Synology_Service

I'm gonna try to get a formula to do it. Now I happen to be lucky and have many BIOS versions of the DS1515+.Read right off the chips. I use them when restoring corrupted ones. I can say. The bios update when you install DSM it is in the DSM.pat file update. Mainly on the later DSM 7.x Pat files. So Synology is placing the bios update in the pat file. What I am worried about is one thing I tested with the script above. This works perfect on the latest release of DSM 7.2. But I suspect it will brick the system when DSM7.3 comes out. As a rewrite will happen to the bios. Synology has been getting tricky with this. Mainly to support their drive compatibility. So only you can use their drives in the system for the future. On newer models. Not on older units as much. But it still makes changes to the bios when you update past DSM 7.2x or higher. As they are released. Now faking the bios as a DSM 7.3, and doing the pat file as 7.3. The system bricked on my test side. It booted. But the drive array was lost. And all bay lights lit solid. So I had to reinstall the old bios that had DSM 6.2.4. And it came back. ANd now is normal again. The fake DSM7.3 did something weird to the drive array. All bay lights lit up, and no drive detected. So make sure you have a backup of your old bios just in case. The chip is a N25Q064A 3v. Now I was also thinking. Why not keep the old DSM. And just never do anything inside the NAS. But change the app to install in your NAS. Like take a DS1517+ app you might like. And change a few things on it. And it install it on your 1515+. Much to research and try. Also a quick note. When it comes to updating to DSM 7.x.x We never recommend to update past DSM 6.2.4. As you end up losing so much. Photostation gone. To a rinky thing called Photos. Below is a copy and paste of my Reddit post about this topic. Something to read if you have time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note to admins of Xepenology. Let me know if I ever wrote anything wrong her to remove. Will do ASAP. r/Synology_Service: TO UPDATE TO DSM7, OR NOT TO UPDATE. THAT IS THE QUESTION Alot of NAS owners, and even my own customers always debate this one topic, and even ask me about it if it is recommended. You won't believe it. But I always say NO. Don't update your NAS. Lets look at the pro and cons. First the pro's. DSM7 has a all new look. Feature rich, and has the latest updates to bug fixes and security flaws. Its kinda like going from Windows 10 to Windows 11. And that's pretty much where the story ends with DSM7. DSM 6 has all the same features. And also has its own updates. Like the recent update 7 added to DSM6. So you end up with DSM 6.2.4 Update 7. Like Windows that do security updates and feature packs. You're probably wondering why I said don't update? For 1. You can never go back that's for sure. Unless you know how to reprogram the Daughter board on the NAS. eDOM. You are on DSM7 forever. SO some of the bad in updating. DSM7 added some white lists for drives. And makes drive compatibility a issue. It doesn't carry support for WIFI dongle use. Surveillance Station comes with a loss in license counts. Photostation is gone to a rinky dink app called Photos. Doesn't work with the app anymore. The list is endless. And at your loss. Why I say. Never update unless you know you really have to. And need it. Why DSM6 is the best robust OS Synology made. Even though my real favorite is the older DSM 5.2. I personally think that was the best they ever made. During their heyday. It was tops. But 6.2.4 is the overall, all NAS best DSM ever made. Last of the good ones. Alot of owners really need to ask themselves. Do I need this update? Is my NAS doing ok where I am? If there's something in the latest update that applies to you. Then do it. Forget the security flaws. Nobody ever gets hacked in NAS history. Ever saw a post on one? NO!. Hackers want PC's. Not disk stations. Besides. What's to hack on so many of these. Your videos? Or pictures. What good is that stuff to hackers? Hackers want stuff that gets them into your emails and money. Like your PayPal account. Not your movies or pics. These are just Synology's way of getting you to update, so they can slowly migrate you over to the new "get our drives only and apps route" in my opinion. Yea that ever shrinking drive compatibility list. And yes. the future for Synology will be to use their drives only. No 3rd party drives like WD and Seagate. They are working on their own drives now as I write. And now even the current DSM7 omits many drives. So you can't use them like on the older DSM's. Also the apps. A Lot of this started as licensing for apps were expiring from Synology to 3rd party developers. Like surveillance station. Synology didn't want to pay for another license. But on the old DSM. You can still use it. This is just one app affected. There are more. Plus. Updates can be a issue. They are known to crash NAS's if something gets corrupted. I see it alot. Imagine you are sleeping during an automatic update, and or even there. Just to see a blue blinking power light forever. DSM and even app updates are like doing PC bios updates. If just one bit is off, and the checksum is not correct. Its a fail. you now lost your NAS, and anything else it can do. Has to go for service. And if you are out of warranty. Synology won't fix it. Their support centers are only RMA work under warranty. They aren't going to solder a new Bios or Daughter board on your NAS. Nope. Ends up here where we do that kind of work. Board level repairs. Chip changes. Bioses, you name it. So look at where you station is today. Is it doing its job like it always has? Then don't touch was isn't broken. Or decide. Do I really need this update to DSM7 from my old 6.2.4? Most likely not, and like 95% of the NAS owners out there. You don't need it. We also started to see this on the resale side. Where older Synology NAS's selling used. Have gone up alot in price. Even from the ones I sell. Like $400-$600 for a DS1512+. Same price as a 1817+ or newer. I also get many requests for NAS's only on DSM 6.2.4 or earlier. They don't want DSM 7 or higher. If its on DSM7. This kinda hinders sales for these. As only a select group of new comers usually get them. Not die hard Synology fans. No they don't want DSM7 if you truly know your NAS. And use the apps alot. Make sure you turn off automatic updates on your NAS. And take control. Don't let Synology do the update. You decide what needs updating if need be. If its working leave it. Forget the security update crap from Synology in my opinion. 99% chance it doesn't apply to you anyways. Today! I get many that come here who want downgrades. That too is rising.

I'm gonna try to get a formula to do it. As still testing another method. The old way was to take a original DS1517+ copy of a working dom. Basically the eSOM or usb thumb drive on the board. And copy over you serial and mac addresses with the checksum done as well. And load that on the eDOM, and boot. Done! Now I happen to be lucky and have many BIOS versions of the DS1515+.Read right off the chips. I use them when restoring corrupted ones. I can say. The bios update when you install DSM it is in the DSM.pat file update. Mainly on the later DSM 7.x Pat files. So Synology is placing the bios update in the pat file. What I am worried about is one thing I tested with the script above. This works perfect on the latest release of DSM 7.2. But I suspect it will brick the system when DSM7.3 comes out. As a rewrite will happen to the bios. Synology has been getting tricky with this. Mainly to support their drive compatibility. So only you can use their drives in the system for the future. On newer models. Not on older units as much. But it still makes changes to the bios when you update past DSM 7.2x or higher. As they are released. Now faking the bios as a DSM 7.3, Changing the version, and doing the pat file as 7.3. The system bricked on my test side. It booted. But the drive array was lost. And all bay lights lit solid. So I had to reinstall the old bios that had DSM 6.2.4. And it came back. And now is normal again. The fake DSM7.3 did something weird to the drive array. Synology Assistant showed DSM 7.3. DS1517+. All bay lights lit up, and no drives detected. And all bay lights lit. So make sure you have a backup of your old bios just in case. The chip is a N25Q064A 3v. If you have a programmer. CH341 will do it easy. Cheap $5 programmer. So for this test. It required to remove the brick state to normal with the original bios. Still more testing. Speaking of Synology wanting us all to use their HDD's in the new systems. So they are forcing us to buy their brand drives. I suspect that is based on PID/VID table of numbers in the eDOM, or bios. So I need to find out what are the PID/VID numbers on the current Synology drive lineup, and just put those on my old Ironwolfs to test. So will have to modify the controller on the drive. A Lot tools out there for that one too.

We actually do these many times for model changes, and DSM downgrades. But not from serial port. Only from eDOM(Disk on Module), or eFlash Drive. That little daughter board that sits on your motherboard if you have a PLUS unit. And you have to change 3 things on the eDOM and your done. Both for DSM downgrades and model changes. The eDOM is really just a USB Thumb Drive. Yep. You can connect it to any pc just like a Thumb drive. It has 10 pins on it. And Synology only uses 4 pins on it. The rest are for support. To keep it in the socket. The 4 pins Synology uses is just like a USB Thumb drive. +, -, Read, Write. That's it. Now just copy that Boot OS from the drive. Change a few letters. Done. What's nice is they sell these little 10pin eDOMs on eBay for like $5. So you can have a few for your system. One on DSM 7.2.1. Another on DSM 6.2.4. Or even another on DSM 5 if you want. The Linux way is very tough. Let alone one mistake and you can hose the system if no backup is available. With eDOM as long as you have a copy. And mistakes, and your back to normal again. Now this is just my opinion. So here's the real question. Why would anyone want DSM 7.2.1? What do you gain over DSM 7.1? Or even DSM 6.2.4? Nothing. What do you lose? Alot! I mean alot! In fact Synology trolls areas to get people to update from what I see. One of the big reasons Synology issues DSM's is to get rid of stuff it hates paying for. MONEY is what talks in the NAS business. That's it. All they care for. So you lose tons, Photo Station. Hard Drive Compatibility is now worse in SDM 7.x.x. Wifi Dongle is gone. Surveillance Station drops many camera licensing. And more. The list is pretty big to name a few. A whole lot more. The best DSM they ever made was 5.2. Maybe DSM 6.2.4. And the NAS carries a higher value on DSM 6.2.4 on resale over any other NAS. Nobody in serious NAS apps use wants them. As a Synology Service Center. Its all we get requested. DSM 6.2.4 or earlier. Especially on a NAS that can be updated to DSM 7.2.1. Nobody wants a NAS on DSM 7.x.x. WHY? They have apps that only work on the older DSM's. And they don't like the limitations in the new DSM's. If you read the Synology release 2 years ago they mentioned why the new DSM7 series was set out. Over 6.2.4. A little riff raff about useless bug fixes as a joke. Making you think your NAS will crash. But that wasn't it. Mainly they didn't want to buy into more costly licensing for their apps. Mainly Surveillance Station was costly for them. Photo Station too. They have to pay for that stuff per license. If you think its security bugs. That's a ploy. Synology doesn't have any bugs. And nobody is going around trying to hack NAS's. Let alone serious NAS owners are behind some pretty good firewalls. And the security of DSM 6.2.4 was for the 99.9% of us enough. We don't need anything else. I also get asked about the updates here at the lab. I recommend all of my customers to please do not update to DSM7.x.x. Any version of it. Unless you know it has something you really need. And I can tell you. 99.9% of the NAS users out there don't have what DSM7 has that you need so bad. We just have so many issues with it from a service side, let alone all the stuff you lose with the apps. Why would anyone do that? Believe me when I say what I say. I'm the only Synology Service Center in the USA. There is another in Germany. My partner. And we see countless NAS's daily. On all kinds of DSM's, Linux Home brews, people trying to fix NAS's with 100ohm temp fixes. You name it. Today alone was 4 units in. One from Google even. RACKS and Desktops. When I say don't update. I mean it. You just set yourself up to lose so much. And in some models, this updates modify's the bios. Not all. But on some. What this means if you make a mistake, or decide you want Photostation back, you hate the new "PHOTOS" app. You can't go back no matter how much you try with coding. Because the bios is not in the coding. The coding side your on is the Boot OS side. Synology is getting trickier, and know. They are putting permanent markers in the bios coding. And once in awhile I get a NAS that is hose from coding, trying to go back to DSM 6. Only the people who have bios files like us can save those. That's an added risk you take. I think Xpenology has the best idea you can take. That too I am building cause I love it. But if you do this coding on a NAS. I wouldn't. If its coding for your Xpenology project. Say a DS1515+ to DS1517+. Perfect!

Floris. You said this was tested and confirmed you had done. Which model A-Data USB drives did you use?

I know its a old post. But can fix old drive with new controller is all you need. Do it alot. If you have the time and patience.

Thanks for your reply. Actually the idea behind this is that I have a older unit. A DS1512+. And I wanted to test a 7.x file on it since the motherboard practically identical to a DS1513+. Same parts too. Now the older units prior to 2013 only go up to DSM 5.2. But the DS1513+ goes up to DSM7.x. So imagine you have the opportunity to allow a older NAS the ability to run the newer DSM's. So I wanted to test this idea, and change the info in, so the unit thinks it a DS1513+. I have been able to do this on the DSM's prior to 7.x with ease. Just when I started this project a week ago as an idea, I noticed I couldn't open the newer DSM files. Not sure why Synology has done it this way too. As it wasn't really needed. Anyways. Thanks for the input. I also felt maybe this could be a future contribution when finally all the 2015's, and later dates, get eventually removed on the DSM lists of future releases. I just wasn't aware of TCRP, and the process behind it.. Now that is only one reason. Not to boost at all really. Honestly too. I am the only service comp. for Synology NAS's in the USA. My other half is in Germany. And I currently have 5 models with a similar failed USBEST/Phison controllers on the Flash drives. So needed to find a way to move the 7.x DSM's over to a new flash drives with a newly replaced controller. And i get a lot of those. And noticed the DSM 7.x was encrypted. Just never had a new DSM needed to do until recently. and the customer already had migrated to DSM 7.x. So both scenarios are needed for this. And maybe even for future Xpenology guys.. Thanks. Will try to research that idea more you sent. Again. Thanks!

I apologize to have to ask anyone about this. As it may seem basic. But has anyone noticed all the newer .pat files from Synology you can't open? I have tried everything imaginable. I use to open these with 7-zip. That was 6.2.4 and earlier. But what happened? All the later PAT files are in some format you can't extract them any more? I truly truly would honestly appreciate anyone who knows how to open these newer pat files. Try it. Download any 7.x PAT file for any NAS. It won't open. Please help! Thanks!

WOW! Lucky find. Is why the chip didn't initialize. Looks like the power driver transistor for the LAN interface chip.

This indicates the LAN chip has failed to initialize. Usually happens if lightning hit the house or something. Or when you need a 100ohm fix. As the voltage to this chip is shared at the CPU. When you remove the cover on the DS1815+ it is the biggest chip facing you. Made by Marvell. It is the Marvell Alaska 88E1545-LKJ. During boot, the system goes out to search for mac address in it tables. If the LAN doesn't initialize, The MAC address's aren't reported back.