RUT955 USB Tools (legacy WebUI)

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The information in this page is updated in accordance with firmware version RUT9XX_R_00.06.09.5.

Note: this user manual page is for RUT955's old WebUI style available in earlier FW versions. Click here for information based on the latest FW version.

Summary

The USB Tools page is used to manage services related to the device's USB connector.

This chapter of the user manual provides an overview of the USB Tools page in RUT955 devices.


USB Tools is additional software that can be installed from the System → Package Manager page.

Network Shares

The Network Shares section is used to manage Network-attached storage (NAS) such as USB drives, SD cards and hard drives. The router supports the following file system architectures:

  • FAT32*
  • NTFS**

* supports SD cards with a capacity of up to 32 GB
** NTFS support available from FW version RUT9XX_R_00.05.02 and newer

Mounted File Systems


The Mounted File Systems tab displays information on mounted USB drives and SD cards. To view an attached drive, connect it to the router and click the Refresh button:

Rut955 webui services usb tools network shares mounted file systems v2.png

field name description
Filesystem Name of the Linux filesystem. For better clarity, lets take a closer look at the filesystem name from the example above:
  • /dev - the directory of device files. Everything in the Linux filesystem is either a file or a directory; /dev is the location of device files. Every device is represented by a file in the /dev directory
  • sd - identifies block devices* (capable of carrying data)
  • a - the letter immediately after sd signifies the order in which the device was first found (a, b, c, ...)
  • 1 - signifies the partition on the device
So the full string /dev/sda1 denotes the first partition of the first block device
* SD cards will be identified as MultiMediaCard (MMC) devices and the identifier will begin with the mmcblk string instead of sd
Mount Point A mount point is a directory in the currently accessible filesystem on which an additional filesystem is mounted (i.e., logically attached). The /mnt directory and its subdirectories are intended for use as the temporary mount points for mounting storage devices. The mount point becomes the root directory of the newly added filesystem, and that filesystem becomes accessible from that directory
Available Amount of available memory in the mounted drive. This column also displays the total capacity of the drive
Used Amount of used memory in the mounted drive
Safely Remove Disk Unmounts the drive so that it becomes safe to disconnect from the router

SSH commands


Devices can be mounted or unmounted manually by using SSH commands.

Mounting

The mount command attaches a filesystem to the file hierarchy. The basic syntax for the command is:

mount -t type device dir

Where:

  • -t - the filesystem type. If this value is omitted, the command will try to determine the type automatically
  • device - file name of the device. Refer to section 2.1 for examples
  • dir - directory that will be used as the mount point for the device. Refer to section 2.1 for examples

Example command:

mount -t ntfs /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
Unmounting

The umount command detaches filesystem from the file hierarchy. The basic syntax for the command is:

umount device

Example command:

umount /dev/sda1

Using the umount command is analogous to clicking the "Safely Remove Disk" button. Therefore, the attached drive can be safely disconnected after using umount to detach it.

Samba


Samba is a software solution for using the Server Message Block (SMB) networking protocol, which provides shared file access between nodes on a computer network. The Samba tab in RUT955's WebUI is used to configure network access (look to section 2.2.1 for details) to storage devices connected to the router's MicroSD slot or USB connector.

Rut955 webui services usb tools network shares samba v1.png

Field Value Description
Enable yes | no; default: no Turns Samba on or off.
Hostname string; default: Router_share Name of the Samba server.
Description string; default: Router_share Short description about the Same server.
Workgroup string; default: WORKGROUP Name of the server's workgroup.

Shared Directories


The Shared Directories section is used to configure access to connected storage drives or individual directories contained in those drives. A shared directory must be added before it can be configured:

Rut955 webui services usb tools network shares samba shared directories v2.png

Field Value Description
Name string; default: none Name of a shared directory.
Path filepath; default: /mnt/ Path to a shared directory. To share an entire drive, choose an automatically generated path from this drop-down box (for example, /mnt/sda1). To share a specific directory on the drive, specify the full path to that directory (for example, /mnt/sda1/shared/video).
Allow guests yes | no; default: no Turns guest access on or off. Guest access allows anonymous connections to a Shared Directory.
Allowed users samba user(s); default: none Samba user(s) that are permitted to access a Shared Directory. Users can be created from the Samba Users section.
Read-only yes | no; default: no Makes a Shared Directory read-only, which means the directory can only be accessed to view and read files (not write).
Delete -(interactive button) Deletes a Shared Directory configuration.

Samba Users


Samba users are users that can be granted access to shared directories (as described in section 2.2.1. To add a new user, enter a custom username and password and click the 'Add' button:

Rut955 webui services usb tools network shares samba users v1.png

Field Value Description
Username string; default: none Custom name for a new Samba user.
Password string; default: none Password for a new Samba user.

Printer Server

The Printer Server provides the possibility to configure access to a printer that is connected to the USB port of the RUT955 device. The Add button lets you add and manage additional printers. To configure a printer instance, click the Edit button located next to it:

Rut955 webui services usb tools printer server v2.png

Field Value Description
Enable yes | no; default: no Turns USB printer support on or off.
Device filepath; default: /dev/usb/lp0 Printer's device file.
Port integer [9100..9109]; default: 9100 Printer's TCP port.
Bidirectional mode off | on; default: on Turns bidirectional mode on or off.

For step-by-step instructions on how to use a printer with RUT955, click here

USB to Serial

The router's USB connector can also be used as a serial port. The only type of serial connection available via USB is Over IP.

In Over IP serial type the device provides a connection to a TCP/IP network for the devices connected via the serial interface. The figure below is an example of available configuration fields for the Over IP serial type and the table below provides information on these fields:

Rut955 webui services usb tools usb tools configuration serial type over ip v1.png

Field Value Description
Enabled yes | no; default: no Turns the USB to Serial service on or off.
Baud rate 300 | 1200 | 2400 | 4800 | 9600 | 19200 | 38400 | 57600 | 115200; default: 115200 Data rate for serial data transmission (in bits per second).
Data bits 5 | 6 | 7 | 8; default: 8 Number of data bits for each character
Parity None | Odd | Even; default: None In serial transmission, parity is a method of detecting errors. An extra data bit is sent with each data character, arranged so that the number of 1 bits in each character, including the parity bit, is always odd or always even. If a byte is received with the wrong number of 1s, then it must have been corrupted. However, an even number of errors can pass the parity check.
  • None (N) - no parity method is used
  • Odd (O) - the parity bit is set so that the number of "logical ones (1s)" has to be odd.
  • Even (E) - the parity bit is set so that the number of "logical ones (1s)" has to be even.
Stop bits 1 | 2; default: 1 Stop bits sent at the end of every character allow the receiving signal hardware to detect the end of a character and to resynchronise with the character stream. Electronic devices usually use one stop bit. Two stop bits are required if slow electromechanical devices are used.
Flow control None | RTS/CTS | Xon/Xoff; default: None In many circumstances a transmitter might be able to send data faster than the receiver is able to process it. To cope with this, serial lines often incorporate a "handshaking" method, usually distinguished between hardware and software handshaking.
  • RTS/CTS - hardware handshaking. RTS and CTS are turned OFF and ON from alternate ends to control data flow, for instance when a buffer is almost full.
  • Xon/Xoff - software handshaking. The Xon and Xoff characters are sent by the receiver to the sender to control when the sender will send data, i.e., these characters go in the opposite direction to the data being sent. The circuit starts in the "sending allowed" state. When the receiver's buffers approach capacity, the receiver sends the Xoff character to tell the sender to stop sending data. Later, after the receiver has emptied its buffers, it sends an Xon character to tell the sender to resume transmission.
Serial type Over IP; default: Over IP Specifies the serial connection type.
Protocol TCP; default: TCP Protocol used in the communication process
Mode Server | Client | Bidirect; default: Server The role of this device in the serial connection:
  • Server - the device waits for incoming connections
  • Client - the device initiates the connection.
  • Bidirect - acts as client by default but waits for incoming connections at the same time.
No leading zeros yes | no; default: no When checked, indicates that the first hex zeros should be skipped
Client settings: Server address ip | host; default: none IP address or hostname of the server that the client will connect to
Client settings: TCP port integer [0..65535]; default: none Server's port number
Client settings: Reconnect interval (s) integer; default: none Time period (in seconds) between reconnection attempts in case a connection fails
Server settings: TCP port integer [0..65535]; default: none Internal TCP port number used to listen for incoming connections
Server settings: Timeout (s) integer; default: none Disconnects clients after they remain inactive for an amount time (in seconds) specified in this field
Output OC Output | Relay Output; default: OC Output Output to indicate that the application switched from client (default) to server state (this field becomes visible only in Bidirect mode)
Output state 1 | 0; default: 0 Output state value during which the application reverts to server mode (this field becomes visible only in Bidirect mode)

USB Modem

Click here for step-by-step USB modem set up instructions.

RUT955 devices are compatible with the following USB modems:

  • Huawei MS2131i-8