Frequently Asked Questions

From OpenFSG

Jump to: navigation, search
Image:ico_book.png
 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page.


Contents

General

Can I connect a Web cam to my Freecom NAS Device?

  • Answer: No, you can not connect a USB Web cam. But, you can connect an IP Web cam.
  • Explanation:
    • The web cams you can find in shops use drivers for running on Windows XP, Vista, ... but very few have drivers for Linux. And even so, those drivers for Linux would be compiled for Linux running on X86 machines (Intel, AMD, etc.). Freecom NAS Devices have no X86, but another processor architecture.
  • Solution: Fulfill four necessary requirements:
    1. That the manufacturer of the Web cam frees the source code of its driver for Linux, with appropriate license to be modified by users (e.g: GPL license).
    2. That Freecom do the same (I think this has already been done) [1][2][3].
    3. That a programmer with a desire, knowledge (and time off) gets to work on it, and that he "gives" us his work "as a present".
    4. That the FSG processor (which is not similar to a PCs') be able to "codify" the video signal in real time, and serve it over the network.
    As you can see, it is quite complicated.
BUT Some of this has already been done on the ARM-based NSLU-2 "Slug":
So are we really so far away from a solution? Can the Slug project be raided for the code-base? Future will answer...
  • You CAN connect an IP Web cam
    • Look for IP Web cam (google), and find hundreds... These will work smoothly.
    Although, you don't need an FSG for that. Do you? ;-)
  • Related topics:

ESTABILITY

My FSG is Unstable - Temp problem

  • Problem 1: I must reboot my FSG every some days, because it Fauls.
  • Solution 1: Many times is a TEMP problem. The FSG is not very well cooled. There are many solutions: Try it in a colder room, atach an external fan, ...
  • Related topics:

My FSG is Unstable - POWER SUPPLY problem

  • Problem 1: I must reboot my FSG every some days, because it Fauls.
  • Solution 1: Ensure you are using the original Power Supply, or ensure it really takes out 12V - 2A (or more Amp.)
  • Related topics:



FSGA/FNA

I can not perform the Recovery Procedure on my device - non XP Problem

I can not perform the Recovery Procedure on my device - TEMP problem

  • Problem 2: Trying to perform Recovery Procedure several times, with no success. Using Windows XP.
  • Solution 2: Unplug the FSG and wait an hour to cold it inside.

I can not perform the Recovery Procedure on my device - POWER SUPPLY problem

  • Problem 3: Trying to perform Recovery Procedure several times, with no success. Using Windows XP.
  • Solution 3: Ensure you are using the original Power Supply, or ensure it really takes out 12V - 2A (or more Amp.)


SMB/CIFS

I can not access the FSG with Windows Vista

  • Problem: When trying to map to a network share in Windows Vista (\\FSGname\sharename), I get a dialogue box that asks for a user name and password. I enter my credentials and I get a message telling me that my user name and/or password is incorrect.
  • Solution: There is a patch for Vista that solves this. You can download it here: Freecom patch.
  • Related topics:

Special characters

  • Problem: Once you upgrade to 4.3.8 or 4.4.5, all files containing special characters (e.g. ä, Ä, ó, ò, ß, ñ, ...) are renamed (special characters are replaced by an underscore). This problem only happens via SMB.
SSH: Special characters are correctly shown
FTP: Special characters are correctly shown.
SMB: Special characters are replaced by an underscore.
WEB: Interface of the FSG (log in as user)... correct.
File-nice or similar file manager... correct.

VPN

I can not connect

  • Problem: Once you upgrade to 4.2.7 or 4.3.8, you can not connect via VPN with PPTP encryption. The VPN connects, but you can not see any FSG folder or anything at "the other side of the tunnel".
  • Solution: Edit options.pptpd file to Fix VPN support to 4.3.8 or upgrade to firmware 4.4.5.
  • Related topics:

Configuration

I found a strange #101 user

  • Problem: I found a user called #101, with unlimited quota. Who is this? Something to worry about?
  • Solution: Nothing to worry. It is related to internal FSG soft management of users and permissions.
  • Solution2: Check in /home/.mail, you might have the proper names for each user (and from what I remember they are in the right order, so what you need to do is to add users one by one, using the names you see in the /home/.mail/ ordered by date.
  • Related topics:

I can not create a new User

  • Problem: I made a recovery recently. Now, I try to create again one user that existed before the recovery. But I can't do it. A message Error: Cannot create user is shown.
    • It happens ONLY when you create a user name that existed in my your setup. For example you can't create the user "Anders" but you can create the user "AndersNew". It looks like the old users are still hidden somewhere
  • Explanation: The problem seems to be that after a firmware restore it could happen that the file "/etc/passwd" and the file "/etc/master.conf" are not synchronized.
  • Solution1: Renaming a user seems to be a way to correct the entries into the "master.conf" by using the GUI of freecom. That is the solution:
    • I can not make the user "Tom"....
    • So, I make the user "Tom1". Then rename the user "Tom1" to "Tom".
    • Then, all is right...
  • Solution2: .
    • Delete that user name via SSH (Putty and vi editor). Delete the user out of the files;
      • /home/.users (is a dir).
        • Use command "ls" to see the dir and files inside the dir. Use "rm usernamedir -r" command to delete the dir of users. Be aware not to delete admin user. Careful with this command "rm dirorfilename -r" as root--you can easily remove all files on the system with such a command executed on the top of your directory tree, and there is no undelete in Linux (yet).
      • /etc/passwd Use vi editor.
      • /etc/shadow Use vi editor.
      • /etc/group Use vi editor.
      • /etc/master.conf (there you will find entries with "user=" or something like that)
    • but DO NOT delete the dir /home/[user name], unless you want to lose the data.
    • When it is deleted then you can add the user with password in the web tool.

I can not assign/change the password for Users

  • Problem: I made a recovery recently. After I have restored the configuration file. After having done that the passwords for the user accounts were gone. When I tried to enter the passwords manually I got the message "cannot write the configuration file"
  • Solution1: The same that above on I can not create a new User
  • Solution2:
    • delete user at the freecom web-interface
    • add new user with this name at freecom web-interface

External Drives Problem

I have problems with copying files to a USB attached Hard Drive

  • Problem: I am having difficulty writing larger files e.g 700meg *.avi files to a disk attached to my FSG.

The disk is USB attached, and formatted to FAT32.

No problem with creating folders and copying smaller files. However when copying larger files, the PC spends time thinking about it then tells me that the network connection is no longer available.
  • Solution:
    • 1) Try through FTP. Samba in releases before 4.2.7 is giving problems.
      • 1.b) Upgrade to the latest beta (2.6 kernel) which should at least solve the wired part of sudden disconnections.
    • 2) Incompatibility with certain external drives: examples are Toshiba and Freecom(!)... Solution: use other external drive
    • 3) utp cables can be unreliable: try another cable to be sure.
    • 4) FAT32 has a 4 gigabyte limit for filesize. Are you sure you don't try to copy images of dvd's for example? If this is the case copy will stop with an error. Solution formatting drive with ext.3 or Reiser.
  • Related topics:


WLAN

How can I run my FSG as a WLAN client?

HARD

Is it possible to connect a USB HUB in a USB port of the FSG-3 in order to connect several devices?

  • Answer: Yes, with an active USB hub (with power supply).

Can I connect my PC directly to FSG-3 through the USB port?

  • Answer: No, the FSG-3 can be connected to LAN or WAN. The USB ports are only for external hard drives and printers.

What kind of format does the internal FSG HD have ?

  • Answer: Because of the Linux based kernel, it has a ReiserFS. Via the device/drive properties in Microsoft Windows it is identified as NTFS, although the drive is in fact formatted as ReiserFS

Does the FSG support USB devices which are NTFS formatted?

  • Answer: The operating system on the FSG is Linux, and Linux systems can read but not write on NTFS formatted devices. To get both (r/w access) you have to format the devices in FAT32.
The release 4.2.7 and 4.3.8 are supposed to support NTFS write access (view changelog), but it does not seem to work.
Retrieved from "http://www.openfsg.com/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions"
Personal tools