Info Help for old Lenovo EMC NAS units, IX2, PX4 etc

[mikeford]

Long threads in the hot deals section of forum, time to move support to the proper forum section IMHO. I have 2 of each IX2 and PX4, and know the most about those specific models, but I am far from being knowledgeable, so thread here is for me to ask for help as well as give it when I can.

Lenovo PX4-400D NAS no drives dropped to $99 w free shipping

I made a thread to put support issues in, https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/help-for-old-lenovo-emc-nas-units-ix2-px4-etc.2609187/ These are no longer supported by Lenovo, the main software EMC was sold off to Dell, which will not be supporting old Lenovo stuff either. Several threads with...

forums.anandtech.com

Lenovo/EMC 2-bay PX2-300D ($99.99), IX2 ($59.99) and 4-bay IX4-300D ($109.99) NAS units @ Newegg (Sold by Centrix Intl.)

Now have a PX2-300D for $99, diskless. It has a screen, and what appears to be hot-swap caddies. Unfamiliar otherwise with this unit, and what firmware features it may have. Anyone care to comment? No reviews yet @ Newegg. Sold by the same seller as the other Lenovo/EMC units, "Centrix...

forums.anandtech.com

Lenovo ix2 2-bay Gigabit NAS (no drives) $49.99 + ship @ TigerDirect.com

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8511612&Sku=LCU-101759700 Seems like this model is discontinued? Half the price of the QNAP 2-bay TS-212P that was on sale recently at Newegg for $99.99 FS. Might be worth looking into. Edit: Newegg link for...

forums.anandtech.com

Last thread link is from 7+ years ago when the IX2 first went on clearance and I bought one. This is the PRO side, they are quality units, mine up 24/7 with a pair of WD Red drives 7 years. CON side is that all of these NAS are old, End of Life little real support from Lenovo, but some files etc are still around, and besides myself a number of others bought one or more when they were offered cheap starting last year. Links in top thread are still selling units, but given all we now know and don't know these are not hot deals unless you like a lot of adventure in your deals.

Threads exists if you look for them or I get around to linking them here of people installing some version of Linux and making various software and hardware upgrades.

 

[mikeford]

My current problems;

I still would like to figure out the Linux type install, but its going to take a seriously for dummies' version.

IX2 was sold as DL, disk less, or with 2x 1 or 2TB drives. DL has some chip on the MB with OS, the other models have it on the drives, which makes drive upgrades a PITA which I have not figured out yet, but I am getting really good at swapping out the drives, all combinations and sequences I have tried without getting the two new 6TB drives to show up at the same time. One original drive and one new drive works sometimes, others not. Working on the issue right now. Factory reset appears to have made it worse, defaults to RAID1 and won't init either drive, vs old setting was protection "none" ie JBOD, which worked at least some of the time.

Old software, little formal support, so a bunch of apps on the NAS don't work, one of them appears to be whatever is needed to get a new SSL certificate.

 

[chiquito3]

Is there a way to send a turn-off signal to the PX4-400d from a Qnap NAS serving as a UPS Server?

 

[mikeford]

I don't know if I have figured out replacing drives on a non DL (disc less, with boot on rom not drives), but I did eventually get 2x 6TB in a JBOD working on mine. I tried one new drive at a time with each of the original 1TB drives, and didn't work. Key maybe doing a reset and creating a new data pool with one new and one old drive, and that requires turning RAID off, ie setting it to NONE in drive management, which you may need to do using both original drives otherwise it may complain it can't create the data pool. RAID1 is the default setting after a hardware reset.

I've found instructions on how to create a SSL cert for a home network, but haven't tried it yet. Will add it here, when, if it works.

I haven't found anything on remote shutdown "Directly". The web GUI has a button to click for shutdown, figure out what it doing and find a way to fake it? Same for serial port that is used to monitor a older UPS. Picking up an older UPS with serial, even with a bad battery might be easy way to go

 

[mikeford]

Found this tidbit for restoring messed up unit.

Additional tips:
1. Don’t forget to remove all HDDs from the nas before the procedure. Otherwise all data will be removed.

2. download .zip via this link (for PX4-400d it is https://download.lenovo.com/nasupdate/asgimage/b4b-4.1.406.34763.zip ) -> unzip -> launch .exe -> select USB drive -> install image. If during the installation you’ll see an error just cancel the installation, do nothing with USB drive (don’t format it again) -> restart imager and set same drive letter during the installation.
3. Put the USB drive in TOP LEFT USB PORT on the back of the device -> push reset button on the back using someshing like a pin -> turn the device on and wait 60 seconds (don’t release a reset button during this 60 seconds).

It works for me. PeteLong thanks a lot for the instruction. You are my hero! =)


Thread is here https://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0001381

 

[mikeford]

https://download.lenovo.com/nasupdate/asgimage/b4b-4.1.414.34909.zip is the link for most current OS, that I have been using / know of.

What the linked applications are;
LifeLine™ Device Imager
The LifeLine Device Imager allows you to re-image a fatally unrecoverable network storage device,
returning it to an initial factory state with updated firmware. It reformats the device and replaces the
firmware with a new image, erasing all existing data and settings.

I found the first one, made the second by putting in my software version replacing what was there.

 

[SamirD]

Some additional links:

Restoring an IX2-DL after original drive fails and takes down the entire unit:

Restore an iomega / lenovo storcenter ix2 -ng

How to restore a dead iomega / lenovo storcenter version ix2-ng this is the version that comes with its own drives and only 1mb of online storage Since this device comes with its own drives the com…

www.myhacklog.com

And after a few years of using my IX2, it seems that even with an 8TB drive in it, that as it becomes full, large files (5MB+?) become painfully slow to write for no reason. I had the same thing happen on the Lenovo 1-drive unit I got that started having this issue as it approached 2TB, so it seems to be a system limitation that was never hit back when drives were smaller. It still works like normal for small files and read speeds are unaffected.

 

[Geven]

Cloning a hard drive is the process of making an exact copy of the entire content from one hard drive onto another. This is a quick and straightforward way to back up your data or transfer it to another computer. The process requires an external storage device such as an external USB or DVD for you to write the clone image file to, prior to writing it onto the target drive. An exact copy of all your documents, photos, operating system, and other files stored on your computer are then written into this image file, which can then be transferred to any compatible device.

Cloning your hard drive can also make it bootable, but this depends on the type of cloning you're doing. If you're creating a disk image file, then the cloned hard drive will be bootable if you use software that supports the creation of a bootable disk1.

For a more comprehensive guide to cloning hard drives, I recommend visiting this Lenovo guide. It provides a detailed explanation of how to clone a hard drive, whether it's with Windows 10, Windows 11, or to an SSD.

 

[mikeford]

Just tested my ix2 with 2x3TB drives 235GB free out of 5.45TB, 5GB movie wrote at 40+MB/s all the way.

With the latest round of price drops, if I had any concern I would buy a spare. I have yet had any success putting Linux on any of them, a me thing mostly, too much a L novice, but still a huge fan of the tech/$. PX12-450 with 4x1TB drives me I think $275 shipped incl tax, and I have been buying HGST HE 6TB server pulls in mid $40 range, feeling good running RAID6, two drives can fail and still recover data.

OTOH the PX12 is 40+ lbs with some drives, closer to 50 if full, and even at low speed fans very noisy. Eventually it won't be on my desk and noise no longer an issue.

 

[chiquito3]

Hello! Is anyone here able to provide a copy of the Transmission Torrent App version for the Lenovo PX4-400D?
I managed to find the version for the IX4-300d but not for the IX4.

 

[SamirD]

Just tested my ix2 with 2x3TB drives 235GB free out of 5.45TB, 5GB movie wrote at 40+MB/s all the way.

With the latest round of price drops, if I had any concern I would buy a spare. I have yet had any success putting Linux on any of them, a me thing mostly, too much a L novice, but still a huge fan of the tech/$. PX12-450 with 4x1TB drives me I think $275 shipped incl tax, and I have been buying HGST HE 6TB server pulls in mid $40 range, feeling good running RAID6, two drives can fail and still recover data.

OTOH the PX12 is 40+ lbs with some drives, closer to 50 if full, and even at low speed fans very noisy. Eventually it won't be on my desk and noise no longer an issue.

Interesting that you haven't had any issues. I have my drive set up jbod since it's just a single drive. What's your drive setup? raid 0 or 1?

 

[mikeford]

IX2 jbod, about to remake both of mine using some of the cheap 6TB drives I have around.

Issues; you MUST be mindfull that the shipped with drives units have the OS on the drives, and can be quirky when you swap in new drives. The IX2 run hot, but doesn't seem to cause a problem, and transfer rates are about half that of the other larger NAS, 45ish MB/s

 

[chiquito3]

Hello again. Has anyone been able to get a copy of Transmission Torrent for the PX4-400D?

 

[mikeford]

Take a look at https://transmissionbt.com/download

 

[chiquito3]

Take a look at https://transmissionbt.com/download

Hello Mike and thanks for your reply.
I understand that all Lenovo ECM NAS would need a very specific version for the OS to permit the installation, or at least that is what know. If there is a way to install one of the versions in your link I will appreciate if you help me.
Thanks.

 

[mikeford]

If I find something poking around for what I need I'll post it, but I have to stay focused on my own issues for the time being.

My suggestion would be to join that forum and ask some questions. FWIW near as I can tell the lenovo NAS are based on Debian 7.1

 

[chiquito3]

If I find something poking around for what I need I'll post it, but I have to stay focused on my own issues for the time being.

My suggestion would be to join that forum and ask some questions. FWIW near as I can tell the lenovo NAS are based on Debian 7.1

That info is a lot more than what I had before. I will keep asking at the forum. Thanks again for your help.

 

[chiquito3]

Mark
Unfortunately for me, the Forum from Transmission does not let me register.
I could register at the developers' forum and ask there.

 

[mikeford]

Try a google search of just the forum site using Lenovo nas keywords like px4 etc.

 

[mikeford]

This matches version of file mentioned in searches I did. https://github.com/transmission/transmission-releases/blob/master/Transmission-2.77.dmg

 

[chiquito3]

Hello Mike! I will try this later today.
I do know that usually, all apps that can be installed in the Lenovo NAS have some kind of signature check specific for each model and I do not know how to bypass that verification.
Thank you very much for taking the time to help me!

 

[chiquito3]

Hi Mike! Unfortunately, it did not work. The apps that can be installed need to have some kind of signature that is specific by device model and I do not know how to add that.