I have SMB working just fine, so I can transfer files from my Windows computer to an external drive on the Vero V. I did this with Vero 4K for years, but it was and is a relatively slow (~33MBps) transfer through my hardwired connection (through a router). I want to get NFS working in the hopes that I can transfer files more quickly.
I followed the instructions on the wiki, but when I get to the last step for NFS, it fails with:
osmc@osmc:~$ exportfs -a
exportfs: could not open /var/lib/nfs/.etab.lock for locking: errno 13 (Permission denied)
exportfs: could not open /var/lib/nfs/.etab.lock for locking: errno 13 (Permission denied)
exportfs: can’t lock /var/lib/nfs/etab for writing
Where did I go wrong? I am clueless on the terminal, and do not know why “Permission denied” given that I am using the default account.
On a separate note, is your drive formatted as ext4? That will make the biggest difference vs NTFS or exFAT when transferring to/from a drive attached to a Vero V. That and making sure the drive is USB 3 and plugged into the blue USB port.
The drive is NTFS but because it goes from Windows computer to Windows computer, to a friend’s house, to Vero V where I will occasionally transfer files to it, ext4 is not practical in my use case.
It is USB 3 and plugged into the blue USB port, so that should help.
Follow up question: Is it possible to connect to an external drive on the Vero V via SMB and NFS, or should I stick to one or the other? I ask because it is much easier to access content via SMB (simple configuration on different computers, phones, and tablets on the same wi-fi network) but having the added speed of NFS for large transfers is desirable when needed.
If the drive is connected to a Vero, and therefore Linux, then the formatting of the drive is irrelevant to what devices are connected to it over the network. One may want to stick with a Windows format if they tend to disconnect the drive from their Vero and plug it into a Windows box for the fastest file transfers, but if the only access is via the network then Windows would be completely blind to how the drive is actually formatted. Even still, a NTFS formatted drive is going to have significantly slower read speed in Linux vs the drive being formatted as exFAT which is also readable in modern Windows operating systems. The issue being that Linux does not have efficient drivers to read that format, nor does it natively speak the same file security model so they must be translated. I think I was finding somewhere around 35MB/s max file transfers with NTFS to a Vero V (don’t quote me I’m going off the top of my head and it has been a while since I tested it) but ext4 transferred around 100MB/s (same drive, same everything). In comparison the speed difference between using samba vs NFS is usually modest. You can run both servers at the same time and that shouldn’t pose an issue.
exFAT may be a good compromise! I will try that with my next drive.
I was finding somewhere around 35MB/s max file transfers with NTFS to a Vero V
That is close to the the 33MB/s that I’m getting, so I’m sure you are right.
but ext4 transferred around 100MB/s (same drive, same everything).
Oof. That is what I want, but since the drive also connects to different Windows computers, it is not a choice. I wish Windows read ext4 drives natively, like it does with exFAT. If I only connected my drives to one Windows box, I could install drivers on it, but that’s not the case.
the speed difference between using samba vs NFS is usually modest
Ah. I was under the impression that NFS would be significantly faster. Not sure where I saw that.
You can run both servers at the same time and that shouldn’t pose an issue.
Excellent. Thank you much for all the information!
On this forum, in one of many, many places i’m sure, but that would have probably been in the context of the speed Kodi playing video which butts into a number of variables and situations. NFS has lower overhead than SMB but your talking about a fractional difference. It helped play larger files with someone being limited to a 100BASE-TX connection on their device but became largely irrelevant with players that had a gigabit connection.
I think the whole MS Linux thing would be more convincing if it did.
Who doesn’t, but there are some solutions that differ in price and function:
I use, and bought a license of Paragon Linux File System for Windows. Really simple solution, except one crux, it will scan any new storage devices when ever the system detects new hardware, if it finds a “LinuxFS” it will take over the control of that device, which is as planned. But if you are one that reuse old sd-card from linux boxes and want to format the card or reimage it. SD-card handling is preventing your windows utility from accessing that SD-card. Other than that, it’s a has years on the neck and works as advertised. Read/Writes to ext2,3,4, and a few more, free trial was available before, but after trial period they used to lock the speed to 5mb/s.
For just reading I remember an app from Diskinternals, named Linux-reader, that was freeware. But then you have to open a “special app” every time.
Linux thing would be more convincing if it did.