Re: Debian on Synology DS-209
* Edward Adame <eadame@rackspace.com> [2012-09-07 20:51]:
> Second, any words of advice before I put the hardware at risk? If
> I brick it, so be it… but like I said, I'd like this to be a
> success because I'm sure there are many others that would like to
> do the same…
You definitely have to make a serial console for your device, so you
can load test images via TFTP and actually see what's going on.
In terms of Debian support, here are some things that need to be done.
There are two parts: kernel and installer.
Kernel: the device has to be supported upstream in the kernel.org
kernel. This is not the case with the Synology afaik. So you have to
add this first. Take a look at arch/arm/mach-kirkwood to see what
other board files look like, then look at the Synology kernel sources
to see what values you'll need. Once support is accepted upstream,
you can ask for it to be included in Debian's kernel.
Installer: the installer is very modular so there are different
components you have to modify:
- libdebian-installer: add the device name to src/system/subarch-armel-linux.c
- flash-kernel: this will write the kernel/ramdisk to flash.
- oldsys-preseed: this will read the existing network configuration
from the device and use it in debian-installer (since we have to
bring up SSH for the installation). You could also just tell the
installer to use DHCP.
- network-console: if the device has LEDs or a beeper, modify
debian/network-console.postinst to indicate when SSH is ready.
- debian-installer: add an installer image for this device:
build/config/armel/kirkwood/network-console.cfg
- manual: add documentation, see en/hardware/supported/arm.xml and
en/install-methods/download/arm.xml
Matt Palmer has written a great guide on how to get started:
http://hezmatt.org/~mpalmer/blog/2008/10/23/porting-d-i-to-the-dns-323.html
You can also look at the patches Ian Campbell recently submitted to
add DreamPlug support and those from Simon Guinot for support for
some LaCie NAS devices.
This mailing list can also help if you have questions.
--
Martin Michlmayr
http://www.cyrius.com/
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