Since we were having most of the discussions in the IC thread made by Varkey, I've made a separate thread for the same.
Some posts from there:
Some posts from there:
varkey said:Just came accross this awesome deal for a Seagate Freeagent Dockstar for $29.99 + Shipping
FreeAgent DockStar Network Adapter | Seagate
The Seagate Dockstar is a stripped down version of the Sheevaplug and will make an excellent download server. Uses less than 5-6w.
Here are the specs
Few tutorials on how to hack it and get it ready
Installing OpenWrt on Seagate DockStar HOWTO
How to brick your DockStar and void the warranty
One issue is that it doesn't have a Real Time Clock, but that wouldn't be a big problem.
You can get it through ICCWorld for approx 2.5k ( Maybe lesser with eBay Coupons ) I think it will make an excellent download box!
varkey said:Got another pendrive and this time it worked fine! The installation is very easy thanks to Jeff - Install Debian Linux on your Dockstar
After that, followed these instructions to prevent it from booting into the Pogoplug install. Without this fix, the dockstar alternates between Debian and Pogoplug everytime it boots.
So now I have a working debian install on my dockstar, now will proceed with transmission and other stuff!
varkey said:Installed transmission also, everything working fine, webui is great. Haven't tried an actual torrent download but will update the status soon.
Also installed Webmin to manage the dockstar easily, provides a good web interface, its really helpful.
varkey said:Btw came accross a good http downloader with webinterface - pyLoad - Download Manager - pyLoad Supports many file sharing hosts like rapidshare, megaupload etc too. Trying it out now!
varkey said:The write speeds are pathetic when using a NTFS formatted drive, I am getting 3-4 MBps. Read speeds are good and its able to max the USB speed, about 30-32 MBps. So you will need to use a drive formatted as ext3 for better write speeds.
There is one problem if you have multiple USB drives connected at the same time, as it will fail to boot. Will post here if I find a working solution. So at present for it to work properly you can have only one drive connected at boot time.
Yes will check multiple torrents this weekend, but I don't think there will be any issues as the CPU utilisation for transmission is minimal, only the ntfs-3g driver is using the CPU. So if you use an ext3 file system it should be Ok.
!
techie_007 said:Questions:
1. I am guessing a smaller partition formatted to ext3/4 will also do?
Ans. If the data partition is ext3/4 then it should be ok.
2. Does the NTFS driver max out the CPU? Or does it take some resources but still bottleneck in terms of speed?
Ans. Yes it maxes out the CPU, I tried doing a dd file transfer to the ntfs partition and the CPU utilization was 90%+
3. So long as it can give 3-4 Mbps and I have a 1 Mbps connection at max, I assume torrents shouldnt be affected, right? Only trying to write/copy larger files over the network etc should cause issues?
Ans. While downloading, the CPU usage by the ntfs-3g driver is less than 15-20% but I have set transmission to preallocate the space at starting itself and yesterday when I tried a 6.5 GB torrent, it took close to 40 minutes just to allocate the data. And reading from the ntfs partition is fine as I didn't notice any speed difference.
4. This includes the USB pen-drive being used to boot from? So that means I need to install the OS on a normal HDD if I want unattended downloads with auto power on when there are electricity outages?
Ans. Yes only 1 drive which includes the OS flash drive so you need to install the OS on the normal hard disk. There is a solution posted here, but it didn't work for me. Maybe you can try it.
5. Can I install Debian on Normal USB HDD instead of pen drive?
Ans. Yes it can be installed on a normal hdd as well. But I am not sure if a initial startup delay which may be there for a normal hdd will prevent it from booting properly. But you can always add a 10-15s delay in the bootloader if that happens.
6. Else install/download everything on a pen drive?
Ans. But then you will have to keep moving the data from the pendrive frequently. Try installing the OS on the normal HDD itself.
dheerajjotwani said:my observations...
1. using ext3 f/s works best when running these linux embedded systems... read/write off ntfs causes a lot of orphan sectors on the disk...
2. i never get CPU bumping beyond 25%... even while i am running transmission, copying data and running a 720p mkv on my laptop using wifi...
3. booting from the first partition of the external HDD, works best... the drive should power on manually with the dockstar/plug else the plug will boot from the internal flash...
4. attaching a usb hub with multiple drive can be achieved but boot order and mounting order remaining the same at every boot is still an unsolved issue. they are trying a workaround on the forums...