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N40L with latest DSM 6.2.3


hansel

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I revived my old N40L Microserver again. Put in the power cord and booted her up. Running well. It's running with the below version, June's loader. I'm not sure what version loader. 

 

image.png.5b3dc7bf9f7c2cdf1f7f5b0d70d5346a.png

 

I wanted to try and update the DSM with a more recent version but not sure where to go first. 

The microserver is stock. It does not contain a extra NIC. I think I have changed BIOS years ago. To add extra SATA port capabilities?

Anyway, what are my options? There is a serious amount of family photographs on it. I got those backed up on a external drive but I rather not do a total reinstall. 

 

  1. Can I update to new DSM 6.2.3?
  2. 6.2.1 needed an extra Intel NIC to function. At some point there was a seperate Broadcom driver available. Does 6.2.3 still need the extra Intel NIC or is it possible to work with the broadcom driver? 

 

Edited by hansel
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To use DSM 6.2.3.x you will need to prepare a USB stick, using Jun's 1.03b.

 

For the time beeing, 6.2.3 is working with the original/internal nic on the G7 series of microservers.

I just "gave new life" to a N36L yesterday, but that was a clean install.

 

If you would like to play it safe, remove your current HDDs, install an empty drive, and do a testinstall.

When you are happy with the results, boot the new USB with your old HDDs, and let it do an upgrade.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I finally took the time to test it out.

I removed all discs and added one empty HDD.

Created a new flash drive with loader based on DS3617xs.

Disabled the C1 / C1E option in BIOS.

Rebooted again to find the DSM onm y LAN with the Syno Assistant desktop tool. It installed the newest PAT file perfectly.

 

Next step is to upgrade the system with DSM disks added. 

2020-10-29 19_08_36-Synology Web Assistant en nog 3 andere pagina's - Persoonlijk - Microsoft​ Edge.png

2020-10-29 19_19_18-hera - Synology DiskStation en nog 3 andere pagina's - Persoonlijk - Microsoft​ .png

Edited by hansel
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Ok, it's officially a mess.

This is what I did. I swapped the dummy drive with the real data drives. With the same Flash drive in the system I booted my N40L again. After a minute I saw my DiskStation with status "Migration" or a like. Clicked the migration without loss of data in the web gui and selected the 6.2.3-25426 PAT file from my desktop. And go!

Never saw my N40L again. I didn't see it in the Synology Assistant application. 

 

Then it occurred to me that I was changing DSM version, bootloader (1.02b to 1.03b) and machine model (3615xs to 3617xs) at the same time. A fresh install worked based on the 1.03b/3617xs but these data drives have history. Might this be the problem?

 

Since then I have:

- swapped the dummy drive back in and booted without issues. 

- placed the old 6.0.2 usb flash drive back in together with the data drives. No sight of the machine in Syno Assistant. 

- made a new flash drive based on 1.03b/DS3615xs without luck. 

 

What should/can I do now?!

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Ok, another reboot and swapping drives and I'm in the original setting again. June's 1.02/DS3615xs loader with DSM 6.0.2-25426.

Status is now "Recoverable"

 

Syno Assistant

image.thumb.png.b6613176c0c5a6e741a7f9fec3a30492.png

DSM web gui

image.png.312ca389b280ce59a47d9efc1e3346af.png

 

I've seen this before. When I try to recover, it suggests it will start recovering but this only last for 1-2 second before it reboots to tell me that the system is in recovery mode. Over and over again.

Edited by hansel
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@flyride No, I didn't think about that! I haven't been active on this forum for quite some time. Must have missed that.

I've looked in the BIOS settings like crazy. There isn't anything to be found concerning boot legacy/UEFI settings. Are you sure this is available for the HP Microserver N40L?

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2 hours ago, hansel said:

No, I didn't think about that! I haven't been active on this forum for quite some time. Must have missed that.

I've looked in the BIOS settings like crazy. There isn't anything to be found concerning boot legacy/UEFI settings. Are you sure this is available for the HP Microserver N40L?

 

 if the loader 1.03b came up with the single test disk its not a problem with csm, tho loader would not boot in this case

 

this older unit might take while when updating 1/2h is not unusual from what i've seen here

 

one thing with the recorey is odd, loader 1.02b is dsm 6.1 not 6.0

edit:

5 hours ago, hansel said:

June's 1.02/DS3615xs loader with DSM 6.0.2-25426.

Status is now "Recoverable"

that can't be right, the version 25426 is dsm 6.2.3

 

 

imho atm there are two "simple" options

1. use  the 1.03b again  and make a migration, wait at least 1h and then hard reboot if needed the system may come up than as 6.2.3

(doing a migration to a new dsm vesion and change 3615->3617 should not be a problem)

 

2. you can try to boot up with the 1.03b and your single disk (1st sata port of thesystem)  and then reconnect the other drives, it should then recognise the other disks with its raid (data volume)  and should also offer to "repair" the system (as the system on the boot drive is not the same as the other disks so the other faulty disks will get the dsm system from the boot disks - that way you loose the config (ip, users, shares) of you old system

you need enough sata ports to cover all old disks and the new single disk

the procedure pretty much the same as for the downgrade in the tutorial here

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/12778-tutorial-how-to-downgrade-from-62-to-61-recovering-a-bricked-system/

 

its not the and now, your data should still be thee - but do you have a backup of your data volume?

 

Edited by IG-88
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Thank you @IG-88.

You're right. I made an error on the DSM versions there. Screenshot tells the true story. My text is faulty. Should be DSM 6.0.2-8451. I also found that I wasn't originally using the V1.02b loader but the V1.01. That one matches with 6.0.2-8451. Sorry 'bout that. So much versions going on....

 

Anyway. I will have more patience and once more create a usb flash drive with V1.03b / 6.2.3-25426 / DS3617xs and do a migration. I will report back.

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there might be another underlying problem if you had dsm 5.x before 6.0

if the directoy ./xpenology is persent (in root folder) the webgui is not working (afair the smb/cifs does), crashes after a short time

you would need to use ssh to login right after boot and delete that directory

 

 

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10 minutes ago, hansel said:

But won't I need the webgui in order to enable ssh if my config is lost? 

that only applies to 1. where you use you old system, when doing 2.0 it will be a fresh 6.2.3 installation and that can't have the problem

if you try 1. then you can check for your old ip address after you rebooted the system (look for the hdd led's as long as its blinking madly it might be still booting, try to ping after it got quieter)

i guess you had ssh enabled on you old installtion

the default after a fresh installation is telnet and ssh disabled

 

edit:

btw do you know what a 0-modem cable is and might have one

the linux local console is on the serial port, you can even login there if you have access that way and make changes to the system

if you system has iLO you might even be able to have that over the virtual comport

you migh also see usefull information about the boot process

Edited by IG-88
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I suggest doing 1. and writing down all the steps and recording what happens - or doesn't happen. As @IG-88 says, if it gets stuck in the middle of the installation, then leave it for a while. I also now remember one of my steps to upgrade to 6.2 required a couple of hard boots and a wait to make sure the disk light had stopped.

If it all stops, post what you did and what messages you did (or didn't) get.

 

 

Edited by billat29
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I've taken the number 1 approach. 

Quote

1. use  the 1.03b again  and make a migration, wait at least 1h and then hard reboot if needed the system may come up than as 6.2.3

(doing a migration to a new dsm vesion and change 3615->3617 should not be a problem)

 

After a new installation with loader 1.03b/DS3617xs on a test disc, I swapped the test disc with the real data drives (3x1GB, SHR by the way). After the system booted, I got the Migrate button. Clicked it and it didn't take too long for the migration process to run. 5-10 minutes or so. See screenshots below. Two automatic reboots later and I got the login screen. I saw the DiskStation in the Syno Assistant app also. 

 

Now I can login with my old account name but the system is not stable. When opening Control Panel I random get the message: 

 

image.png.5c681b35327e0a7cfd5db04b4bd2b737.png

 

and the Control Panel closes. Sometimes followed by a not available webgui. Or, when webgui keeps working, I open DSM Update I get no connection:

 

image.png.2aaf3e31307c3ceb844f101f9a17c04a.png

Going to the network setting, there is no machine name (whilst it was broadcasted in the Syno Assistant earlier) and gateway:

 

image.png.c23f4824d6cec1802284ac9bb762f2c7.png

 

The Resource Monitor is funky at 0% CPU/RAM but halfway the scale:

 

image.png.0b26d833cc59a90ce67394926e4176e7.png

 

I wanted to check if my files are still there but there is no File Station app. When I go to package center I see it is installed. There are no icons loaded in the package center. Weird things happen. 😟

Any ideas? What if I choose "Reinstallation" instead of "Migration" at the Migration - Installation Type screen? I don't care too much about the user accounts and shares. My setup is not that complicated. I would be fine with resetting this. Reinstallation keeps your data right? Is that something I might give a try before trying @IG-88's second option? Second option is an option because I have one sata bay available.

 

2020-11-02 22_40_47-Synology Web Assistant en nog 5 andere pagina's - Persoonlijk - Microsoft Edge.png

2020-11-02 22_41_02-Synology Web Assistant en nog 5 andere pagina's - Persoonlijk - Microsoft Edge.png

2020-11-02 22_41_32-Synology Web Assistant en nog 5 andere pagina's - Persoonlijk - Microsoft Edge.png

2020-11-02 22_42_36-Synology Web Assistant en nog 5 andere pagina's - Persoonlijk - Microsoft Edge.png

Edited by hansel
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