[[Category:{{{distro}}}]]

Install {{{distro}}} {{{version}}} ({{{codename}}}) on Buffalo LinkStation Mini

WARNING!

There is a possibility that you could brick your NAS with these instructions. Please make sure that you read the entire page carefully. These instructions require disassembly of your Linkstation Mini which may void your warranty or cause severe damage to the hardware. Proceed at your own risk.

Linkstation Mini

Prerequisites

Buffalo LinkStation Mini (this process worked on model LS-WS1.0TGL/R1, but other models should work as well)
Computer with SATA drive interface and internet capability which can also boot a CD-ROM (most modern computers meet this requirement)
Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition CD-ROM (download and burn from http://releases.ubuntu.com/jaunty/ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso)

Overview

First Phase
- Remove the hard drives from the LinkStation and connect them to the SATA interface of a PC.
- Use a live CD-ROM of Ubuntu to partition and format the hard drives, install Gentoo, and prepare the {{{distro}}} bootstrap files.
Second Phase
- Reassemble the LinkStation, boot it, and login as root to complete the {{{distro}}} bootstrapping process.
Third Phase
- Remove the hard drives from the LinkStation (again) and connect them to the SATA interface of a PC.
- Use a live CD-ROM of Ubuntu to remove Gentoo and install Ubuntu from the completed bootstrapping process.
Fourth Phase
- Reassemble the LinkStation and boot into a fresh {{{distro}}} system.

Note: Do not attempt to execute these commands as a script. Instead, copy and paste each block of commands into a shell window and monitor the resulting output for errors.

First Phase

On Linkstation

Move power switch to "off" position
Disconnect power cable
Disconnect network cable
Remove cover (per instructions at Disassemble_the_LS_MINI)
Use a pen to mark hard drive near ethernet port (this is /dev/sda)
Remove both hard drives

On Computer

Shutdown
Power off
Attach both hard drives to SATA interface
Ensure that marked hard drive (/dev/sda) is connected to the first SATA interface
Ensure that second hard drive (/dev/sdb) is connected to the second SATA interface

Boot Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition CD-ROM
Specify language (English)
Enter live mode ("Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer")
Open a new terminal window (Applications | Accessories | Terminal)

Start a new bash shell with root privileges

sudo bash

The following commands will delete all existing partitions on both hard drives and reconfigure them as follows...

Partition	Mount	Size	Type	Description
1	boot	128MB	fd	linux raid autodetect
2	swap	512MB	82	linux swap
3	root	12GB	fd	linux raid autodetect
4	srv	100%	fd	linux raid autodetect

WARNING!

The following commands will void the warranty on your LinkStation Mini by removing all existing partitions on both hard drives (/dev/sda and /dev/sdb). You will not be able to revert to stock firmware after you run these commands. It is recommended that you backup your existing partitions before executing these commands. Proceed at your own risk.

Remove all existing partitions and repartition both drives

swapoff -a
echo -e "d\n1\nd\n2\nd\n3\nd\n4\nn\np\n1\n\n+128MB\nn\np\n2\n\n+512MB\nn\np\n3\n\n+12GB\nn\np\n\n\nt\n1\nfd\nt\n2\n82\nt\n3\nfd\nt\n4\nfd\nw\n" | fdisk /dev/sda
echo -e "d\n1\nd\n2\nd\n3\nd\n4\nn\np\n1\n\n+128MB\nn\np\n2\n\n+512MB\nn\np\n3\n\n+12GB\nn\np\n\n\nt\n1\nfd\nt\n2\n82\nt\n3\nfd\nt\n4\nfd\nw\n" | fdisk /dev/sdb

Format partitions on /dev/sda (to prevent bootloader from getting confused)

mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda1
mkswap /dev/sda2
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda3
mkfs.ext3 /dev/sda4

Activate swap partitions

mkswap /dev/sdb2
swapon /dev/sda2
swapon /dev/sdb2

Install mdadm package (for administering software raid configuration)

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
apt-get update
apt-get -q -y install mdadm
unset DEBIAN_FRONTEND

Create RAID devices (/dev/md11, /dev/md13, and /dev/md14)

cd /mnt
umount /mnt/md13/boot
umount /mnt/md14
umount /mnt/md13
mdadm --stop /dev/md11
mdadm --stop /dev/md13
mdadm --stop /dev/md14
echo "y" | mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md11 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 missing /dev/sdb1
echo "y" | mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md13 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 missing /dev/sdb3
echo "y" | mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md14 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 missing /dev/sdb4

Format RAID devices

cd /mnt
umount /mnt/md13/boot
umount /mnt/md14
umount /mnt/md13
mkfs.ext3 -F /dev/md11
mkfs.ext3 -F /dev/md13
mkfs.ext3 -F /dev/md14

Mount RAID devices and create required directories

mkdir -p /mnt/md13
mount /dev/md13 /mnt/md13
mkdir -p /mnt/md13/boot
mkdir -p /mnt/md13/srv
mkdir -p /mnt/md14
mount /dev/md11 /mnt/md13/boot
mount /dev/md14 /mnt/md14

Do not change the order of the next 3 blocks. The correct order is Gentoo (GenLink), kernel, initrd.

Install Gentoo root file system (GenLink)

cd /mnt/md13
rm -f /mnt/md13/GenLink-stage3.1_arm9-1.1_rc3-20080923.tar.bz2
wget http://downloads.buffalo.nas-central.org/LSPro_ARM9/Distributions/Genlink/Rootfs/GenLink-stage3.1_arm9-1.1_rc3-20080923.tar.bz2
tar --extract --verbose --same-permissions --bzip2 --file GenLink-stage3.1_arm9-1.1_rc3-20080923.tar.bz2
rm -f /mnt/md13/boot/boot

Install kernel (uImage.buffalo)

cd /mnt/md13
rm -f /mnt/md13/LS-Mini-2.6.27-rc6lsmini-2008-10-09-23-39-29.tbz2
wget http://buffalo.nas-central.org/download/LSMini_ARM9/Distributions/Genlink/Kernel/LS-Mini-2.6.27-rc6lsmini-2008-10-09-23-39-29.tbz2
tar --extract --verbose --same-permissions --bzip2 --file LS-Mini-2.6.27-rc6lsmini-2008-10-09-23-39-29.tbz2

Install initrd (initrd.buffalo)

cd /mnt/md13
rm -f /mnt/md13/initrd-md13-armv5tejl-softfloat-1.0.tbz2
wget http://buffalo-nas-hacking.googlecode.com/files/initrd-md13-armv5tejl-softfloat-1.0.tbz2
tar --extract --verbose --same-permissions --bzip2 --file initrd-md13-armv5tejl-softfloat-1.0.tbz2

Configure Gentoo resolv.conf

cp /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/md13/etc/resolv.conf

Configure Gentoo fstab (file system table - mount points)

rm -f /mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/md11   /boot     ext3   defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro,noauto  0  1" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/md13   /         ext3   defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro         0  3" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/md14   /srv      ext3   defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro         0  4" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/sda2   none      swap   sw,pri=1                                   0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/sdb2   none      swap   sw,pri=2                                   0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "shm         /dev/shm  tmpfs  nodev,nosuid,noexec                        0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "tmpfs       /tmp      tmpfs  size=5m,mode=1777                          0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab

Install debootstrap package (for downloading {{{distro}}} bootstrap files)

cd /
export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
apt-get update
apt-get -q -y install debootstrap
unset DEBIAN_FRONTEND

Download {{{distro}}} {{{release}}} ({{{codename}}}) bootstrap files

cd /mnt/md14
rm -rf /mnt/md14/bootstrap
mkdir -p /mnt/md14/bootstrap
debootstrap  --foreign  --arch armel  --include ssh,ntp  {{{release}}}  /mnt/md14/bootstrap  {{{source}}}

Sync and unmount RAID devices

cd /mnt
sync
umount /mnt/md13/boot
umount /mnt/md13
umount /mnt/md14

Shutdown

shutdown -h now

Power off
Remove hard drives

Second Phase

On Linkstation

Reassemble (without cover)
Connect network cable
Connect power cable
Move power switch to "on" position
Wait for 20 minutes for Gentoo to initialize
Seriously, find something else to do... it takes a really long time
Use ssh to login as root (password = lspro)

Set clock to any recent date (prevents error messages about file dates, format=MMDDhhnnYYYY)

export TZ=America/New_York
date 042304232009

Complete bootstrapping process

chroot /srv/bootstrap /debootstrap/debootstrap --second-stage
sync

Move power switch to "off" position

Shutdown

shutdown -h now

Disconnect power cable
Disconnect network cable
Remove hard drives

Third Phase

On Computer

Shutdown
Power off
Attach both hard drives to SATA interface
Ensure that marked hard drive (/dev/sda) is connected to the first SATA interface
Ensure that second hard drive (/dev/sdb) is connected to the second SATA interface

Boot Ubuntu 9.04 Desktop Edition CD-ROM
Specify language (English)
Enter live mode ("Try Ubuntu without any change to your computer")
Open a new terminal window (Applications | Accessories | Terminal)

Start a new bash shell with root privileges

sudo bash

Install mdadm package (for administering software RAID configuration)

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
apt-get update
apt-get -q -y install mdadm
unset DEBIAN_FRONTEND

Create RAID devices

cd /mnt
umount /mnt/md14
umount /mnt/md13
umount /mnt/md11
mdadm --stop /dev/md11
mdadm --stop /dev/md13
mdadm --stop /dev/md14
echo "y" | mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md11 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 missing /dev/sdb1
echo "y" | mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md13 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 missing /dev/sdb3
echo "y" | mdadm --create --verbose /dev/md14 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 missing /dev/sdb4

Mount RAID devices

mkdir -p /mnt/md11
mkdir -p /mnt/md13
mkdir -p /mnt/md14
mount /dev/md11 /mnt/md11
mount /dev/md13 /mnt/md13
mount /dev/md14 /mnt/md14

Create archive of existing kernel modules

cd /mnt/md13/lib/modules
rm -f /mnt/md14/kernel-modules.tar.bz2
tar --create --verbose --preserve-permissions --bzip2 --file /mnt/md14/kernel-modules.tar.bz2 .

Create archive of bootstrap files

cd /mnt/md14/bootstrap
rm -f /mnt/md14/bootstrap-stage2-lsmini.tar.bz2
tar --create --verbose --preserve-permissions --bzip2 --file /mnt/md14/bootstrap-stage2-lsmini.tar.bz2 .

Remove existing Gentoo installation

cd /mnt/md13
rm -rf /mnt/md13/*

Create root file system from archive of bootstrap files

cd /mnt/md13
tar --extract --verbose --same-permissions --bzip2 --file /mnt/md14/bootstrap-stage2-lsmini*.tar.bz2

Restore kernel modules from archive

cd /mnt/md13/lib/modules
mkdir -p /mnt/md13/lib/modules
tar --extract --verbose --same-permissions --bzip2 --file /mnt/md14/kernel-modules.tar.bz2

Prepare host settings (adjust host name and static ip as needed)

export HOST_NAME=lsmini
export HOST_ADDRESS=192.168.0.77
export HOST_NETMASK=255.255.255.0
export HOST_GATEWAY=192.168.0.1
export HOST_NETWORK=192.168.0.0

Configure interfaces

rm -f /mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo "# Used by ifup(8) and ifdown(8). See the interfaces(5) manpage or" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo "# /usr/share/doc/ifupdown/examples for more information." >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo "#" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo "auto lo eth0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo "iface lo inet loopback" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo "iface eth0 inet static" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo " address ${HOST_ADDRESS}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo " netmask ${HOST_NETMASK}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces
echo " gateway ${HOST_GATEWAY}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/network/interfaces

Configure hostname

rm -f /mnt/md13/etc/hostname
echo "${HOST_NAME}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/hostname

Configure hosts

rm -f /mnt/md13/etc/hosts
echo "127.0.0.1 localhost" >>/mnt/md13/etc/hosts
echo "${HOST_ADDRESS} ${HOST_NAME}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/hosts

Configure hosts.allow

rm -f /mnt/md13/etc/hosts.allow
echo "ALL : ${HOST_NETWORK}/${HOST_NETMASK}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/hosts.allow
echo "ALL : 127.0.0.1" >>/mnt/md13/etc/hosts.allow

Configure fstab (file system table)

rm -f /mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/md11   /boot     ext3   defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro,noauto  0  1" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/md13   /         ext3   defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro         0  3" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/md14   /srv      ext3   defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro         0  4" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/sda2   none      swap   sw,pri=1                                   0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "/dev/sdb2   none      swap   sw,pri=2                                   0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "shm         /dev/shm  tmpfs  nodev,nosuid,noexec                        0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab
echo "tmpfs       /tmp      tmpfs  size=5m,mode=1777                          0  0" >>/mnt/md13/etc/fstab

Configure resolve.conf

cp --archive /etc/resolv.conf /mnt/md13/etc/resolv.conf

Configure sources.list

rm -f /mnt/md13/etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb     {{{source}}} {{{release}}}          main {{{contrib}}}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb-src {{{source}}} {{{release}}}          main {{{contrib}}}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb     {{{source}}} {{{release}}}-security main {{{contrib}}}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb-src {{{source}}} {{{release}}}-security main {{{contrib}}}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb     {{{source}}} {{{release}}}-updates  main {{{contrib}}}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/apt/sources.list
echo "deb-src {{{source}}} {{{release}}}-updates  main {{{contrib}}}" >>/mnt/md13/etc/apt/sources.list

Change root password (new password = lsmini)

export SED_FILE='/mnt/md13/etc/shadow'
export SED_SEARCH='^\s*root\:\*\:'
export SED_REPLACE='root:$6$bmlbpJYn$xAgZr6KxoRLjDcPZNDBcnMF52gZrU7xkib43LhSlAvzVS4OqmiHaxB0GInPtoaPQ2FguHQQuxM95cMfvUnYn31:'
sed --regexp-extended --expression="s/${SED_SEARCH}/${SED_REPLACE}/" --in-place ${SED_FILE}

Create archive of root file system

cd /mnt/md13
rm -f /mnt/md14/rootfs-lsmini.tar.bz2
tar --create --verbose --preserve-permissions --bzip2 --file /mnt/md14/rootfs-lsmini.tar.bz2 .

Remove bootstrap files

cd /mnt/md14
rm -rf /mnt/md14/bootstrap

Sync and unmount RAID devices

cd /mnt
sync
umount /mnt/md11
umount /mnt/md13
umount /mnt/md14

Shutdown

shutdown -h now

Power off
Remove hard drives

Fourth Phase

On LinkStation

Reassemble
Connect network cable
Connect power cable
Move power switch to "on" position
Wait for 15 minutes for initialization to complete (later reboots will be ready much faster)
Login with ssh as root (password = lsmini)

Configure default system locale (adjust LANG variable to suit your needs, format = language_COUNTRY.ENCODING)

export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
locale-gen ${LANG}
update-locale LANG="${LANG}"

Select timezone

dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Ensure that date and time are correct

date

Change root password to something hard to guess

passwd root

Install mdadm package (ignore MAKEDEV not found failed message)

export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
apt-get update
apt-get -q -y install mdadm
unset DEBIAN_FRONTEND

Add /dev/sdb partitions to RAID devices (/dev/sdb is intentional-- the device names get switched somehow)

mdadm --add /dev/md11 /dev/sdb1
mdadm --add /dev/md13 /dev/sdb3
mdadm --add /dev/md14 /dev/sdb4

Wait for RAID device synchronization to complete

while grep -q 'recovery' /proc/mdstat; do
 clear
 cat /proc/mdstat
 sleep 5
done
clear
cat /proc/mdstat

Add user (never login as root, use sudo command instead)

export USER_NAME=visitor
adduser ${USER_NAME}

References

Template:Documentation

Template:DebianOnLinkStationMini

Install {{{distro}}} {{{version}}} ({{{codename}}}) on Buffalo LinkStation Mini

Contents

Prerequisites

Overview

First Phase

On Linkstation

On Computer

Second Phase

On Linkstation

Third Phase

On Computer

Fourth Phase

On LinkStation

See Also

References

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