Actiontec V1000H USB External Storage not reading properly

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R

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Oct 30, 2016
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Hi. I'm suck and hoping to find help here. Thank you for reading my post.

I have an Actiontec V1000H router/modem provided by my ISP.
The modem/router has a USB port that is active and works.
The USB port reads (so I've been told) NTFS and FAT drives.
I have a 250gb external hard drive that was formatted FAT32.
The drive was hooked up to the router, and I could read/write files from the hard drive.
The drive was originally purchased as a FAT32 format.

To start fresh, I reformatted the 250gb drive using the software FAT32 Format.
The drive, when attached to the Actiontec V1000H and viewed in the router GUI reads correctly as 250gb.

BUT when I connect to the drive via my computers (either iMac or PC), I am told the drive is only 21M in size and that the drive is full. I cannot write anything to the drive.

If I hook up a USB key/stick to the USB port on the Actiontec V1000H for testing purposes, I am able to read/write to the USB stick.

I would like to read/write to my 250gb drive but don't know where to turn to fix my issue.
The drive is reporting correctly in the Actiontec V1000H GUI, but not otherwise.

Thank you for your assistance.
 
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R

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Commendable
Oct 30, 2016
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1,510
When attached to my PC for formatting, and using the Fat32Format utility, the drive looks like a regular external 250GB drive. The properties report as a 250gb Fat32 formatted drive. I will post screen captures later.

Regarding drive mapping, I have not mapped the drive yet due to the errors explained above. But I am connecting to the drive from Windows Explorer by typing in \\IP_Address of the router.

This ^^ is how I was able to access the external USB drive attached to the router previously.

Thank you.

 
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A

Alabalcho

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Jan 13, 2011
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Every Windows OS since Win95 can format FAT32 disks, you don't need external utilities.

Connect your drive to a computer, open DIsk Manager, delete (or just reformat) all partitions.
 
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R

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Oct 30, 2016
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Ok. New problem now. I can read/write files to the 250gb drive from my Windows 7 machine but NOT my iMac. So half the problem has been solved.

Whenever I try to copy a file to the drive I'm told "The item 'test.doc' can't be copied because there isn't enough free space".

This is crap because the hard drive is formatted Fat 32 and is completely empty.

Looking at the mounted devices in terminal tells me that the drive is mounted by there is zero free space.

So I'm stumped. If I attached the drive directly to my imac, i'm able to copy files no problem.

Thank you.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Question regarding " But I am connecting to the drive from Windows Explorer by typing in \\IP_Address of the router."

What IP address are you using?

I just do not see a router based USB stick getting its own IP..... Drive letter yes.

If you go into Map a Network Drive and Browse can you see the USB drive and map it - i.e. without using an IP address? Be sure to select an unused drive letter designation.

 
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R

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Oct 30, 2016
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I'm using the IP address of the router, so you are correct. The external USB hard drive (it is not a stick) is using the IP address of the router itself.

I am unable to map to the drive without the IP address.

--

So riddle me this Batman.

On my Windows 7 box I am able to read/write to the USB drive hanging off the router no problem.

On the iMac, using Finder, I am unable to write to the USB. BUT if I go in to terminal, I am able to read/write from the USB drive no problem.

Now my question is, WHY does the drive function properly from terminal but not from Finder?

Thanks for your time.
 
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R

Remoter

Commendable
Oct 30, 2016
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Thanks for the link. I'll pay attention to the slashes and see if that's my issue. I'll post a follow-up tonight.

Strange that the slashes would cause the problem of not being able to copy files using Finder, but not pose any issues with a copy using the 'cp' command in terminal.

Cheers.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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The slashes are syntax. You must use the correct syntax for computer "commands" to be recognized and executed.

I.e., "//" means something different than "\\".

Unfortunately is not at all uncommon to type in syntax just out of habit. Windows and Apple use different pathname slashings as presented in the link.
 
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R

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Well something is screwy here.

First up, I am attempting to connect to the USB hard drive hanging off the router with smb://IP_address.

The imac then asks how I want to connect. Either as a guest or as a user and I type in my password. I'm then connected to the drive.

BUT I cannot copy anything to the drive. I'm told that the drive is full.

AND if I close the Finder window and then try to open it again, I'm told that I cannot connect to the drive and I have to go through the whole mapping process again. This later process is new, as before even though I couldn't copy to the drive, the drive remained in Finder.

I'm at a loss here. Gesh.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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The fact that something happened (i.e., "This later process is new".....) indicates that there may be some controllable factors about. Meaning that you can replicate some result in a consistent manner. Be that result good or bad.

Mainly because you can duplicate what happens via the smb://IP_Address

[Note: you do not need to hide that IP address per se. It is within the well known private IP address ranges (192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255).]

First, just to confirm, all is well on the Windows side - correct?

And the USB drive still works via terminal per your November 1, 9:53 AM post - correct?

So that narrows things down to something with respect to "Finder". What size/capacity, if any, is being reported via "the drive is full".

I noted a reference (Actiontec's website) to using 192.168.1.254 as the IP address necessary - are you using that IP or something else?

Unfortunately I not have an imac to do any testing. Found this Finder related posting at Apple's website:

"Make sure the router is setup properly to place the USB connected drive on your LAN then in OS X Finder click the Go menu item then Connect to Server entry and type in SMB://And the Name the router gives the drive or the IP address of the router. You also have to have Windows sharing (SMB) turned on in the Sharing section of System Preferences under the Option button for file sharing."

Can you see what name is the router giving to the drive? Try specifying a destination folder; e.g., "smb://IP-address/storage" when mapping with Finder.
 
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R

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Oct 30, 2016
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Thanks for your help.

Here is where things are at:

1. I can copy to the drive using Terminal and the cp command.

2. I cannot copy using Finder

3. If I exit the finder window after connecting to the drive (as your have outlined above) I am immediately disconnected from the drive. This is a new problem and I don't understand why this is happening. In the past I stayed connected to the drive, even after exiting finder.

4. I have not tried to connect with my Win7 box recently. I will give that a try later today/tomorrow.

5. According to the command 'df -h' the drive is mounted on /Volumes/storage.
The drive is 20Mi in size, 20Mi are used, with 0Bi available.
Capacity is 100%
iused is 0
ifree if 18446744073709551615
%iused is 0%

6. Connecting as smb://192.168.1.254/storgae/usb1_1 gives me the same issues as outlined above.

Thanks again.
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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Where is /Volumes/storage? Can you see that folder any other way and otherwise learn more about that drive?

Create folder on the external hard drive named "TestFolder".

The idea is to set up some known constant location to map via Windows and Finder.
 
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R

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Commendable
Oct 30, 2016
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Hi.

Ok. The Win7 box still connects and copies/deletes files no problem.

Volumes/storage comes up under SHARED area on Finder on the iMac.

I am able to make a folder in both Finder and from Terminal. But I cannot copy any files using Finder. I can still copy in terminal using the CP command. I can delete files in both Finder and terminal.

I turned off the DLNA server option from the router to see if that made a difference; it does not.

Volume information from Finder is as follows:

Kind: Volume
Server: smb://192.168.1.254/storage/usb1_1
Created: Today's date
Modified: Today's date
Format: SMB (other)
Capacity: 21 MB
Availability: Zero bytes
Used: 20,971,520 bytes (21 MB on disk)

Last opened: Dec 31, 1969, 4:00pm

Thank you.
 
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