Setting up Linkstation ProDuo LS-W1.0TGL by a total novice

[1000001101000]

I managed to get this working on my device last night, it turns out LSUpdater will not re-partition/reformat blank drives in this device unless it has two drives in it. The processed I followed was:

1. obtain the proper firmware for the device (v1 has 1 usb port, v3 has two)
2. Extract the boot files as described earlier.
3. Make sure both drives are blank.
4. take the first drive and create a 256mb partition 1 and format it as ext2
5. copy the boot files to that partition.
6. connect the drive with the boot files as drive 1, connect the blank drive as drive 2
7. boot up the device, after a while the top led should change to solid green
8. Launch LSUpdater.exe with debug enabled (described previously), it should find the device now
9. Access the debug menu and check all options except "update boot"
10. Click the update

It should now go through a fairly long process of reformatting, copying over the firmware and installing it, when finished it will reboot and should be ready to use.

[1000001101000]

If you'd prefer you should be able to install a modern Debian Linux install instead of the Stock Firmware. That process is:

1. Download the debian installer boot files for this device from:
http://ftp.debian.org/debian/dists/stretch/main/installer-armel/current/images/orion5x/network-console/buffalo/ls-wtgl/
2. take a blank drive and create a 256mb partition 1 and format it as ext2
3. copy the boot files to that partition.
4. connect the drive with the boot files as drive 1
5. boot up the device, after a while the top led should change to solid green
6. connect to the device via ssh (username installer, password install)
7. Follow the installer prompts.

That process is described more here:
https://miniconf.debian.or.jp/assets/files/Debian%20Installer%20for%20Buffalo%20Linkstation%20NAS.pdf

[Bren106]

My heartfelt thanks to the forum members who gave me invaluable help and patience setting up the LS. (You know who you are)

The LS is sitting quite happily in my network, however, I am being repeatedly told to create a folder named 'share' before the network can be mapped. THERE IS ONE I keep shouting at it. It's sitting there in the folders when I go into the management console. If I click through in Explorer I can see the other folders I have created (Music, Video etc) but the share folder is not visible. I used the same settings for those others that were used for the Share folder that was set up by the NAS software. I also can't write anything to any of the folders. 

It has been a rather fraught week with networks and drives, so it may be something that glaringly obvious I am being massively stupid in not seeing it.

[davo]

What operating system are you trying to access it from?

[Bren106]

Windows 10.

I've not even attempted to get my Linux puter to see it yet, that is in another part of the house and I don't have much of a need to get the things I will store on a NAS with that.

Windows appears to be seeing it as a media device. When you click on it in Explorer it then opens Win Media player. It gives it a name of the LS name and PVConnect Windows Media. Clicking on the properties offers no way to change anything

[davo]

Do you still have SMB1 enabled on the windows 10 machine? Open powershell on Windows 10, type the below command and let me know if "EnableSMB1protocol" is set to true or false.

get-smbserverconfiguration

[Bren106]

SMB1 is false

(added) I have turned SMB1 on via the options in Programs and Features.

[Bren106]

Solved.
Enabled the SMB1 protocol in Windows, I suspect this will have to be reset after every major Microsoft update. And was then able to map the drive, and get the share folder showing. After a good look through the settings in the GUI it appears to have the FTP option disabled by default. Enabling this has allowed me to have full access to folders on the L drive.

I've no doubt this would have been obvious for someone experienced in NAS drives.

[1000001101000]

Awesome!

Getting this older device up and running is way on the complicated end of setting up these devices, at least using the stock firmware. At some point when you get more linux experience you might try installing Debian on it (or better yet a newer device) and setting up a system from scratch. That's more complicated in many ways but gives you more control.

Cheers!

[Bren106]

This has always been my intention. I picked it up from an IT disposal company for a very small amount of money, and was of the opinion that if I got nowhere with it then it was not a great loss. Until it has sat in the network for long enough for me to know it is working correctly I am only storing copies of things on it (music and video type stuff) so if it was disposed of because of a, yet unmaterialised, fault I haven't lost anything irreplaceable.

I am becoming increasingly disgruntled with Microsoft, and the way in which they are taking more and more control of our machines with every series of updates. I've played about with Linux on and off and I am finding it has become much more "out of the box" usable to someone rooted in the way Windows works. But as someone who can still remember installing DOS from eight floppy disks, before installing Win 3.1, then I'm sure I'll get the rudimentary knowledge lodged in my head somewhere. 

One thing is for certain, I won't be going in any Mac direction. I gave up on them after both my iphone 2 and iphone 3 died young. 

[1000001101000]

Sounds like you're nearly ready to "take the plunge". I went through a similar phase, for a few years I would install Linux on a VM or dual-boot it on my main PC but would get stuck on something or get bored and move on to something else.

Poking around at embedded Linux devices (NAS and later Raspberry-pi type devices) really helped me learn about how things work "under the hood" for Linux systems and provided projects that held my interest better than just poking around on a VM.

I'm not a big Microsoft hater, but admittedly Windows Vista pushed me over the edge to using Linux as my main desktop OS. They changed just enough stuff from XP to make the jump to Linux seem doable to me.

[Bren106]

I bypassed Vista completely, after hearing all the expletives from everyone, and stuck with XP. I upped to W7 and remained on that through the W8 periods.
On the one computer I have Mint 19 the previous problems I had of display to a 28" TV via HDMI are still there until I figure out the way of reducing the size but not the resolution, but have a workround that is fine for now. It enables me to learn.
But this isn't the place to start of a saga about that stuff is it! 

[1000001101000]

I suppose that is a matter for another thread.

Graphic driver type issues can be a pain, though the solutions are typically similar to on Windows.

For me it's always come down to:
use the driver provided by the Graphics card manufacturer (though usually the version supplied by the distro)
make sure your card is actually supported by the driver version (distro's often have older versions which conflict if the card is to new, in that case get the latest from the manufacturer)
Use the Graphics card manufacturer utility to manage your screen layout/resolution rather than the one built into Gnome/KDE/Xfce
make sure to update your initramfs (update-initramfs -u) if you manually install a new graphic driver

[Bren106]

I replied to you by PM rather than divert the thread to off topic stuff.