[SOLVED] Unbrick Pogoplug

A few years ago... I followed this blog http://blog.qnology.com/2015/04/hacking-pogoplug-v3oxnas-proclassic.html that details your uBoot install on pogoplugs and had it all setup.

Time went by and dust gathered... And now I have a need again - but I can't find the USB that I made for this setup.

So now it doesn't exactly boot. I am a newbie or at least only know what I know... Anyway - I am in Manjaro linux and trying to SSH into the plug and... nothing. Here are some things I have tried.

Mangrove ~]$ ssh root:Password@192.168.1.13 #(No my Password is not Password but I used the CORRECT one)
ssh: connect to host 192.168.1.13 port 22: Connection timed out
Mangrove ~]$ ssh root@192.168.1.13
ssh: connect to host 192.168.1.13 port 22: Connection timed out
Mangrove ~]$ ssh 192.168.1.13
ssh: connect to host 192.168.1.13 port 22: Connection timed out

Found some mention of a default password so I tried...
Mangrove ~]$ ssh root:ceadmin@192.168.1.13
ssh: connect to host 192.168.1.13 port 22: Connection timed out


I also found some other post that discusses some method of enabling SSH -

Mangrove ~]$ curl -k "https://root:ceadmin@192.168.1.13/sqdiag/HBPlug?action=command&command=dropbear%20start";
curl: (28) Failed to connect to 192.168.1.13 port 443: Connection timed out

And for kicks I tried :
Mangrove ~]$ curl -k "https://root:Password@192.168.1.13/sqdiag/HBPlug?action=command&command=dropbear%20start";
curl: (28) Failed to connect to 192.168.1.13 port 443: Connection timed out

By the way - the front light on power up gives a green blinking light followed by green solid and then amber blinking... then blank - and then that starts over again. Maybe I have to SSH in at a certain timing? Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any help!

TC



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2020 12:31PM by tcatone.

I am starting to see maybe I can just write a USB in my Manjaro PC and plug the stick in?

Any thoughts on how I can do that?

Okay - I have followed the old steps to write the usb and I think I have it figured out to just be using my laptop to write teh files. But looks like the source of the old files has moved.

So - can I use newer files? Are we guessing that the plug is in "Uboot" and is just looking for a file system to mount and boot from? That sorta makes sense to me - but this is way over my head...

Thanks in advance.

TC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/2020 01:08PM by tcatone.

tcatone,

On Manjaro, create a new rootfs on USB using Debian-4.4.54-oxnas-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 from the release thread. Follow the instruction verbatim (must be root user, and create 1 Ext3 partition).

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,16044

Scroll down to:

Quote

Updated 02 Aug 2017:

Rootfs Debian-4.4.54-oxnas-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 was uploaded.

Basic Debian stretch Oxnas rootfs for Popo Pro/Classic V3 plug:

- tarball size: 180M
- install size: 477M
- Installed packages: nano, avahi, ntp, busybox-syslogd (log to RAM), htop, dialog, bz2, iperf, ethtool, sysvinit-core, sysvinit, sysvinit-utils, mtd-utils.
- see LED controls in /etc/rc.local, and /etc/rc0.d/K08halt
- see some useful aliases in /root/.profile
- root password: root

You have installed new u-boot (at that time) so don't do Step 4 (it's for running with old uboot).

And plug it in the Pogo, power up. The LED should be flashing and becomes solid green. And you can SSH in with root/root credential.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

WOW - this is over my head... but read twice and type once... and it seems to be working. I mean I am learning along the way so some of it made sense but... damn you're smart.

I did the update and everything seems to be working there. It did indeed tell me "update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.4.54-oxnas-tld-1" so I did regenerate the uInitrd boot file.

So it seems happy and running. But now I am lost and forgot what I did next. I mean I should probably back up and say that I pulled this pogoplug out because my other solution only supported Samba V1 and now everything is not talking to Samba 1 servers - or at least not kindly.

Anyway - I can't seem to find my external hard drive on the plug on my network anywhere.

root@RJNet:~# blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="rootfs" UUID="962ccb6d-4595-489d-a74a-2000531debf2" TYPE="ext3" PARTUUID="0310c6a6-01"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="HITCH" UUID="14F6-3A66" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="41359ccd-01"

blkid command shows "Hitch" mounted on sdb1. But I don't know how to add that as a share in Dolphin on Linux or add it in Android in ESFile explorer.

I ran
mkdir -p /share/sdb1
mount /dev/sdb1 /share/sdb1

and I changed to that directory on the plug and can see my content there.

So inside ESExplorer in Android - it seems more forgiving and looks for things...
I have tried server names a bunch of stuff but smb://192.168.1.87/share/sdb1 takes a little longer to fail... so I feel like I am closer there. I am using the root credentials and the new password I gave the plug. But it always errors with "Error, cannot find server"

My old solution I just pointed ES to 192.168.1.200/share and it found it...

In Manjaro Linux - they are using Dolphin and it is looking for Webdav, ftp, Microsoft Windows Network Drive, or ssh.

I am going to start digging around because it sure seems like I have made it around this corner before. But any hints you have are greatly appreciated.

Thank you again for getting back to me with EXACTLY what I needed.
TC

TC,

Debian-4.4.54-oxnas-tld-1-rootfs-bodhi.tar.bz2 is a very basic, almost barebone Debian rootfs.

You would need to install samba and define your network shares, like you did before.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Okay okay. I am learning a lot here... but I am stuck again.

Samba installed - done
USB drive mounted - done

I have tried several sample samba files out there on the web and I am reading it all but... it is just not getting me anywhere and I am not exactly smart enough.

I currently have ONLY this for my samba.conf file and it seems to be working more than anything else.

[global]
   workgroup = RJSNET
   server string = Samba Server
   server role = standalone server
   log file = /var/cache/samba/log.%m
   max log size = 50

[public]
   path = /share/sdb1
   public = yes
   only guest = yes  (I tried with and without this line... )
   writable = yes
   printable = no

To review what I want - access hard drive from inside my local network only on: Android, Windows and Linux. I want read/write access. I would prefer password protected login but.. if I figured that out later that would be okay.

Using: useradd -M -s /sbin/nologin Cupcake I added my wife's windblows pc (Cupcake is her default login name - and I matched her local password... just in case it looked for that)

But using smbpasswd -a Cupcake just failed.

But trying to find the shares in Windows fails. It seems to think about it.. I have tried trying the workgroup name and the direct IP . Oh that reminds me - best way to make fault compliant should I edit the network config to set the IP? Or can I get this setup to use the workgroup name?

Anyway - trying in Android on ESExplorer I tried a bunch of things... and nothing gets all the way...

But in Manjaro Linux in Dolphin going to:
smb://192.168.1.87/public/

With no login or credentials - it opens up and gives read access. I checked - I can not make a new folder meaning I don't have write access this way. There seems to be no way to pass credentials in dolphin so I don't know how to login to the share.

Anyway - that is where I am at and any tips/tricks you can point me in would be appreciated.

THANKS!!
TC

TC,

Look at the Wiki thread:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,23630

Quote

Samba

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

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Okay

That is a lot of intel too.

I tried to get the example to work but I am not sure what 1/2 of it is doing. So I am back to starting simple.

I now have this as my smb.conf file and things are 75% there now.

[users]
    path = /share/sdb1
    browseable = yes
    read only = no
    force create mode = 0660
    force directory mode = 2770
    valid users = @admin

I created the admin user, set the password and restarted samba:

root@RJNet:~# chgrp sambashare /etc/samba
root@RJNet:~# useradd -M -d /etc/samba/users -s /usr/sbin/nologin -G sambashare admin
root@RJNet:~# smbpasswd -a admin
New SMB password:
Retype new SMB password:
Added user admin.
root@RJNet:~# smbpasswd -e admin
Enabled user admin.
root@RJNet:~# service samba restart

Now I can navigate to the shared files and only if logging in ( I am fine with having one user "admin" and one password - it is only my wife and I on the shared drive... )

But we only have read access on any device.

I am starting to think that I need to get my fstab file setup correctly... maybe it is mounted read only? Although - I can write to the drive through the ssh command line interface.

I feel close and I appreciate all the help.

Thanks again,
TC

Anyone please feel free to jump in and help TC. I'm a little bit busy atm.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2020 04:09AM by bodhi.

Hi TC,

I think the problem will be related to the file permissions on /share/sdb1. You have probably mounted the drive as root user and other users will not be able to write data to this location. I guess you will need to use chmod to change permissions on this directory. I normally run 'chmod -R 777' on the directory and that will change the permissions of the folder plus all subfolders such that anyone can read, write and execute files from there. This is not the most elegant solution and a professional system administrator will probably have a better solution but I don't care for my system at home.

Koen

Thanks Koen and Bodhi too.

Well - I am starting back at 0.

I agree that it is file permissions. I setup some share (accidentally) on the boot usb and that share is read/write accessible.

I never did customize my fstab file and always just mounted the external drive manually from cli. With that - I always had to unplug my external during reboot or it would fail to boot. Not sure why - but I decided it was probably from not having my drives set in fstab.

I updated my fstab as:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
UUID=”962ccb6d-4595-489d-a74a-2000531debf2” /   ext3    noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
UUID="52A1-1D04" /share/hitch vfat noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
tmpfs          /tmp            tmpfs   defaults          0       0

And now - I can not ssh into the pplug anymore. So I am starting all over.

Tips appreciated.
TC

Okay - latest update.

I rebuilt from scratch another USB. I did learn that I could have restored my previous fstab by editing the USB on my linux laptop - but at that point I wanted to use a different USB anyway since the other was one of my favorites and I was worried that some of my failed attempts might be "gunking" up the setup.

Anyway - I changed around some file paths but basically I am at the same spot. I can see the share drive and sub-directories in Linux and Windows - I just can't write there. I do have to login to see the content (which I wanted).

#  Here is my simple smb.conf file
[users]
    path = /share/hitch
    browseable = yes
    read only = no
    socket options = SO_KEEPALIVE TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_SNDBUF=131072 SO_RCVBUF=131072
    create mode = 777
    directory mode = 777
    valid users = @admin

I did also try the permission change that Koen suggested.

root@debian:/share# chmod -R 777 hitch/

I found another example so when the above didn't work I tried

root@debian:/share# chmod -R 0755 hitch/

Double check that I tried those above right...
I restarted samba after every change by the way...

Feel like I am really close to read/write access.

The next question I am going to have is how to make it setup for auto boot up - so I don't have to detach and re-attach the external drive whenever there is a powerfail or anything. I still don't have my external drive in the fstab file.

Not sure that it matters but I couldn't figure out Note 2 from the initial install. Plus Note 3 doesn't really apply so I didn't do that at all either.

Note2:

To boot with systemd, add this parameter to your u-boot env bootargs. If you are booting with my latest released uboot for OXNAS then use the uEnv.txt capability to do this. See the instruction about uEnvt.txt in that thread.

init=/bin/systemd


For example, the bootarg for systemd was added to the end of this usb_set_bootargs env to set bootargs (on your box it might be different env):

fw_setenv usb_set_bootargs 'setenv bootargs console=$console root=$usb_root rootdelay=$usb_rootdelay rootfstype=$usb_rootfstype $mtdparts init=/bin/systemd'

If that's still not possible to run systemd, you might want to install it again:

apt-get install systemd

Any hints you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
TC

I haven't read the entire thread, but have you set passwords for the users via smbpasswd?

One more thing...

I have confirmed something...

I created a share inside the boot USB drive. I mounted it in Linux and it was read only.

I ran the code Koen suggested

root@debian:/local# chmod -R 777 sshare/

and the local boot USB becomes read/write.

1000001101000 - I guess I don't have a smbpasswd . I added a user (admin) and password

root@debian:~# smbpasswd -a admin
New SMB password:
Retype new SMB password:
root@debian:~#

But still not read write.
Thanks for the idea.
TC

TC,

> Not sure that it matters but I couldn't figure out
> Note 2 from the initial install. Plus Note 3
> doesn't really apply so I didn't do that at all
> either.

Ignore both Note 2 and 3.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

TC,

It looks like you did everything correctly.

However, it is possible there might be something in your smb.conf that is wrong. So please attach the file (or post in code tags)

/etc/samba/smb.conf

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2020 07:31PM by bodhi.

And give your share is

#  Here is my simple smb.conf file
[users]
    path = /share/hitch
    browseable = yes
    read only = no
    socket options = SO_KEEPALIVE TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_SNDBUF=131072 SO_RCVBUF=131072
    create mode = 777
    directory mode = 777
    valid users = @admin

Get the listing of files to see what permission they have (if the file names are private and sensitive, just list a few files so we can see the attributes)

ls -l /share/hitch
ls -l /share/hitch/*

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

Thanks so much for spending time on this.

I feel really close.

Here is my current smb.conf file.

#Here is my Bare Samba file
[users]
    path = /share/hitch
#    path = /local/sshare  # used to test read/write of files on boot usb
    browseable = yes
    read only = no
    socket options = SO_KEEPALIVE TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_SNDBUF=$
    create mode = 777
    directory mode = 777
    valid users = @admin

And here is the file permissions of the USB drive I am trying to share. (when I get this working I will be plugging in a larger external HD)

root@debian:~# blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="rootfs" UUID="8783521b-738e-4ddf-81a7-c262e09af0e4" TYPE="ext3" PARTUUID="92b42391-9e66-b24a-9f91-3c7e68074d1c"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="DC43-C745" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="6090eb27-01"
root@debian:~# mount /dev/sdb1 /share/hitch
root@debian:~# ls -l /share/hitch
total 1336
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root    4096 Dec 31  1969 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root    4096 Feb 22 11:17 ..
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root    4096 Mar 29  2017 Android
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Mar 29  2017 LOST.DIR
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1336632 Oct 22  2007 LaunchU3.exe
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Feb  7  2016 Speak in a Week Spanish - Week Three
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Mar  8  2017 Speak in a Week Spanish - Week Two
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Sep 28  2016 System Volume Information
root@debian:~#

/share/hitch/Speak in a Week Spanish - Week Two:
total 53416
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Mar  8  2017 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root    4096 Dec 31  1969 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2502846 Feb  7  2016 01 Lesson 9.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3018670 Feb  7  2016 02 Lesson 10.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3288476 Feb  7  2016 03 Lesson 11.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2944176 Feb  7  2016 04 Lesson 12.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3068750 Feb  7  2016 05 Lesson 13.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3106310 Feb  7  2016 06 Lesson 14.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2936664 Feb  7  2016 07 Lesson 15.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2828366 Feb  7  2016 08 Lesson 16.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4847216 Feb  7  2016 09 Warm-up.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 6265106 Feb  7  2016 10 Mastery Set 1.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 5153956 Feb  7  2016 11 Mastery Set 2.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 6658860 Feb  7  2016 12 Mastery Set 3.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8038564 Feb  7  2016 13 Mastery Set 4.mp3
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root    1972 Mar  8  2017 Week2.m3u
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root     326 Feb  7  2016 desktop.ini

/share/hitch/System Volume Information:
total 16
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Sep 28  2016 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 4096 Dec 31  1969 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   76 Sep 28  2016 IndexerVolumeGuid
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   12 Mar 29  2017 WPSettings.dat
root@debian:~#

I know that is a lot of un required and extra code but... I can see it is a permissions problem...

I tried running

root@debian:/share# chmod ugo+rwx hitch/

And nothing changed. Then I tried

root@debian:/share# chmod ugo -R 777 hitch/

And nothing changed.

Seems like the drive is mounted as owned by root. Is that the norm? Just checked on my laptop and a usb plugged in is owned by the logged in user it looks like.

Anyway - lastly - here is my fstab file. I feel like I want to change this to use uuid or something to allow it to cold boot without pulling the usb drive first. Or - whatever is the correct way to make that happen.

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
LABEL=rootfs    /               ext3    noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
tmpfs          /tmp            tmpfs   defaults          0       0

Thanks again and any tips welcome.
TC

TC,

That's the problem! note the permissions. Only root can write to this folder.

root@debian:~# ls -l /share/hitch
total 1336
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root    4096 Dec 31  1969 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root    4096 Feb 22 11:17 ..
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root    4096 Mar 29  2017 Android
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Mar 29  2017 LOST.DIR
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root 1336632 Oct 22  2007 LaunchU3.exe
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Feb  7  2016 Speak in a Week Spanish - Week Three
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Mar  8  2017 Speak in a Week Spanish - Week Two
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Sep 28  2016 System Volume Information

So make it own by admin user and admin group:

chown -R admin:admin /share/hitch

After that, you should see admin appear in both attributes for all files in this folder. For example,

drwxr-xr-x 2 admin admin    4096 Feb  7  2016 Speak in a Week Spanish - Week Three

Side note -- interesting I have a folder similar to that by Pimpsleur :) always want to learn Spanish (a beautiful language) and I've finished 10 beginner lessons a few years ago :)) one of those days I will buy the next level lessons.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2020 10:29PM by bodhi.

Mark this down as AN answer - but probably not the right answer...

So I have it working.

I updated my smb.conf file and added root as a user

    valid users = @admin @root

Then I added root as a user, gave it a password, enabled it and restarted Samba:

root@debian:/share# smbpasswd -a root
New SMB password:
Retype new SMB password:
Added user root.
root@debian:/share# smbpasswd -e root
Enabled user root.
root@debian:/share# service samba restart

I can navigate to the share in Linux and give it the root samba password and seem to have R/W permission. I can roll that way but open to learning more.

I really do need to know how to get it to cold boot without uplugging/replugging the usb in since it won't be in a handy location. So that I really need to solve.

But I would say with your help - I am out of the woods.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
I appreciate all the help
TC

TC,

Glad it worked out!

valid users = @admin @root

But do see my suggestion above.

I'll post the answer about the cold boot later.

-bodhi
===========================
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Wow - Our posts must have crossed in the night.

chown -R admin:admin /share/hitch

Now that is the elegant solution I was looking for.

I am going to stay logged in as root. Reason being - I can plug any drive into the back and mount it - and it is instantly available to all devices with saved credentials. Risk of being logged in as root inside Samba seems low. Ironically - the remote share is not logged in as root beyond the share somehow because I know the passwords are not the same.

Thanks again for all of your help!

BTW - I have lots of Spanish learning material - One of these days I really need to STUDY it... That seems to be the root cause of why I don't seem to learn any more of it!!

TC

TC,

> I am going to stay logged in as root. Reason
> being - I can plug any drive into the back and
> mount it - and it is instantly available to all
> devices with saved credentials.

You can set up automount to do that, too. Using autofs and tell it to aumount the drive under any folder you want.

> Risk of being
> logged in as root inside Samba seems low.

I think it is safer to avoid using a Windows app to access the shares. If you only use Window Explorer then the risk is lower.

But it is best that as a normal user, you always log in as admin to use the system. Only log in as root through SSH to do admin chores, setting up stuff.

-bodhi
===========================
Forum Wiki
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Hi again,

Things seem to be working fairly well here. I use Windows Explorer and no app to login to my samba shares. My samba password is not equal to my root password - so even trapping my samba password with a MITM or any exploit won't actually get you my true root user password. But I am still working to find other plans.

Speaking of other plans. - I am working on my power fail or auto mount scenario. Currently - if the power blinks - my pogo plug will not boot properly. For some reason with my external HD plugged in along with my rootfs usb plugged in it fails to boot. My simple mind says it has to do with the plug not knowing which drive is boot?

So I have to go over there (it is back hidden under the tv stand now) and unplug the pplug then re-plug it back in, allow it to boot and then plug the external drive back in. Then ssh in and mount the external drive as /share/.

So I have been reading up on USBMOUNT and particular your replies in this blog https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,24139

Not sure - but maybe USBMOUNT is no longer available?

I was thinking more along the lines of using UUID mounts inside fstab like

Quote
Martin aus Dortmund

LABEL=rootfs    /               ext4    noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
tmpfs          /tmp            tmpfs   defaults          0       0
UUID=04aae5de-6bed-4faa-999c-68ba85b591a4  /mnt/data  ext2  rw,suid,dev,exec,nouser,async,auto  0  2
UUID=44d90f04-3a0e-4fac-8993-853b3d60afd3  /mnt/unterhaltung  ext4  rw,suid,dev,exec,nouser,async,auto  0  2
UUID=e7f3cfb0-6abf-4591-9d18-2ae7bc92be2e  /mnt/backup  ext4  rw,suid,dev,exec,nouser,async,auto,  0  2

I have 1 day to day external drive - pretty much I will always have plugged in. But then I have a few other drives I'd like to be able to plug in every once in a while - offline backups per se. So can I just put them all in fstab using UUID's? does 'nouser' prevent them from mounting them as "root"? Does that end up being the core of my "root" ownership dilemma since I am manually mounting the external drive from the CLI - which I am logged in as root...???

Okay - I am in over my depth - so any hints are appreciated.
Thanks as always!!
TC

TC,

> Things seem to be working fairly well here. I use
> Windows Explorer and no app to login to my samba
> shares. My samba password is not equal to my root
> password - so even trapping my samba password with
> a MITM or any exploit won't actually get you my
> true root user password. But I am still working
> to find other plans.

Good to hear!

> Speaking of other plans. - I am working on my
> power fail or auto mount scenario. Currently - if
> the power blinks - my pogo plug will not boot
> properly. For some reason with my external HD
> plugged in along with my rootfs usb plugged in it
> fails to boot. My simple mind says it has to do
> with the plug not knowing which drive is boot?

Exactly. The envs must be set up to boot with a rootfs, and if you plug in 2 drives that have rootfs, it will get confuse. So look at the envs, if you have installed my latest u-boot image for this box, it is not a real problem to boot. But it is still always use your SATA rootfs .The disk partition label will prevent that (some more explanation needed here).


> So I have to go over there (it is back hidden
> under the tv stand now) and unplug the pplug then
> re-plug it back in, allow it to boot and then plug
> the external drive back in. Then ssh in and mount
> the external drive as /share/.
>
> So I have been reading up on USBMOUNT

Install autofs to do auto mount. There is also a more advance method using udev rules, but it probably not user friendly enough.

> I have 1 day to day external drive - pretty much I
> will always have plugged in. But then I have a
> few other drives I'd like to be able to plug in
> every once in a while - offline backups per se. So
> can I just put them all in fstab using UUID's?

Don't need to go that far. Fstab is not flexible and will cause problems in booting.


If you share a top folder (for example /media) in samba, and then automount all external drives under media, then it is the most flexible setup you can have.

You can try it by mounting the external drive under /share/hitch. And see you can access it from Window Explorer.

-bodhi
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Okay - still in over my depth.

I can't remember where - but to clarify I am running

Linux debian 4.4.54-oxnas-tld-1 #2 SMP PREEMPT Sat Mar 18 23:09:58 PDT 2017 armv6l

I installed autofs ... I read the .conf file and... I googled examples... But it is all over my head. For some reason now I am really liking the idea of setting up, ahead of time, mount points for the 4 different external drives that I could foresee using. As I mentioned - I have one day to day drive with movies/music/photos. (The wife calls this one "Hitch" because it says Hitachi on the side) But just plugging in one of my other drives - and rebooting the plug - if that magically mounted that = that would be like a dream come true.

Point me to some good reading if you have a minute.
Thanks for all the help.
TC

Here is a good tutorial on autofs. Written for Arch Linux, but it is basically the same in any distro.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Autofs

This is a more advance method using udev:

https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,24139

-bodhi
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2020 05:56PM by bodhi.

Hi all.

Thanks for all of the help. I am really learning a lot.

Since "Unbrick Pogoplug" is really done - I am going to mark this solved and ask the automount question in a second thread.

For those that want to follow on - the new question is here: https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,97669

Thanks Bodhi and everyone else for teaching me and getting me this far.

TC