[TS-210] Using MC or other Two-panel Files Manager

[trejder]

Hi there,

Let's say that neither Web File Manager nor using Samba suits my needs or for any other reason, you can imagine, I wanted to use Midnight Commander or any other two-panel file manager on my TS-210 NAS. I failed with that, so I'm asking for a little bit help, since I'm a complete newbie to both Linux and NAS.

First of all, I wanted to simply USE mc, but connecting to TS-210 via PuTTY and typing "mc" gave me my favourite one "-sh: mc: command not found". All, right the - I thought - need to install it...

OK. I need a binary, since as Linux newbie I'm not going to play with rebuilding it from sources (and I don't even know, if this would be possible on NAS?). But, wait! What kind of Linux distro I do have there? Heard only something like "Linux Embedded" or "system embedded" or maybe I luring something to myself! :] No, problem... Wiki told me that it would look like there's a Debian distro there or something similar / fixed / mixed.

All right, found this (MC binaries for Debian):

http://packages.debian.org/squeeze/mc

Next good question, processor architecture. Something was somewhere there out in the void of my unstable mind about "Marvell Processor" being installed on TS-210? Right? Let's assume that yes. Uncle Google told me that this is ARM-like architecture, so I downloaded proper binary (armel, what the f* is this?) and i386 just in case...

OK, as a complete Linux newbie I didn't even know what to do with downloaded .deb files and here is the part of the story, when Uncle Google helped me second time saying that...

http://www.debianhelp.org/node/12282

...installing Debian binary (package?) is as easy as typing "dpkg -i package.deb" on the console, being logged in as root user. Since I can access NAS via SSH only as admin I'm assuming that I have root-user rights, so I'm typing it just to see already-hated message saying that "-sh: dpgk: command not found".

So here's where I got lost. And where any kind of help would be really appreciate.

BTW: When experimenting (again - as a total Linux newbie) with some basic shell / SSH / console commands I've seen "command not found" error message more time then actual command results. Is this Linux distro on board my TS-210 that far limited?

BTW2: I was just about to write that it doesn't actually have to be console-based or Linux-based two-panel file manager... That it could be Windows-based one, if it only supports having both panels set to remote share, as I have WinSCP which doesn't (left panel must always be local system). But then I realised that... wait... I can use my favourite Total Commander with both panels open to NAS' shares and this way I'll be able to manage (move, copy) files really quickly. That ends and solves this thread before it was actually answered by anyone. But... since I wrote so much (:]) and since I'm rather a curious person, if someone would have some time to spare, it would be nice to get answer, why Linux on-board TS-210 is so limited that it lacks half of the shell commands and if "dpkg" is one of the missing ones, then how to install binary / package on that Linux? Thanks...

[onlyalex]

Hi trejder. Instead of overcomplicate things im going to give you a hint on two great software's that reguires litle to get you running.

Two good software you can try is:
Ajax explorer from the qpkg section. http://forum.qnap.com/viewforum.php?f=156
WINSCP free sftp client, combine with putty on client http://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Those two are the one i use, both great software.
Cheers.

[trejder]

Thanks, onlyalex, for your tips. I'll probably take a look a them, if I only get a bit time. But currently, as I wrote, Total Commander with both panels open to remote server seems to be fastest solution.

If only I would find option to prevent those nasty Windows files creation, I would be really satisfied! :]

[micke]

why Linux on-board TS-210 is so limited that it lacks half of the shell commands

Install Optware and then use ipkg to install the coreutils package and you will have access to, as its description states, "a bunch of heavyweight *nix core utilities". You can install many other GNU tools, too, e.g. find, diff, and less.

The reason they are not installed by default is that they are 'heavyweight' and the embedded Linux system has to be kept slim. After all, the idea is that you should use the web interface for different NAS actions.

/Mike

[tmt]

Midnight Commander is available as an ipkg: "ipkg install mc".

[trejder]

To be able to use your solution, I need to be able to install Optware. And currently, it's installation hangs on 45%! :| I got .qpkg file directly from where my NAS' Get QPKG function took me.

[tmt]

The "Get QPKG" fetches a zip file, did you extract the qpkg from it, and select that for installation? I believe the install will hang if you provide the zip as input directly.

[trejder]

Hey, I'm a Linux newbie, but not that far moron! :] I DID extract ZIP file and provided .qpkg file. Beside, the very same way I installed iStats a few days earlier and all went fine. I tried two times to install Optware .qpkg file and failed exactly on 45%. I don't know if current release is broken or if my NAS doesn't simply likes it! :]

As I stated before - using Total Commander with both panels set to remote NAS locations is just fine for me, so we can end this topic. I wrote about problems with installing Optware just to notice that there could be some bug somewhere - i.e. either current release is broken or NAS software has some bug causing installation of QPKG packets to hang somewhere in the middle or something else got a bit badly.

[micke]

I tried two times to install Optware .qpkg file and failed exactly on 45%.

The Optware QPKG downloads a package during the installation, so if that fails then it might appear to have hanged. If you install it from the command line you might get more information...

/Mike

[trejder]

But, HOW can I install it from command line? Command "ipkg install mc" as tmt stated fails on my TS-210 with: "-sh: command ipkg not found" or sth (don't have access to it now).

[micke]

But, HOW can I install it from command line?

sh Optware_0.99.163_arm-x19.qpkg

/Mike

[tmt]

Hey, I'm a Linux newbie, but not that far moron! :] I DID extract ZIP file and provided .qpkg file. Beside, the very same way I installed iStats a few days earlier and all went fine.

Nice. Well, then I suggest you check whether you can reach the machine that holds the ipkg repository, directly from the QNAP. The root of the feed is at http://ipkg.nslu2-linux.org/feeds/optware and it's fetched via http. If it's not available, the istall will not complete. Given your background, I'm sure you can take it from there.

[trejder]

@onlyalex: Sorry to say this, but AjaXplorer seems to be a nice piece of ** to me! Cannot use build-in user system (need to define new users, logins and passwords) and gives access to only a few, predefined shares -- no access to other user-defined shares or USB connected drives - renders it completely useless, at least in my opinion.

@mike: I was able to install Optware using sh, therefore I have no idea, why installation via web interface failed. As you can see from above, I was able to install AjaXExplorer using web control panel, but still no luck on Optware.

No, the most dumb question: How to use it? I installed and activated it and... I don't have access to new shell commands like. diff, less, dpkg. All returining "sh: command not found" as they did before installation of Optware.

@tmt: Thanks! I checked that I have internet connection directly from NAS by pinging some hosts and wget-ing some files.

@tmt:

[micke]

No, the most dumb question: How to use it? I installed and activated it and... I don't have access to new shell commands like. diff, less, dpkg. All returining "sh: command not found" as they did before installation of Optware.

As I wrote in my first post in this thread

Install Optware and then use ipkg to install the coreutils package and you will have access to, as its description states, "a bunch of heavyweight *nix core utilities". You can install many other GNU tools, too, e.g. find, diff, and less.

BTW, you will never have access to dpkg from Optware. To get that you would have to install Debian on the NAS...

/Mike

[trejder]

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread. I have finally managed to install Midnight Commander. And... it looks ugly like a hell in PuTTY! :] Therefore I remain using Total Commander in Windows. However, I'm very grateful for all the knowledge, you've shared with me in this thread. Thanks!