TL-WDR4300 'Router Storage full (read only)...' after 1.12 flash

[kilmer009]

I hope I didn't just brick my router (yet).

Complete newb to Gargoyle, but the latest version of my stock FW was garbage so I thought I'd try it.

I thought I read through the instructions very carefully.

I upgraded the stock FW to the latest version from TP-LINK, and then directly to Gargoyle v1.12 stable (via factory.bin file)

The router flashed great, booted right into Gargoyle, but now I'm seeing an error:

'Router storage full (read only) or is mounted in volatile storage (RAM). It will not function correctly, or will revert to a previous state after rebooting. Restore default configuration or flash new firmware (without preserving settings).'

Was I wrong in assuming that 1.12 stable was fully compatible? Should I have flashed from the original FW, not the latest version?

I'm freaked out that I'll brick it if I reboot.

What's my next step here?
(Sorry, tried to search the forum but the search wasn't functioning for me for some reason)

[Lantis]

That message can appear during the first minute after booting as a false positive until the full filesystem has been mounted.
The problem hasn't resolved itself has it?

If not, it would be helpful to see the output of

Code: Select all

df -h

on the command line

It is possible that the firmware is too large for the device now, but I have not seen any other reports, even from similar devices. The other issue is that when first boot configurations are generated they can then fill the device if it is borderline oversized.

One solution would be a USB Extroot (the functionality to do this has been left in) before doing anything else, or that we cut back the usb profile yet again, however there is not much left to cut out.

Your device won't miraculously brick due to this issue however. Read only file system simply prevents you from filling the flash entirely. But it does mean that configuration is not persistent.
Giving it a reboot may even be helpful.

[ispyisail]

One solution would be a USB Extroot

This is what I did.

[kilmer009]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the insight!

>The problem hasn't resolved itself has it?

So the error appeared on the first screen right after first boot, and disappeared when I clicked on another page in the side bar. It has not come back. Does that mean it's cleared (if it's not persistent)? Also, I had to log in again after some time and it has not appeared again.

>command line

Sorry for being a newblet but I don't see this in in the UI. Can you clarify?

>USB Extroot

I'll assume you mean the USB Storage/shared disks? Regardless (and I'm embarrassed to say this) but I don't have a USB available right now.

It's good to hear that this won't brick the device. I'll try a reboot and see how things go.

Just FYI; Plugins shows:
Root Drive 960.000 kBytes Total, 716.000 kBytes Free

So it doesn't look full.

I'll reboot once I have a chance and report back.

[ispyisail]

https://www.gargoyle-router.com/wiki/do ... sb_storage

[Lantis]

Sounds like it's not really full.
During the boot process it does lots of rearrangements of the disk's before it reaches a steady state.
At an early stage, this can appear as if the disk is full.

The command line is described here
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8505
Generally only needed for advanced usage or debugging.

You have 700kB free, which is a bit, but not heaps of space.
If you wanted to use any plugins, definitely worth getting a small stick (pretty hard to find anything under 8GB now) and attach it as an external plugin root (no need to go full Extroot with that much space).

Anyway, issue sounds resolved.

[kilmer009]

Hey guys,

Yup, rebooted and all is good!

Thanks again for helping out, I appreciate it.

It's a great firmware, I like the dynamic components feature. Surprised I haven't heard of it until now. I'll give the extroot usb a try. I do have some sticks somewhere, just not handy atm.

Cheers!