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INSTALLING XPEnology ON ACER ASPIRE H340


Ikon

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Through much trial and tribulation, I have finally been able to repeatedly, and reliably, install XPEnology onto an Acer Aspire EasyStore H340 NAS. There were a great many failures, but it turns out one thing was the key to success.

Here are the steps I followed:
 

  1. I downloaded the MBR version of Jun's loader image: DS3617xs_DSM6.1_JunsMod_V1.02b_MBR_Genesys.img. It seems it has to be the MBR version. The GPT version simply doesn't work. This is probably because the H340 dates from 2009 and doesn't understand GPT.
     
  2. I downloaded DSM_DS3617xs_15217.pat. There was no particular reason for picking the DS3617xs: it simply seemed like it might be the most versatile.
     
  3. I took a 2TB HDD and used Disk Manager on my Win10 desktop to remove any existing partitions and ensure it was initialised as MBR. As far as I know, the H340 can't use drives larger than 2TB, so the maximum disk space would be 8TB, minus the space for DSM itself.
     
  4. I prepared a SanDisk Cruzer 8TB USB stick as per Polanskiman's excellent tutorial. I used the tool pointed to by Polanskiman to generate a serial number.
     
  5. I installed the 2TB drive INTO THE TOP SLOT of the H340. NOT USING THE BOTTOM SLOT IS THE KEY ITEM TO SUCCESS. I attempted to install XPEnology/DSM onto various drives in the bottom slot; they all failed.
     
  6. On my Win10 desktop, I opened a window to my DHCP server. I also opened a command prompt window.
     
  7. I inserted the USB stick into the front port on the H340. I haven't tested installing with the stick in a rear port. I also ensured there was no keyboard or mouse connected to the H340.
     
  8. I pressed Power on the H340. I watched the LAN Activity LED closely. Once it started blinking I moved to step 9.
     
  9. I watched my DHCP Server's list of active leases until it showed me a new one, which was for the H340.
     
  10. I used the IP from the DHCP server's to start a continuous PING of the H340.
     
  11. I opened Synology Assistant. Http://find.synology.com doesn't work for me.
     
  12. After a couple of Searches, Assistant found the H340 and said it was Not Installed.
     
  13. I right-clicked on the H340 in Assistant and selected Install.
     
  14. I watched the progress until, at around 28%, 600 seconds, the install windows said the H340 was rebooting.
     
  15. I watched the continuous PING. After around 6 Request Timed Outs, and 30 Destination Unreachables, at around 61%, or 235 seconds, the Write Configurations began. It completed very quickly and said the installation was successful.
     
  16. I was then able to connect to DSM and complete the initial configuration items.
     
  17. I rebooted a couple of times to ensure the system comes up cleanly each time.
     
  18. I then used the Shutdown command to shut down the H340. This is the one thing that still doesn't work properly. The system does power down, but only for a few seconds, then it begins to power right back up again, almost like it was doing a restart instead of a shutdown. I've tried the Power Button package I found on the net. It also shuts the system down, but again it powers right back up. The only solution I've found is to wait until the light on the USB stick goes out, then pull the plug. I may connect the H340 to a power bar to simplify things. If someone can offer a suggestion, that would be great.
     
  19. After powering down, I added a 2TB drive to the bottom slot of the H340 and powered back up. Fortunately, XPEnology/DSM still managed to boot up OK, and the new drive was found by DSM just fine.
     
  20. Since the top 3 slots of the H340 are supposed to be hot-swappable, I added another 2TB drive to slot 2 (2nd from the bottom). It was also discovered without issue.
     

It seems the whole key to getting XPEnology onto an EasyStore H340 is to NOT use the bottom slot for the XPEnology/DSM drive. I know the bottom slot is considered special when H340s are used to run Windows Home Server 2011, so I can only assume something about the way the bottom slot is handled by the system interferes with getting XPEnology installed.

 

I do not pretend to say I've exhausted every combination that might, or might not, work. What I've posted is simply what started working for me, so I've stuck with it. I think an H340 makes a very nice Synology box, and they can be found very cheaply on eBay.

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  • Polanskiman changed the title to INSTALLING XPEnology ON ACER ASPIRE H340
  • 7 months later...

@Ikon
really great Job!
and you gave my Acer H340 a second Chance..
But one Question:
at which Point i have to remove the usb stick?
Because if it remains in the Slot at next boot, it will start the "Migration" Job.....

and
@Dreadnought

how could you get the Info of VID/PID of the Internal SMI  (without Video-Adapter) 
just with WHS od Xpenology….

Thanks a lot…

Big11

you can Reply in german too…   :-)
cause i'm an Ösi...

 

Edited by Big_11
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My USB stick has to stay installed in the H340. The computer actually boots from the USB stick. AFAIK, that's the way Xpenology works; it runs from the USB stick. I understand it is possible to transfer it to the hard drive, and I think I tried it but found it more trouble than it's worth. I finally followed the advice of several people in the Xpenology forums and just went with the option of always booting from the USB stick.

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Thans, but meanwhile o got the Information..
My Prior Question was. how to get this Image on the smi ?

And as i understand a VGA Adapter Cable is mandatory for this step..

so i'll going to build this, as i got yesterday the parts (Primary the 2x13 Connector)….

and i thought  -as described in another Thread on this Forum - it is possible to install xpenology without it..
an i wondered why after the first boot from USB the NAS was accesible, but never the second boot..
 

and so i recognized, that it seems the System starts (unwanted from th HDD) caus Boot-Order couldn't set to USB First...

 

 

so, tomorrow i will fire my iron and build this cable …
and then i hope will have success...

 

 

ist there any recomandation for nay of the offerde Versions (3515, 3617 or 916 ?)…

Thanks a lot and have a nice evening…

Liebe Grüße aus Österreich !
Big11

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  • 6 months later...

After following this tutorial, the system started up fine and could reboot too.

But after adding two more hard disks, the system fails to boot. If I take those two hard disks out, it boots fine from the top hard drive.

Any idea what's wrong?

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  • 2 months later...

Its a bit of old topic but i hope someone can help.

I tryed Ikon Tutorial and works like a sharm 😁

 

I have 2 questions.:

1.> Is there already a updated DSM update for the H340? Because if i try to update in the software after installtion it fails to boot.

2.> The Blinking i-led and no lights for the HDD leds, is there already a working solution for found?

      I tryed before WHS2011 also with the same issue , but i went back to xpenology software because it uses less from the system.

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@pascalbianca
as i know updating on a H340 works just to DSM 6.1.7-15284 Update 3...

 

and there is no solution for the HDD-LEDs and the blinking I-LED..

just one fix for the Powerbutton (to shutdown with the Powerbutton)

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/7195-power-button-package/?tab=comments#comment-68434

 

as from my first experiences, the H340 sometimes was not accesable after first reboot after install...
i found that an inserted extra Graphic Card was disturbing and so in installed just with an VGA-Cable..

But runs like a charm.....

 

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@Big_11,

 

It's a pitty that there is no solution for the HDD-Leds and blinking I-Led.

The power button was already fix.

 

I have no problem with the grafic card, this works also like a sharm.

 

DSM 6.1.7-15284 Update 3 where can i find that one?

 

Edited by pascalbianca
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Let Xpenology find that..
At the Control Panel under "Updates and Backup"

check just the Point "important Updates" and let it find !...

 

Someone dealed with implement the LED-Drivers.. (me too)
but without sucess …

and for my Point of view this is not really important...

 

 

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Hi. Just got several notifications by email of updates to this topic. I'm glad to see that a number of people have found my tutorial useful, and that it's worked for them. That said, I have to admit I haven't been using my H340 for quite a while. It's still sitting there, on a shelf, with the USB stick in the front USB port, powered down. Oh well, at least my efforts have helped a few people.

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@Ikon

That's absolutly right... 

Your topic helped me absolutly and my H340 (Got two of them.. One fore spare! ) is runnig since there without any Problem!

And faster and with more Tasks as my Buffalo NAS'es before.. 

Thank's a lot.... 

 

One Thing i try now, is to Upgrade to DSM 6.2.x.. 

But i can't find any images with MBR with the approbiate Files... 

But i continue trying and searching.. 

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  • 3 months later...

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