need NTFS and unicode on my linksys NSLU2 NAS, help!

July 27, 2007 9:11 PM

Hello, I need some suggestions from the hive on what is the best firmware for my linksys nslu2. I need: - NTFS/FAT32 - I have some mp3s with unicode filenames (non english filenames) and I would like to preserve those when copying it over the nslu2. Hopefully: - a BT client I am not sure if the unicode filename is possible, I looked around and couldn't find documentation and NTFS seems iffy? was hoping to get the final word here or links to docs/websites that I can follow. Thanks,!
posted by brinks to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Whatever you may think of NTFS, FAT32 is worse. It's older. It's less robust. It's more limited. If you have the ability to choose between them, you're almost certainly going to be better off with NTFS.

I don't know if NTFS supports unicode in filenames, though I doubt it. But if NTFS doesn't support it, there's no way FAT32 does.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:46 PM on July 27, 2007

Although the actual implementation of the system is what's really going to decide what you can use in the file names, NTFS does support Unicode (much as I hate, hate, hate NTFS); FAT16/32 do not. Reference (Ext3 and other Linux-native filesystems do though, but you seem to want FAT or NTFS.)

Unicode file names for MP3s seems to be what I'd call a "misplaced improvement." Why, exactly, do you need the file names to have Unicode support? Most modern MP3 browsers will use the ID3 tags instead of the file names anyway, and ID3 supports Unicode.

If you move your carefully-created Unicode names from the filename into the "Track" ID3 tag, they'll be a whole lot more robust; you'll be able to basically pick your filesystem with impunity, and you won't have to worry that at some point they'll get all messed up, since they'll be stored safely inside the file. (Also, this means you have to worry less about about whether Samba or whatever other apps you want to run on the NSLU2, and the programs you're going to use to access them from your client machine, will deal with Unicode file names. A quick Google of "samba unicode filenames" makes it seem like there are issues in that area.)

I'd just be concerned that you're backing yourself into a corner with that requirement.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:19 PM on July 27, 2007

Response by poster: Kadin2048:

I understand what you are saying but I think I am screwed. Since I have a lot of mp3s that use unicode in the filenames, once I transfer them over, it gets renamed to "___.mp3" or something like that. so after like 2 songs, it will ask me to overwrite since "___.mp3" already exists..

I would have to renamed all the songs to something normal. or try to find a file system that my NSLU2 can use and preserve the unicode.. I was hoping a FAT32/NTFS filesystem can be used in my case.
posted by brinks at 12:58 AM on July 28, 2007

The Paragon implementation of NTFS is documented as supporting support Unicode, and works with Unslung 6.8. (Follow the instructions in the second link.)

You may be better off sticking with the base Linksys firmware, though that limits you wrt additional features: it has better codepage support than Unslung. But I'd take Kadin2048's advice on using ID3 rather than dealing with the arcane world of filesystem and character set support.
posted by holgate at 1:08 AM on July 28, 2007

brinks: what filesystem is used to store your files now? What firmware is on your NSLU2?

Also, look at these pages about language support in the Linksys firmware and mounting FAT volumes with the appropriate codepage and character set in third-party firmware.
posted by holgate at 1:14 AM on July 28, 2007

Response by poster: holgate:

I am on V2.3R63.

Currently, I got 1 ext3 and 1 NTFS drive hooked up. but my linksys would crash/hangs sometimes, so I was thinking of using a diff fw to bypass it all and try to add a few features(BT client).

I read those howto tomorrow.. thanks.

Also, if I get a NTFS to mount properly in unslung, would unicode be supported automatically? Since right now, the NTFS volume is decently supported but the unit hangs/crashes and is slow...
posted by brinks at 2:37 AM on July 28, 2007