User Folder Setup in Wizard

[Brian Golek]

I flashed my D-Link 323 NAS with Alt-F 1.0 and the filesystem maintenance check was successful.  I am running RAID 1 with two 2TB drives.   I have preserved my data on the drives with the ext2 file system.  I am going through the setup wizard and have gotten to the user name folder setup.  I want to setup my NAS so all users able to access all folders with no passwords.  I am assuming I have to create a user folder.  Would I create this in the md0 partition?  Would all of my existing data folders then be under this folder? Or would this user folder be in the root folder.  The nas was accessible before by using this syntex in windows explorer \\IP Address\Volume_1\.  Would the user folder be after this like  \\IP Address\Volume_1\User Folder\ and then all of my existing data folders would be in the user folder now?

[John Travell]

Several details, using EXT2 is not advisable, it is no-where near as robust as EXT4. If you do not have an uninterruptible power supply, and you lose power during a write transaction, at best you will lose data, at worst corrupt your entire filesystem. EXT4, being a journaling file system, is very much less likely to lose anything.

If there is any downside to EXT4 it is the slightly greater overhead to managing it.

Forget \\IP Address\Volume_1\, that is an artifact of the way D-link software maps shares. 

With Alt-F you define the host name in the 'Setup | Host' menu, replace your \\IP Address\ with \\'Host name:'\. Suppose you set this to 'NAS323'... (see below!)

Shares are defined in 'Services | Network | smb', click on 'Configure' (Samba Server (Windows)). In the box 'Folders to export to other hosts' the third column

'Share Name' contains the name of the share. Suppose you call this 'FileShare', you would then map it to Windows as '\\NAS323\FileShare\'.

Before you could use this share, on your Alt-F setup you need to map the share name to a folder. In the same row as the share name, select 'Browse', and

select the folder you wish to share. I could not get it to select the root of the device, and had to create a folder and map that. e.g. '/mnt/md0/MyStuff'

The /mnt/ is a feature of Linux that you need to use, but not to understand unless you wish to upgrade from Windows to a better choice :-) 

(I run Linux Mint, so cannot really help with any Windows specific nuances)

Hope this helps... JT:

[Brian Golek]

Good point about ext4.  Will my data be preserved if I switch to ext4?  I do have a backup just in case that is in ext2.  I am assuming I can change to ext4 later since I am past that screen in the setup wizard.

Thank you for breaking this down for me.  So the user folder question in the setup wizard is that the share name e.g. 'FileShare' or is it the folder you wish to share e.g. 'MyStuff' in your example.

Also, I need to run SM2 which is the reason I am using Alt-F firmware since my new laptop will not connect to a SM1 NAS.  How does this factor in to the setup?

Also, what is the maximum drive size for Alt-F and DLink DNS-323 NAS?

Thank you

[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

I am using ext2 with a UPS so I am not worried for data loss (for now) but according to the developer ext4 is the better choice. Apparently we can convert an ext2 filesystem to ext4 but expect that to last many many many hours, probably more than a day or so, I'm assuming it will depend on how much data exist on the disks.

The folder you want to share will not show up in windows networking unless you set it up under 'Services --> Network --> SMB Samba Server (Windows).'

I am not sure what will happen if you select SM2, mine works fine with SM1 but I had to enable SMB 1.0 under 'turn windows features on/off'.

I believe (but not 100% sure) the maximum size drive size Alt-F supports on DNS-323 is 8T.

Hope that helped. 

==

[Tom Schmidt]

Yes, ext4 is a much better filesystem to use than ext2.  The conversion process may take over a day, so just start it and let it run until completion.

I have 10TB disks in my DNS-323, and I think I have heard of someone running 12TB disks successfully.

Tom

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[Brian Golek]

What if I want to share all the folders that are currently on the drive?  Are you saying they would all be located under this new user folder?  I want all users that remote into the NAS to be able to view all folders already on the hard drives that were created when I was running D-Link firmware 1.09.

--

[gra...@xtra.co.nz]

I'm using 2 8TB hard drives in my DNS323 running Alt-F  (I think the limit is well beyond anything we reasonably afford).    (Limit for a standard DNS32 with the original firmware is 2TB)

I have attached some old instructions on how to enable SMB1 on Windows 10.     I have a second DNS323 still with the original DLink firmware and it is working ok here with Windows 10 & 11.

A search with Google will also find some more recent instructions on enabling SMB1

[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

I am not sure if you are replying to me but I will need to know what is roughly your folder structure right now. When you look into your books from Windows networking what is the first folder you see and what is under it? Alternatively you can simply write down the folder structure you see under alt-f --> setup --> folders, i.e. mnt/md0/users/???

In my case I have a small home office with four users, I am the administrator with full access on all folders and the other three users have only read and execute in some folders and only full access in their own folders. The entire folder structure appears under Users in Windows explorer and I have used the permissions in alt- f to control who and how can access each folder.

I hope the above makes sense feel free to reach out if you have more questions.

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Tom thanks for the feedback, about Ext, can anyone argue that Ext2, despite its inherent lack of journaling, is faster than 3 or 4, because of less overhead?! I always have to remind myself that the D-Link DNS-323 is using pretty much antiquated=slow hardware. Again according to the developer, the only problem with Ext2 with an abrupt loss of power, so if you're using a UPS you should be okay. What I don't know is what if there is a loss of power in the middle of the night while the books is actively saving data, my UPS for example will keep the DNS 323 plus one PC running the backup for about half an hour after power goes out and it has been configured to gracefully shut down the computer. But what I'm not sure is what will happen if after half an hour the box is abruptly without power while still in the middle of data saving after half an hour I'm not sure if I'm making sense.

Btw, I had no idea that a DNS-323 with Alt-F supports hard drives so big. Just to be clear, you are talking about a single hard drive not combined disk storage capacity under JBOD, spanned, or even a RAID-0 configuration, am I right?

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Correction: BOX not "books". My phone's voice recognition has a hard time with my non-english accent especially when I talk fast (LOL) 😋 

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==

[John Travell]

I just tried it, and got it to work. in the 'Services' menu, select 'Network', then in the 'smb' row click 'Configure'. In a blank row click 'Browse', it should put '/mnt' in the selection box, then below the buttons a list of devices. You may only have 'md0' in that list. Click on it and the selection box should change to '/mnt/md0'.

Give it a share name, set 'Allow' to 'anybody' and check 'Browseable'. Click the submit button then in Windows try to map the share you just created.

You should be able to see all the folders created while it was running the D-link software. Depending on where you installed it, you may also see the Alt-F folder and some other files. There may be an advantage to putting all your user files under a top-level folder, e.g. /mnt/md0/filespace' in that your users will not then see the Alt-f folder and potentially mess with it.

JT:

[Brian Golek]

My laptop running Windows 11 would not access my D-Link DNS323.  My laptop said I could not access it since the NAS was not running SMB2.  This is why I am upgrading to Alt-F.  How did you get your Windows 11 laptop to access the DNS32 with D-Link firmware?

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

I agree with John's feedback, if I may suggest to not allow access to 'anybody' but '+users' instead. Assuming all box users have been set up properly, and from a security point of view, this might be the better approach (to be honest, I'm not sure what 'anybody' refers to, so better safe than sorry)

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

I am not sure about 11 but windows 10 will access the DNS323 with the OEM firmware provided that you enable SMB 1.0 under 'turn windows features ON/OFF'. Still the same is true if you run Alt-F. Graham from NZ has just uploaded an EXCELLENT guide how to do that, just look in the forum's previous messages or just download it here, I'll reupload for you.

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[John Travell]

You have to enable smb1, disabled by default in Windows 10 and 11, due to a serious security problem.
Curiously, that security problem is reported fixed in Linux (and Alt-F - due to it being based on Linux), however, if needed, follow the advice to find some more recent instructions on enabling SMB1.
Quite apart from the smb1 issue, I would not go back to the D-link software. Alt-F is much faster on my DNS-320L.
JT:

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[Tom Schmidt]

To clarify, I have two 10TB HDDs in my DNS-323 running Alt-F, configured as a single RAID1 (mirrored) 10TB volume.  It would support a 20TB JBOD with the same disks, but I want the redundancy of RAID.

Tom

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[Brian Golek]

can I change from ext to ext4 after the initial setup?

[Brian Golek]

OK, I am getting close.  Here is what I setup.  I have two 2TB drives in RAID 1.  My host is 'NAS'.  My share is 'Fileshare'.  See the attached image.

How do I access the drive now in windows explorer as before.

\\IP Address\mnt\mdo\NAS\Fileshare

[Tom Schmidt]

Brian,

    You would access your share on Windows using either \\NAS\Fileshare or \\IPaddress\Fileshare (where IPaddress is the IP address for "NAS").   Note that for Windows 10/11 you may also need to install the Alt-F "wsdd2" package in addition to enabling SMB2.  SMB1 is only needed if you have some very old Windows systems like Windows XP.  Windows Vista and later support SMB2.

Tom

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[Brian Golek]

Do I enable SM2 by just clicking the checkbox on the image I shared.

[Tom Schmidt]

To enable SMB2, click the checkbox next to it on the Samba configuration page, then click the "Submit" button.  You may need to stop and start the Samba service for the changes to take effect.  Finally, save the settings to flash memory by clicking on the "When done you must save settings" link at the top of the page, then click the "SaveSettings" button.

Tom

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Yes, but you first need to read the (warning) message by hovering your mouse over the box (or just clicking inside to add a check mark) and then you click 'Submit' and ideally need to save your settings and reboot the box. What I do not know and I am asking the community is this: Windows 10 is supposed to work fine with SMB2. If that's the case can we then remove the check mark from SMB1 or both are needed. Also, Windows 10 only has legacy support for SMB 1.0 which makes things a bit confusing. Does it mean that SMB 2.0 is enabled by default in Windows 10/11 or what is the story here?!   

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

100% correct, in my case it did not ask me to stop Samba, and yes, I did save settings and reboot the box.

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[Brian Golek]

Does it matter if the light on the front of the DNS-323 is yellow?  It used to be blue with the D-Link firmware.

Most of my computers are Windows 10 and 11.  I have one box that is Windows 7 that is a Home Theater PC.

Is running SMB1 on a Windows 10 and 11 computer still a security risk?

Will leaving the SMB1 checked in Alt-F pose a security risk?  I heard JT mentioned the security problem was fixed in Linux so since Alt-F runs on Linux so it is safe then?

[John Travell]

According to a comment earlier, a yellow LED is an idle drive. No problem.

SMB1 security risk in Win10 or 11? I don't know for certain. AFAIK Ms never fully fixed SMB1, merely disabled it. 

In Linux the nature of the attack surface was different, and I understand, less exposed and easier to fix. However, your problem is your Win7 box.

I did find a version of SMB2 for Win7, at about $1000 per machine... :-(

Make absolutely certain that your router does not forward any ports to your LAN, and if possible, update its firmware. 

Research defending yourself against 'WannaCry' malware and anything related, as that is what the SMB1 vulnerability is all about.

JT:

[Brian Golek]

I saved settings and then rebooted the NAS.

I tried \\IP Address\Fileshare\ and \|NAS\FIleshare in Windows Explorer but I cannot connect to the DNS-323.  Any ideas?

[Brian Golek]

I downloaded the WSDD2 file and unzipped it but don't know how to install it.

[Brian Golek]

Is this the correct file to install for WSDD2?

AUR (en) - wsdd2 (archlinux.org)

I don't see a file on GitHub called ' wsdd2 Alt-F package'.  Do you have a link to it and instructions for install.  I don't see an .exe or .bat file to start the install.

[Tom Schmidt]

Brian,

   Do not try to install packages from random web resources on Alt-F unless you know what you are doing.  To install wsdd2 on Alt-F, login to the web interface of Alt-F, and click on Packages -> Alt-F.  At the top you should have 2 package feeds listed:

https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/alt-f/pkgs/stable

https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/alt-f/pkgs/unstable

Click the "UpdatePackageList" button.

Now scroll down in the list until you find "wsdd2" and click the Install button next to it.  It will automatically install the package and start it.  To verify that it is running, click on Services -> Network and check the list of running services. You will want it to be boot-enabled and running.

Tom

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[John Travell]

> I saved settings and then rebooted the NAS.

> I tried \\IP Address\Fileshare\ and \|NAS\FIleshare in Windows Explorer but I cannot connect to the DNS-323.  Any ideas?

OK, you need to identify if it is a network issue or a windows issue. After making certain that your LAN is isolated from the internet, enable SMB1 in Alt-F and try to map the 'network drive' on your Windows 7 box. If that works, the problem is in Windows 10/11. Try both \\NAS\ and \\'ip address'\ in the mapping command, and ensure you have just the share name \Fileshare\ spelled exactly as you have in Alt-F smb configuration.

I have just booted a rarely used W7 box I have here, in windows explorer, when you select 'Computer' a 'Map network drive' option appears. Click that, and manually enter '\\NAS\Fileshare'. W7 does NOT want a trailing '\'.

Finding that 'Map network drive' option in W10/W11 is a bit more (going bald early) fun, but should work just the same.

JT:

[Brian Golek]

Thanks Tom, I will try your instructions tonight to install WSDD2 and that should make the NAS finable in Windows Explorer.

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Brian, you need to address your Alt-F issues one step at a time; currently you have at least 3 different people replying on different issues.

I will try to tidy up things for you a bit, please provide your answers below:

1. From what type of machine/OS are you trying to access the DNS323 (aka box) from? I am assuming a laptop with windows 11? You also mentioned you have a windows 7 machine but AFAIK it's all the same.

2. Have you properly formatted your disk(s)? I assume YES, using a RAID-1 configuration and ext2 file system, am I correct?!

3. What 'host' name did you give your box?

4. What 'label' did you use for md0 (e.g. your filesystem)?

5. Have you created any additional folders or are you working with the default ones (User, Public RW, Public RO) that Alt-F will initially create? In the screenshot you sent, I see a 'fileshare' and the 'public' folders but I do not see a 'Users' folders. From the moment you installed at least one user (you, for example) there should be a 'Users' folder visible in Setup. I'm not sure what's going on with your set up.

It would be helpful if you could sketch out for us what is your goal as far as how many users will be accessing this box, with what permissions and in what folders, etc.

Also, my windows 10 machine works fine with Alt-F provided you enable SMB 1.0 in windows under 'turn windows features ON/OFF). I have also enabled SMB2 in ALT-F and everything still works fine. I did NOT have to install any packages, I am not sure why you want to do that.

Finally, it is advisable that you either erase this Ext2 file system and create a new one as Ext4 or simply try to convert what you have but the amount of time will depend on how much data you have on the disks already.

Let me know how it goes and what else I can do to help you! 

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PAVO Certified Volleyball Line Judge

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[Brian Golek]

Thanks Dimitrios for summarizing my issues with my NAS setup.  Besides being new to AlT-F firmware and Linux, I am also new to Google Groups and don’t know when to replay all versus reply to one user.

 

I will try to tidy up things for you a bit, please provide your answers below:

 

1. From what type of machine/OS are you trying to access the DNS323 (aka box) from? I am assuming a laptop with windows 11? You also mentioned you have a windows 7 machine but AFAIK it's all the same.  I am trying to access the DNS323 from a Windows 10 and a Windows 11 laptop.  I also have a Windows 7 that would be nice to access it from but is not a necessity as I will upgrade that box soon. 

 

 

2. Have you properly formatted your disk(s)? I assume YES, using a RAID-1 configuration and ext2 file system, am I correct?!  Yes, the disks are properly formed and show up correctly as RAID-1

 

3. What 'host' name did you give your box?  The host name I chose is ‘NAS’

 

4. What 'label' did you use for md0 (e.g. your filesystem)?  I am using ‘md0’.

 

5. Have you created any additional folders or are you working with the default ones (User, Public RW, Public RO) that Alt-F will initially create? In the screenshot you sent, I see a 'fileshare' and the 'public' folders but I do not see a 'Users' folders. From the moment you installed at least one user (you, for example) there should be a 'Users' folder visible in Setup. I'm not sure what's going on with your set up.

So this was my original reason for creating this chat.  I am not familiar with a user folder on a NAS or the PublicRQ, PublicRO terminology.  You explain the hierarchy of where the user folder resides.  Is it  ‘\\IP Address\Host\Share\User\filesystem’ or will the user folder be another folder in the filesystem?  Can you explain what Public RQ and Public RO mean?  I know the md0 partisan has the filesystem data.   Before I just had the filesystem of folders listed that all users on my network could access like the D-Link firmware allowed. I accessed the filesystem in Windows Explorer with ‘\\IP Address\Volume_1’  I would like to get to something like that so all users have read write access to the entire filesystem.  The first line on the image I attached to this group used to say in the Folder column, ‘mnt/md0/Users’.  In the Share Name column it said Users.  I changed the Folder to ‘/mnt/mdo/Fileshare’ and the Share Name to ‘Fileshare’.  I did not change the 2^nd or 3^rd line. 

 

 

It would be helpful if you could sketch out for us what is your goal as far as how many users will be accessing this box, with what permissions and in what folders, etc.  I have 4 users and all will users should see all the folders in the filesystem and have read write access to all folders.

 

Also, my windows 10 machine works fine with Alt-F provided you enable SMB 1.0 in windows under 'turn windows features ON/OFF). I have also enabled SMB2 in ALT-F and everything still works fine. I did NOT have to install any packages, I am not sure why you want to do that.

I enabled SMB1 on my Windows 10 laptop.  I am installing the WSDD2 packages because that is what another user said was needed to access a Linux based NAs in Windows Explorer.  Is that what you mean by packages?

 

Finally, it is advisable that you either erase this Ext2 file system and create a new one as Ext4 or simply try to convert what you have but the amount of time will depend on how much data you have on the disks already.  I will convert to EXT4 once I can access my filesystem folders.  I have a UPS in the mean time and have been running EXT2 for 15 years with no issues as the NAS has very limited use.

 

Let me know how it goes and what else I can do to help you! 

 

Thank you for your help.  I thought I knew a lot about networking until digging into alt-F.

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[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Brian -

First off, Dimitrios is the official version of my (Greek) name, my friends call me Dimitri or simply Dimi, I now live in the USA and here, Americans have problems with names longer than 4-5 letters (lol). So call me whatever you feel comfortable with! 😉👍

So let's get down to business:

As a disclaimer: I have "played" enough with Aft-F to be very comfortable with it's basic up to intermediate setup. I am (by no means) not an expert for advanced stuff, but I'm comfortable helping you set up your "box" properly to get you started with minimal fuss.

I am 100% certain that there is absolutely NO difference between Windows 7 and 10 when it comes to using a DNS-323 with either the D-Link firmware or Alt-F. Obviously the latter is preferable since it's more feature rich. BUT, if you are not using a hard drive with capacity larger than 2TB then either firmware is fine, that's my opinion only, of course. Now, when it comes to Windows 11 I have not "moved" to that OS yet, and I do not anticipate doing so in the near future, at least NOT as long as Windows 10 is still supported by MS and is safe to use. Heck, I've set up my machine to dual boot and I am still using good old Windows 7 (the best Windows version IMHO) occasionally. Long story short, I do not anticipate Windows 11 to behave any differently than Win10 and Win7.

Having said that: My advice to you has the following steps (you read and decide what to do, ask me if you need help with the "how to do it" but let's take it a step at the time starting with 1, then 2, etc...):

1. Use Ext4 (instead of Ext2) UNLESS your box is powered via a UPS. That's what I do and I intend to leave it with Ext2 for now.

2. Make sure your RAID-1 has completed creating and syncing and that the filesystem you created has been checked (I'm assuming both answers are YES).

3. Create the 'Users' you intend to have accessing the box. Make sure you think twice if it's OK that ALL of them can have FULL Read and Write permissions of the entire box data. IMHO, this is not the best practice: I also have 4 users setup, myself as an Admin, my wife and two children. I have full access to everything on the box, each user has full access to their personal folder but only read and/or execute depending on all other data. It's not that I do not trust them, mistakes happen so I have set permissions accordingly and I suggest you do the same.

4. Then you need to create the desired folder(s) structure and apply the necessary permissions.

5. Then you need to go into Alt-F > Services > Networking > Samba Setup and configure how many shares you want to have. My advice: You only need one!

Overall, my configuration looks like that:

My host is: DNS323

My filesystem (md0) label is set to: NAS

My folder structure: is /mnt/NAS/Users/ etc ...(depending how many more folders you want to create)

(at this stage you need to set your folder view to "tree" and go from the top to bottom and set permissions accordingly; this is a bit involved but we can discuss once the time is right!)

My (one) share is: /mnt/NAS/Users (with network permissions set to allow '+Users' and be browsable and 'inherit perms'

Btw, so far, I never had to install ANY packages.

Let me know when and how you want to proceed.

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[Tom Schmidt]

Brian,

     One thing that may be causing your Samba share issue may be the name of the share.   Where is your RAID md0 volume mounted?  Is it mounted on /mnt/Volume_1 or is it on /mnt/Fileshare ?  If it is on /mnt/Volume_1 (the default), then you need to create the Fileshare folder under it.  Likewise you can do this for your Users folder.  Below are a couple snapshots from my system to help visualize this.  Under Disk -> Filesystems, I have this for the RAID md0 volume:

Then under Services -> Network -> Samba Configure, I have these Samba shares:

Note that I have the Users folder under Volume_1.  I also share the entire volume, but I have my Windows systems map \\dns-323\Schmidt to access shared files.

Regarding SMB1/SMB2 and wsdd2:  SMB1 is required only if you still have Windows 7 or older clients that need to access the Samba share.  Windows 10 has SMB1 disabled by default, Windows 11 does not support SMB1 at all.  If you do not have Windows 7 or older, then it is recommended to disable SMB1.  SMB1 is required for Computer Browser service to function on Windows 7, but newer Windows 10/11 systems can use WSD (Web Services for Devices) to discover hosted shares.  That is what the "wsdd2" package adds.  It is only required if you want your Windows 10/11 system to be able to browse \\NAS\ for its shares.  It is not required if you directly map \\NAS\Fileshare to a drive letter.

Tom

[John Travell]

AFAIK the 'Volume_1' share name is a hang-over from D-link. I do not believe it is present, default, or even needed in Alt-F. (Joao?)

In a message dated 13/March/24 Brian reported getting close, but then quoted a defective URL for mapping the share. He supplied a screen-shot of his SMB config in which the 'Host name:' is defined as 'NAS', and the shared folder to be '/mnt/md0/Fileshare' with a *share name* defined as 'Fileshare'.

Consequently, the correct URL is either "\\IP Address\Fileshare" or "\\NAS\Fileshare". The '/mnt/md0/...' only tells Alt-F where in its storage array to find the shared folder, and is not any part of how the share is seen on the network. Remember, use "/" everywhere EXCEPT Windows, which wants "\"....

You can only use the host name (in Brian's case, 'NAS') if you have a *name server* on your LAN. Many ISP's set their routers to use public name servers (i.e. not the router itself). Check your *Windows* ipconfig, is your primary name server your router?, or a public server?. If the latter, only the IPaddress format will work.

If you want to use the host name, you need to ensure Windows defines your router as the primary name server.

On my own device (DNS-320L) I have disabled the users and public shares. They are not needed at all (unless you actually want to use them!).

JT:

[Joao Cardoso]

On 14/03/24 23:56, John Travell wrote:

AFAIK the 'Volume_1' share name is a hang-over from D-link. I do not believe it is present, default, or even needed in Alt-F. (Joao?)

No, 'Volume_1' is not used or needed by Alt-F

In a message dated 13/March/24 Brian reported getting close, but then quoted a defective URL for mapping the share. He supplied a screen-shot of his SMB config in which the 'Host name:' is defined as 'NAS', and the shared folder to be '/mnt/md0/Fileshare' with a *share name* defined as 'Fileshare'.

Consequently, the correct URL is either "\\IP Address\Fileshare" or "\\NAS\Fileshare". The '/mnt/md0/...' only tells Alt-F where in its storage array to find the shared folder, and is not any part of how the share is seen on the network. Remember, use "/" everywhere EXCEPT Windows, which wants "\"....

You can only use the host name (in Brian's case, 'NAS') if you have a *name server* on your LAN. Many ISP's set their routers to use public name servers (i.e. not the router itself). Check your *Windows* ipconfig, is your primary name server your router?, or a public server?. If the latter, only the IPaddress format will work.

If you want to use the host name, you need to ensure Windows defines your router as the primary name server.

On my own device (DNS-320L) I have disabled the users and public shares. They are not needed at all (unless you actually want to use them!).

/home is linked to the 'Users' folder at device discovery time, and it is not normal to have a linux system without users. /home/userName is the user private area, no other user can access it, and for complementarity 'Public' is a, well... public area that everyone can mess with.
They are not strictly necessary, but the Users folder should exist.

JT:

On Thursday 14 March 2024 at 21:38:17 UTC Tom Schmidt wrote:

Brian,

     One thing that may be causing your Samba share issue may be the name of the share.   Where is your RAID md0 volume mounted?  Is it mounted on /mnt/Volume_1 or is it on /mnt/Fileshare ?  If it is on /mnt/Volume_1 (the default), then you need to create the Fileshare folder under it.  Likewise you can do this for your Users folder.  Below are a couple snapshots from my system to help visualize this.  Under Disk -> Filesystems, I have this for the RAID md0 volume:

Then under Services -> Network -> Samba Configure, I have these Samba shares:

Note that I have the Users folder under Volume_1.  I also share the entire volume, but I have my Windows systems map \\dns-323\Schmidt to access shared files.

Regarding SMB1/SMB2 and wsdd2:  SMB1 is required only if you still have Windows 7 or older clients that need to access the Samba share.  Windows 10 has SMB1 disabled by default, Windows 11 does not support SMB1 at all.  If you do not have Windows 7 or older, then it is recommended to disable SMB1.  SMB1 is required for Computer Browser service to function on Windows 7, but newer Windows 10/11 systems can use WSD (Web Services for Devices) to discover hosted shares.  That is what the "wsdd2" package adds.  It is only required if you want your Windows 10/11 system to be able to browse \\NAS\ for its shares.  It is not required if you directly map \\NAS\Fileshare to a drive letter.

Tom

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[Brian Golek]

Thank you all for your suggestions.  I was out of town this weekend and am checking into your suggestions.  I tried mapping \\NAS as suggested and I can log into the NAS.  See the image below.  Fileshare is not accessible though nor are my files.  I will keep reading through the suggestions.

[Brian Golek]

Tom,

  When I follow your instructions, the Updatepackagelist button is greyed out.  See the image attached.

[Brian Golek]

Tom,

I tried your architecture and now I see Volume_1 when I map \\NAS but it says access denied when I try to get into the folder.  I attached some images.

[Tom Schmidt]

Brian,

     The UpdatePackageList is grayed out because you do not have Alt-F installed on a filesystem.  At the bottom of the image you sent, you can select which filesystem you want to install Alt-F on.  Currently, Alt-F is only installed in the flash memory, so additional packages or updated packages get installed on disk.  Select a filesystem to install Alt-F onto, then you can add and update packages.

Tom

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[Brian Golek]

Thanks Tom, that makes sense.  Can you tell me how to install Alt-F on a filesystem.  Would this be my data on md0 which is what was on my \\IP Address\Volume_1 that I had before with the D-LInk firmware.  Thank you for your help.  I greatly appreciate it.  

[John Travell]

Brian, With all of the difficulties you appear to he having, I am wondering if your existing data is still in the 'Volume_1' file structure carried over from D-link.

Could you look at the 'Folders' item in the 'Setup' menu, and possibly share that with us? Under the buttons you should see a line saying:
'Folder Owner Group Permissions', under that you may see 'md0 root root rwxr-xr-x' or something similar.

Click on 'md0', you should then see a list of folders on md0. Step down each folder listed and hopefully find all of your files still there. 

Once you know where they are, share the top level folder, or maybe delete an empty top level folder and rename the one with the files if you prefer.

JT:

[John Travell]

Brian, the image you shared 'VOLUME_1.PNG' looks to me like you have browsed the network object, for which you need the wsdd2: package.

Click on 'This PC', the ribbon should offer a 'Map Network Drive' option (granted I do not have access to a Windows11 instance to check this).

If you can find this you need to fill in each box in the pop-up and submit it (I am on Linux Mint, not any sort of Windows). 

This should mount the selected share under a drive letter, and done this way (supposedly) does not need the wsdd2: package.

JT:

[Brian Golek]

All of my folders are still there.  See the attached images.  I don't know what you mean by share the top level folder.  On the D-Link software that was Volume_1.

I tried mapping \\IP Address\Volume_1\ but then it asks for a user name and password.  The password I use to access alt-F doesn't work.  Is there a default password?

Also, can you explain your earlier message, " Select a filesystem to install Alt-F onto".

[Brian Golek]

So on the Samba page (see Samba setup image) if I click on the browse button to the right of /mnt/Volume_1 (circled in blue), I get to the browse folder screen.  Do I click on any of the buttons there?  See the 'Which button do I click on' image attached.

Where do I set the password to access the mapped folder in windows?

[Brian Golek]

Dimitri,

  I am not sure I understand your point #2.

2. Make sure your RAID-1 has completed creating and syncing and that the filesystem you created has been checked (I'm assuming both answers are YES).

I can see my files in http when I go to Setup | Folders

My folder structure: is /mnt/NAS/Users/ etc ...(depending how many more folders you want to create)

(at this stage you need to set your folder view to "tree" and go from the top to bottom and set permissions accordingly; this is a bit involved but we can discuss once the time is right!)

It looks like my permissions are already set.  See the permissions image.


Lastly, see my Samba setup.  Does that look good?


if I go to map network drive in Windows Explorer and try to map \\IP Address\Volume_1 it asks for a user name and password but the password I setup in Alt-F doesn't work.

Brian

[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Brian -

Do not worry about point #2 for now; I'm afraid with each email you send to the group and the "help" they are trying to give you, you dig yourself deeper in a hole where eventually it will be difficult to get out. To solve this we need to be methodical.

Let's do this: Send me these 8 screenshots of the Alt-F web interface:

1. Status Page
2. Setup > Host
3. Setup > Users
4. Setup > Folders
5. Disk > Utilities
6. Disk > Filesystems
7. Disk > RAID
8. Services > Network > Samba > Configure

I will take a look and see if I can figure out what you need to do.

Btw, when you moved from the D-Link firmware  to Alt-F, you kept the same disks in the box and you did not do anything that had to do with the disks, correct?

PS: May I ask which country are you in?

Thanks!   

--

Dimitri

Dimi...@gMail.com

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[Joao Cardoso]

Brian,

This thread is going too long... my step by step contribution:

First, a definition: a "network share", or "share" for shorter, is the
definition/publishing of an *existing* disk folder. Keep that in mind.

Based on your screen shots, you have an "Articles" and a "Books" folders
on the root of you disk. You can define network shares for each of them
and made them accessible to File Explorer. That's what the objective of
this contribution.

Start to remove all "Folders" entries in "Samba Setup"; that's enough to
select the entry text under Folder and hit the Delete keyboard key. Do
that for each of the "Folder" entries and hit the "Submit" web Button.
"Samba Setup" should reappear without any entries filled.

Go to the first line and click the Browse button. A new window, "Folders
Browse" showing the start of your existing disk structure will appear,
browse it (click on "md0" then in "Articles", and /mnt/md0/Articles will
appear in the "Selected" box, and press the OK Button. The Folders
Browse window will disappear and Samba Setup will have the first line of
the Folder column filled with /mnt/md0/Articles. In that same line, in
the "Allow" column, select "anybody" and click the "Browseable" check
button.

Click/select the "Enable SMB2" button, then the Submit button.

Congratulation, you have defined a share named Articles based on the
contents of your existing folder /mnt/md0/Articles. Wait a couple of
minutes, because windows is caching your previous shares definitions,
and, on a Windows 10 box, open File Explorer, browse to Network, select
"NAS" (*) (the name you give to the box), and a network folder
"Articles" should appear, with all your Articles sub-folders and files.

(*) Probably you will have to enter \\NAS\Articles or \\NAS_IP\Articles"
in File Explorer, because you have not yet have installed the wsdd2 package.

If that does not happens, reboot your Windows computer. You don't have
to reboot the NAS box.

If that works, try defining in an identical way a new share based on
your "Books" folder.


Report your progress, so we can continue addressing the other questions
you raised, namely SMB1/Window7, Users, and packages (wsdd2).

Ah, in the Alt-F web user interface you can read related online help by
hitting the blue question mark next to the window title.

[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Joao -

I am taking the opportunity to help Brian by offering the following:

Is the WSDD2 package necessary for Windows? And under what circumstances?

I do not use Windows 11 so I can't offer an educated opinion. But with Win7 and Win10 I never had to install a package to be able to access the DNS323 over my windows network. All that's needed (both Win7/10) is going to 'add/remove programs' and put a check mark next to SMB 1.0 'turn windows features ON/OFF'.

Btw, since I am very new with this I prefer simplicity so I've set my box like this:

I named my host is: DNS323

I set my filesystem's (md0) label to: NAS

My folder structure: is /mnt/NAS/etc ... with more subfolders under NAS and of course the default 'Users'. Btw, I set my folder view to "tree" and went all the way from the top down to the bottom folder and set permissions to each folder according to my users needs.

I only need one share, which is: /mnt/NAS. Under 'group" I use '+Users'; I also set the share to be 'browsable' and 'inherit perms'.

As far as SMB1 and SMB2 here's what I found out:

i) These two boxes cannot be empty (duh!). If you attempt to do that, ATL-F by default, will only select SMB2.

ii) With only SMB2 selected, your share will NOT (automatically) show up in Windows Explorer > Network. But, the share is there; if you just start typing the shared path in the Explorer's search bar it will definitely show up but will NOT survive if you restart your PC. Btw, you can still map the share, type the path and give it a letter; then it will ALWAYS be there even if you reboot, etc.

iii) Now, if you MUST always prefer to see your box with its host name appear in your  Explorer > Network (and survive a reboot) then select BOTH SMB1 and SMB2 in Alt-F.   

Btw, I have a dual boot Win7 and Win10 PC and have tested the above thoroughly with both OS.

Ah, and another thing I noticed is that 'Jumbo' frames does not seem to work well, I've set my 5 hosts' NICs to 4K (4088) all around the network, and my switch does support jumbo frames; I did not see any increased throughput at all, on the contrary my WRITE speed suffered even more while READ remained the same. So I am not using that (set to 1500).  

In my opinion, first set up the box as simply as possible and then once comfortable with what the different settings do, start tweaking.

Joao, if you have time please confirm/correct my setup.

Thank you!

PS: Posting my setup screenshots for more clarity:

--

Dimi

Dimi...@gMail.com

[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

Joao -

I think I may have accidentally sent my previous email only to you.

Feel free to "re-publish" any part on  the Forum as needed.

And, btw, there is a correction I need to make:

The part in bold/red should be erased:

" ... ii) With only SMB2 selected, your share will NOT (automatically) show up in Windows Explorer > Network. But, the share is there; if you just start typing the shared path in the Explorer's search bar it will definitely show up but will NOT survive if you restart your PC. Btw, you can still map the share, type the path and give it a letter; then it will ALWAYS be there even if you reboot ... "

--

Dimi

Dimi...@gMail.com

[John Travell]

it will ALWAYS be there even if you reboot ... "

On a Windows10 PC (and before that on Win7) that I (reluctantly!) look after (for a technically innocent relative) if you check the 

'Reconnect at logon' box in the 'Map Network Drive' popup the drive will reconnect after a reboot.

JT:

[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

No John, not only you are quoting the "red" part that I specifically explained should be erased from my previous message and furthermore you are confusing what I said with a totally different thing, i.e. the Windows dialogue when you map a network share to a letter.

I am talking about what happens under Explorer > Network and the hosts that are visible in there (without having to manually search for them).

I don't know the "scientific" explanation behind this behavior but from extensive testing with Windows 7 and 10, if you want your DNS-323 to auto-appear as a host in your Windows Explorer Network AND survive a reboot, both SMB1 and SMB2 must be checked in Alt-F services network configuration. This is btw irrelevant of the Windows legacy setting under "turn Windows features on/off" which must be ON as a prerequisite to access files from Windows on an SMB server.

Perhaps Joao, if he is not too busy, can (briefly) help us understand why it is so.

And one more thing that no one has been able to explain yet is IF and why the wsdd2 package is necessary for Windows 7 and 10 to access a samba share. I think it is not.

By the way Windows 7 (for its time) is in my opinion one of the best versions of this OS. I'm not sure why you are reluctant to use 7. I find it faster than 10 and more streamlined. Yes, of course 7 is lacking features present by default in 10, but that's because it's 6 years older than 10 and the issue can be easily remedied with third party but also Windows add-ons. Admittedly after M$ stopped supporting 7 it is a security liability; but that also can be mitigated. I dual boot Windows 7 and 10 daily and heavily rely on 7th as a software testing/sandbox platform.

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[John Travell]

Off topic....

"By the way Windows 7 (for its time) is in my opinion one of the best versions of this OS. I'm not sure why you are reluctant to use 7"

Because I am a 100% Linux Mint user. I only touch Windows when I cannot avoid it. The last version of Windows routinely used in this house was XP.

(Btw, if your Windows machine will not upgrade to W11, I very strongly recommend migrating to Mint. Send me a PM if this interests you.)

JT:

[Dimitrios G. Panagiotidis]

John -

FWIW, exclusively being a user of ONE and one ONLY OS is fine as a casual PC user. I am using Windows, Apple and Linux depending what I want to do, e.g. I am open to using different OSes, as each presents different challenges thus educational opportunities. I have also tried Chromium, FreeBDS and even FreeDOS but that's only to play old 1980s games (LOL) and many more. Btw, have you tried 'MenuetOS'? It has full x32 AND x64 support, includes a full GUI desktop, a browser, a media player, and a spreadsheet editor. It's built with Assembly language, so it's light-weight that it fits in a single 1.44MB floppy!!! Also features support for USB webcams and handles resolutions up to 1920x1080 (16 million colors).

The term "reluctant" (that you used) implies resistance, e.g. opposing something. IMHO, this is not the best approach. NO technology is perfect, different things have different benefits (or NOT) to offer.

Windows XP was nice (for when it came out) but had problems (mainly security and not being so robust, it "broke" easily). But your having missed out on Win7 and (probably?) Win10 is something I lament; I hope I'm wrong. Windows is not perfect, yes, it has issues, but whether we like it or not it's the mainstream OS and as another piece of technology you just shouldn't avoid getting better acquainted with it.

Btw, how do you know that my machine will not upgrade to Windows 11? I do have a Win11 machine in my home office network; my kids are using it, not me, because I do not like its default interface, I'm happy with my Win10 and occasionally Win7 for software testing.

Btw, I first used Mint since ~2010  when they released the Debian Edition (LMDE) and over the years I find it has become more and more user-friendly and versatile, I like it and, occasionally, I will download a live iso and play with it when I'm trying to educate myself (a bit more) with Linux, but it's not my main OS of choice. Who knows when Windows ...dies, we'll see. I am open to all possibilities.

Btw, I hope we are now clear with the difference in Windows OS between 'Explorer > Network (auto discover Hosts or NOT)'  and the 'Map Network Drive" dialogue?

Lastly, I need someone to explain to me IF the wsdd2 package is absolutely necessary for Win7, 10, or 11. I say it is NOT for the first two, I have no clue for the latter!? I hope Brian figures out why his setup is not ...cooperating. Despite being a novice with Alt-F, I now find it pretty user friendly, at least in its initial setup. Btw, I'm so happy with my Alt-F installation. Unbelievable how this ancient D-Link is still a useful (with its limitations) piece of hardware.

Joao, is there a donate button somewhere?

Thanks!

[Brian Golek]

Joao Cardoso, following your instructions I was able to access my data.  At last.  I was able to create a new folder in the root directory called Volume_1 and I can navigate to it in Windows.  I see how I can copy folders to this new folder in SMB Setup.  Is there any quick way to copy all of my 40 folders to this new Volume_1 folder so I have one folder in the root and all of my previous folders into this new folder.  Otherwise I will have to copy them one at a time I guess.

[Joao Cardoso]

On Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 2:34:41 AM UTC bgo...@gmail.com wrote:

Joao Cardoso, following your instructions I was able to access my data.  At last.

Great!

 

  I was able to create a new folder in the root directory called Volume_1 and I can navigate to it in Windows.

You don't have to call it Volume_1, you know that.

 

  I see how I can copy folders to this new folder in SMB Setup.  Is there any quick way to copy all of my 40 folders to this new Volume_1 folder so I have one folder in the root and all of my previous folders into this new folder.  Otherwise I will have to copy them one at a time I guess.

The faster way for you is to create a new share for the whole disk by specifying "/mnt/md0" as the disk folder of the new share, then Allow, Browsable, Submit as usual.

In MS-windows it will appear as a share named "md0" with all your disk contents, and you can then move your folders as needed.

When you are done, remove the "md0" share definition (not the folder itself!) in "Samba Setup", by clearing the "/mnt/md0" new entry and submitting.

It is not a good idea to have a whole disk as a share -- after all a NAS is not a network-attached gigantic USB pen, or is it?

There are a couple of other issues in your setup that deserves attention, such as files/folders ownership and permissions -- as it is now anybody in the network can delete them!

Win-7 access (SMB1 and/or SMB2), packages (wsdd2) , users... are other possible issues. Let me know if you want to continue.

[Brian Golek]

@Joao Cardoso,

The faster way for you is to create a new share for the whole disk by specifying "/mnt/md0" as the disk folder of the new share, then Allow, Browsable, Submit as usual.

In MS-windows it will appear as a share named "md0" with all your disk contents, and you can then move your folders as needed.

         I realized that I could do what you asked by making md0 the share name so I don't have to copy any of the folders.

When you are done, remove the "md0" share definition (not the folder itself!) in "Samba Setup", by clearing the "/mnt/md0" new entry and submitting.

     Where do I change the share definition, is that the "Share Name" in the 4th column of the Samba setup?  See my attached image.  So if I change the share name to 'FileFolder' then I can navigate to it in Windows explorer by typing \\IP Address\FIleFolder or Host Name\Filefolder.  See the Samba Revised image.

It is not a good idea to have a whole disk as a share -- after all a NAS is not a network-attached gigantic USB pen, or is it?

      The old D-LInk firmare worked this way with all folders under Volume_1.  Why is it not a good idea to have all folders under \\IP address\md0 or \\IPAddress\Filefolder?  It will be easier for the users in the house to map one folder for all of our household documents.

[John Travell]

Sorry for the late post, I have been very busy with other things and only just noticed the final comment

"The old D-LInk firmare worked this way with all folders under Volume_1.  Why is it not a good idea to have all folders under \\IP address\md0 or \\IPAddress\Filefolder?  It will be easier for the users in the house to map one folder for all of our household documents."

What you did not see with D-link is that there were three other hidden partitions on the disk, none of them large, containing the D-link software.

(discovered when I plugged a drive removed from my NAS into my Linux desktop. Windows would not recognise the EXT2 file system!)

On my DSN320L all disks are formatted into a single EXT4 partition with my shared files and the Alt-F operating system all on the same disk. 

(OK, unless you put Alt-F onto a small USB in the rear port on most D-link NAS boxes)

Sharing the entire disk exposes the Alt-F software to potential meddling. This is why it is better to create a 'top level' folder to contain your files and share that. If you just did an 'upgrade' from D-link those hidden partitions may well still be there, taking up a very small part of your disk space.

JT:

[João Cardoso]

Exactly.

And besides the Alt-F folder, the Users folder is created when users are added, the lost+found folder is created by the filesystem... and there are many packages or utilities that populate the root of the filesystem with their own files and folders.

Thus soon your "friendly" users global share turns into a real mess. That's the reason for the existence of the default Public and Users private folders.

As for the Alt-F folder, which is created only when additional Alt-F on-disk packages are installed, the recommended installation location, in order of preference, is:

1-a dedicated, always plugged small USB pen (it must be ext3 or ext4 formatted before using it, use Disk->Filesystem)

2-the 'sda4' or 'sdb4' leftovers from d-link, which are not needed anymore, and must also be ext3 or ext4 formatted (they are ext2 pre-formatted and usable, but not recommendable)

3-lastly, In your main filesystem