Upgrade Debian 5.0 (Lenny) To Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) On Buffalo Linkstation Mini

From NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstation Wiki

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 may void your warranty. Proceed at your own risk.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Requirements 3 Instructions 4 See Also 5 References

Overview

The following process upgrades an existing installation of Debian 5.0 on a Buffalo Linkstation Mini (model LS-WSxxxxGL/R1) to Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) with the Debian Linux kernel (version 2.6.32-31). No disassembly required. Here is how the process works:

1. Update package sources
2. Upgrade distribution
3. Install new kernel
4. Restart device

Requirements

1. Buffalo LinkStation Mini models LS-WSxxxxGL/R1 running Debian 5.0 (LS-WSXxxxxTL/R1 models will not work)
   • This process was tested with model LS-WS1.0TGL/R1, but other models may work as well

Instructions

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

1. Assign IP Address of device to environment variable

    IP_ADDRESS=192.168.1.77
   
   

2. Use SSH to login as root

    ssh root@${IP_ADDRESS}
   
   

3. Change package source to Debian 6 repository (replace lenny with squeeze in /etc/apt/sources.list)

    SED_FILE='/etc/apt/sources.list'
    SED_SEARCH='(\s)(lenny)(\s|/)'
    SED_REPLACE='\1squeeze\3'
    sed -r "s~${SED_SEARCH}~${SED_REPLACE}~" -i "${SED_FILE}"
   
   

4. Update package lists (from Debian 6.0 repository)

    apt-get update
   
   

5. Install screen package (to recover from possible disconnect during upgrade)

    apt-get -q -y install screen
   
   

6. Start screen application (if you are disconnected during upgrade, then login again and run "screen -Dr" to resume your session)

    echo -e "\n" | screen
   
   

7. Install packages to support upgrade process

    apt-get -q -y install apt aptitude dpkg
   
   

8. Upgrade to Debian 6 (when prompted with questions, choose default answers)

    apt-get -q -y dist-upgrade
   
   

9. Workaround bug in Debian 6 (/etc/network/run links to /dev/shm/network, but directory is missing, which prevents network interfaces from starting)

    mv /etc/network/run run.original
    mkdir /etc/network/run
    touch /etc/network/run/ifstate
   
   

10. Install custom kernel (Debian 6.0 kernel 2.6.32-31)

     cd /
     wget http://downloads.buffalo.nas-central.org/Users/rpinchbeck/lsmini/debian/6.0/kernel-2.6.32-31-debian-lsmini.tar.gz
     tar --extract --verbose --same-permissions --gzip --file kernel-2.6.32-31-debian-lsmini.tar.gz
    
    

11. Wait for RAID synchronization to complete

     while egrep -iq '(recovery)|(resync)' /proc/mdstat; do
         clear
         cat /proc/mdstat
         sleep 5
     done
     clear
     cat /proc/mdstat
     sync
    
    

12. Restart device

     sync; reboot; logout
    
    

Congratulations! Your Buffalo Linkstation Mini should now be running Debian 6.0!

See Also

• Install Debian 6.0 (Squeeze) On Linkstation Mini
• Revert Buffalo Linkstation Mini To Stock Firmware
• Install Debian 5.0 (Lenny) On Linkstation Mini
• Install Ubuntu 9.04 On Linkstation Mini
• Install Gentoo On Linkstation Mini
• GenLink for ARM9

References

• Debian website
• Installing new Debian systems using debootstrap
• Custom initrd which boots from /dev/md13