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Products => Storage => : Kane88 January 17, 2020, 12:05:13 PM

: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: Kane88 January 17, 2020, 12:05:13 PM
Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help

I am curious if there is a way to fix the issues I'm seeing with both Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Sever 2016 using a Buffalo WS-WWVL/R1 device.  See attached screenshots. 
A clean install gives no errors, but I lose the preinstalled buffalo management software too.

Apparently- neither OS Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016 supports the Buffalo pre-installed iSCSI software that came with it.

Even uninstalling the pre-installed iSCSI target software- doesn't get rid of this error problem.

Thoughts on how to remedy this issue? 

http://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2%20setup%20warning%201%20web.jpg.html (http://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2%20setup%20warning%201%20web.jpg.html)

http://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2%20setup%20warning%202%20web.jpg.html (http://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2%20setup%20warning%202%20web.jpg.html)

http://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2%20errors%20after%20login%20web.jpg.html (http://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202012%20R2%20errors%20after%20login%20web.jpg.html)

https://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202016%20red%20services%20after%20login%20web.jpg.html (http://s70.photobucket.com/user/blackhawksfan/media/Windows%20Server%202016%20red%20services%20after%20login%20web.jpg.html)

-----

backstory:
This is a WS-WV4.0TL/R1 device.
Buffalo's stock OS for this series is Windows Storage Server 2008 R2, which as of January 14 2020 this year- is no longer supported.
To my knowledge Buffalo no longer supports these devices as in- OS or any software updates.
The idea is to try to upgrade the OS and still use it, even if it is just offline storage.

Buffalo never gave us installer packages for these units, just a Windows OS WIM image bootable USB rescue disk.
I contacted support, they would not offer any installers, and wanted $20 for a replacement WSS 2008 R2 WIM rescue usb disk, which I already have.
I don't think reinstalling the software would help anyway, it seems more an OS compatibility problem.

I have managed to upgrade it to Windows Server 2012 R2 and then to Windows Server 2016 (it does work, and only in that order!) 
And it kept the pre-installed Buffalo software in doing so.

: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 17, 2020, 01:48:29 PM
I don't have any advice regarding windows but have had a lot of luck with this generation of device in general.

One option is that you can install Buffalo's Linux-based firmware. I created a guide you can use to create a recovery disk to use for that process:
https://buffalonas.miraheze.org/wiki/Create_Recovery_Disk_for_Intel-based_Terastation

You can also modern Debian Linux. I've created a custom installer image which handles the configuration of the hot-swap bays, temperature sensors, LCD, etc:
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Intel_Terastations
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 17, 2020, 04:51:31 PM
I figured Windows is somewhat of a longshot, if it can be done.  I wonder what software from their WIM- is even needed to manage the unit in windows.

As for linux, that does sound interesting.  Although, I'm not super adept w/linux.
After getting your firmware installed:
I'm wondering if it is possible to load buffalo's gui firmware and linux based os using your method.  I'm familiar with their admin console for the 3400 and 5400.

What model firmware or boot files are compatible with the WS-WV series?  I'll need to download it.  Their windows wim doesn't have the files you listed on your site.  It doesn't use them as it boots windows pe.
This machine has an intel atom d510 1.66 ghz cpu w/2gb ram.
The mainboard bios shows TS-(W/Q/6/8/R)VL BIOS 3.01 12/28/2010

And I don't have the os you mentioned.  Can your steps be done in a bunsenlabs debian session?  I can spin that up, or i've got a systemrescuecd that boots into linux- don't know what linux version their iso uses...

Thanks.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 17, 2020, 05:42:23 PM
You can get the linux-based firmware for that model here:
http://buffalo.jp/support_ap/support/products/ts_wvhl_r1.html

It works basically the same as the TS3000/TS5000 that you’re used to.

I developed that process on a debian system so I would expect it would work great from a debian live environment as you described.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 17, 2020, 11:32:26 PM
Thanks, I downloaded the firmware.  And I managed to get the grub.cfg made and the *.buffalo files extracted.

Aside that, I'm having a lot of difficulty with this.
I can get the iso made, but all it does is boot to a GNU GRUB version 2.02 window and grub> prompt.  Plus, the *.buffalo files and grub.cfg aren't getting put in the ts-recovery.iso either

before the iso is made, those files are in
/disk/initrd-atom_d510.buffalo
/disk/vmlinuz-atom_d510.buffalo
/disk/boot/grub/grub.cfg

I notice most of paths don't have a / in front of them.  I'm assuming those are the correct paths.

I don't understand what or where mkdir -p disk/boot/grub/  is doing.  I can't find the path.

So I have been doing mkdir -p /disk/boot/grub/ and put the files within those paths

I cd to /disk
then type in grub-mkrescue -o /disk/ts-recovery.iso disk
The iso gets made at /disk/ts-recovery.iso

but none of the files from the /disk folder get put in the iso

What am I doing wrong?
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: As3nd0r January 18, 2020, 04:55:48 AM
I know you are trying to switch that one over to Linux now, however as you initially managed to update the Windows Server OS, is there a specific reason you need Buffalos iSCSI target software? This is Windows Server, you can use pretty much any iSCSI target you want on it
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 18, 2020, 09:35:18 AM
the lack of "/" at the front of the paths in the instructions is intentional. the goal is to create a directory (under the current directory) which will be used to create the "/" of the iso and then place the files we're adding in the correct relative locations. Finally we tell grub-mkrescue where that starting directory is and it will create the iso with those files included. If it worked you should see the *.buffalo files right in "/" of the resulting iso.

in theory the way you were doing it could work too but somehting must have been mixed up. if you built your directory at /data then it should have been:
grub-mkrescue -o ts-recovery.iso /disk
rather than
grub-mkrescue -o /disk/ts-recovery.iso disk
 
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 18, 2020, 12:56:57 PM
I know you are trying to switch that one over to Linux now, however as you initially managed to update the Windows Server OS, is there a specific reason you need Buffalos iSCSI target software? This is Windows Server, you can use pretty much any iSCSI target you want on it

I have two of the exact same model.  It's possible try one of each between Linux + Windows, and see how I fare between them.

In the end, iSCSI doesn't seem to be the issue. I don't use iSCSI, but was going maybe try it later.  iSCSI was preinstalled.

In the base WSS 2008 install, I uninstalled the the iSCSI Target and the iSCSI Target client.  I also removed the Intel GMA 3150 video driver that isn't compatible with WSS 2012 and up, and then cold booted.  And then I tried the upgrade- again.  Still- no dice.  The errors in the screenshots still happen.

When I do a clean install, none of those errors come up.  But I also lose all the buffalo management software.  It's frustrating because this unit will at least run the newer OS.


: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 18, 2020, 03:53:01 PM
A while back I created a Python library for sending commands to the on-board microcontroller for these devices. It allows you to control things like the LCD screen and LEDs etc. If you do end up on windows without the buffalo tools you could try using that for some of those functions. I assume you could just replace /dev/ttyS1 with COM1 to make it work.

If you do end up trying it out let me know how it goes, I'd love to add that to the documentation.
https://github.com/1000001101000/Python_buffalo_libmicon
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 18, 2020, 04:39:13 PM
the lack of "/" at the front of the paths in the instructions is intentional. the goal is to create a directory (under the current directory) which will be used to create the "/" of the iso and then place the files we're adding in the correct relative locations. Finally we tell grub-mkrescue where that starting directory is and it will create the iso with those files included. If it worked you should see the *.buffalo files right in "/" of the resulting iso.


Ok, I follow you.  This was was the first time I encountered that lack of '/'- with linux.

I just needed a fresh start today, I was getting confused yesterday between it all.
Even various distros have their way- of doing things.  like having to sudo to even do a mkdir command!  I was totally- thrown off.
There is a spot in the directions too that threw me off, I had to jump to another page- which isn't mentioned currently...

The iso seems to have built correctly today.  But I am still having trouble.
The unit will boot to the EM mode with the flash drive though, so some progress...

I start the boot with a freshly pair of wiped hard drives.
When I run the v1.32 updater from here as you mentioned:  http://buffalo.jp/support_ap/support/products/ts_wvhl_r1.html
and using your ini edit and other steps here:  https://herzig-net.de/?page=unbrick_ls-wxl

I pick just the 3 config options as listed, eventually I get format failed, update aborted.

I see on the console it's not making a raid 1 array correctly.
create RAID1 on /dev/md0 failed
create RAID1 on /dev/md2 failed

it pauses at
/dev/md0 is not a block special device
proceed anyway? (y,n)

And then it basically- the terastation dies out.  A few minutes later, the updater app- errors out. 

I cannot find the terastation, to start the second pass.
I close the updater and resume- it still cannot find the terastation.
I physically shut the terastation off, and restart, and then resume your instructions...
It finds it.

I check the four boxes on left under update, and two on the right for config: don't check version + force update

I get a partition not found, aborting firmware update.

Is that firmware you had me download, the right one?  Or do we need to do something else on this one?

Thanks.

: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 18, 2020, 04:48:20 PM
A while back I created a Python library for sending commands to the on-board microcontroller for these devices. It allows you to control things like the LCD screen and LEDs etc. If you do end up on windows without the buffalo tools you could try using that for some of those functions. I assume you could just replace /dev/ttyS1 with COM1 to make it work.

If you do end up trying it out let me know how it goes, I'd love to add that to the documentation.
https://github.com/1000001101000/Python_buffalo_libmicon

Having two units (1 windows, 1 buffalo/linux) will give me a chance to see which OS can do what.

Sounds good, I will check that out at some point on the windows side.
On that one, I think I'm going to play around with either Server 2012 R2 or 2016 without the buffalo apps, just for the heck of it. 
I think I can do all the raid and disk rebuilding stuff via the disk management console.  I think their app was just a shell for that.  Not sure what the buffalo utils, really even do or are needed for.  Though they are useful for sending alerts and for monitoring.  I don't recall windows server having any built in stuff for that.

As to linux, see my other post. :)  I'm really hoping I can get it to work, we're getting closer...
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 18, 2020, 04:53:46 PM
sounds like a lot of progress. when you do get it working, let me know what I should add to the wiki pages to make it clearer.

tsupdater only shows compatible devices so we can be pretty sure that we've got the right firmware if you're getting the option to update at all. I would recommend trying with completely blank drives and checking all boxes except 'update boot' . That should allow it to create the partitions and raid arrays, format them, and perform the install.

On some occasions I've had it fail similar to what you describe and just ran the install again and had it succeed which is also worth a try.

If it sill gives you trouble post as much of the boot log as you can and we can work on where it's failing. One time I manually ran the partitioning script via the command line to get it to move forward. I can walk you through that if necessary though I'll need to dig up my notes about it.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 18, 2020, 08:03:39 PM
sounds like a lot of progress. when you do get it working, let me know what I should add to the wiki pages to make it clearer.

tsupdater only shows compatible devices so we can be pretty sure that we've got the right firmware if you're getting the option to update at all. I would recommend trying with completely blank drives and checking all boxes except 'update boot' . That should allow it to create the partitions and raid arrays, format them, and perform the install.

On some occasions I've had it fail similar to what you describe and just ran the install again and had it succeed which is also worth a try.

If it sill gives you trouble post as much of the boot log as you can and we can work on where it's failing. One time I manually ran the partitioning script via the command line to get it to move forward. I can walk you through that if necessary though I'll need to dig up my notes about it.

I think we're going to need those notes, whenever you have some time to find them.  No matter what I try, this firmware update is not able to open the disks for writing.  I see that error over and over on the consle, every time run the updater.  And as before- it cannot create the raid array.

When I go to view the disks before wiping them, there certaily are partition tables and several partitions written to them.

I've tried it several ways.  I did what you just mentioned about.  I did what you have on your site.  I even did it my way that works fine with other units.  And I tried the noformatting at 1 and at 0 also (your doc says 1, Before today, I always used zero with other buffalo devices, and never this kind of a problem, it has always updated other models just fine)

I have no idea how to log the installer to where to where I could save it and post the results here. 

I've tried 4k sector disks that worked fine with Windows 2008 on these units
and also a pair of older 512byte sector disks too.

Same result, so it's not a sector size problem.

Does anyone have an older copy of the firmware I could try?  I wonder if it is something specific to this 1.32 version.


: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 18, 2020, 08:52:36 PM
I'll try it out on my ts-6vhl (same generation) when I get a chance.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 19, 2020, 01:26:14 AM
I'll try it out on my ts-6vhl (same generation) when I get a chance.
Ok, thanks.  I appreciate it. :)
It has to be something simple.  I'm 100% certain I am doing the firmware update the correct way.
I've tried it from two different pc's now since last post, and same results.

Is there a number of disks check routine or something in either the iso boot files, or in the firmware itself?

I noticed when I tried to flash a different unit tonight, a TS-XE4.0TL/R5, it also failed, and similar way- kinda sorta.
Now on that one- I have no console to watch.
I was using just 2 wiped disks with that unit, and that one is a 4 disk unit.
The updater didn't even attempt to write the bios code file. That screen didn't pop up at all, and that screen usually does come up when the updater works right and is transferring the firmware blocks to the NAS.  That screen also has not popped up one time in all the attempts on the WS-WV either, not once. 

So, I put 4 wiped disks in that one- the TS-XE, and it flashed just fine.

Now on the WS-WV unit we're converting:
That one is only a 2 drive bay unit.
When I watch the console, the updater is trying to write to 4 drives.  It's never going to find 4 drives, since the unit doesn't support 4...
Maybe this is the problem?
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 19, 2020, 08:59:16 AM
What you're describing sounds very much like what happens if you try to install the firmware on the 4/6/8 drive models with less than 4 drives.

I would hope/assume that the installer would somehow know that it's the 2-bay model and act accordingly but I've never had a ts-wvhl.

I'll see if I can get the ts-6vhl to install with just 2 drives and share the procedure.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 19, 2020, 10:19:55 AM
Great, thanks!  Hope it works for you.  Fingers crossed.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 19, 2020, 08:14:58 PM
I was able to install with only two disks by setting the MAX_DISK_NUM to 2. Here is how you can accomplish that:

1. Boot into EM mode again with both drives blank
2. Download ACP Commander from https://github.com/1000001101000/acp-commander
3. install java if you don't already have it installed
4. Run the following command:
:
java -jar acp_commander.jar -t <device ip address> -c "echo MAX_DISK_NUM=2 >> /etc/nas_feature"5. Run the install again with all the debug options set except Update BOOT

Let me know if that helps.

: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 19, 2020, 09:19:07 PM
That is great news.  Glad it worked! Ok, I'll give it a shot.

But before I do, I'm going to need a login.  When the EM USB ISO finishes booting, it eventually goes to a login prompt.

Also, am I running ACP commander on the EM console?  Or am I running ACP commander from my windows pc?

Thanks.

: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 19, 2020, 09:22:38 PM
You run it from your pc, it uses the same protocol that the firmware updater does.

In EM mode the username/password is admin/password though you won’t needed it.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 19, 2020, 09:44:11 PM
Ok, I ran ACP commander on my windows pc, java is installed on the pc.
then I did your command as
java -jar acp_commander.jar -t 192.168.0.106 -c "echo MAX_DISK_NUM=2 >> /etc/nas_feature"

console is showing
TS-QVHL-EMB80 login: sh: java: command not found

and when i login to console with admin/password and then run it, i get
-sh: java: command not found

does java and/or acp commander need to be installed or copied into this EM session somehow?
If so, I don't know how to do that.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 19, 2020, 09:49:37 PM
You just need java on your PC. It should add java to your path so that typing java works but you may need to logout/reboot/open new shell depending on setup. If you can find where java is you can run ot directly too.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 20, 2020, 07:17:37 AM
Success!  Thank you so much, that did the trick. :)
I checked all the boxes in debug mode for update + config, including update boot (my usual method, as the drives were wiped), and it worked.
I've got the Buffalo web console up now, and it looks just like their older one for the TS-XEL.

Here is the product page for this one if you want it for your notes or web articles, the firmware update worked with your MAX_DISK_NUM=2 tweak.
http://www.buffalo-asia.com/forbusiness/business_nas/tswss/ws-wvl_r1-ap/

A question on the java stuff:

(I see now where I first went wrong- I was running that command in the acp commander windows gui.  I thought it was a linux command, not ms/windows.  Oops!)

I put acp_commander.jar in the jre library folder:
And still, for whatever reason, it could not run your command.

C:\>java -jar acp_commander.jar -t 192.168.0.106 -c "echo MAX_DISK_NUM=2 >> /etc/nas_feature"
Error: Unable to access jarfile acp_commander.jar

You mentioned the path, so I checked it.  java.exe is definitely in the path
PATH=C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath;<rest of path...>
It only has that path, no libraries or other java paths are in it.

I wound up having doing it this way, and it worked w/windows firewall disabled.
C:\>cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_231\lib"
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_231\lib>java -jar acp_commander.jar -t 192.168.0.106 -c "echo MAX_DISK_NUM=2 >> /etc/nas_feature"
OK (ACP_STATE_OK)
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_231\lib>

How's that going to play out doing the debian install stuff for the other post on the TS-XEL?  Am I going to have to add something else to my path to make things easier for that project? 

----

firmware steps followed:
1. make the boot iso w/systemrescuecd- need to document this process. 
2. boot EM mode via USB
3. run MAX_DISK_NUM 2 command
4. flash with tsupdater
5. unit is at factory defaults, ready for config and use

----

Other observations, nothing to do with the firmware load:

SMART
This WS-WV unit supports SMART, the Buffalo OS on the TS-XEL doesn't.  I assume the other units in this Intel d510 series - also support SMART.

At some point,  I am hoping someone can help me to write a script (maybe even automate it) to where we can run smartctl, and have it save to a text file.  Some other Buffalo units I've seen support SMART, but either do not report the smart data in the web console (TS 3400), or if they do, there's not enough detail in it (TS 5400).

I wind up using the windows acp commander gui manually to run these guys...

smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl -A /dev/sda
smartctl -a /dev/sdb
smartctl -A /dev/sdb
smartctl -a /dev/sdc
smartctl -A /dev/sdc
smartctl -a /dev/sdd
smartctl -A /dev/sdd

The idea is to have these commands run every 4 hours, or at some regular interval.

One monitoring report emailed every 24hrs, really isn't enough monitoring.  Plus, the report the nas sends- has little detail in it. 

I had a failed disk last month that just about knocked out a whole raid 0 array in a 3400 series, and I didn't realize it- until 2 weeks after the failure began.  (Who's going to log in and check email, when they are busy?!)  The seagate drive in question, jumped from 400+ bad sectors, to almost 15000 in like 2 days!!!!  Having a regularly updated SMART log to check, would be beneficial.  Buffalo needs to up their game in the monitoring dept, no question.

sample info from /dev/sda on this modified WS-WV unit:
running
smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl -A /dev/sda


smartctl -a /dev/sda <tells us our disk model, serial, firmware version, etc>
ACP Commander v1.5.6.0 started
Sending discovery request...
Found new LinkStation 192.168.0.106
Authenticate EnOneCmd... OK
Authenticate with admin pw... OK
smartctl version 5.37 [x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-6 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     ST2000DM001-9YN164
Serial Number:    XXXXXXXX
Firmware Version: CC9D
User Capacity:    2,000,398,934,016 bytes
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   8
ATA Standard is:  Not recognized. Minor revision code: 0x29
Local Time is:    Mon Jan 20 18:27:15 2020 JST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
See vendor-specific Attribute list for marginal Attributes.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00)   Offline data collection activity
               was never started.
               Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0)   The previous self-test routine completed
               without error or no self-test has ever
               been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection:        ( 575) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:           (0x13) SMART execute Offline immediate.
               Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
               Suspend Offline collection upon new
               command.
               No Offline surface scan supported.
               Self-test supported.
               No Conveyance Self-test supported.
               No Selectiv

smartctl -A /dev/sda <gives us an accurate reallocated sector count, power on hours, power on/off cycles, and more>
Authenticate EnOneCmd... OK
Authenticate with admin pw... OK
smartctl version 5.37 [x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-6 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 10
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000f   116   099   006    Pre-fail  Always       -       104382496
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   095   094   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   099   099   020    Old_age   Always       -       1165
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   036    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   072   057   030    Pre-fail  Always       -       17248962564
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   086   086   000    Old_age   Always       -       12951
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   097    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   020    Old_age   Always       -       372
183 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
184 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   100   100   099    Old_age   Always       -       0
187 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   097   097   000    Old_age   Always       -       3
188 Unknown_Attribute       0x0032   100   099


----

other observations:

I do notice that my seagate drives are a little beepy (not the typical crunchy r/w sound) on the bootup with this buffalo os.
That wasn't the case when using the Windows 2008 R2 os.

Too bad Buffalo has not updated their os for this series to be on par with the 3400 and 5400 series interface.
It's limited to SMB 1.x, whereas the Win 2008 Storage Server R2 had SMB 2.1 :(
Big read/write speed drop from 100MB/sec in Win 2008 R2 to 30MB/sec, typical of this buffalo os :(

I hope buffalo continues to security patch this series, it's better than being in an unsupported microsoft os for now anyway.

SMB 1.x can be added to Windows (though it is insecure).  I have it added on an 'acceptable risk' machine.

C:\>net use Z: \\TS-WVHLB80\share
System error 384 has occurred.

You can't connect to the file share because it's not secure. This share requires the obsolete SMB1 protocol, which is unsafe and could expose your system to attack.
Your system requires SMB2 or higher. For more info on resolving this issue, see: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=852747



The only other option I see so far on the windows side, is to go with the Windows 2012 R2 or 2016 upgrades, but lose the buffalo management software and their apps in the process.  I don't know what the buffalo preinstalled software really is even needed for, except for iSCSI users, NAS monitoring, and to control the NAS display.

----

Thanks again for your help.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 20, 2020, 08:37:45 AM
wow, that's a big post. I'll try to throw a note in the instructions for the MAX_DISK_NUM trick. It might help other folks in the same situation or who just don't have 4 disks handy.

Whatever method you used to make ACP commander work this time should work when you set up the TS-XEL. The github wiki  page has a step by step example that should help.

I'd recommend using my updated command line version of acp commander rather than the old GUI one, I've made some updates that make it more reliably for more models (particularly for enabling root access).
https://github.com/1000001101000/acp-commander

The TS-XEL may not support SMART because it uses a SATA port multiplier, I'm not really sure. I can try using smartmontools on mine later and see if it works or not from within Debian.

Regarding SMB versions on stock firmware some folks have hacked SMB2 support into older devices, I've never tried it myself.
http://forums.buffalotech.com/index.php?topic=24630.msg88052#msg88052

You can always install Debian on the WS-WVL. That would at least provide a version of samba that supports SMB2/3.
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Intel_Terastations





: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 20, 2020, 09:46:10 AM
Yeah, the post was a little longer than I intended.  Hopefully it helps someone else.  There's little to no documentation out there for the WS-WVL that I could find anyway.  So it seemed right to share.

Ok- I'll leave the java path alone and look at the github wiki.

Cool, I'll check out the command line version of acp commander.  I forgot how I even stumbled across acp.  I never could get an ssh shell working with linkstations to check smart like that, so I just went with the acp gui.  I read somewhere adding either ssh (or maybe was it root?) to the stock firmware- the modifications would get knocked out on reboots, so I never bothered.  It sounded complicated.

Thanks for the SMB patch info. 

True, I definitely want to put debian on the WS-WVL, now that I know the buffalo os will work if I need it.  That system will probably be happier and better off all around- with a newer os.

Which system do you think it would be easier to load debian on first?
The WS-WVL?  Or the TS-XEL?  The WS-WVL does have the video console, maybe that's the better one to start with?

I need to read up on what has to be done, before I start.  I saw the java app was one of the first steps for the TS-XEL. 

And I'll definitely be doing the debian load off of the stock os- that's loaded already.






: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 20, 2020, 10:54:56 AM
The WS-WVHL might be easier for you since you boot from a usb image just like you did for the stock o/s.

they're all pretty manageable if you have some linux experience. I think creating that recovery image was more complicated than loaded either installer.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 20, 2020, 01:53:14 PM
I'm curious what your smartmontools wind up doing.
I can say I have had an esata external disk array connected on a windows pc before, with an esata port multiplier pci-e card: a highpoint rocketraid 622.  I don't know which controller chip it uses.  Smart data could be pulled from all the drives in the array with that card, in a windows environment. 

I guess it all has to do with the engineering of the sata hardware itself.  I know intel crippled the port multiplier on their esata ports for many desktop pc mainboards (which is why I had to get that card), to where a person could only connect one external sata drive.  The on board intel ports port couldn't use a disk array. 

I used to never be into the smart data monitoring- until a couple of years ago.  But as hard drive quality seems to drop each year, and after what happened recently, I try to monitor it when possible.

---

Anyway, trying your intel d510 debian.  I did not see any instructions, so I dived in.  Made a dd of your ts-buster-installer.iso

It boots
Grub loading.
Welcome to grub
and then 12 of these
error: unknown filesystem
Entering rescue mode...
grub rescue>

it does this with the stock firmware we loaded, and also- with wiped drives.

My linux skills are very very novice.  In fact, if you have any suggestions for debian guides for beginners- that's probably something I should read.  I know enough to be dangerous with linux. These terastations are just test boxes for the most part, I can blow them up at will.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 20, 2020, 02:27:20 PM
My first guess would be that something went wrong with making that usb disk (grub seems to work but the filesystem couldn't be accessed). I would try creating it again and wait longer before removing the drive.

I connected to my TS-XEL and confirmed I can access SMART data for the drive it has in the top bay (the only one currently inserted).
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 20, 2020, 05:49:46 PM
Yep, sure enough.  That was it.  Strange it did not write the data.  The partition was blank.
ran dd again, the usb boot works fine now. But a problem with the installer.

This happened right before the end of the install.  Right after it loaded grub onto the boot sector.

It's at finishing installation now.

 Failed to run preseeded command                     │
  │ Execution of preseeded command "mount -t proc none /target/proc/;       │
  │ mount -t sysfs none /target/sys/; cp /source/*.sh                       │
  │ /target/usr/local/bin/; cp /source/micro-evtd /target/usr/local/bin/;   │
  │ cp /source/*.patch /target/usr/src/; cp /source/*.service               │
  │ /target/etc/systemd/system/; cp /source/it8721.conf                     │
  │ /target/etc/sensors.d/; cp /source/module_exclude.txt                   │
  │ /target/usr/local/etc/; cp -r /source/micon_scripts                     │
  │ /target/usr/local/bin/; cp /source/micon_scripts/*.service              │
  │ /target/etc/systemd/system/; echo it87 >> /target/etc/modules; echo     │
  │ gpio-it87 >> /target/etc/modules; echo gpio-ich >>                      │
  │ /target/etc/modules; mkdir -p /target/etc/initramfs/post-update.d/;     │
  │ in-target ln -s /usr/local/bin/update_boot.sh                           │
  │ /etc/initramfs/post-update.d/update_boot; in-target ln -s               │

I let it reboot.  I noticed one red

Failed to start load kernel modules, then a bunch of greens that went by very fast, and now at a debian login prompt.

Is there anything of concern with those items it could not run?  Is there anything I need to verify to see if it is missing?

: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 20, 2020, 07:26:12 PM
Weird.

What does it say on the lcd?
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 20, 2020, 08:40:12 PM
To be more specific...

Most of my customizations happen at the end of the install process, some part of that appears to have failed.  I'm running through it on my device now to see if there's a general problem that I wasn't aware of though it could be specific to your install choices somehow. I'll let you know how mine turns out.

could you log into the device and post the output of lsblk?

The failed modules thing is normal on the first boot as it has to build some modules at startup each time it boots with a new kernel. That should go away for subsequent boots.

The system should work just fine even if my customizations completely failed though it would be worthwile to either install them manually or re-run the installer to get them in place so that things like the temperature sensors/lcd screen/hostswap bays work as intended.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 21, 2020, 03:49:46 AM
I didn't notice what the lcd said at the time of that error.
Currently the LCD is yellowish green and it says
Terastation x86
Debian 10.2
(And a note on the lcd - I saw during the install the lcd says terastation x86.  The installer was loading the amd-64 stuff.  I hope this os load is x64.)

I was thinking about wiping it and installing it again, if necessary. 

What partitioning scheme do you suggest for the os install?
I'm still trying to learn how to partition correctly for installing debian.  I don't know how much space the install really needs.

On the first try, I accidentally made GPT disks w/gparted first (I forgot this unit doesn't have a uEFI BIOS), and it would not load grub.

On the second try, I let the installer do the partitioning instead of gparted.  I made a pair of 40gb partitions raid 1 for the os.  And a pair of raid 0 partitions for samba network share data, that use the rest of the drives.

I picked put the os in one partition, instead of splitting up partitions for /var /temp and whatever else it wants for that.  Does that interfere with the install script?

Here are the results for lsblk

NAME        MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
sda           8:0    1  1.8T  0 disk
├─sda1        8:1    1 37.3G  0 part
│ └─md0       9:0    0 37.2G  0 raid1
│   ├─md0p1 259:0    0 35.2G  0 part  /
│   ├─md0p2 259:1    0    1K  0 part
│   └─md0p5 259:2    0    2G  0 part  [SWAP]
└─sda2        8:2    1  1.8T  0 part
  └─md1       9:1    0  3.6T  0 raid0
sdb           8:16   1  1.8T  0 disk
├─sdb1        8:17   1 37.3G  0 part
│ └─md0       9:0    0 37.2G  0 raid1
│   ├─md0p1 259:0    0 35.2G  0 part  /
│   ├─md0p2 259:1    0    1K  0 part
│   └─md0p5 259:2    0    2G  0 part  [SWAP]
└─sdb2        8:18   1  1.8T  0 part
  └─md1       9:1    0  3.6T  0 raid0


: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 21, 2020, 10:02:51 AM
That explains what happened. The last thing that the installer does is run a script that identifies which disks have /boot under them and installs grub. I never accounted for someone using a partitioned mdadm device like that, it must have failed to identify the disks.

I generally stick to partitioning schemes similar to how buffalo (and other vendors for that matter) set them up, with separate raid1 devices for /boot, / and swap.

For GPT Grub will work if you create 8mb partitions at the beginning of the disk and set them to type "EF02"
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 21, 2020, 12:32:13 PM
Ok.  I'll try reloading the buffalo firmware, then do the install again.  I know the buffalo firmware makes many partitions.  I have no idea- what they are all for. 

I don't know know what to choose on the debian installer for partitioning, so that it selects the right ones for everything. 

I thought the buffalo firmware made their os partition(s) on all the disks as a raid 1 in the event of drive failure?  Or is the os just installed on certain drives?  I thought it was all raid 1 for os, that's why I did the partitions that way.

aside the grub problem:

I am having a lot of difficulty with the install.  If there is a reference guide you recommend for the novice linux user?  That would help.  I really need one.

I'm getting a lot of command not found errors. 

I cannot login to this install as root- using the correct password.  I can only login as the user the installer generates.

The biggest thing was that I could not do the shutdown command with the user account the installer sets up (not the root account)

sudo does not work
smartctl did not work
startx did not work

I managed to run top and vi. 

Other than that, I'm pretty much dead in the water without a gui. 

I have no clue how to make users, create shares, and really do anything with it.

Is samba going to have to be installed?
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 21, 2020, 01:02:03 PM
I thought the buffalo firmware made their os partition(s) on all the disks as a raid 1 in the event of drive failure?  Or is the os just installed on certain drives?  I thought it was all raid 1 for os, that's why I did the partitions that way.
They do, they just use 3 separate raid1 arrays instead of partitioning one bigger one. If you start with their partitioning in place you should see the raid arrays on the manual partitioning screen.

I am having a lot of difficulty with the install.  If there is a reference guide you recommend for the novice linux user?  That would help.  I really need one.
There is a lot of that type of stuff out there but I'm not familiar with any of them specifically. It also depends on how you like to learn. These days there is a lot of that type of thing on youtube in addition to the traditional blogs/etc

I'm getting a lot of command not found errors.
Most of the commands you are trying require root access, you can access many of them if you log in as root

I cannot login to this install as root- using the correct password.  I can only login as the user the installer generates.
By default root login over ssh is disabled for security purposes. You can switch to the root user from your user with
:
su - root
sudo does not work
Debian automatically sets up sudo for you if you leave the root user blank during the install. Otherwise you can set it up manually.

smartctl did not work
startx did not work

smartctl can be installed via
:
apt-get install smartmontoolsA graphical desktop can be installed via
:
apt-get install xfce4 Though I've never tried it on these devices.

Other than that, I'm pretty much dead in the water without a gui.

I have no clue how to make users, create shares, and really do anything with it.

Is samba going to have to be installed?

Some folks have had luck installing OpenMediaVault or Webmin. Both provide a web-based gui similar to what buffalo provides. Both have detailed instructions for installing them on their pages.




: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 21, 2020, 06:26:06 PM
Thanks for all of that info.  I'll take a look at the commands and that interface stuff, once I get this unit up and running right.

I'm still having problems :(

I wiped the drives for the WS-WVHL, and then reloaded the buffalo firmware again.
I did not format the drives.  I left the buffalo firmware on it.
Then I ran your debian installer again.

During partitioning, I picked use the maximum size available.
I picked use separate partitions for /var /temp and /home.

It found the original buffalo partitions.  I assume it used them.

This time, it would not install Grub.
And, I'm still getting the same error above- about the script again.

If the script works as it should- using the stock buffalo firmware partitions:
Then what am I doing wrong?

I rebooted, and I'm right back at the stock firmware again. :(


Rebooted with the debian installer flash drive, and it's back to the installer as usual.

If it ran the script- what did it even do?
It sure said it was copying and installing things...  but onto what?

I checked the array real quick in the buffalo gui, and the array is fine.   
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 21, 2020, 07:52:22 PM
You’ll want to use manual partitioning, none of the automatic options will do what you want.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 22, 2020, 06:46:47 AM
Ok, for manual partitioning-  what do I select for the partitions?

I have no idea what each of the buffalo partitions are for, besides the large data one.

If I leave the partitions alone and go to the bottom, and pick finish partitioning and write changes:  it errors out.

No root file system is defined

Please correct this from the partitioning menu.

Apparently it doesn't detect what the previous partitions were for.

This is what I have, after doing the buffalo firmware install.

booting from SystemRescueCd:
lsblk info:
[root@sysresccd ~]# lsblk
NAME      MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
loop0       7:0    0 788.8M  1 loop  /run/archiso/sfs/airootfs
sda         8:0    1   1.8T  0 disk 
├─sda1      8:1    1   4.8G  0 part 
│ └─md127   9:127  0   4.8G  0 raid1
├─sda2      8:2    1  15.3G  0 part 
│ └─md124   9:124  0  15.3G  0 raid1
├─sda3      8:3    1     1M  0 part 
├─sda4      8:4    1     1M  0 part 
├─sda5      8:5    1   3.8G  0 part 
│ └─md126   9:126  0   3.8G  0 raid1
└─sda6      8:6    1   1.8T  0 part 
  └─md125   9:125  0   3.6T  0 raid0
sdb         8:16   1   1.8T  0 disk 
├─sdb1      8:17   1   4.8G  0 part 
│ └─md127   9:127  0   4.8G  0 raid1
├─sdb2      8:18   1  15.3G  0 part 
│ └─md124   9:124  0  15.3G  0 raid1
├─sdb3      8:19   1     1M  0 part 
├─sdb4      8:20   1     1M  0 part 
├─sdb5      8:21   1   3.8G  0 part 
│ └─md126   9:126  0   3.8G  0 raid1
└─sdb6      8:22   1   1.8T  0 part 
  └─md125   9:125  0   3.6T  0 raid0
sdc         8:32   1  59.6G  0 disk 
├─sdc1      8:33   1  59.6G  0 part 
├─sdc2      8:34   1  31.5K  0 part 
└─sdc4      8:36   1   841M  0 part  /run/archiso/bootmnt
[root@sysresccd ~]#



In gparted, it shows for /dev/sda:
/dev/sda1 linux-raid /dev/md127 4.77GB no label - ???

/dev/sda2 linux-raid /dev/md124 15.26GB label TS-QVHL-EMB80:1 - ???

/dev/sda3 grub2.core.img 1 MB - no label - assumed to be boot partition?

/dev/sda4 unknown - 1 MB ??? - no label - ???

/dev/sda5 linux-raid /dev/md126 3.82GB label TS-QVHL-EMB80:2 - ???

/dev/sda6 linux-raid /devmd125 1.79TB label TS-QVHL-EMB80:10 - I know this one is samba data

unallocated 7.82 gb


Also, about the grub installer part of your script:
Since there was the problem with the buffalo firmware trying to find 4 drives when there are only 2, how does your script handle the grub install?
Does it check to see how many drives are in the system?
Is it trying to write it to 4 drives, even though it will not find 2 of them with this unit?

Thanks.
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 22, 2020, 09:42:22 AM

If you're starting with the raid devices created by the Buffalo firmware they should show up similar to this:
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Buffalo/blob/master/.images/12-blank_MDs.png

You'll want to go into each and set them up via the menu. define the the first smaller one as /boot, the larger one as /, one will likely already show as swap and should be used as swap. The result will look similar to:
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Buffalo/blob/master/.images/17-all_volumes.png

Since there was the problem with the buffalo firmware trying to find 4 drives when there are only 2, how does your script handle the grub install?
Does it check to see how many drives are in the system?
Is it trying to write it to 4 drives, even though it will not find 2 of them with this unit?

By default the Debian installer just installs Grub to the disk that you tell it to at the end of the install. This can be a big hassle if that disk dies or gets replaced etc. I wrote a fairly simple script that determines what device /boot is mounted on and if it is a raid array figures out which disks make up the array and then installs grub on each of them. The script doesn't care how many disks that it is.

: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: Kane88 January 24, 2020, 03:49:16 PM

If you're starting with the raid devices created by the Buffalo firmware they should show up similar to this:
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Buffalo/blob/master/.images/12-blank_MDs.png

You'll want to go into each and set them up via the menu. define the the first smaller one as /boot, the larger one as /, one will likely already show as swap and should be used as swap. The result will look similar to:
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Buffalo/blob/master/.images/17-all_volumes.png

Since there was the problem with the buffalo firmware trying to find 4 drives when there are only 2, how does your script handle the grub install?
Does it check to see how many drives are in the system?
Is it trying to write it to 4 drives, even though it will not find 2 of them with this unit?

By default the Debian installer just installs Grub to the disk that you tell it to at the end of the install. This can be a big hassle if that disk dies or gets replaced etc. I wrote a fairly simple script that determines what device /boot is mounted on and if it is a raid array figures out which disks make up the array and then installs grub on each of them. The script doesn't care how many disks that it is.

Thanks for those partition pictures and the other suggestions, they helped a lot.  I was able to set up what was needed, and reinstall.
This time things went much better.  There was no script error this time at the end of the install.  It looks like it went as it should.
And I left the password box blank for root during the install, so that super user is activated for the user acct.

I'll take a look at OpenMediaVault and Webmin, once I get the xfce going.

It looks like any time the regular user acct needs root, the commands are to be done with sudo such as
sudo apt-get install smartmontools
sudo shutdown -r now
etc

Is this how it is supposed to work?  It prompts for the password each time.

It's funny that it cannot find the shutdown command, if I don't do the sudo.
I was getting these errors also, without sudo:

kane88@debian:~$ apt-get install smartmontools
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (13: Permission denied)
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), are you root?
kane88@debian:~$ apt-get install xfce4
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (13: Permission denied)
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), are you root?
kane88@debian:~$ su - root
Password:
su: Authentication failure
kane88@debian:~$ su - root
Password:
su: Authentication failure
user@debian:~$


What else needs to be installed?  Is there something you had for the display that needs to be loaded?

Will the front panel display always be the yellow/green color?

Is there any updating procedure (similar to win updates) you do with debian to keep the os updated and patched?


And a question on xfce:
I just got it to run from the console.
But I'm getting an error trying to have it run remotely from the ssh putty session.

Is there a way to have it run remotely like there is RDP for the Windows Desktop?

kane88@debian:~$ startx
xauth:  file /home/kane88/.Xauthority does not exist

/usr/lib/xorg/Xorg.wrap: Only console users are allowed to run the X server
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: Connection refused
xinit: server error
Couldn't get a file descriptor referring to the console
kane88@debian:~$
: Re: Buffalo WS-WV4.0TL/R1 Windows Server 2012 R2 / 2016 help
: 1000001101000 January 24, 2020, 09:55:18 PM
It looks like any time the regular user acct needs root, the commands are to be done with sudo such as
sudo apt-get install smartmontools
sudo shutdown -r now
etc

Is this how it is supposed to work?  It prompts for the password each time.
Yes. You can configure sudo to not ask for a password if you want. If you plan to run a bunch of commands you can run
:
sudo su - for a root shell.

Will the front panel display always be the yellow/green color?
You can change the color to whatever you like, in fact you can display pretty much anything you like. The script that sets the message/color at startup is:
/usr/local/bin/micon_scripts/micon_startup.py
Information about how to control the display on be found here:
https://buffalonas.miraheze.org/wiki/Terastation_Microcontroller_Interface

Is there any updating procedure (similar to win updates) you do with debian to keep the os updated and patched?
:
apt-get update; apt-get upgrade
Is there a way to have it run remotely like there is RDP for the Windows Desktop?
I usually use x11vnc, this allows you to connect to the local xsession over vnc.



: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: 1000001101000 January 25, 2020, 11:26:27 AM
TFTP/USB boot:
You can boot debian boot files via TFTP if you want, this is particularly useful for the installer for some circumstances. You could use that to run a rootfs of a usb device if you wanted too.

To do anything useful you’d probably need to modify uboot which is inadvisable on a device without a working serial console.

Xserver on TS-XEL:
Once you’ve mastered x11vnc on the tswvhl you can use essentially the same process on the ts-xel. There are some tweaks to make the xserver use a “dummy” display adapter, I have some notes on that I can dig up. You might want to try something lighter like icewm (or no window manager) instead of xfce since performance won’t be great.

We should circle back in a couple of weeks and add some of these things you’ve learned to the wiki.
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: rz0y66 February 28, 2020, 08:32:07 AM
Help appreciated.  I have an old linkstation I need to be able to access the files on, and I am unable to due to the SMB1 restrictions. 

I can run the acp gui app fine and it says SSH enabled OK. When I use Putty, it does allow me to enter the admin id and password. As soon as I hit enter after the password I get "Remote side unexpectedly closed the connection." If I manually enter the commands and reboot, I get a connection refused when I try to SSH/Putty. Any ideas? Thanks in advance
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: 1000001101000 February 28, 2020, 09:06:53 AM
the ACP commander GUI version hasn't been updated in a very long time. The enable ssh feature only works for certain devices on certain firmware versions which were standard at the time.

A little while ago I forked the command line version and made some enhancements which allow it to reliably enable a temporary telnet shell on every model/firmware I've been able to test against. that should allow you to make the tweaks you want.

The files and instructions can be found here:
https://github.com/1000001101000/acp-commander

If you're interested you could also install Debian on the device which allows you to install a more modern version of Samba. Information can be found here:
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Buffalo
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: Kane88 February 28, 2020, 09:56:11 AM
What model is it?  Maybe it allows for SMB 2.x

If it was just a matter of needing the files, for those who aren't adept with linux, I'd suggest just building a quick oracle virtual box windows VM- and just access it that way.  You don't need to enable SMB 1.x in the Windows host operating system, only in the VM.  And virtual box is free, no cost...

: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: 1000001101000 February 28, 2020, 10:13:37 AM
That's an interesting solution. It would definitely be better to enable SMB1 in a disposable VM rather than your actual PC. To allow the VM to connect to the rest of the network usually requires changing some network settings too though it's not complicated.

I would think this would be impracticable in a lot of use cases like if your plan is to backup files from your main PC.
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: Kane88 February 28, 2020, 06:13:36 PM
We should circle back in a couple of weeks and add some of these things you’ve learned to the wiki.

Yes, let's do that at some point. :)  Not there yet, I haven't went through anything yet about the x11vnc or xwindows stuff for the WS-WVHL. 

But I am back on the WS-WVHL unit today in preparation of the Terastation 3400.

And I did sudo apt-get install default-jdk on this one to get the java loaded.  You said in the other thread that python is already installed with your installer.  What else do I have to do to prep the TS-WVHL so to get the 3400 loading the debian?

Will installing java on these terastations slow them down at all?

Because the TS-WVHL unit does not have a uEFI BIOS (there's no mention of BIOS boot or uEFI boot in the BIOS settings), I don't understand how the Buffalo Linux OS stock firmware install was able to get past the 2tb MBR/BIOS barrier eiter.  It apparently has fully allocated and formatted a pair of 3tb drives, using all their space.  The system boots fine to your new Debian 10.3.  The drives are GPT too.

kane88@debian:~$ lsblk
NAME     MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINT
sda        8:0    1  2.7T  0 disk
├─sda1     8:1    1  4.8G  0 part
│ └─md0    9:0    0  4.8G  0 raid1 /boot
├─sda2     8:2    1 15.3G  0 part
│ └─md1    9:1    0 15.3G  0 raid1 /
├─sda3     8:3    1    1M  0 part
├─sda4     8:4    1    1M  0 part
├─sda5     8:5    1  3.8G  0 part
│ └─md2    9:2    0  3.8G  0 raid1 [SWAP]
└─sda6     8:6    1  2.7T  0 part
  └─md10   9:10   0  5.4T  0 raid0 /mnt/array
sdb        8:16   1  2.7T  0 disk
├─sdb1     8:17   1  4.8G  0 part
│ └─md0    9:0    0  4.8G  0 raid1 /boot
├─sdb2     8:18   1 15.3G  0 part
│ └─md1    9:1    0 15.3G  0 raid1 /
├─sdb3     8:19   1    1M  0 part
├─sdb4     8:20   1    1M  0 part
├─sdb5     8:21   1  3.8G  0 part
│ └─md2    9:2    0  3.8G  0 raid1 [SWAP]
└─sdb6     8:22   1  2.7T  0 part
  └─md10   9:10   0  5.4T  0 raid0 /mnt/array
kane88@debian:~$

I need to test this out and fill it up, and see if that's actually right.

How do I actually share out the /mnt/array partition using Debian?  Do I have to install samba?  Or does your installer put it on there?  I was hoping I could do a quick test, but don't know how to make a basic share.

I have to read up on OpenMediaVault, I think I am going to try that out on this box eventually- until I can get used to linux.

I did install webmin on the WS-WVHL today, using the steps in the debian on linkstation video.  But again, I need to do more reading...


: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: 1000001101000 February 28, 2020, 07:47:23 PM
And I did sudo apt-get install default-jdk on this one to get the java loaded.  You said in the other thread that python is already installed with your installer.  What else do I have to do to prep the TS-WVHL so to get the 3400 loading the debian?
Just acp_commander and the installer files, you should be able to follow the example more or less exactly.

Will installing java on these terastations slow them down at all?
no, but it will use up a few hundred MB of space. You can always remove it when you're done via apt-get remove

Because the TS-WVHL unit does not have a uEFI BIOS (there's no mention of BIOS boot or uEFI boot in the BIOS settings), I don't understand how the Buffalo Linux OS stock firmware install was able to get past the 2tb MBR/BIOS barrier eiter.  It apparently has fully allocated and formatted a pair of 3tb drives, using all their space.  The system boots fine to your new Debian 10.3.  The drives are GPT too.
Bootloaders and partition tables are a somewhat complicated topic. This configuration (BIOS + Grub2) can handle GPT partitions just fine. The version of u-boot built into the TS3400 can also handle GPT. Some older versions can't but there are potential workarounds even in those cases.

I need to test this out and fill it up, and see if that's actually right.
It should work just fine, but filling up the filesystem is always a good test of the configuration.

Samba is not installed by default. If you install webmin/omv you should be able to use it to configure your samba shares, I dont know if it installs it for you or not (you can check using dpkg -l | grep -i samba). You can also do so by manually editing your smb.conf. There are guides out there that can walk you through both better than I could. 


 
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: Kane88 March 01, 2020, 11:23:58 PM
Well I've done something this time.  The TS-WVHL is stuck to where it will not boot now.

Reloading system manager configuration
starting default target
You are in emergency mode...

Cannot open access to console, the root account is locked.
See sulogin(8) man page for more details.

When I press enter, it just loops back to this.

I can't ssh into the machine either.
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: 1000001101000 March 02, 2020, 06:47:38 AM
do you have an fstab entry for a volume that is no longer there?

If so remove that entry and it should return to normal.
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: Kane88 March 02, 2020, 07:54:23 AM
I ran your dd command for the TS3400 test on the /mnt/array partition on the TS3400 and also on the TS-WVHL.

I take it that doing so wiped out the /mnt/array partition on the TS-WVHL?  If so, then I need some help restoring that raid device and/or partition for it.

I have no idea how to check the fstab entry.  I can't access the console from that machine now, or ssh into it either- connection refused.

I can maybe use a systemrescuecd live iso to boot into a terminal window.  But from there I will definitely need help.

Thanks.



: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: 1000001101000 March 02, 2020, 09:17:09 AM
apparently you don't get to use the built-in recovery shell if you don't have an active root account, i did not know that.

You'll want to boot into livecd as you suggested. Then all you have to do is mount your rootfs somewhere and remove the fstab entry for the missing array.

I believe Ubuntu/Debian live environments don't all include mdadm you may have to install it first if your rootfs is on a raid device.

that will look something like
:
apt-get update
apt-get install mdadm
mdadm --assemble --scan
mdadm --detail --scan
mount /dev/md127 /mnt
nano /mnt/etc/fstab


 
: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: Kane88 March 02, 2020, 08:13:05 PM
well I tried and it did not work.
mdadm was in the environment and the --assemble --scan wasn't turning up anything.

--detail --scan showed the arrays, but I couldn't get the raid array to mount  for /dev/md10.  I forget the error, something about a partition format flag, it didn't like how it was partitioned basically...

Since the built-in recovery wasn't working as you pointed out: I opted to wipe it all out and start over, this time adding a root password.  I hope I'll be able to use the recovery if there is ever a need to.

Thanks.



: Re: WS-WVL Win 2008 R2 EOL/ESU End of life - to buffalo WS-WVHL/debian, discussion
: Kane88 March 03, 2020, 09:05:55 AM
I think I've got this one in pretty good shape now.  Enough to run with it and see where it leads.

Got debian reloaded on the TS-WVHL.
java, webmin, and smartmontools installed.

I managed to get samba installed, and setup my first working samba file share (that was a little tricky!)

I'm feeling accomplished! :D

The speed of this box is now on par with the Win 2008 that was installed on it originally, copying some test files with samba at just over 100MB/sec.  Perfect.

This is actually quite useable, especially not being limited to 2TB disks.  It's going to make an interesting Debian test setup.


Is there any way possible to construct a trashbox setup like the buffalo linux stock firmware has?  I found that quite handy actually.  Anything that got deleted just moved to the trashbox dir, before I manually deleted it from there.


------

For those interested:  this is what I used to get Debian loaded.  This will allow you to completely scrap the outdated original Win 2008 storage server R2 for this model.

First, you have to make your buffalo EM boot disk
https://buffalonas.miraheze.org/wiki/Create_Recovery_Disk_for_Intel-based_Terastation

and then load the TS-WVHL firmware get your partitions layed out (WS-WV windows model converts into TS-WVHL linux model using this)
https://www.buffalotech.com/support/downloads/terastation-pro-duo


then, make the debian boot iso for usb disk - iso file here
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Intel_Terastations/tree/master/installer-image/Buster

I used rawrite32 from a windows pc to create the usb boot disk
https://www.netbsd.org/~martin/rawrite32/

installer files for intel terastations to load debian
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Intel_Terastations


instructions to load debian
https://github.com/1000001101000/Debian_on_Buffalo/wiki

instructions to load debian + webmin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfMHlLmsSF8

webmin package
http://www.webmin.com/deb.html

instructions to setup samba
http://digitalhacksblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/setup-samba.html


I still have yet to go through the post install items for the bays and fans and things.  But so far, so good.