Netatalk - Compile and move to NAND install

So I have done the NAND install per Jeff's instructions on this site.

One thing I am missing, though, is the ability to use the USB port on my Dockstar to hotswap hard drives, especially HFS+ formatted drives.

After doing research (Google has been helpful), I have decided that the best approach is to use netatalk. But, whenever I try and install/compile netatalk (with -ssl flag on, to permit it to work with Macintosh system), I get all kinds of errors. It looks like there is no install environment on our systems ????

Any thoughts on approach(es) I could take to resolve this issue, and install netatalk (and avahi) on a NAND flashable (<200MB) partition using Jeff's NAND install as a base would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help.

netatalk is available as a Debian package, you don't need to compile it yourself. Same with avahi.

Is the netatalk available through debian SSH-enabled? Or, do I still need to modify source and compile through the process outlined at http://www.mike-hughes.net/it/mac/filesharing-for-osx-afp-on-debian/ and http://routerjockey.com/2009/08/28/setting-up-apple-filing-protocol-and-bonjour-under-debian/ in order to get netatalk working with a macintosh? If the answer to this is yes, anyone care to help out a linux noobie and post a .deb package of netatalk (SSH-enabled) compiled for arm processor?

Thanks for the info re avahi.

dinlaca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is the netatalk available through debian SSH-enabled?

(I assume you mean SSL-enabled ...) Yes, but it uses GnuTLS instead of OpenSSL.

ecc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dinlaca Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Is the netatalk available through debian
> SSH-enabled?
>
> (I assume you mean SSL-enabled ...) Yes, but it
> uses GnuTLS instead of OpenSSL.

Thanks ecc; your help much appreciated.

Having said that, I am still struggling with getting this Dockstar to work as an NAS with a Macintosh (using netatalk), and I think that the culprit is netatalk.

Any thoughts you might have on how to set up a Dockstar running Debian (or Emdebian) as an NAS on a server where there are only Macintoshes (so I don't need Samba, and based on some reading probably prefer Netatalk) would be much appreciated. And, yes, I have googled and checked out the following links:

http://routerjockey.com/2009/08/28/setting-up-apple-filing-protocol-and-bonjour-under-debian/

http://www.mike-hughes.net/it/mac/filesharing-for-osx-afp-on-debian/

http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubuntu-as-mac-file-server-and-time-machine-volume/

http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/

Thanks in advance.

dinlaca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any thoughts you might have on how to set up a
> Dockstar running Debian (or Emdebian) as an NAS on
> a server where there are only Macintoshes (so I
> don't need Samba, and based on some reading
> probably prefer Netatalk) would be much
> appreciated.

Can you avoid the Apple-specific protocols and just use NFS? All the Macs I've used recently can mount NFS volumes just fine.

ecc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dinlaca Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Any thoughts you might have on how to set up a
> > Dockstar running Debian (or Emdebian) as an NAS
> on
> > a server where there are only Macintoshes (so I
> > don't need Samba, and based on some reading
> > probably prefer Netatalk) would be much
> > appreciated.
>
> Can you avoid the Apple-specific protocols and
> just use NFS? All the Macs I've used recently can
> mount NFS volumes just fine.


AFP is supposedly faster, per several sites.

Anyways, thanks for your help. I ended up getting it to work. Had to create a new user (Netatalk would not allow root user login credentials - not sure why). If there is interest, I will post a more complete tutorial.

I am now faced with the challenge of getting an HFS+ formatted drive to mount on my new, cool Netatalk and Avahi containing, Debian-powered Dockstar (fits on a NAND install too). Probably going to start another topic on that if I cannot get it done soon. Your thoughts on how to mount HFS+, ECC?

Oh, and by the way, thanks again for your help, ECC. Very much appreciated.

dinlaca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I am now faced with the challenge of getting an HFS+ formatted drive to mount on my new, cool
> Netatalk and Avahi containing, Debian-powered Dockstar (fits on a NAND install too).
> Probably going to start another topic on that if I cannot get it done soon.
> Your thoughts on how to mount HFS+, ECC?

Um, "mount -t hfsplus ..."? This has gotten pretty unrelated to the DockStar, let alone installing in NAND. You might have better luck on a forum dedicated to Linux/Mac interoperability.

ecc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> dinlaca Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I am now faced with the challenge of getting an
> HFS+ formatted drive to mount on my new, cool
> > Netatalk and Avahi containing, Debian-powered
> Dockstar (fits on a NAND install too).
> > Probably going to start another topic on that if
> I cannot get it done soon.
> > Your thoughts on how to mount HFS+, ECC?
>
> Um, "mount -t hfsplus ..."? This has gotten pretty
> unrelated to the DockStar, let alone installing in
> NAND. You might have better luck on a forum
> dedicated to Linux/Mac interoperability.

You are right that my last post was off-topic (mods - feel free to clean it back up). But, for closure, I tried mount -t hfsplus, and got data corruption when forcing rw mount. I wonder if it is because our Dockstar kernel lacks the necessary Mac FS and HFS+ file system modules . . .?

Back on topic, I have been able to do a complete install of Netatalk (it is FAST for file transfers, FYI) and Avahi. But, the whole install came in at 30+MB. I am wondering if there is a way to adapt the work that Saurik (Cydia - iPhone/iPad) did to get netatalk working on the iPad (it is SWEET on mine - VERY fast transfers, and has not run into the issues I have seen with the full-blown Netatalk) to our current situation (his whole install is <5MB). So, for example, source files for what he did (mDNSresponder (to replace Avahi) and Netatalk (afpd module only)) can be found at http://www.telesphoreo.org/browser under /trunk/data/mdnsresponder and /trunk/data/netatalk. And, the respective .deb files (again, compiled on arm, but for iPhoneOS) can be found at apt.saurik.com/debs. But, I am not aware of a cross-compilation platform that would allow me to take source (arm-processor) from an iPhone app and compile it in Debian (or Emdebian). Any further thoughts? (Now that I have this netatalk thing working, and I have seen how fast it is, I am hooked, and would like to get this to work in a smaller package, if possible).

Thanks again.

Did anything more come of this? I'd like to add a small netatalk package to a NAND install.

This is possible with Buildroot. Netatalk is finally in packages so it should be a case of just enabling it and getting the perms and configs set correctly.

To get this all to fit in NAND will require some serious thinning of the kernel config and package selection. I'm leaving for 3 weeks but will try to post what I have 4 you before I go.

=====================================================

• davy's Github Repo's rescue-dg