External Storage Use

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USB Storage devices are Plug 'n Play: you plug them they appear in your dashboard!

All external USB storage devices will work with the La Fonera 2.0 Though we advise connection of USB devices only through a USB 2.0 HUB powered externally:

  • A non powered device or Hub might cause malfunctioning if there are too many devices connected. Especially USB hard drives that need power to spin the discs.
  • USB 1.1 devices do not work with the Fonera 2.0g unless they're plugged to a USB 2.0 HUB (that's not the case with the Fonera 2.0n).

Contents

Supported Filesystems

  • FAT32
  • NTFS
  • EXT2/EXT3
  • HFS+ non journaled (Firmware superior to 2.2.5)

Which Filesystem should I use on the disc connected to the Fonera?

  • EXT2 and EXT3 are the best option. Both file systems are fast and reliable when used with the Fonera but are only natively supported by Linux based operating systems. Though if you plan on always keeping a specific hard drive connected to your Fonera, using EXT2/3 is a good option. Even if you are not using Linux you will be able to access files on your hard drive through your network.
  • FAT32 is readable and writable from Linux, Windows and Mac OS and is fast with the Fonera. But this filesystem has a filesize limit of 4GB. Consequently it might not be convenient if you want to store quite big files.
  • HFS+ is a good option if you are using Mac OS. It is readable/writable by Linux in its non journaled version.
  • NTFS is slow on the Fonera and can't be used to download torrent files. You can still use this filesystem to upload photos or videos to web services, or to share files on your network but as it will slow down your Fonera and its file transfer we advise to format your hard drive using a different filesystem.

Tested Storage devices

Working when plugged directly to the Fonera 2.0g

  • i-DATA 2.5" USB2.0 HDD Caddie: Working, directly from Fon 2.0 USB port
  • Conceptronic USB2.0 HDD Case: Works plugged directly to Fonera 2.0 (with inside ext3 formatted hard disk)
  • FREECOM 40 GB USB2.0 HDD: Works plugged directly to Fonera 2.0 and energy plug to the HDD.
  • IMATION USB 2.0 Nano FLash Drive 2Gb and 16Gb (should be the same with other sizes): Works plugged directly to Fonera 2.0 just as is comes out of the box.
  • OCZ ATV 8 GB: Working, directly from Fon 2.0 USB port
  • Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini 160G. No need to use Y cable
  • Kingston DataTravelerMini Flash Drive 4Gb: Works plugged directly to La Fonera 2.0
  • WD MyBook 250 Gb, with or without hub
  • TDK 8 Gb Trans-IT USB Flash Drive
  • LACIE 250GB USB2.0 HDD: Working, directly from Fon 2.0 USB port
  • SanDisk Cruzer 8GB: Working, directly from Fon 2.0 USB port

NOT Working USB Drives

  • SanDisk Cruzer Micro 16GB: DOES NOT WORK. Not recognized by Fonera 2.0


Troubleshooting

Using network shares with Windows Vista

In order to log into Fonera 2.0 Samba server (Network shared USB drive)using the credentials fonero/<fonera password> an easy hack must be done:

Windows Vista Business editions:

  • 1. Open the Run command and type "secpol.msc"
  • 2. Press "continue" when prompted by Vista.
  • 4. Navigate to the policy "Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level" and open it.
  • 5. By default Windows Vista sets the policy to "NTVLM2 responses only". Change this to "LM and NTLM – use NTLMV2 session security if negotiated".

Once you’ve done this Windows Vista will be able to view network drives based on Samba servers and should fix any issues around using Samba as a Primary Domain Controller.

Windows Vista Home editions: Since Vista Home editions do not feature the security policies manager (secpol.msc), a little registry editing must be done: Change the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\LMCompatibilityLevel from a 3 to a 1.

Using network shares with MacOSX "Snow Leopard"

  • STEP 1 : DO NOT UPGRADE TO THIS VERSION... there is a problem with any network drive
    • STEP 2 : try
    • smb://fonero@192.168.10.1/disc-a1/
    • The server prompts you for authentication
    • username: FON\fonero
    • password: putinyourPW
      • where FON is the domain name

My HFS+ external disk can only be "read" but is not "writeable"

Linux does not support journaled HFS+ discs, you have to turn off Journaling to get it supported by Linux and the Fonera. Enter the following in a Mac OS console: 

diskutil disableJournal /Volumes/Volumename

In MacOSX 10.5 (aka Leopard) it seems that Disk Utility no longer allows you to disable journaling through the interface on a drive. The menu where it used to be only says "Enable Journaling" but it's grayed out (cause your drive is probably journaling already)

Here you can find a good solution to disable journaling on your drive

File transfer to/from the Fonera are slow

Transfer speeds should be around 1Mbyte/s, in the case of a Fonera 2.0g, NTFS should be avoided as it slows down transfer around 200Kbyte/s

Format in FAT32 discs bigger than 32GB from Windows

Until Windows Millenium it was possible to format in FAT32 discs up to 2TB. Since Windows 2000 you can only format in FAT32 partition up to 32GB.

To bypass this limitation download FAT32FORMAT and use it to format your USB discs. From the command prompt type 

fat32format x:

Where 'x' is the letter of the drive to format. Use with care, formating a partition imply losing all data stored on it.

Get the Fonera to work with Apple's Time Machine

Check the Time Machine's wiki page

Retrieved from "http://wiki.fon.com/wiki/External_Storage_Use"
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