Replacing the OS on a open source based old NAS

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mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,666
157
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Lenovo sold the EMC software to Dell, and all the remaining Lenovo stock of NAS units got EOLed a couple months ago and are selling cheap. I just bought a PX4-400D new in box, 30 day vendor warranty for $120 incl shipping and tax, but no drives and only legacy support from Lenovo. Looking over the docs it says its open source based and there is a website where the code can be downloaded. I am wondering what the chances are of replacing the existing firmware with a new distribution of Linux and something like FreeNas instead of EMC.

  • Intel Atom D2701 Dual Core 2.13GHz
  • Memory - 2GB DDR3
HDMI output and looks like space on the back for some kind of slot. If it sounds like much of a chance to do something, I'll open in up and check some chips and take some picts.
 
M

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,666
157
106
In the PX series the 300 models are one year older using a D275 as I recall vs 400 with 2701 more ram etc. I'll take a look for more at the link.

The Lenovo EOL is more like iphone EOL than windows EOL, an iphone4 or older basically can't be used and is filled with non working applications.
 
M

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,666
157
106
BTW my goal here isn't to grind away at doing this for my new hobby since my Linux experience is WEAK, but to infect somebody else with this neat and fulfilling cheap project with lots of fun and glory to the successful and brave pioneer extending the boundary of the Linux experience.

If memory serves, one of the comments I read while researching the NAS units is that somebody smart claimed they were using an OLD in 2014 terms kernel and decent benefits might arise from recompiling with something more current. Also as I mentioned earlier, which might not have been known or true at the time of the linked 300d project is that source code is available now.
 
mxnerd

mxnerd

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2007
6,799
1,101
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Why not plug in monior/USB keyboard and mouse, download a Linux ISO image, burn it to a USB drive using https://rufus.ie/ and see if it boots and is able to see the drives?

Be warned that Linux is hard if you have no experience.

This reddit user claimed it supports MBR or UEFI booting to an OS of your choice.
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelabsales/comments/h7cqo8

FreeNAS alternatives:

www.how2shout.com

6 Best FreeNas Alternatives for self-hosted NAS

Looking for best FreeNAS alternatives for Windows, macOS and Linux data storage with free or open-source licenses, here some for you...
www.how2shout.com www.how2shout.com

NethServer – operating system for the Linux enthusiast

www.nethserver.org www.nethserver.org

==

I'm a Windows guy by the way.
 
Last edited:
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|JosephB17331|

Member
Jul 30, 2015
67
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91
If the NAS has an option to change the boot device.. then you would have the option to test it out by using another flash disk, and if possibly removing the stock one, in order to revert back if needed..
 
M

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,666
157
106
Maybe this weekend I will get a chance to open my second NAS up and dig more into it.
 
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