Buffalo NAS-Central Forums

Will be posted soon. I have been very busy, sorry.

as always .....it would be strange if you had too much free time

touchce. I expect that you do not have not much spare time either especially with your college work too.

One suggestion.
when packing this up it could be really good to have a version of initrd that set up the raid stuff on TS boxe's so we can skip all the buffalo stuff. This would proberly workj for the new duo boxes as well.

I will get around to uploading this ARMel Debian distro. I have been busy on micro_evtd and work and lots of other things. It will happen soon.

Just to get this straight for me:
The next goal is to have a Freelink release which is a Debian Lenny system incl. the Lenny kernel.
With additional packages for the Buffalo-specific stuff (modules, etc.).

Is my understanding correct?

Thanks
Maddes

I finally found a nice dell precision 340 with 1Gig of RAM. Finish installing Ubuntu on it (what a breeze). maybe I can learn how to compile from tgz. Where can I get the source for this Debian Little Indian? Maybe I can help produce the firmware and help test for bugs. I was confused with the flavors and I don't know what "kernel" to chose . I know linux is linux but in order for this new firmware to be mainline (popular/standard) - it has to be good, fast and featureful. Unlike the very limited stock firmware.

My ultimate goal was to learn Debian on a low powered high performance NAS (500Mhz) and at the same time Host a website back by a database. And maybe a second NAS for mail gateway that collect logs in front of an Exch07.

______________________
This is a cisco router running on 270MHz CPU and still on production - VERY VERY expensive.
R7000 CPU at 270Mhz, Implementation 39, Rev 2.1, 256KB L2, 2048KB L3 Cache
uptime is 3 years, 26 weeks, 1 day, 23 hours, 26 minutes
uptime since becoming master is 3 years, 26 weeks, 1 day, 23 hours, 26 minutes

Does anyone by chance have an armel/lenny based initrd image file? - or can tell my how to make one - thx
(I really would like to skip my old ugly hacked stock buffalo one...)

Any news?

What is causing the delay?

I believe the wait is for Debian to release a kernel package in Lenny that boots on these boxes, and package lb_worm's micro_evtd in Debian. Then we can install a pure Debian image on our Linkstations - kernel and all - with no hackery needed.

thats exactly what i think as well.

Additionally to that lb_worm makes good progress with micro_evtd and custom initrds.....which then feature the standby feature with WOL functionallity. looks like as if the fixed timed wakeup again lately:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4490&start=225

if he now enables avr_evtd style expressions for standby/wakeup then we have a massive increase in functionality.

as soon as it reaches more or less final state it will be added in Freelink/foonas....it might be a reason to add it in jtymod as well as long as there is no foonas release.

Lenny-armel*-Debian rootfs image for use/testing available... features:
=====================================================================

enough Debian to get you up and running, with ssh access and scp for easy file tranfer in & out of the box
2.6.29.1 kernel w/ a wide variety of over 500 modules ( audio, vid4linux, iptables, VPN,etc.) - kernel and module upgrade available-ONLY for previous installations like 0.3.2b - see below
built-in kernel support for ext2/3/4
micro_evtd (fan & temperature control, LED's, buttons)
u-boot utils (fw_{print|set}env)
a custom EM (foonas-em) with a full set of utilities, and the "parted" partition editor
an easy-to-use bootswitcher (fooboot) that allows one to easily switch between rootfs-hdd mode, EM-from-hdd mode, and EM-tftp mode

This is the outcome of a few weeks of off-and-on work of my own, with a debt of gratitude to the following individuals, without these folks I either couldn't have or wouldn't have done this:
- tarpman : help w/ this nice debootstrap-howto a micro_evtd problem, & u-boot utils
- ramuk: - ideas,help & suggestions, bugs squashed! - thanks ramuk!
- timtimred & bbradley : made the kernel & modules available to us. Also foonas-em was used to chroot into the stage 1 image.
- lb_worm: w/ micro_evtd to control the fan, temp
- goauld - posted his rootfs which got us going

Downloads:
====================================================================
Images:


Lenny-armel image 0.3.2 - Newest image 4-7-09 (75MB)
Lenny-armel image 0.3.1b old image - July 2008
Lenny-armel image 0.3 - old image - tested late June


Kernel/Module Packages-only needed if you are upgrading kernel+modules:
Note : Don't forget to run depmod if changing modules.
Newest w/ updated features - 500+ modules + some things not included in Debian's package: Newest 2.6.29.1 kernel & 600+ modules -ext4 & btrfs support, iptables, OpenVPN, sound, dvb, etc. - partially tested
Current Package Info :

Module List - Overview
Module List - Detailed
Config for Kernel & Modules

For KuroPro (these are untested but should be OK to replace the LSPro Kernel/modules that come in the standard tarball) - with the same modules/support that the LSPro has:
kernel_and_modules_for_debian-armel-kuropro-2.6.25.6.tar.gz


Installation Instructions for LSPro/Live :Kuro is the same, but requires separate kernel package shown above:
===================================================================================

0. Do your reading and research before attempting this. Read through to the bottom of this post - if you are not familiar with things mentioned here, Google the terms or phrase before posting a new question. No warranty is either expressed nor implied. It works great for me, but hey... If you depart from this guide or if you have bad luck, you will need to be able to figure some, much or all of the fixes out yourself. Look before you leap, make sure you can see the other side. Read the the directions second time.

If you choose to install, follow the directions to the letter - as closely as possible. Nearly every difficulty users have experienced has come from them departing from what the directions show. If you want success, follow the directions to the letter ... copy and paste the commands and take your time to read the details. It should pay off. The directions have been walked through about 10 times now, and they always lead to a successful install - if followed correctly.


Before powering up your LSPro/KuroPro for installing this image, disconnect any USB storage devices - USB hdd, flash drives, etc. Also, if you have modded your box to add a 2nd SATA port, make sure only the drive you want to install on is attached.
-----------------------------
1. Get either serial or netconsole access with UBoot. Make sure you are familiar with how to control the boot process w/ U-Boot. Make sure you understand how to read, set, control and use U-Boot env vars.
-----------------------------
2. Start by tftp-booting this uImage - a special version of foonas-EM built for this setup. Once it plays its "welcome chime", log into foonas-em using telnet (you may have to scan your network for the correct IP):

-----------------------------
3. Then get to work setting up your hard drive space. Use fdisk (fdisk session transcript-quickstart guide) to set up at least these three partitions shown ... sizes are approximate/flexible within reason. These three partitions agree w/ the /etc/fstab in the image you will install - they are the essential ones.

Further partitions can be made to your liking - perhaps as shown. Do whatever you like w/ partition #3. We suggest the following for speed and some flexibility. Note that jfs cannot shrink, only grow. That is the reason to have a extra wiggle room on sda6. Note: You can now use ext4 partitions. Unfortunately, these are not yet supported in the EM mode, so you would have to run [b]mkfs.ext4 __after__ rebooting in regular hddrootfs mode.[/b]


-----------------------------

4. Once you are done w/ making partitions, create the filesystems on them. We will assume you created exactly the partition above. Do the following:


-----------------------------

5. Now mount the 1st two partitions, download & untar the image on sda2, and copy the kernels to sda1:


If you do just what has been shown, you will get this in /sda1 and /sda2 (sizes approximate) :






-----------------------------

6. If necessary, use the vi editor to adjust /sda2/etc/network/interfaces to your network and your needs, either static or dhcp. By default, it is set for a 192.168.11.0 network, with an IP of 192.168.11.50. It currently reads as follows:
You may also need to check your /sda2/etc/resolv.conf contents and adjust them to your network and ISP.



-----------------------------

7. Run fooboot and choose the hddrootfs mode option. This will change the UBoot env vars so that the box will boot into the Lenny-Armel system by default.

It is important to see what fooboot does, so just typeand observe the output. It is experimental, but has been tested for about 6 months. If you do not want to manipulate uboot's envs manually, then this is a good way to handle things. It will not work as predictably if you choose a different partition scheme, as the settings are hardcoded into the foonas-em images.

Also run :

If you have a LSPro/Live V1, you will see this:

If you have a LSPro/Live V2, you will see this:



If not, you may have left a USB device attached to your box.

Now, run , and observe the very last line of output:
If you have a V1 it should say:

If you have a V2 it should say:
.

If these are what you expect, then you are ready to reboot.


-----------------------------

8. After the LSPro reboots and the LED lights stabilize, log in by ssh:






Notes & minutiae:
=====================================================================
A. U-Boot (any stock Buffalo U-Boot or derivative thereof) needs to find a nontrivial file it identifies as the initrd - it automatically scans for it just after initializing. Even though this distro doesn't use an initrd, UBoot will whine if it doesn't find it, so fool we it. This is why there is a file in /boot called initrd.buffalo, even though it isn't used.

B. If you want some other setup, do so, but remember to adjust your fstab, and anything else that matters.

C. Users of v0.1 and v0.2: Install v0.3 ASAP to fix a typo in /etc/networking/interfaces. Or hand edit it.

D. Kernel has netcat/nc capability, so you can monitor part of the boot process that way without needing any serial connection. Also excellent with netconsole-enabled u-boot.

E. Use caution in changing uboot env vars. If you adjust your uboot env vars by hand, like for the default hdd setup your bootcmd should look something like:

to get this execute the following:

then
to save the new values in ROM. Normally fooboot will do this for you automatically, but if you have a custom setup this may be useful. See this article for reference: http://buffalo.nas-central.org/index.ph ... and_Values

F. The root password is "armel" - change it if you want security!

G If you upgrade your kernel, then don't forget to run depmod after cd-ing to the appropriate directory, so that any new modules are recognized.

H. Filesharing Tips: There are two quick-start configs at /etc/exports-quickstart and /etc/samba/smb.conf-quickstart. Use them, after modifying them slightly and deleting the "-quickstart" from their filenames. Don't forget to keep backups of the original configs. Note: If you are installing samba, also install cups. As this is Lenny, there are some quirks. One of them is that networking can become clogged and nonfunctional if samba doesn't have cups installed along side it. This is not a problem with the image, but rather a transient problem w/ Lenny, and it will subside by the time Lenny moves up.

I. Problems? This is not a supported distro - just a test run. If you see problems and can relay a solution back, that would be great. If you see problems but can't give a fix, that's appreciated also.


History/Changes/Roadmap
================================================================
Tested and Working:
pretty much everything ... post back if you find something that doesn't work
nfs exports - read/write at around 10MB/sec
samba shares - on a Gb network (without jumbo frames read and write 12-15MB/sec


Tested and Broken:
all known issues fixed in 0.3.2

Tested and Needs Tweaking/Next Things To Do:
for 0.3.5, rebuild the uImage_em kernel to have ext4 support, clear apt cache to save space, install *ext4 utils.

...

Fixed and Tested/Done
moved to 2.6.29.1 kernel to take advantage of higher speeds do to ethdriver bugfix in vanilla kernel - done in V0.3.2
fixed banner issue so that ascii art is sent only after login - done in V0.3.2
add in fuller/fullest set of modules - standard Debian + netconsole - this will include ip tables - done in V0.3.1
make sure tun/tap module is included to support OpenVPN done in V0.3.1
fix fooboot -h to work correctly when a USB or other scsi-emulating drive is attached done in V0.3.1
add /etc/environment - done in V0.3.1
fix typo in /etc/network/interfaces -done in V3
check to see if any old dummy file for the initrd.buffalo will work... is there a lower limit for size? (already know it must be nonzero) -done in V3 (seems to have a high minimum size requirement)
tweak fooboot settings in image to match fooboot setting in foonas-em, along w/ different tftp-hpa client command syntax -done in V3
roll custom foonas-em images w/ the correct fooboot config for default and variant, also include "parted" -done in V3
remember to run depmod when upgrading kernel/module package -done in V3
upgrade kernel to 2.6.25.6 - done in V2
make ext3 the default fs types for sda1 and sda2 - done in V2
add in linux-logo package, edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config for Debian ssh banner - done in V2
add foonas-em to /boot - done in V2
add in fooboot & adjust tftp to match non-busybox tftp (tftp-hpa) client - done in V2
fix samba speeds, provide quickstart exports and smb.conf - done in V2
remove /etc/udev/rules.d/z25_persisent_rules - done in V2
change /etc/network/interfaces -done in V2
add in usb-sound and alsa in kernel -done in V2
turn off rtc_debug and i2c_debug - done in V2

waaau!
I actually backed up my TS pro II yesterday to reinstall Lenny as I needed different partitions after all. With a blank TS Pro II I ought to give this a try!

One question - have you replaced the ininrd as well?

the network issue (created by udev?) still exists I think


would need fixing, (or deleting?) in the tarball

also DHCP works but you need to add the right stuff to /etc/network/interfaces
perhaps you could just comment out the dhcp parts if you wanted to use a static IP
like the following?



these are such minor things I think though, It's otherwise very a really nice clean job.