WL-500G Lockups with external HDD when copying large files

Since getting this router specifically as an access point and for network storage using SAMBA and to also dabble to see if i could get asterisk running on it (which it does, i have a 200Gb drive partitioned with 2 partitions one 500mb one for swap space and the remainder as one large EXT3 partition.

I have been dabbling with debian (CHROOT'ed install) as i said for the asterisk bits i have been doing. but without this OS running i get a really bad experience with just using it for network storage. i can write to the drive perfectly, but when i read from the disk it is very slow, and when i viewing a DIVX film or try copying large files from the drive the router locks up, I can ping the device, but the web config, telnet and SSH are unresponsive, if i power cycle the router all ok, but i cannot use the drive reliably as network storage because it ends up going up and down more times than a whores knickers.

oh yes, i am currently running Oleg's firmware 1.9.2.7-6b (thanks Oleg for the hard work you have put in) and i was on 1.9.2.7-6c pre5 but i downgraded to to see if that would resolve it but it hasn't worth noting mine is Deluxe model so its USB2

has anyone else experienced it, at first i thought it might have been the USB HDD caddy as after the lockup when i rebooted the drive would not re-initialise without a power cycle of the HDD, but i am currently using a Iomega ZIP650 USB CD caddy with the hard disk in (advantage that the HDD gets plenty of room in the 5.25" enclosure) and now after the lockup the drive is initialised every time. but it still locks up loads.

On a side note, does anyone know if you can get the router to boot from debian on the USB-HDD without having to run it in a CHROOT'ed environment?as i have hit some stumbling blocks with running asterisk that way

Any help would be appreciated, and since this is my first post as i have got quite far already with the router without needing help on the config side, i would like to thank all the people who have taken time to post thier findings with regards to the good tutorials for SAMBA and also to get Debian running.

I will however be writing over the next few weeks my tutorial, as for my setup the information was a bit scattered, especially for busybox linux Noobs. as i thought a fair bit was assumed.

Regards

Stuart Buchanan

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can nobody help?

i cant believe that 176 people have read this thread an nobody can help. i have written my tutorial that i want to post but i was hoping to include the answer to my last problems.

I am thinking of compiling my own firmware with all the crap i dont use removed. to see if that helps, thats if i can get my head around it.

Has anybody had better success with NFS? rather tham Samba, as looking through the samba log file my router reports no bieng able to access the shared directory on the Hard Disk just before the router hangs.

but to be honest i am still just speculating, as i haven't spent enough time investigating this as i have made the move from an arch dist to a slackware (Ubuntu) distribution to get me more into Debian etc..

If you read this Oleg i could really do with your input about looking feasibility/possibility into recompiling a firmware/bootloader that can boot directly from a debian dist on the USB HDD as that would be my ideal firmware, the other possibility i have been looking into is to adding a true IDE controller/interface into the router, as theroetically it is possible looking at the board/router specs as it has a compatible bus but at a far lower speed. but again i need to purchase snother box to bastardise it properly without using it

Cheers

Stuart Buchanan

i have encountered with HDD and USB-flash lockups. Symptoms exactly the same. In my case port hangs without any samba traffic.
In addition: USB port completely hangs, other ports works perfectly. When i turn off-on the router - all ports works OK. I use 1.9.2.7-pre4.
I suppose, something wrong with memory. I.e. when router has no memory or expereince memory leak, USB driver damages and hang USB-port.
I try to switch to pre-5 or b, check are USB chaines overheated.

Mine experience is that one must take torture test of the harddrive before saying "It works!". Tried several disks, two cases and finally got stable setup. Have open console and look for dmesg outputs. If you encounter USB timeouts, the hardware is not proper. Change it or you will run into lockup eventually.