I have Archer C7 v2, so flash space isn't the biggest.
I only have USB 2.0 and NTFS support, SMB and miniDLNA installed, and I have less than 3 MB left.
I previously installed an uninstalled some packages. I might have installed some and forgot to remove them, and I also was thinking hat maybe there are some residual files form uninstalled packages. Is there a way to identify what packages we installed after flashing? Or is there a way to clean orphan files?
Also is it possible to find out what firmware-included packages can be safety uninstalled? What's essential of python packages? I have looked at https://oldwiki.archive.openwrt.org/doc/software/python, but don't wish to uninstall something that could end up breaking things. I don't intend to build my own.
As previously mentioned, removing firmware built-in package will COST instead of saving space.
If you want to save space, you may have a look into /overlay folder, then delete anything inside you consider unwanted. Not much of space will be saved though. And don't delete your useful settings.
You may also consider extroot.
Well, could potentially optimize the setup. Drop Samba and use NFS instead (NFS is supported by some versions of Windows). If your media clients runs KODI in some variant NFS is probably also avialable instead of using DLNA. Not sure if you'd save much space but both ext3/4 and exfat are probably leaner both in terms of size and performance than NTFS.
I understand that when it's a network drive the filresystem of the disk is handled by the OS of the device it's connected to--the router in this case. But all computers here are running Widows, and it's probable that I would need to connect the HDD to a computer for a reason or another.
Yeah, could do, I guess. I had Linux Mint in dual boot, but it's convenient to keep switching. I have recently installed ubuntu on VM, so will give it a try.