DSM 4 on GoFlex ?

Do you think it would be possible to run DSM from Synology on a GoFlex net ?
It seems the source are published: http://sourceforge.net/projects/dsgpl/files/

God I hope not, what an insult to synology.

That's NOT what that source is published for. If you want DSM, go buy a real Synology NAS.
If you're gonna run a tiny arm device like a pogoplug or similar, stick with the current options, (ie: stock, arch-arm, or debian. )

The only device the awesome that is DSM should ever be run on is a legit synology nas.

Sagittarius Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you think it would be possible to run DSM from
> Synology on a GoFlex net ?
> It seems the source are published:
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/dsgpl/files/


DSM is not open source. Since they use open source code in their proprietary firmware, they're obliged
to publish all the modifications they apply to the GPL code. This however,*doesn't* mean that the proprietary part of the code must be made GPL too. See here:
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLInProprietarySystem

The site you're referring to contains only modified GPL code as well as the toolchain which is needed to develop apps for DSM. It is *not* the full source of the DSM.

Still, the package for Marvell-based devices (synogpl-2198-6281.tbz) contains many interesting things. For instance, you can learn how they make not AirPrint enabled printers work with iOS or what they're using to provide CalDAV or iTunes Server. Very nice

Sagittarius Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Do you think it would be possible to run DSM from
> Synology on a GoFlex net ?
> It seems the source are published:
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/dsgpl/files/

As it is not open source, it is at least not legal... But why should the arm build (e.g. for the DS211j) not work with the GoFlex Net? The firmware consists of a packed directory structure and it is worth a try to see if the executables work. I would be very interested to have some of the services running on my GoFlex Net.

HellG Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As it is not open source, it is at least not
> legal... But why should the arm build (e.g. for
> the DS211j) not work with the GoFlex Net? The
> firmware consists of a packed directory structure
> and it is worth a try to see if the executables
> work. I would be very interested to have some of
> the services running on my GoFlex Net.

I also think that in principle this should be possible. People even managed to run DSM on a QNAP device, although
both were based on Intel Atom.
http://hackaday.com/tag/qnology/

On the other hand, as a Linux savvy person I don't see much advantages over Debian. In particular, I'm not going to run closed source binaries on my GoFlex only to have a nice GUI. Moreover, most of the services behind that GUI are provided by open source tools like samba, nfs, open-iscsi, mt-daapd etc. Which DSM services do you actually have in mind?

To be honest, I thought of the nice GUI... But anyway, I managed to boot the DS211j firmware with a custom kernel but as the scemd does not run due to custom synology functions the nice GUI is not running. Maybe I can patch a goflex kernel to mimic some of the necessary functions but so far I have no luck.

Wow, I didn't know that you're that far already. If it's really about the kernel, I'd suggest that you simply take their kernel sourcres (linux-2.6.32 folder in synogpl-2198-6281.tbz) and apply a patch that adds GF Net support. You can find a patch for a 2.6.37 kernel on varkeys's homepage
http://www.varkey.in/files/goflex-2.6.37.6-p1.patch
and afair this should work with 2.6.32 too. If you're not familiar with cross compiling you can use my howto
http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,5775
The only change is that you should use their config file (linux-2.6.32/synoconfigs/88f6281).

I believe that the usual code sourcery toolchain as used in my howto should work fine. Otherwise you might need to use the toolchain from the sourceforge link in the 1st post (gcc421_glibc25_88f6281-GPL.tgz)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/2012 07:18PM by Vlad.

Ok, "custom kernel" just ment one of my self compiled kernels for the goflex net. The Procedure is pretty simple:
- already head a working debian with this kernel (2.6.35.4)
- deleted everything on the usb stick except the "boot" directory
- downloaded the DS211j firware "patch", which is basically a tar file
- extracted the "hda1.tgz" to the usb stick
- deleted sbin/poweroff link to prevent poweroff
- adjusted some things in etc/rc and etc/newdisk.sh but nothing really special
- hooked up a serial cable and pressed both thumbs...
In the end I added a simple "/bin/sh -i" at the end of etc/rc to get an interactive shell to change the root password.
All in all pretty simple. At the moment I try to compile the Synology kernel for the Goflex Net and so far it does not look too bad...

EDIT:
BTW, Synology somehow changed the drivers or config that it starts counting the usb devices at q! /dev/sdq1 is very annoying...

EDIT2:
Kernel compiled ok, but now scemd stops with another cryptic error message: " sh: High: unknown operand" I think I am stuck here...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2012 08:48AM by HellG.

Maybe the DS211j has some hardware features the Goflex has not. I think I will try the firmware for the Ds209 which has the same CPU too. I will report on Monday if it works.

Ok,
I think DSM 4.0 will not run on the GoFlex Net as too many internal functions of the Diskstation are not present (synobios, exact sata version etc.). But I think most of the software of the Diskstation can run on the GoFlex. So far the GUI is not working as it depends on bios functions that are not present.