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Scott Leonard
2025-11-22 11:40:40 -08:00
parent 871f1d1b68
commit 09b9678ccb
1 changed files with 6 additions and 64 deletions
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extroot.txt
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@@ -5,35 +5,18 @@ single ext4 partition, no data copied from internal flash.
Assumptions (based on your box): Assumptions (based on your box):
Device: GL-iNet XE300 Device: GL-iNet XE300, OpenWRT 24.10.4
OpenWrt: 24.x, fresh flash
SD card location: built-in slot
Detected as: /dev/sda with one partition /dev/sda1 Detected as: /dev/sda with one partition /dev/sda1
Overlay: You don't care about existing data on the card or in the old overlay
1. Insert card & install required packages 1. Insert card & install required packages
Insert the microSD card.
SSH into the router (root@192.168.x.x, etc).
Install the extroot-related packages:
opkg update opkg update
opkg install block-mount kmod-fs-ext4 kmod-usb-storage e2fsprogs opkg install block-mount kmod-fs-ext4 kmod-usb-storage e2fsprogs
What they do:
block-mount - block info, fstab handling, extroot logic block-mount - block info, fstab handling, extroot logic
kmod-fs-ext4 - kernel driver for ext4 filesystem kmod-fs-ext4 - kernel driver for ext4 filesystem
kmod-usb-storage - makes the SD slot show up as /dev/sda kmod-usb-storage - makes the SD slot show up as /dev/sda
e2fsprogs - provides mkfs.ext4 e2fsprogs - provides mkfs.ext4
2. Confirm the SD card is /dev/sda and /dev/sda1 2. Confirm the SD card is /dev/sda and /dev/sda1
@@ -43,42 +26,25 @@ Check dmesg:
dmesg | grep -i sd dmesg | grep -i sd
On the XE300 you should see: Sample Output:
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 1000005632 512-byte logical blocks: (512 GB/477 GiB) sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 1000005632 512-byte logical blocks: (512 GB/477 GiB)
sda: sda1 sda: sda1
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk
This tells you:
Disk: /dev/sda
Partition already present: /dev/sda1
If /dev/sda1 is missing, you'd need to partition manually. In your case, it exists already.
3. Format /dev/sda1 as ext4 for extroot 3. Format /dev/sda1 as ext4 for extroot
mkfs.ext4 -L extroot /dev/sda1 mkfs.ext4 -L extroot /dev/sda1
If you get a warning like “contains an exfat file system - Proceed anyway? (y,N)”, type:
y
You should see output ending with success and a UUID. You should see output ending with success and a UUID.
4. Grab the UUID and create the extroot fstab entry 4. Grab the UUID and create the extroot fstab entry
UUID=$(block info | awk -F\" '/sda1/ {print $2}') UUID=$(block info | awk -F\" '/sda1/ {print $2}')
echo $UUID echo $UUID
Sample UUID output: Sample UUID output:
4851f00e-696b-47d3-a529-82c2aca292db 4851f00e-696b-47d3-a529-82c2aca292db
Now write the minimal extroot config using uci: Now write the minimal extroot config using uci:
uci set fstab.extroot="mount" uci set fstab.extroot="mount"
@@ -88,7 +54,6 @@ uci set fstab.extroot.fstype="ext4"
uci set fstab.extroot.enabled="1" uci set fstab.extroot.enabled="1"
uci commit fstab uci commit fstab
Sanity-check the file: Sanity-check the file:
cat /etc/config/fstab cat /etc/config/fstab
@@ -111,15 +76,8 @@ config mount 'extroot'
option enabled '1' option enabled '1'
Not included:
No /rwm mount
No copy of internal overlay
This is a clean, SD-only overlay setup.
5. Reboot into extroot 5. Reboot into extroot
reboot reboot
Wait for the router to come back up, then SSH in again. Wait for the router to come back up, then SSH in again.
@@ -140,26 +98,10 @@ overlayfs:/overlay 468.3G 2.1M 444.4G 0% /
Explanation: Explanation:
/dev/root at /rom → read-only squashfs from flash /dev/root at /rom → read-only squashfs from flash
/dev/sda1 at /overlay → SD card is the writable layer /dev/sda1 at /overlay → SD card is the writable layer
overlayfs:/overlay on / → full rootfs = ROM + SD overlay overlayfs:/overlay on / → full rootfs = ROM + SD overlay
You now have a 468 GB OpenWrt box. You now have a 468 GB OpenWrt box.
Extra checks (optional) No /rwm mount
mount | grep sda1 No copy of internal overlay
mount | grep overlay This is a clean, SD-only overlay setup.
Should return:
/dev/sda1 on /overlay type ext4
overlayfs:/overlay on / type overlay
7. Quick functional test
opkg install tcpdump
df -h /overlay
You should see a small increase in Used for /dev/sda1, proving packages are installed to SD-backed overlay—not internal flash.