DSM 7.x Loaders and Platforms

[flyride]

Before installing XPEnology using DSM 7.x, you must select a DSM platform and loader. XPEnology supports a variety of platforms that enable specific hardware and software features. All platforms support a minimum of 4 CPU cores, 64GB of RAM, 10Gbe network cards and 16 drives. Each can run "baremetal" as a stand-alone operating system OR as a virtual machine within a hypervisor. A few specific platforms are preferred for typical installs. Review the table and decision tree below to help you navigate the options.

 

NOTE: DSM 6.x is still a viable system and is the best option for certain types of hardware. See this link for more information.

 

DSM 7.x LOADERS ARE DIFFERENT:

 

A loader allows DSM to install and run on non-Synology hardware. The loaders for DSM 5.x/6.x were monolithic; i.e. a single loader image was applicable to all installs. With DSM 7.x, a custom loader must be created for each DSM install. TinyCore RedPill (TCRP) is currently the most developed tool for building 7.x loaders. TCRP installs with two step-process. First, a Linux OS (TinyCore) boots and evaluates your hardware configuration. Then, an individualized loader (RedPill) is built and written to the loader device. After that, you can switch between starting DSM with RedPill, and booting back into TinyCore to adjust and rebuild as needed.

 

TCRP's Linux boot image (indicated by the version; i.e. 0.8) changes only when a new DSM platform or version is introduced. However, you can and should update TCRP itself prior to each loader build, adding fixes, driver updates and new features contributed by many different developers. Because of this ongoing community development, TCRP capabilities change rapidly. Please post new or divergent results when encountered, so that this table may be updated.

 

7.x Loaders and Platforms as of 06-June-2022

Options Ranked	1a	1b	2a	2b	2c	3a	3b
DSM Platform	DS918+	DS3622xs+	DS920+	DS1621+	DS3617xs	DVA3221	DS3615xs
Architecture	apollolake	broadwellnk	geminilake	v1000	broadwell	denverton	bromolow
DSM Versions	7.0.1-7.1.0-42661	7.0.1-7.1.0-42661	7.0.1-7.1.0-42661	7.0.1-7.1.0-42661	7.0.1-7.1.0-42661	7.0.1-7.1.0-42661	7.0.1-7.1.0-42661
Loader	TCRP 0.8	TCRP 0.8	TCRP 0.8	TCRP 0.8	TCRP 0.8	TCRP 0.8	TCRP 0.8
Drive Slot Mapping	sataportmap/ diskidxmap	sataportmap/ diskidxmap	device tree	device tree	sataportmap/ diskidxmap	sataportmap/ diskidxmap	sataportmap/ diskidxmap
QuickSync Transcoding	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
NVMe Cache Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (as of 7.0)	Yes	No
RAIDF1 Support	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Oldest CPU Supported	Haswell *	any x86-64	Haswell **	any x86-64	any x86-64	Haswell *	any x86-64
Max CPU Threads	8	24	8	16	24 (as of 7.0)	16	16
Key Note	currently best for most users	best for very large installs	see slot mapping topic below	AMD Ryzen, see slot mapping topic	obsolete use DS3622xs+	AI/Deep Learning nVIDIA GPU	obsolete use DS3622xs+

* FMA3 instruction support required. All Haswell Core processors or later support it.  Very few Pentiums/Celerons do (J-series CPUs are a notable exception).

   Piledriver is believed to be the minimum AMD CPU architecture equivalent to Intel Haswell.
** Based on history, DS920+ should require Haswell. There is anecdotal evidence gradually emerging that DS920+ will run on x86-64 hardware.

 

NOT ALL HARDWARE IS SUITABLE:

 

DSM 7 has a new requirement for the initial installation. If drive hotplug is supported by the motherboard or controller, all AHCI SATA ports visible to DSM must either be configured for hotplug or have an attached drive during initial install. Additionally, if the motherboard or controller chipset supports more ports than are physically implemented, DSM installation will fail unless they are mapped out of visibility. On some hardware, it may be impossible to install (particularly on baremetal) while retaining access to the physical ports. The installation tutorial has more detail on the causes of this problem, and possible workarounds.

 

DRIVE SLOT MAPPING CONSIDERATIONS:

 

On most platforms, DSM evaluates the boot-time Linux parameters SataPortMap and DiskIdxMap to map drive slots from disk controllers to a usable range for DSM.  Much has been written about how to set up these parameters. TCRP's satamap command determines appropriate values based on the system state during the loader build. It is also simple to manually edit the configuration file if your hardware is unique or misidentified by the tool.

 

On the DS920+ and DS1621+ platforms, DSM uses a Device Tree to identify the hardware and ignores SataPortMap and DiskIdxMap. The device tree hardcodes the SATA controller PCI devices and drive slots (and also NVMe slots and USB ports) prior to DSM installation. Therefore, an explicit device tree that matches your hardware must be configured and stored within the loader image.

 

TCRP automatic device tree configuration is limited. For example, any disk ports left unpopulated at loader build time will not be accessible later. VMware ESXi is not currently supported. Host bus adapters (SCSI, SAS, or SATA RAID in IT mode) are not currently supported.
 

Manually determining correct values and updating the device tree is complex. Device Tree support is being worked on and will improve, but presently you will generally be better served by choosing platforms that support SataPortMap and DiskIdxMap (see Tier 1 below).

 

CURRENT PLATFORM RECOMMENDATIONS AND DECISION TREE:

 

Spoiler

1a. DEFAULT install DS918+ 7.1.0

• Benefits: hardware transcoding, NVMe cache support, direct platform migration from 6.2.x
• Prerequisite: Intel Haswell (aka 4th generation) or newer CPU architecture (or AMD equivalent) 
• Compatibility troubleshooting options: virtualization, DS3622xs+, DS1621+ (for AMD systems)

1b. LARGE SYSTEM install DS3622xs+ 7.1.0

• Benefits: RAIDF1 support, up to 24 CPU threads, enhanced SAS support, NVMe cache support
• Compatibility troubleshooting options: virtualization, DS1621+ (for AMD systems)

 

Spoiler

2a. LATEST platform install DS920+ 7.1.0

• Benefits: NVMe cache support, if the very latest version of DS9xx+ platform is desired
• Prerequisite: Intel Haswell (aka 4th generation) or newer CPU architecture (or AMD equivalent) 
• Compatibility troubleshooting options: virtualization, DS3622xs+, DS1621+ (for AMD systems)
• NOTE: this model requires device tree configuration which is not 100% functional yet
• No additional functional features over DS918+

2b. AMD platform install DS1621+ 7.1.0

• Benefits: NVMe cache support, AMD-specific build using AMD chipset and Ryzen CPU (seems to run fine on Intel also)
• NOTE: this model requires device tree configuration which is not 100% functional yet
• Compatibility troubleshooting options: virtualization
• No additional functional features over other platforms

2c. ALTERNATE install DS3617xs 7.1.0

• Benefits: RAIDF1 support, enhanced SAS support, direct platform migration from 6.2.x
• NOTE: technically obsolete, replaced by DS3622xs+
• Compatibility troubleshooting options: virtualization, DS1621+ (for AMD systems)

 

Spoiler

3a. DEEP LEARNING/AI platform install DVA3221 7.1.0

• Benefits: Native nVIDIA GPU support (for AI, no apparent transcoding capability), NVME cache support
• Prerequisite: Intel Haswell (aka 4th generation) or newer CPU architecture (or AMD equivalent) 
• Compatibility troubleshooting options: virtualization

3b. LEGACY install DS3615xs 7.1.0

• Benefits: RAIDF1 support, enhanced SAS support, direct platform migration from 6.2.x
• NOTE: technically obsolete, replaced by DS3622xs+
• NOTE: this platform is known to have kernel panic crashes when under load
• NOTE: 7.1.0 is the last DSM build for DS3615xs, no further updates will be provided by Synology
• Compatibility troubleshooting options: virtualization, DS1621+ (for AMD systems)

 

VIRTUALIZATION: 

 

All the supported platforms can be run as a virtual machine within a hypervisor. Some use case examples:

• virtualize unsupported network card
• virtualize SAS/NVMe storage and present to DSM as SATA
• run other VMs in parallel on the same hardware (as an alternative to Synology VMM)
• share 10GBe network card with other non-XPEnology VMs
• testing and rollback of updates

Prerequisites: ESXi (requires a paid or free license) or open-source hypervisor (QEMU, Proxmox, XenServer). Hyper-V is NOT supported.

Preferred Configurations: passthrough SATA controller and disks, and/or configure RDM/RAW disks

 

This post will be updated as more documentation is available for the various TCRP implementations.

Spoiler

22-Jun-2022 Added paragraph discussing suitable hardware and AHCI SATA port characteristics

11-Jun-2022 added information about Device Tree incompatibility with HBAs

15-May-2022 satamap now supports VMware; the section on port mapping has been edited accordingly, also added detail on loader behavior
20-May-2022 update DS3617xs as 7.0 added new capabilities, update DV3221

 

[IG-88]

On 5/11/2022 at 7:53 PM, flyride said:

Hardware Transcoding

there are different api's that software like jellyfin (free, syno package or docker) or plex/emby (needs license/paying for hardware transcoding) can use

syno's videostation seems to be intel qsv exclusive, guess it would not do hardware transcoding with dva3221 with just nvidia drivers

so not just yes/no, maybe Intel QSV for 918/920 and Nvidia ( not sure if its NVENC/CUDA/VDPAU) for DVA3221 as the nvidia kernel driver is installed and with the nvidia package from synology it gets nvidia support for using plex or jellyfin (as also done for 3615, 3617, 918+ on 6.2.3), even a "optional Nvidia" might be possible on all other (with a "*" because there is no driver yet for 3622 or other units)

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/22272-nvidia-runtime-library/

i contrary to the missing i915 support in other kernels then 918/920 there was no problem in compiling additional nvidia drivers (matching the version synology uses) for other units, afaik there should be no problem having nvidia drivers in 3622 for using jellyfin/emby/plex instead of the intel qsv we cant have with this unit

 

it might also be useful to mention the base kernel version, its 4.4.x for all but 3615, that one still has  3.10.x (with 6.2.3 and kernel 4.4 on 918 and 3.10 on 3615/3617 i was unable to compile some drivers for 3.10 like the realtek 2.5G nic driver)

 

 

for 3617 and cpu threads i had found out (syno kernel config published) that its 24 with 7.x (syno might have used the kernel config of longer standing broadwellnk as base for bringing broadwell from 3.10 to 4.4)

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/38603-suggestions-for-units-to-have-a-loader-for-with-70/?do=findComment&comment=264214

does not change the outcome of 3617 being replaced by 3622 but makes them more or less the same (there might be slight differences in the driver versions syno has ootb tipping the scale to 3622)

 

 

it might be worth mentioning that there is still no hyper-v support, so anyone hoping for this needs to choose something different then xpenology

 

 

afair we already tested dva3221 for older cpu support and it was the same as 918/920

https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/58499-dva3221-loader-development-thread/?do=findComment&comment=270216

 

 

DS3617xs is listed as "NVMe Cache Support" No - it should be a Yes

https://kb.synology.com/en-id/DSM/tutorial/Which_Synology_NAS_models_support_SSD_cache

it supports E10M20-T1, M2D20 (has a pcie slot) and can have nvme in the regular version from synology, so the nvme support is present and we could use it the same way as with the other units (i guess all kernel 4.4 units have nvme support in general, the only one left out are the 3.10 kernel units like DS3615xs)

[c_zs]

Very happy to see the release of the dsm7.x tutorial, does this mean that DSM 7.x has the same stability and availability as dsm 6.X, thank you for your hard work.

Edited June 1, 2022 by c_zs

[error403]

DVA3221/DSM7.1 doesn't work on AMD FX8300, neither VM nor baremetal. Kernel doesn't boot.

[maxime]

On 20/5/2022 at 15:35, IG-88 said:

there are different api's that software like jellyfin (free, syno package or docker) or plex/emby (needs license/paying for hardware transcoding) can use

 

Hi IG-88! I've an XPEnology DS918+ based on DSM 7.0.1-42218 Update 2 - RedPill Tinycore 0.45, a Gigabyte H97M-D3H mainboard with Intel I5-4790T CPU, and I use the licensed Plex server (Plex Pass). Do you know if my XPE server runs automatically Hardware decoding/transcoding, or I've to configure something? Thanks!

[Konfl1kt]

What does it mean "Large installs"?

Does 6 HDD x4Tb and 8600k considers as Large?

[flyride]

It's nothing more than a way to differentate the platforms.

The underlying DS3622xs+ platform supports the largest number of CPU cores, and technologies (RAIDF1, HBA support) consistent with larger-scale arrays.

 

The loaders can override the total number of drives on any platform so that is a practical irrelevance.  But a loader cannot add kernel core support, or the RAIDF1 code.

[Lorenz]

Please I need help, I run at the moment version 6.1.3-15152. I want to update to version 7.1.0-42661. But I cannot safe my data, Because is 12TB. If I can get a way, If the 7.1 is not running I can back to the 6.1.3-15152 Thank you so much.

 

[Orphée]

Please I need help, I run at the moment version 6.1.3-15152. I want to update to version 7.1.0-42661. But I cannot safe my data, Because is 12TB. If I can get a way, If the 7.1 is not running I can back to the 6.1.3-15152 Thank you so much.
 

Buy 12tb disk, backup everything on it.
Migrate, if something went wrong, restore data from backed up disk. PERIOD.
You're welcome.

[apriliars3]

On 7/30/2022 at 7:38 AM, Lorenz said:

Please I need help, I run at the moment version 6.1.3-15152. I want to update to version 7.1.0-42661. But I cannot safe my data, Because is 12TB. If I can get a way, If the 7.1 is not running I can back to the 6.1.3-15152 Thank you so much.

 

 

You can always downgrade to other version of DSM 

 

[mgrobins]

On 7/30/2022 at 3:38 PM, Lorenz said:

Please I need help, I run at the moment version 6.1.3-15152. I want to update to version 7.1.0-42661. But I cannot safe my data, Because is 12TB. If I can get a way, If the 7.1 is not running I can back to the 6.1.3-15152 Thank you so much.

 

alternatively, use a spare HDD to test your DSM7 build and dont  connect / migrate your current DSM6 array to it until you know the DSM7 build is good. You still need a backup though as you can lose it during migration.

[wifi75]

Hello, what is 

Quote

AMD Ryzen, see slot mapping topic

 

how i can find this topic?

[flyride]

50 minutes ago, wifi75 said:

how i can find this topic?

 

It's in the original post: the second paragraph following the table with this reference, labelled "DRIVE SLOT MAPPING CONSIDERATIONS"

[wifi75]

1 hour ago, flyride said:

 

It's in the original post: the second paragraph following the table with this reference, labelled "DRIVE SLOT MAPPING CONSIDERATIONS"

forgive me but what are the commands to execute?

[ax0r7ag0z]

Hello everyone, I am not sure if anyone has tested it yet, but the current develop branch of the loader (0.9.1.4 as of now)

They have added has added a new model DVA1622 AND increased its disk count, up to 16 from the stock 2!

 

I have tried it in esxi 6.7 with raw disk mapping and I was able to pass 4 drives to it without any problems!

[Itay1778]

Why does the DS918+ need FMA3 support? The processor that comes with it does not support it...
INTEL Celeron J3455
Does not support FMA3.
And I was also able to install it on a Pentium G3220 which also doesn't support it.

[flyride]

1 hour ago, Itay1778 said:

Why does the DS918+ need FMA3 support? The processor that comes with it does not support it...
INTEL Celeron J3455
Does not support FMA3.
And I was also able to install it on a Pentium G3220 which also doesn't support it.

 

We don't actually know the answer to this question.  The issue is some sort of instruction requirement compiled into the Linux kernel for this (and several other) platforms.  If your CPU doesn't work, it crashes very early in the boot process. This has been the case since DSM 6.1 and DS916+ and generally correlates to Intel QuickSync support starting with the Haswell microarchitecture.  There is a strong crowdsourced correlation to the presence/absence of the FMA3 architecture and this has been a good rule of thumb, but it could be something more obscure like SSSE3.

 

To confuse the issue, it appears that some Intel chips support some FMA3 instructions even when not explicitly branded or flagged to do so.  And it is possible for a new build or DSM version to remove whatever compile-time requirement is in play.  For example, it seems that DS920+ (which is the refresh of the DS918+) runs on any x86-64 platform, even while supporting QuickSync.

 

Occasionally there are reports such as yours that say things are working on X or Y CPU.  Great!  Post your results on the upgrade threads.  Better yet, figure out what is really going on and advise!

[Itay1778]

15 minutes ago, flyride said:

 

We don't actually know the answer to this question.  The issue is some sort of instruction requirement compiled into the Linux kernel for this (and several other) platforms.  If your CPU doesn't work, it crashes very early in the boot process. This has been the case since DSM 6.1 and DS916+ and generally correlates to Intel QuickSync support starting with the Haswell microarchitecture.  There is a strong crowdsourced correlation to the presence/absence of the FMA3 architecture and this has been a good rule of thumb, but it could be something more obscure like SSSE3.

 

To confuse the issue, it appears that some Intel chips support some FMA3 instructions even when not explicitly branded or flagged to do so.  And it is possible for a new build or DSM version to remove whatever compile-time requirement is in play.  For example, it seems that DS920+ (which is the refresh of the DS918+) runs on any x86-64 platform, even while supporting QuickSync.

 

Occasionally there are reports such as yours that say things are working on X or Y CPU.  Great!  Post your results on the upgrade threads.  Better yet, figure out what is really going on and advise!

Oh ok, thanks for the explanation.

[poophat]

Hi I am using Dell r510 as my device. With DSM 6.2.4 with jun loader ds 3618 xs , the main problem is that the lan or Ethernet port are not picking up by the system

 

I was using next cloud on unraid previously on system the lan port was picking up fin

 

The same problem accord when I use redpill to run Nas

[Polanskiman]

@flyride

I'm finally putting my hands and head into this new loader and oh boy have you done an excellent job! 

[capillonpub]

Hi,

 

I'm a bit lost, sorry! I just put hands on a HP microserver Gen8, with an Intel Celeron G1610T (a e3-1265l is on the way for an upgrade).

I plan to install Xpenology DSM7.1 BareMetal (I had an issue with a previous install on esxi with an old N54L, the ssd was erased by high summer temperature!).

 

Which DSM plateform can I use? I think the GEN8 is Ivy Bridge hardware, older than Haswell so DS918+ should not be possible; then do you confirm that DS3622xs+ is the best choice in this case?

 

Thanks!

Philippe

 

[flyride]

3 hours ago, capillonpub said:

I'm a bit lost, sorry! I just put hands on a HP microserver Gen8, with an Intel Celeron G1610T (a e3-1265l is on the way for an upgrade).

I plan to install Xpenology DSM7.1 BareMetal (I had an issue with a previous install on esxi with an old N54L, the ssd was erased by high summer temperature!).

 

Which DSM plateform can I use? I think the GEN8 is Ivy Bridge hardware, older than Haswell so DS918+ should not be possible; then do you confirm that DS3622xs+ is the best choice in this case?

 

DS3622xs+ is a good option for most hardware and preferred if you don't have/don't need transcoding hardware support.  I hope this is pretty clear from the ranked matrix.

[jcgechevarria]

Greetings to all and thanks to the developers for all their work, I am testing TCRP, with DS920+, on a Gigabyte motherboard, H97, with Intel Core i5 4570, using 4 hard drives, but I have not connected all at the same time, I configured the loadeer with only two drives to start with, then I added a third drive, and the system saw it with no problem, then I added a fourth drive and the system saw it with no problem too, and I was able to create a RAID 5 with all four drives, the thing is According to the information in the post, DS920+, "any disk ports left unpopulated at loader build time will not be accessible later." But in my case they have been seen and are accessible and usable. Another mystery??

On the other hand, as I said, I use an Intel Core i5, but in the DSM system characteristics, it indicates a Core i3... am I losing processor power or some feature?

Thank you very much for the answers. A greeting and once again thank you for your enormous work.

[flyride]

3 minutes ago, jcgechevarria said:

I configured the loadeer with only two drives to start with, then I added a third drive, and the system saw it with no problem, then I added a fourth drive and the system saw it with no problem too, and I was able to create a RAID 5 with all four drives, the thing is According to the information in the post, DS920+, "any disk ports left unpopulated at loader build time will not be accessible later." But in my case they have been seen and are accessible and usable. Another mystery??

On the other hand, as I said, I use an Intel Core i5, but in the DSM system characteristics, it indicates a Core i3... am I losing processor power or some feature?

It depends on which TCRP loader that you have used.  The "stable" versions of TCRP create a static disk map which does not support dynamic recognition of other ports.  Some dev versions have the ability to dynamically allocate ports as they are seen.

 

The GUI representation of the CPU is hard-coded to the Synology hardware of the DSM platform that you are running.  It is a cosmetic error.  Your CPU is still utilized up to the thread limit indicated in the matrix.

[jcgechevarria]

14 minutes ago, flyride said:

It depends on which TCRP loader that you have used.  The "stable" versions of TCRP create a static disk map which does not support dynamic recognition of other ports.  Some dev versions have the ability to dynamically allocate ports as they are seen.

 

The GUI representation of the CPU is hard-coded to the Synology hardware of the DSM platform that you are running.  It is a cosmetic error.  Your CPU is still utilized up to the thread limit indicated in the matrix.

First, thanks for quick answer, i'm using pocopico's 0.8 loader....updated to 0.8.5....during loader build...

Edited October 3, 2022 by jcgechevarria