Myrixamophit

A dedicated chip for the bootloader, interesting. So not much difference to baremetal method using a USB Stick, with the loader simulating a chosen high end DS Hardware. Now that I've done the whole process (several times) I finally get the principal. Thanks for the hint, all done. It's no fun to fiddle around in the files like that, but also no rocket science. Ok, no use to utilise a separate HDD/SSD, thanks. N54L use with newest critical update has been confirmed working, also with Jun's Loader 1.06b. It's just not working for me... Nice Tutorial, so there is lot's of backup to ease my mind. Well done. With 4 Discs of slightly different size this RAID5 like "Synology Hybrid Raid" is the way to go for me anyway. Which is a great thing for nearly anybody! I guess such hardware is just wasted on basic NAS usage like in my case. Great, thanks for the link. I used latest (and different) version of Jun's (1.06b), but without any luck. Must be something else in my case as others have confirmed Jun's 1.06b working with the N54L. It is indeed! Scattered and clustered, sorted by some honorable few sometimes, but certainly there. @Polanskiman: Thanks a lot for your thorough and interesting answers, it finally made my understand what is actually done when using XPEnology. Which is way more important than any step by step tutorials. Actually understanding what one is doing instead of simply following a manual helps greatly in deducting reasons for errors/mistakes when they occur. So, thanks a gain for your time, it's truly appreciated. I can determine now that my case not working properly has nothing to do with the loader, the driverset within it, the PAT file or the fact I'm using a N54L. The loader grub.config modifications have been triple-checked. The source of error lies somewhere else and requires a lot more deep dive than I can afford right now. What I can actually afford is a new NAS Box. The fact that during all the fiddeling over the weekend (which is almost over, it's Sunday afternoon here in Europe) my N54L decided to no longer boot into anything, not even the bios, helps with that decision. As of now it's the Power Supply, for the second time on this one... I consider my trusty Microserver now finally dead and ordered a new DS418j online. Way enough for my basic needs, reasonable priced at 302€ and coupled with less risks. Spending a weekend for this whenever a problem occours I cannot afford. I had really looked forward to use XPEnology, but I jsut can't invest much time and effort in it... so I fled in the easy purchasing the original option! I hopefully shall be forgiven... I actually was at this point a few years ago already with my first try on XPEnology, fled into FreeNAS back then. Here we go again... now I'm with Synology. However, as a help to any other newcomers: XPEnology is definitly worth a try if there is compatible hardware laying around already. XPEnology is free but requires some time and effort to be invested! it must be principally understood what one is doing with this, step by step tutorials or not, understanding the principal is key here. support within this community is there, and a huge amount of it! Lot's of work done to avoid the pain for others. My bottom line is: If you got the money, buy Synology / if you got the time & hardware, get XPEnology So, a big THANKS to @jun & @Polanskiman for their work & efforts and everybody who contributes to this forum! Go on bringing Synology's DSM on non Synology Hardware, you guys rock with this! Cheers, Myrixamophit PS: anybody in Europe want's to buy an upgraded N54L with a faulty power supply? Nah... just kidding!

Yup, done that.

Same here. Modified with proper MAC & IDs, Memory line updated and different DS S/Ns tried... but no use. Must be something else then. Gosh... there is always something!

With what Loader? I'm trying Jun's Loader 1.06b here and my n54l is not found in the network, whatever I do!

So, here we go: another Noobie, another set of questions! First: I'm so grateful people are doing this XPEnology thing, this is just great. Great for user having leftover hardware or can not afford Synology Hardware. Also great for Synology promoting their Software, maybe gathering future DS users. Thanks. Thanks a lot! *deep and slow bow* Now to me: Quite normal PC user, Gamer, having build silent/watercooled PCs for over 15 years, nothing fancy, still fascinated by PC Hardware, although now getting a bit tired of the hobby. Always more Hardware than Software Guy. English is not my native tongue, so please excuse any glitches in my writing. My Hardware: I'm runnning a HP N54L since a few years, 4 disks as of now (2x2GB + 2x3GB slow eco HDDs, non NAS, both couples as Raid1 for redundancy), 8GB ECC RAM and the Intel Gigabit NIC (is that right? NIC? the networkcard?), upgraded with a fanless power supply and a slowed down Noiseblocker 140mm Fan. For a while running Windows Home Server 2011, than switched to FreeNAS. Ever since I feel FreeNAS is not really what I'd call accessible. FreeNAS gave me quite a lot trouble with access rights and is hard to master when you only access it once or twice a year for checkup or when something is wrong. Hence my intention to use DSM. I only need a stable NAS to backup all PC in the household via Acronis, store a few things and have kind of a shared or exchange folder. No streaming, no multimedia, no cloud or anything else. (Maybe a mail server in the future... if feasable) I just need NAS in it's purest form, no bells and whistles, easily handled and stable. So, this weekend I'm gonna give it a try and have some questions beforehand. Of course I'd like somebody to take my hand and guide me through everything, taylored to my specific case, but I'm not gonna get that. It's ridiculous, I know that. So I just would like to ask you guys if got everything right so far, ok? So could someone please confirm or answer to the following: There are obviously 2 ways to get DSM on any hardware: having a VM in which it runs (that's this EXSI thingy, right?), basically emulating suitable hardware, emulating a Synology DS? having a simple Bootloader running from USB stick, which just makes DSM start on non Synology Hardware, you called that "bare metal", right? This thing provides the drivers needed for the "Alien Hardware", correct? I'd like to go for the "bare metal" solution, as VM is overkill for me, so this Bootloader would start DSM, which is installed on my Drive array. Is there any way to have DSM not on the Drive array but on, say a little SSD or 2.5" HDD? Does that would even make any sense? Performance wise? Or for the integrity of the Data on the array? The N54L is obviously very commonly used with XPEnology but seemed to have trouble getting the latest DSM versions and with the WPA/WPA2 breach I'd like to make sure that it's possible to update to the latest version as Synology just fixed the issue (like 2 Days or so ago) --> I've seen people confirming latest update on N54L, but how? Which loader are they using? The N54L had no Wake on LAN, hence I bought the Intel NIC which added that but never got it working under FreeNAS. There is the compplexity of FreeNAS again... gave up, NAS was always on ever since. Is Wake on LAN possible with DSM and the onboard LAN? Do I still need the Intel NIC? Will my N54L finally work like supposed to concerning going to sleep and wake up if there is Network activity? What happens when the DSM gets somehow corrupted? Is all Data lost or can it be extracted after DSM reinstall? It's certainly not as handy as a Windows PC after crash, where the data would still be available if plugged in another system, or is it? Does the hardware of the N54L provide any benefit over the rather lowish Hardware of the Synology DSs available to by? Or is it a waste? Thinking of buying a proper DS in the future and selling the N54L, lowering space and energy usage Finally: I've heared of encryption in the commercial talk of synology. Is that done via the DSM software or rather a hardware feature of their processors used? Hence: is encryption available for XPEnology users? Oh and were to get the latest Bootloader & XPEnology version for the N54L? I can certainly find something but whats the best / most trusted source in your opinion? I guess these are my most pressing questions, no doubt to be followed up by some more if installation is not a breeze like in all the youtube tutorials. And it never is, is it? Thanks in advance for any answers, looking forward to make use of the community power here! Cheers, Myrixamophit