Installing Debian on the Nimbustor4/2 ( as5304t/as5202t )

lockerstor-debian.md

Whilst Asustor's ADM suits most people, it is possible to install ANY intel operating system on the nimbustor4/2 (as5202t/as5304t) as they run fairly generic intel hardware (asmedia sata controller, rtl8125 2.5gbe nic and ite system management chip)

in this gist I'll detail the steps needed to install and configure Debian11

Before proceeding you need to decide where you're going to install Debian.

Most people will choose to install it to a usb3 attached drive - either a usb3 ssd ( samsung t5 or similar ) or a usb3 hdd. This gives the most straightforward install ( just tell Debian to use the entire usb3 drive to install to ) and maximises available space on the NAS HDDs

The other option is to install Debian direct to the NAS hard drives - that means no extra drive hanging off the nas, and you can raid1 mirror the system partition across all drives for added resiliency ( though this is somewhat limited as the EFI boot partition is only on sda - so in the case of sda failing you'd need to boot off install media and rebuild the EFI partition). Downside is a more complex setup procedure and you'll need to go thru manual partitioning as opposed to guided (you'll also need a working knowledge of how to setup md raid1 in the partitioner)

NOTE - do NOT try and use a basic usb pendrive to install the system to - they have neither the write speed nor the write durability needed

Similarly do NOT try and install to the eMMC built into the unit - it's only 8gb ( which is too small for anything but the most minimal install ), and like pendrives, eMMC lacks write durability and write speed. Most importantly if you over-write the eMMC you will be unable to revert to ADM ( the eMMc has a minimal boot image on it which is used to recover the system - and there is no tool to restore it if wiped )

For this guide I'll detail the external system drive method

step 1 - change BIOS settings https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/3b47df6a255b718b3e910e6331656cf6

step 2 - install Debian https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/0d721c0b97615a5720660024f4a5f158

step 3 - install custom kmod for fan control and setup lm_sensors https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/b5aae0236141666a77aac094701d7839

step 4 - install custom fan control script https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/06a5e1aabaf878add0ad95669b3a0b3d

step 5 - install rtl8125 and i915 firmware, install OMV6 and Plex https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/d4d8cf1304ebade08f924411d2c83327

Fan controls and everything works perfectly on my AS6602T. Thanks for this detailed tutorial. It saved me from weeks of debugging.

thanks - I've since converted my as5202t to truenas scale, only required minore changes ( truenas doesn't have the hddtemp package so I had to parse the smartctl output instread ) - I'll get the gist updated with the additional notes for that

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On Mon, 20 Mar 2023 at 5:48 AM, Péter Tombor ***@***.***> wrote: ***@***.**** commented on this gist. ------------------------------ Fan controls and everything works perfectly on my AS6602T. Thanks for this detailed tutorial. It saved me from weeks of debugging. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://gist.github.com/bae122274fc6f0e006fdf0bc92fe6237#gistcomment-4508487> or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AQJDN55PJLTGHWL7DD5SUULW442FXBFKMF2HI4TJMJ2XIZLTSKBKK5TBNR2WLJDHNFZXJJDOMFWWLK3UNBZGKYLEL52HS4DFQKSXMYLMOVS2I5DSOVS2I3TBNVS3W5DIOJSWCZC7OBQXE5DJMNUXAYLOORPWCY3UNF3GS5DZVRZXKYTKMVRXIX3UPFYGLK2HNFZXIQ3PNVWWK3TUUZ2G64DJMNZZDAVEOR4XAZNEM5UXG5FFOZQWY5LFVEYTCNBRGU4DQMBQU52HE2LHM5SXFJTDOJSWC5DF> . You are receiving this email because you authored the thread. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub> .

The package is available on my Turenas Scale install

root@truenas[/home/admin]# apt install hddtemp 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
hddtemp is already the newest version (0.3-beta15-54).

except of course you'd have had to manually enable apt as out of the box truenas has it disabled ( yep I know - the 'fix' is trivial ) hddtemp just parses the smartctl data anyway - so I decided to recode the function that queries the drive temps so it's one less package dependency and will work on 'stock' truenas scale, and will similarly also remove the dependency on proper debian as well the real fun is getting the it87.ko module to persist thru reboots on truenas scale ( again they make permanently adding modules 'fun' ) - at the mo I'm just injecting it manually from the launch script

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On Mon, 20 Mar 2023 at 08:01, Péter Tombor ***@***.***> wrote: ***@***.**** commented on this gist. ------------------------------ The package is available on my Turenas Scale install ***@***.***[/home/admin]# apt install hddtemp Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree... Done Reading state information... Done hddtemp is already the newest version (0.3-beta15-54). — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://gist.github.com/bae122274fc6f0e006fdf0bc92fe6237#gistcomment-4508574> or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AQJDN54QEPPHO7FA4VFUOTLW45JX5BFKMF2HI4TJMJ2XIZLTSKBKK5TBNR2WLJDHNFZXJJDOMFWWLK3UNBZGKYLEL52HS4DFQKSXMYLMOVS2I5DSOVS2I3TBNVS3W5DIOJSWCZC7OBQXE5DJMNUXAYLOORPWCY3UNF3GS5DZVRZXKYTKMVRXIX3UPFYGLK2HNFZXIQ3PNVWWK3TUUZ2G64DJMNZZDAVEOR4XAZNEM5UXG5FFOZQWY5LFVEYTCNBRGU4DQMBQU52HE2LHM5SXFJTDOJSWC5DF> . You are receiving this email because you authored the thread. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub> .

Fan controls worked for me after reboots and I e only followed your guidance. (Adding it to /etc/modules)

I've also found this project: https://github.com/mafredri/asustor-platform-driver/tree/it87

I was hoping that it would get the LEDs to work properly but it didn't.

It's kinda late, but next week I want to check out the adm kernel source to see if there's anything useful in there. Although I'm pretty sure someone would have already published it here.

Got it working on a new 5402T with OMV 6 installed. The script currently doesn't load on start-up, but after manually executing, the fan finally went to a nice silent state. Big thank you for your work.
Maybe you could add a hint to download the Linux-header file, else the make will abort with a "[/lib/modules//build/ not existent]". Yes, this could be solved with 5 minutes of research, but a small note is always appreciated.

@johndavisnz Is there any chance you figured out how to get the LCD Display functional. I have also moved to TrueNAS Scale 22.10.1 but my Asustor is a AS6706T. I have everything else working except the LCD (Which at this point I can only turn on or off). I would love to get some simple data on the display like an IP address and maybe the hostname of the box.

@johndavisnz Is there any chance you figured out how to get the LCD Display functional. I have also moved to TrueNAS Scale 22.10.1 but my Asustor is a AS6706T. I have everything else working except the LCD (Which at this point I can only turn on or off). I would love to get some simple data on the display like an IP address and maybe the hostname of the box.

You can have a look at: https://github.com/mafredri/lcm. Hostname and ip is done. Needs golang installed though.