection when plugged in front (USB3) port - but, as I've said previously, it is immediately recognised when plugged in a back (USB2) port. Unfortunately, its the only USB3 drive (of any type - 'rotating' or memory stick) that I have, so I can't check with another model. It certainly does look like it is a specific brand/model problem.

We know the port is - fundamentally - OK, and we know the drive is OK - as long as it is in another port! It's interesting, as I do have a desktop (Windows) machine with a USB3 port, and the drive is recognised as such when plugged in there (and it is definitely faster). Recall, though, I did have a problem with a Verbatim USB 'stick' so brand / model / "specification" issues may not be that uncommon!!

Mike

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

bodhi — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:00:52 -0500

Mike,

> a Toshiba 1GB

Is it a 2.5" HDD? what model number?

> Reading through the dmesg output, there doesn't
> appear to be any reference to the Toshiba drive
> (which I suppose I'd expect.

If you record the dmesg time when you insert the drive then it will be apparent if there was a detection or not.

> It's a very long file
> - can I send you the text output?)

If it is too long and you don't want to post here, pastebin it (don't attach it to post).
https://pastebin.com

> But it would be
> interesting to know if it is a specific (drive?
> interface?) problem, or a more general issue.

It is most likely a specific brand/model problem.

Re: NSA 325 V2 Debian Is Possible!

mikeinnc — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 21:14:36 -0500

Yes, really interesting. So I took your advice, and plugged the USB3 drive (which is a Toshiba 1GB HDD) in and saved the dmesg output and the fdisk list output. Neither show any indication of the drive. Now, if I plug another - non USB3 - drive in the USB3 (front) port, I immediately get a whole lot of output on the console terminal giving me information about the drive. If I plug the Toshiba USB3 drive in a back port, I get the same sort of information. So, as I said, the port is obviously working as a 'normal' USB port, and the Toshiba drive is obviously working as a 'normal' USB drive. It's just that combination of USB3 drive > USB3 (front) port that the box doesn't like!

Here's the fdisk output (I've cut out the mtdn blocks):

Disk /dev/sda: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x22db667d

Device     Boot Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sda1        2048 3907028991 3907026944  1.8T 83 Linux


Disk /dev/sdb: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x2dee735f

Device     Boot Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1        2048 3907028991 3907026944  1.8T 83 Linux

No /dev/sdc which is what I'd expect. Plug the drive in a back port and it appears in the fdisk listing as /dev/sdc

Reading through the dmesg output, there doesn't appear to be any reference to the Toshiba drive (which I suppose I'd expect. It's a very long file - can I send you the text output?)

As I say, not a show-stopper - more an irritation. Like an itch you have to scratch! But it would be interesting to know if it is a specific (drive? interface?) problem, or a more general issue.

And, as always, thanks so much for your help!

Mike