synogeek

Hello Folks, Fast forward from 2017, I have a legit running Thecus N2520 dual bay running Custom DSM 5.1-5022, that I was able to Convert from Thecus OS to Synology DS214Play using Vortex guide. I realize now Thecus forums are kaboom, and because this is not a Jun/ or like Synoboot its a custom something I dont even understand should I even risk upgrading it to DSM 6 or can I even do it? Yeah DSM 5.1 is old but for a backup NAS i dont really care as long as its working and not a dead brick. Vortex I believe customized the firmware for Thecus (mimicing DS214Play) and modded it? not sure what but his download zip at that time in 2015 etc, has these DSM versions within DSM 5.x . The last one in his package was sub version 5565. However in Control Panel Synology shows DSM 5.2-5967 as the latest one.Now I do not know or recall if each firmware pack he modded before it would install or be safe on Thecus NAS. Is it safe to leave NAS running as is ? or update to 5967 should be fine? Note this is not Xpenology, he called it Synocus for some reason so I am not sure Any help appreciated guys. Mods: I am not sure if this is the correct forum, but I was not sure where else to post.Please move it if appropriate. Thanks,

Work / personal life got in the way. Was quite active here on in 2015/2017 i think. Here is my list of hardware, still works ! Thecus N2520 (frigging running DSM 5.1!! ooOOoo) - thanks to Vortex. HP N54L x 2 - on DSM 6.1.7-15284 Update 3 with 16GB ram upgraded on both DSM 1813+ DS109 DS213 QNAP TVS 871 Glad to be back, and I am no expert or developer, but love to be part of the Xpeno community.

try to stay away from CXXX cpus that have a time ticker on them, sell of the asus b oard and get a cheaper but reliable one. I personally was planning to that same board i think b ut after reading about the CXXX failures, droppped it and your right it aint cheap either.

wont the driver need be recompiled for 6.1, 6.1, thats what polanskiman told me last. I didnt get a chance yet , but some mellanox drivers I really want to get into DSM 6, 6.1

Been busy, so just wanted to let you guys know I manage to setup a 2 node HA cluster succesfully. letting it do a test run, now

Whatever boot loader it has its changing the MAC each time on boot! i need to find out how / why. Anyone has ANY ideas how to change serial number by logging into SSH? any specific directory to get into? I am familiar with linux. Thanks!

What kind of hardware you have? Remove (take the HDD out) with only the bootloader USB stick inserted. power on, and let it boot to the boot loader. Find it on the synology assistant, and when it opens the web page, it will ask to insert HDD insert and then do a install.This Should NOT delete your data, however this can possibly clear your configurations (some settings in DSM like network , etc etc) no file should be erased.

No I dont think DSM access without hard dirive that would be amazing lol. What I think ( am outside now cant verify), is I can see the Synology Assistant but it wants HDD present to first install the software I believe.Also, it is in fact DSM 5, i will verify later today 5.2 or 5.1 I have yet to test all USB ports, but they seem to working fine i only tested the front one.dang this thing runs blazingly fast, thecus are good at NAS hardware but CRAP OS, thecus OS sucks big time. @sbv3000 the Thecus you talk bout (DOM - Disk on Module), is on those models that have the DOM as a removable chip, kinda like the USB pen drive.However I believe mine ( i did some basic search online on the board layout of this model N2520) is actually kind of like SOC (system on CHIP) its soldered and I dont think if I mess up the boot loader I can fix it.Although ON synology forums I read (on original Synology units) there is a way (low level) to recover / repair the U-Boot loader.I am wondering if I can do something similar (in case something goes wrong) i Do not wanna brick a powerful Thecus NAS with xpenology working so well.

Can i SSH and go to some directory to view / update the Serial or MAC? I alrready enabled SSH,

I don't know what loader it using, how can i check? I can find it on synology assistant even without "any hard disk"...so yes something is on a CHIP inside i didnt open unit its very pretty white unit..i wish we had something like this for synology and these are from 2013 and guess what has Intel 1 GHZ CPU and 1 GB ram, so fast but am afraid any patching will break whatever is on it.and since its no a small USB i can remove and reflash Im afraid of brick the embedded CHIP. Thanks!

I managed to get a used (awesome!) Thecus NAS N2520 with xpenology!! I did not see any removable USB stick so wonder how it was installed? unfortunately I got it from a place, where i dont know who or how they did this. I want to fix an issue, somehow it has a generic serial / mac and I need to see where this file is, mostly for updating to the correct MAC address.Its causing issue on DHCP, its picking up a random IP each time upon boot. Where is the IMG or Serial / Mac INFO stored for such an embedded system? I assume its DSM is on a embedded Storage like embedded RAM. Thanks!

I do not think we have a current HCL (hardware compatibility list) and would like to take up this project, any help (to build / work on the list) will be appreciated.I will try doing this during my spare time. If you currently have a motherboard / build working / some features not working etc. Please post here, I will work on preparing a Wiki or HCL page (need to figure out where). Just brainstorming , any ideas / input appreciated. In this fashion: Motherboard: RAM(ecc or non ECC): HDD: type / config LAN: BareMetal or Virtual (ESXi/Proxmox): Xpenology Build: Whats working / not working: Thanks!

Have you tried doing the install and it failed? I think I read some threads people got it working using the force install? We only know if people report back, and yes we here I think dont yet have a HCL list (hope Im not wrong). I myself have HP AMD based N54la and it works, fine however can't say for other AMD based systems.

Hiya all, I am not a very experienced developer, more of a sysadmin, linux admin, web site developer.However I am open to learning new things, and like to help the community. I have been using xpenology since DSM 5.2 however only got to use it seriously very recently. I am asking / suggesting an idea to get anyone who has some DEV skilss (linux, esx whatever) to come together and work in our free time, so we can continue the xpenology development, and not let it die.Its not dead, just saying actively contribute (and if we are a hard core team working together) may have a very healthy project. I although have tons of hardware lying around (hobbyist) ofcourse not have everything, if we collaborate our efforts (as dev's ) we may be able to get many drivers What do you think ? PM me if you wanna start something to collaborate, I mean getting drivers, HCL list whatever we can. I feel the project has been very great, however the information sometimes is scattered, the developers come and go and personally I had to search a lot around to get information on what I needed. Admins if this thread is not appropriate, feel free to delete. Thanks,

yes I also experienced same thing, however even after doing C1E and force install it would not find the DSM on the network for some weird reason.I powered on did force install without the 4 HDD plugged into the bays. Then when it came to the DSM no disk found page, I inserted all 4 one by one, and it worked. I did not do migrate, just did new installation like you. Thanks for posting back.

for a second when i saw this thread updated, i thought quick nick was back...

BTW i just wanted to add i have 16GB memory, and apart from disabling C1E and removing the HDD during the boot , later re-inserted. no extra steps needed to modify so that it would recognize the extra RAM.

Tariq if you see on the HP N54L UPS thread, someone used it as a add in PCI-e card.I dont know the vendor / card manu.

I would just add a small piece , some ISP do not allow any port forward option.So unfortunately even though the DDNS part is fine, we cannot do the port forwarding :(. Some ISP implement double NAT. Good article / guide thanks!

its strange how faulty cards can mess things up and make you over think..usually card or cable should be first line of attack

Will appreciate if anyone here as links to trantor's boot loaders (Xpeno) 5.2 yes its deprecated I need it for testing to see if some drivers are there. Thank you for anyone who can help me with this . synogeek

i think b & c are same..my bad.

Just wondering now with DSM 6.1 and cloud sync (Not cloud station), and the ability to sync back / forth with Google drive, dropbox etc and crash plan backup headless (was workign from before) how many of you follow / do a multiples? Like, a. backup NAS to local HDD b. backup to remote NAS? c. backup to offsite (either another Syno / Xpeno, or rclone) for DR d. crash plan headless backup (unlimited) e. cloud sync? (az drive, g drive, dropbox?) Just interested to know how / what is your backup strategy. Thanks!

Sorry for late reply. I was able to upgrade, (no losing of data) however I did not have lot of syno settings (custom config) so dont know much about those. Trick I had to use, it kept failing - I had the correct VID / PID.Removed the 4 hard drive trays, booted up did force install.Then find synology com then, it comes to install (no hard drive found message). I then pushed all 4 drives back and they spun up, and installation was a breeze. Oh and ofcourse I had to disable the C1E whatever in the BIOS. Very soon will try 8TB reds in the N54L

I use transmission, its lightweight and has web UI also...ymmv..