Archer C60 storage full error

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TiMoxD
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2022 5:12 pm

Archer C60 storage full error

Post by TiMoxD »

Just bought an Archer C60 v2 when I saw it is supported. Installed the factory.bin Gargoyle version 1.13.

Upon boot, it keeps displaying the following message every time...
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)

Recently I read a topic where someone else had the same problem and based on information in that topic I did the following:
1. I rebooted the router - did not help
2. Powered off and rebooted - did not help
3. Tried OpenWrt and seems to work just fine (but I need Gargoyle for the Quota control stuff)

This error does not go away no matter how long I wait. Plus, all my settings are wiped when the router is restarted.

Any ideas?

Here is the output from df -h
root@Gargoyle:~# df -h
Filesystem Size Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/root 5.8M 5.8M 0 100% /rom
tmpfs 28.9M 92.0K 28.9M 0% /tmp
tmpfs 28.9M 120.0K 28.8M 0% /tmp/root
overlayfs:/tmp/root 28.9M 120.0K 28.8M 0% /
tmpfs 512.0K 0 512.0K 0% /dev

Lantis
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Posts: 6735
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:33 am
Location: Australia

Re: Archer C60 storage full error

Post by Lantis »

When you first flash this device, does it show the message straight away, or does it only come up the first time you try to make a change (e.g. save settings on the connection screen).

If it is straight away, then it sounds like the image is too big, which is unfortunate that it wasn't caught before the release, but it does happen because we can't test every single device.
The only way to solve that is to remove pieces from the firmware until it is small enough to fit. With a tight fit like this, it is likely that you would need to strip it to the point it will boot successfully and retain USB functionality such that you can put external storage in it and then gain additional space.

If it only freezes on first change, you might be able to mount external storage, but it might fill before this operation is successful, taking you back to my previous paragraph.

I am hoping to switch Gargoyle to a much smaller SSL library in future versions which should save almost 500KB. Doesn't sound like much but it all helps
http://lantisproject.com/downloads/gargoyle_ispyisail.php for the latest releases
Please be respectful when posting. I do this in my free time on a volunteer basis.

TiMoxD
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2022 5:12 pm

Re: Archer C60 storage full error

Post by TiMoxD »

First of all I really appreciate your response and help.

Secondly, I'd like to note that this router has no external USB, and it has 8MB of flash memory, and 64MB of RAM. And yes it shows this message straight away when I first open the router.

The question is, how come the flash memory is insufficient when it's 8MB and the image size is 7.7MB? How could I make sure that this is really the problem before trying to build a new .bin ?

Lantis
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Posts: 6735
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:33 am
Location: Australia

Re: Archer C60 storage full error

Post by Lantis »

Right my apologies I just assumed it had USB. That in itself probably indicates that the kernel and firmware are a little bloated with things you don’t need. We don’t have a smaller profile for ath10k.

That’s a complicated question, but to try and summarise the key components:
7.7MB out of 8MB leaves 300KB.
OpenWrt typically uses block size of 256KB, so you get 1 blocks in this space.
As soon as you write 1 piece of data (e.g. the configuration, or data initialising during boot), that’s 1 block gone instantly.

Basically if it’s close to the limit (but not over it), it is possible to produce a flashable/bootable image, that instantly locks itself.

A “logread” immediately after booting might give a clearer picture of what exactly is happening.
http://lantisproject.com/downloads/gargoyle_ispyisail.php for the latest releases
Please be respectful when posting. I do this in my free time on a volunteer basis.

TiMoxD
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2022 5:12 pm

Re: Archer C60 storage full error

Post by TiMoxD »

I installed the logread plugin, but as soon as I restart the router, all plugins and even configs are gone, so I can't access the logs. But before rebooting, the logs seems fine (nothing indicate shortage of memory or so)

I am currently trying to compile a smaller build image. Do you have any recommendations for kernels or packages I can delete? Anything just to give me that bit of space...

Lantis
Moderator
Posts: 6735
Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2015 5:33 am
Location: Australia

Re: Archer C60 storage full error

Post by Lantis »

Unset usb-storage-full and usb-storage-noshare would be a big start. After that it gets more tricky.
http://lantisproject.com/downloads/gargoyle_ispyisail.php for the latest releases
Please be respectful when posting. I do this in my free time on a volunteer basis.

TiMoxD
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2022 5:12 pm

Re: Archer C60 storage full error

Post by TiMoxD »

If anyone has a similar problem, Lantis's solution worked perfectly. Anyone with the same model "Archer C60 v2" can find the prebuilt .bin file without usb support here:
If you have a different model with the same problem, you can built your own custom .bin file with the edits in it. (check Lantis's reply): viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13976

Garth2079
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2022 3:31 am

Re: Archer C60 storage full error

Post by Garth2079 »

I was seeing the same problem with an Archer C60 v3.
Problem not present with OpenWRT 19.07.8.

I used the same firmware image referenced in this thread (labelled C60 v2), overriding the "incorrect hardware" warning and it is working ok.
Plug-ins page now shows Root Drive 384.000 kBytes Total, 144.000 kBytes Free (only config so far is switching on Wifi and switching off web usage monitor).

All pages show no errors, but I don't plan to use QoS so can't confirm.
Wifi works on 2.4 and 5.0 frequencies. (70mbit max via phone wifi)

YMMV.

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