DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum

if you search the forums there are lots of posts about running it of USB.  It is also commonly done to have a fun_plug which attempts to run ffp off the usb stick, but in case of failure, to fallback to a copy stored on the hdd (such as the usb stick is disconnected).  I think that I am right that you won't get e2fsck hdd errors reported in dmesg if you run ffp of a usb, because all of the non-standard services (that the dns-323 doesn't know about, and therefore doesn't terminate gracefully when you shut down the unit) run off usb.  Do you just plan to have one stick directly connected, or connected via a usb hub?  I am not sure whether you can use the usb print server if you also have a usb stick - if not that may be a con, depending on what you want to do, but I am sure others can give a fuller answer.
lu

I wasn't planning on using a usb hub and I don't need to use the print server capability.  I was thinking more along the lines of still being able to run ffp incase a HD fails... but now that I think of it, RAID 1 should be more reliable than a single usb drive.  Plus, im not sure what the performance implications are of running an OS off a usb drive.

Thanks for the info.  Are there instructions on what I need to do to migrate ffp to a usb drive?  I'd prefer not to reinstall everything if possible.

Recently, I made some changes to the fun_plug script to simplify the usb setup. For the details, you need to read the script yourself. In summary, you can create a hidden directory /mnt/HD_a2/.bootstrap and put a 'setup.sh' script inside. In theory, the script only needs to load the kernel module, mount the usb drive and adjust FFP_PATH.

jainoxi wrote:

I think this is because the firmware is using a different kernel

You should provide output of 'uname -a', then. Also try insmod with the full path to the module.

jainoxi wrote:

'Modprobe -l' gives me the same error, leading me to believe that the problem isn't with the module usb-storage.ko, but with either the firmware or ffp.

I suppose you're running busybox 1.12.0? Could be a problem with the new insmod. It changed significantly. You might want to try creating the path it's missing:

mkdir -p /lib/modules/2.6.12.1.6-arm1/
cp usb-storage.ko /lib/modules/2.6.12.1.6-arm1/

Or try the firmware insmod:

/usr/sbin/insmod /full/path/to/module.ko

PS: Seems to work if you copy the module to /lib/modules/..., run depmod and finally modprobe. Still, looks like a bug.

Last edited by fonz (2008-08-29 14:30:28)

Ok, I've finally managed to get FFP to run off my usbdrive.  I used the latest fun_plug with setup.sh to get it working.

I still can't umount /dev/md0.  It says that its busy.  Do I need to run the kernel off the usb as well?

Here is my ffp.log:

**** fun_plug script for DNS-323 (2008-08-11 tp@fonz.de) ****
Sun Nov  9 13:33:02 GMT 2008
* Running /mnt/HD_a2/.bootstrap/setup.sh ...
Installing USB module and sleeping for 30 seconds
/dev/sdc1 mountable and mounted on /mnt/usb
Either /dev/sdc6 is already the root partition
     or /mnt/usb/.usb-root not accessible
     or /ffp/boot/reload.sh doesn't exist
So skipping reloading kernel...
Running FFP from *USB* and linking /ffp -> /mnt/usb...
ln -snf /mnt/usb/ffp /ffp
* Running /ffp/etc/fun_plug.local ...

You can try running "lsof | grep HD".
This should show you which process is accessing your disks. Usually you will find smbd or the media servers in the output.

bkim wrote:

Now to figure out how to setup a cronjob to backup /ffp from my usb to HD

Now that's pretty easy. Just add a little script to the /ffp/start folder with contents like these:

#!/bin/sh

CRONTEXT=/mnt/HD_a2/crontab.txt

#start with existing crontab
/bin/crontab -l > $CRONTEXT

#add backup job for ffp at 03:00 o'clock on Saturday
/bin/echo "00 03 * * 6 /ffp/bin/rsync -av --delete /mnt/usb/ffp /mnt/HD_a2/backup_ffp" >> $CRONTEXT

#install new crontab
/bin/crontab $CRONTEXT

#clean up
/bin/rm $CRONTEXT

This will install a cronjob that runs on Saturday at 03:00 o'clock. You will probably need to adjust the folders for backup. These are just examples. Don't forget to "chmod 755" the script to make it executable.
Once you have rebooted the NAS or run the script manually you should see the new job using the command "crontab -l".

Yep I found a similar script that runs another script inorder to log the results.