Zyxel NR5103E USB Drive Folder Sharing not available

Anvil_Iron · ‎01-15-2023

When a USB drive is connected to the USB port, the web-based config (Network Setting > USB Service) doesn't display options to share folders. The page shows Volume as /dev/sda, Capacity and Used space are shown for the drive so it's recognised by the router. File Sharing Services is enabled and applied. I'm expecting a File Sharing / Add new share option but this isn't available. Firmware is V1.00(ACBJ.0)b12 which is currently the latest.

I looked at a screen shot for a Zyxel EX5501 which has a similar interface and Share Directory List option is available when File Sharing Services is enabled but the volume is usb1_sda1.

I have tried a factory reset, different drives (HDD/flash), usb2/3 drives, ntfs/fat32 formats but none helped. Does anyone know if this is a firmware issue? Has someone tried using the USB3 port for folder/file sharing?

Mike20490420 · ‎02-05-2023

I thought I had the same issue but I've just managed to get it working on Android. I noticed when I scanned the ports on the router, port 445 was open. This stopped showing after some time. I restarted the router and it appeared again.

On Android, I used File Commander to acces network drive. FC scanned, found the drive and USB folder but access was denied. I added my username and password in FC and it now works fine. Now I'm going to try and map the drive in Windows.

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Mike20490420 · ‎02-06-2023

Here you go.

The same information is displayed if I log in with my laptop.

Anvil_Iron · ‎02-07-2023

Thanks. I've tried it again with FC on my android mobile and the scan found the usb_share, then I mapped it in windows and there it was. Strange, scanning in File Explorer didn't find it but entering manually did. Thanks for your solution. The router is up running 100% now.

Anvil_Iron · ‎02-08-2023

Although we are now able to access the USB drive for sharing, I think there's still a problem with the USB Service page as it says, "You may Start from deciding which folders in the USB disks to share..." and we can't do that. So either they have decided to implement the way we are accessing the drive at the moment (\\191.168.1.1\usb_share) and haven't updated the instructions or they haven't properly implemented the feature/function to share folders. Hmmm.

Mike20490420 · ‎02-10-2023

Yes, that does seem strange.