[DSM asks for migration or re-installation after modifying grub.cfg and synoinfo.conf]

I was able to recover my setup without installing DSM. I made a copy of the DSM VM before the changed. I just restored it with the backup.

 

Read anther thread, it seems there's a limit of 26 drives. That being said, it will have issues if you have more than 26 drives:

 

[DSM asks for migration or re-installation after modifying grub.cfg and synoinfo.conf]

OS: ESXi 6.7 update 3

Machine: Lenovo TS140

DSM Bootloader: jun's 1.04b

DSM Ver: 6.2.3-25426 update 3 for DS918+

 

My DSM has 5 internal hard drive on SATA controller passthrough from esxi host, also has 7 USB portable hard drives passthrough from esxi host. Before making the change, the settings are as below and worked pretty good:

1. grub.cfg:
DiskIdxMap=1800 (18 in hex equals 24 in decimal, this is to hide the VM disk in DSM)
SataPortMap=66 (as per my knowledge, first 6 tells DSM there're 6 disks on SATA 1; 2nd 6 tells DSM there're 6 disks on SATA 2. In my VM DSM, only one VM boot disk on SATA1 and 5 internal disks on SATA2, the passthrough SATA controller from esxi host. So although 6 is more than actual number of disks, it still works fine)

2. synoinfo.conf:
usbportcfg=0xf000000
internalportcfg=0xffffff
maxdisks=24

 

Today, I am planning to add additional 12 external portable hard drives via adding additional USB hubs. My current setting has a max number of 24 for disk ports, two SATAs occupy 16 ports, existing 7 usb drive occupy 7 ports, there's only one left. Since I need to add 12 drives, I need at least 11 additional ports. Considering the minimal hex number more than 11 in decimal is 0x10 (i.e., 16 in decimal), I decided to add 16 additional ports, that being said, I need to change the max number of disks to 40. So here are the changes I made:

1. grub.cfg:
DiskIdxMap=2800 (28 in hex equals 40 in decimal, so I expect this number can still hide the VM disk in DSM after change max number to 40)
SataPortMap=15 (made this change to reflect actual number of disk on two SATA in DSM, 1 VM disk on SATA1, 5 on SATA 2, the passthrough SATA controller from exsi host)

2. synoinfo.conf:
usbportcfg=0xf0000000000 (added four 0s in the end)
internalportcfg=0xffffffffff (added four f in the end)
maxdisks=40 (changed from 24 to 40)

After the changes, I just reboot the DSM VM. When trying to login to DSM web UI, it shows migration screen and asks to either migration or reinstall. I had to download the DSM 6.2.3-25426, then tried both migration and reinstall, but both failed.

Not sure what to do next. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.