USB port uses
I am trying to figure out how the USB ports on the Firewalla Gold SE or Plus can be used.
I find no real documentation on their configuration or capabilities.
I am very interested in these 2 possible configurations.
Firewalla Gold SE, Firewalla Gold Plus
1. Can you plug a 3rd party WiFi USB adapter into the USB port and have another SSID (WiFi access point)?.
2. if I plug in a USB Flash drive into the USB port, can I access it and use it for network storage?
This is a very common use for a USB port. The Firewalla is suppose to be very "user friendly". I would like to know if this common feature is supported, without me installing additional linux software. Thanks.
-
Are you a Firewalla employee? If not, than I guess you are just trying to help, and I should not be critical of your response.
BUT, if you are a Firewalla employee, (which your label implies) I do not want to be unreasonable, since you did respond fairly quickly. I am not sure if you really read my question. It was stated VERY clearly. I even numbered it #1 & #2. You certainly did not give me a useful answer. To be clear, your answer is NOT helpful
YES, I am quite aware that this is a Linux platform. and YES, there are lots of things you can program on Linux. But I should NOT need to write code and install software for basic features (using the included USB port).
Also, in a previous discussion on this site, another Firewalla employee response stated.
Question "Does this sort of configuration get deleted when I reboot my FW Gold?"
Answer "Gold reboot always wipe things out. ".
WOW, is this correct? IF I added code, I would need to reinstall it every time I rebooted? Seems crazy. No one seemed to comment on the implications of this. Please confirm...
If this is incorrect, than it makes any changes quite cumbersome (to say the least).
So, am I also correct that your answer to BOTH questions should be NO. As delivered, you cannot use the USB port for a USB flash drive or a USB WiFi adapter?
I am just trying to figure out the actual capabilities of this hardware. I should not need to hunt for hours thru chat sites to figure it out.
-
Sorry, I am not clear.
If you know how to use linux (for example to mount a USB drive), yes, it will work. Same for other devices.
As of keep the configuration persistent, please see https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360054056754-Customized-Scripting
-
You did not answer my question on your status so, I will assume you are a Firewalla employee.
I felt I was very clear in my questions. You did not give me a useful answer. If you do not understand what I wrote, please show it to another person. My question should have been easily understood.
To try to make it even more clear, I will restate what I am guessing is the answer.
---------------------
As delivered, the USB ports cannot be used for anything. To use the USB ports, additional software and or code will be needed.
Custom code will need to be written to use the USB ports, otherwise they have no use.
If you do add programs and/or processes to the existing Linux O/S, whenever the firewalla is rebooted, EVERYTHING YOU CUSTOMIZED WILL BE DELETED.
This means that you will need to MANUALLY reload any of your customization or write a custom script to automatically reinstall whatever modifications you have made.
Is this really true? Your "As of keep the configuration persistent" is a confusing phrase, but seems to say that.
I have never seen any device that on re-boot give you NO option and ALWAYS wipes out all changes and resets the device to the initial configuration.
-
The response he gave actually did answer your question. The USB's are not "locked" meaning you can do whatever you want with them. This may include plugging in a USB wifi dongle or attaching an external hard drive. However, there are hundreds if not thousands of different TYPES of devices, let alone actual devices in each category. Some drivers will exist natively in linux, and some will not. He did not say that custom code would be needed, just that you would need to know basic linux operation. Whether that is installing the appropriate drivers or as simple as just mounting the usb device, is entirely dependent upon what device YOU intend to be using, and how you intend to be using it. Without more information from you regarding what device specifically it is, there is no way for him or anyone to answer that question.
Based on your "guess" at the answer, you are not a linux user. That's ok, not everyone is. You can write files to the file system and they will reside there until otherwise deleted by you. However, processes/scripts/jobs that you would like to have running each time you reboot, need to be added manually once so that the system knows it should execute them each time. This is not special to Firewalla, but the way that operating systems in general work. In windows/Mac you have a nice GUI that allows you to do all of this with a few mouse clicks, but on linux everything needs to be set up manually at least the first time. Once you have set it up, it will do it automatically each time.
The built in Firewalla front end is very useful and easy to use, but if you want to go "under the hood", you are going to be working directly with the linux operating system.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
5 comments