Did DSM 6.2 update break Xpenology?

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BLinux

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Jul 7, 2016
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I have a VM where I run Xpenology just for fun. I saw that the DSM 6.2 update was available, and after applying and rebooting, it would no longer show up on the network. The console screen is useless if you recall seeing the screen from Jun's loader.

I then restored the VM disk from yesterday and tried to boot that up, but still no go. And that would have been before the DSM 6.1 update.

Is this just me?
 

BLinux

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@epicurean not VMware, using Linux/kvm/qemu. I just attached the boot loader image as USB hard drive and made it the boot device. One thing that I had to change from the previous boot loader is that all my HDDs had to be SATA, whereas previously it would only work if I chose IDE.

I just changed my borked XPE vm to point to new boot loader, changed HDDs to SATA, then boot up. Had to reinstall DSM 6.2, but it preserved all my app settings. The only thing the reinstall did not preserve was the system ip address, so I had to manually switch that back.
 

BLinux

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thanks @BLinux. In your opnion, would esxi 6 or Proxmox work better with this 6.2 loader?
i don't have an informed opinion since I'm not using VMware stuff. Proxmox being based on Linux/kvm, I would assume works with the new v1.03b boot loader. I know there are guides on how to setup with VMware, so I assume it works too, I just don't have experience with it myself to give you an opinion.

The main compatibility concern with Xpenology is usually the storage controller emulation. If you're doing pass-thru, then it depends on the hardware you're passing thru. If you're doing emulation (like me), you just have to try the different options and see if any work. When I was watching the serial console output of Xpenology bootloader/DSM 6.2, i saw that the new bootloader loads a bunch of the common storage controller drivers, including mpt2sas, mpt3sas, etc. along with several ethernet drivers. With that in mind, I think the compatibility is pretty decent as long as you're using very common hardware.
 

K D

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Does Xpenology spin down drives during inactivity? I have been looking at options to reduce my always on hardware and am trying to build a low power AIO.
 

BLinux

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Does Xpenology spin down drives during inactivity? I have been looking at options to reduce my always on hardware and am trying to build a low power AIO.
Xpenology is just hacked version of Synology DSM to run on your own hardware or vm. DSM does support something similar to your question:

DiskStation Manager - Knowledge Base | Synology Inc.

But, whether that feature works well with non-synology hardware is something I don't know.
 

kapone

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May 23, 2015
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It does.

The difference between xpenology and synology is just the boot loader. The boot loader downloads the exact same software from the exact same place that a synology device does.
 

BLinux

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It does.

The difference between xpenology and synology is just the boot loader. The boot loader downloads the exact same software from the exact same place that a synology device does.
Do you know how well that works with non-synology hardware?
 

kapone

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Do you know how well that works with non-synology hardware?
As long as you're not using some weird hardware, it should work. I've used it on Supermicro boards, J1900 boards, and a few others. LSI cards work... ;)
 

EngChiSTH

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Jun 27, 2018
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Do you know how well that works with non-synology hardware?
it works and is ok for testing purposes. however, it is up to you whether it is worth any 'real' use
- the bootloaders are based on different models vs your hardware so things like hardware summary would be wrong
- any updates are risk so you are relying on the forum to see if it is safe to apply or it would brick you. even if others reported it as safe, there is no guarantee it would work on your hardware

so a fine play toy, as for production system I am not sure