ravetam

Tried to use VirtualBox and setup a serial output but unfortunately, nothing were outputted. I even tried to load just the zImage kernel but it's the same. In the previous version, when you do linux /zImage in Grub, there will be information available in the serial console. Without the console, it will be quite hard to work with. I will try to unpack and repack rd.gz with all the patch and see if it works on my bare metal which seems to work better. Will also need to buy a Serial to USB cable to connect with my machine for viewing the console output.

That's great information. Thanks! I'll setup a VM for testing. I guess I'll just have to use ds916 for my bare metal for now.

The hardware ID works fine for 916. And I saw that there's some code that mentioned pid and vid in modprobe. Two of the test I did is removing modprobe and also replacing it in DS916 bootloader and I get do get the error 13 again. I'll have to search around what the modprobe does. Thanks for the tips on the time bomb. I hope that code is in the public source code that synology uploaded.

Guess i will just have to look around some old guide then. If anyone has any more information, please let me know (PM or reply). Some old guide http://nanoboot.eu.org/source https://github.com/sancome/DSM-5.0-4458_dsgpl-4418

Yes, the only variable is modprobe. If i can get my hands on the source code (I have PM'ed Jun), then i would be able to modify and recompile it using the GCC for the ApolloLake arch. I'm no C++ coder but i'm quite good with C# and JS.

I'm trying to build a bootloader for DS918+. This synology version is based on Linux 4.4 and use ApolloLake CPU. The interesting thing is that since it is based on Linux 4.4, it contains newer GPU driver which supports up to KabyLake processor. The only CPU it won't support is CoffeLake which just came out. Anyway, this should enabled Hardware Transcoding for these newer processor. Here's the progress so far. Original bootloader is from DS916+. zImage - Using the default zImage from DS918+. rd.gz - Using the default zImage from DS918+. extra.lmza etc jun.patch (done) rc.modules (all emptied since the driver won't work for this bootloader anyway) use bin patch (my guess is that this program is used to patch "jun.patch". I'm not sure if it is version specific since DS916 is based on Linux 3.10 and DS918 is based on Linux 4.4) lib firmware (all emptied) modules (all emptied) sbin modprobe (this seems to be the file that write the USB PID VID, MAC and other values to the running kernel. It is version specific so it won't work now for this bootloader. It has to be recompiled for apollolake) Right now, i can get to the screen where i upload the PAT file but i got this error ”Failed to install the file. The file is probably corrupted. (13)" . My guess is that it is missing a working modprobe. If anyone can provide me some insight or tips, i would really appreciate it.

I think the last step is to get the "modprobe" source so i can compile it to DS918 kernel. I have contacted Jun. Hope he can help with that

Here's the photo of my build

Yes, 918 does use Linux 4.4. I'm trying to patch it using the same script as Jun is using. Not bothering about the extra driver. Anyway, it is still work in progress. But the main problem would be getting a valid serial number. SN is required for using the codec. By the way, the new GPU driver for DS918+ supports KabyLake processor which may enable hardware transcoding for newer processor.

Seems to be fine. Looks like something to verify package in the package center https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/General/What_websites_does_Synology_NAS_connect_to_when_running_services_or_updating_software

Here's my build. Hope this will help someone Motherboard : Asrock B250 Fatal1ty Performance CPU : Pentium G4600 (KabyLake) Cooler: Cooler Master 212 Evo (set to 600rpm) Hard Disk : 256GB Samsung EVO 850, 4x WD Red 4TB Case : Phanteks P400S (removed led strip) PSU : 450W 80Plus Bronze Photo : (soon) DSM: DS916+ Power Consumption (Idle) With only SSD = 26W With SSD + 4HDD = ? (Not yet tested) Hardware Transcoding (Vaapi) This build currently doesn't work mainly because the gpu driver (i915) that comes with DS916 doesn't support Kabylake processor. DS916 DSM is based on Linux 3.10. From what I see in the source code, it may support skylake. I'm working to backport the i915 driver from Linux 4.6 which support kabylake. I tested the new i915.ko and even it has /dev/dri, Vaapi still doesn't work mainly because more work is required. It may be easier to use DS918 because it it based on Apollo Lake and using Linux 4.4 which should be easier to backport the driver from 4.6. The problem would be patching it and getting a usable SN. More update coming soon