General FAQ

[sbv3000]

This FAQ is set up to answer questions that are commonly asked!

 

 

1 - What is XPEnology?

 

2 - Is it legal to use?
 

3 - What about using Synology QuickConnect and other Synology based services?
 

4 - Why does Resource Manager show I have a dual core i3 processor or something else?

 

5 - How do I access my NAS over the Internet?

 

6 - What are the serial port settings for a terminal connection with Jun's loader?

 

7 - Where do I report if an update is working or not?

 

8 - What is the bootloader for, and where is DSM saved when I install it on my machine? How much space does it take?

 

9 - How do I reset DSM remotely without loosing my data?

 

10 - What is the relation between DSM updates and the loader?

 

Credits go to @sbv3000 for redacting most of the FAQs

Edited October 7, 2022 by Polanskiman
Title edit.

[Polanskiman]

1 - What is XPEnology?

XPEnology is a Linux based boot loader, developed to emulate the Synology boot loader, allowing the Synology Disk Station Manager (DSM) to run on non-Synology hardware and emulate specific Diskstation models. In the case of the latest loader the emulated models are: DS916, DS918, DS3615 and DS3617.
 

[Polanskiman]

2 - Is it legal to use?

Disk Station Manager (DSM) is based on Open Source code and XPE/DSM takes advantage of Open Source sharing and use. You should always use your own jugement and read before installing and using DSM with XPEnology. We cannot be held responsible for your actions.

[Polanskiman]

3 - What about using Synology QuickConnect and other Synology based services?

QuickConnect and services that use Synology servers require genuine Synology serial numbers and MAC addresses. Mis use of Synology services is discouraged by the XPE community.
 

[Polanskiman]

4 - Why does Resource Manager shows I have a dual core i3 processor or something else?

Because it is hard coded. Nontheless this is purely cosmetic. You can check with the following command the actual CPUs installed. 

cat /proc/cpuinfo

 

[Polanskiman]

5 - How do I access my NAS over the Internet?

 

There are several ways, but you will need to setup 'Port Forwarding' in all cases. The required ports are listed here, on the Synology Website;

 

https://www.synology.com/en-uk/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/General/What_network_ports_are_used_by_Synology_services

 

It is recommended to setup DDNS either on your Router (refer to your Router manual) or NAS, as in this tutorial

It is also recommended to use a VPN solution for remote access for better security.

 

 

[Polanskiman]

6 - What are the serial port settings for a terminal connection with Jun's loader?

 

These settings are known to work in Putty:

Settings

 

COM1

Speed - 115200

Data Bits - 8

Stop Bits - 1

Parity - None

Flow Control - None

 

 

[Polanskiman]

7 - Where do I report if an update is working or not?

 

You can do so here. Please read the two READ ME topics before applying an update and reporting if it works or not:

 

[Polanskiman]

8 -What is the bootloader for, and where is DSM saved when I install it on my machine? How much space does it take? 

 

The bootloader mimics an internal chip that is found in real Synology boxes. That internal flash chip contains the firmware (kernel) necessary to boot. When you install DSM thanks to the bootloader, DSM is installed on all drives present in the machine, NOT onto your USB key containing the bootloader.

 

Now let us say you installed DSM and you decided to update DSM. DSM will be updated on all hard drives. If the update also comes with an updated firmware (kernel) then it will also be updated on the USB key. That is basically the only part being copied in the bootloader. That is why in some instances, if you had a running XPEnology box that for some reason broke and you try to reinstall an earlier version of DSM you will not be able to because the kernel contained in the USB key is newer than the one in the .PAT file you are using to reinstall DSM.

 

Now, when you install DSM, two partitions are created. The system partition (~2.4GB) and the swap partition (~2GB) which are in RAID1 (always). Each time you add a new drive to your machine it is initialised and the two partitions are created and DSM installed on the drive. The purpose of all this being that as along as you have one working drive you will be able to boot DSM.

[Polanskiman]

9 - How do I reset DSM remotely without loosing my data?

 

Contrary to a real Synology box, on an XPEnology box, reseting DSM from the Control Panel > Update & Restore > Reset will not only reset settings but ERASE ALL USER DATA. Therefore this method should not be used if you intend to preserve your data. The only way your data would be safe is if you had a real Synology box. Then you would also need to press the reset button located at the back of the box twice within a determined time frame to have your data preserved. More info here: https://www.synology.com/en-us/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/General/How_to_reset_your_Synology_NAS 

 

However there is a way to reset your XPEnology box without loosing data. DSM includes a tool to do so and it's called synodsdefault.

Access your machine via ssh and type de following:

sudo /usr/syno/sbin/synodsdefault

This will output the following options:

Synology DS Default Reset Util.
Usage: synodsdefault
  --reset-config      Reset DSM configs.
  --reinstall         Reset to reinstall DSM.
  --factory-default   Reset to brand new DSM. Include remove all data volumes.
  --help              Show this help.

Use the --reset-config or the --reinstall options to reset/reinstall DSM. The first one will only reset the settings while the second one will reinstall DSM. The third option --factory-default, you guessed it, will wipe clean you installation and all your data will also be erased so avoid that one if your point is to preserve your data.

[Polanskiman]

10 - What is the relation between DSM updates and the loader?

 

Synology delivers three types of updates to DSM:

- Major updates: x.x (e.i DSM 6.1)

- Intermediate updates: x.x.x (e.i DSM 6.1.4)

- Critical updates: x.x update x (e.i DSM 6.1.7 update 1 or DSM 6.1 update 1)

 

Whenever an update is released it is strongly advised to first make an update on a test machine prior updating your "production" machine. This goes for all types of updates but more so for major and intermediate updates where there tend to be enough changes to DSM's kernel for the loader not to work anymore. In fact it is safe to say that 100% of the time the loader will not work and an updated version of the loader will be required.

 

Critical updates have posed less issues with the current loader (jun's loader) BUT if memory serves me well, loaders pre-dsm 6.0 also required that they be updated for the critical updates to work.

 

In other words, whenever a DSM update is released you always need to keep in mind that it can potentially brick your machine because the loader might not be able to handle that update. Which means that the loader would first need to be updated prior you being able to apply the update that was released by Synology.

 

So before you start updating your machine always come to the forum first and have a read here: https://xpenology.com/forum/forum/78-critical-updates/. This is where users report whether DSM updates work with the current loader or not.

 

I strongly suggest you pay a visit to these topics. They shows the relation between loader versions and DSM versions:

 

DSM 6.x: https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/13333-tutorialreference-6x-loaders-and-platforms/

 

DSM 7.x: https://xpenology.com/forum/topic/62221-tutorial-installmigrate-to-dsm-7x-with-tinycore-redpill-tcrp-loader/