Linksys NSLU2

The Linksys NSLU2 is a neat little appliance that serves USB storage over SMB. Originally the disks needed to be formatted by the appliance itself using ext2, but later firmware revisions came with FAT and NTFS support.

Mine run Unslung Linux, and have replaced a dedicated file-serving box with numerous advantages (from power saving to an order of magnitude less heat and noise). The only drawback is that they are not particularly zippy machines (although they can write to a USB2.0 disk at Fast Ethernet speeds).

• Installing Debian Sarge (overview, Slashdot thread) - requires that you graft in a serial port.
• Changing Clock Rate (it's not really overclocking)
• Product Page
• Manual
• Review
• Hacking in
• Linux on the NSLU2

Configuring Unslung Samba for UTF-8 Filenames:

# head /opt/etc/samba/smb.conf
[global]
config file=/etc/samba/smb.conf
coding system = utf8
client code page = 850
os level = 8
workgroup = TAOOFMAC
server string = UNSLUNG

...also check /opt/etc/init.d/S80samba to make sure the right binaries are being run. Test by creating a folder named "Cação" and making sure the "ã" is preserved.

Removing ._* Files

Since it's pointless to do defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true on all my machines (there are actually occasions where it makes sense to store resource information on Samba), I've resorted to cron to do what I need the most - i.e., remove the irritating thumbnail forks from my online photo archive:

# cat /etc/crontab
SHELL=/bin/sh
PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
MAILTO=""
HOME=/
# ---------- ---------- Default is Empty ---------- ---------- #
0 0-23/8 * * * root /usr/sbin/CheckDiskFull &>/dev/null
0 0 * * * root /usr/sbin/WatchDog &>/dev/null
0 4 * * * root /usr/bin/find /public/Pictures -name ._* -exec rm '{}' ';' &>/dev/null
1 * * * * root /usr/sbin/hwclock -s &>/dev/null

I have also tried using the smb.conf veto option, but the Finder is amazingly stupid and refuses to write anything to a share using it.