Announcing a new project..

Hi folks,

I'm working on a new readynas related project.  Let me start by saying I love these things.  I have a bunch of Pro6 and RN516 particularly, but I've worked on lots of different models.  I'm passionate about giving them a life, long after Netgear walked away and turned off the lights.  The hardware has more to give.

I've tried every series alternative OS that I know about.  plain linux, TrueNAS, Unraid, OMV and others.  They each have something that puts me off.  No RAID, No ZFS, noisy fans, no LCD display, having to boot from USB, having to give over one or more precious bays for an OS disk, etc etc. 

With all the constraints around fixed BIOS (some models) and booting from flash, I want something that still operates a bit like an original Readynas.  You turn it on.  It boots from flash, starts an OS, and the fans and LCD aren't obviously missing.  You dont need a keyboard or BIOS access to get the thing going.

So, first, I've been working on creating a 'recipe' or set of instructions for installing plain-jane Debian 13 onto an x64 ReadyNAS box.  I manually put GRUB on flash, and then slice my 6 disks thus:-

Partition 1 - /boot - 2GB.  /dev/md0 RAID1 mirror across 6 disks

Partition 2 - swap - 2GB.  /dev/md1 RAID10 across 6 disks (so swap = 6GB/more with more bays)

Partition 3 - / - 8GB.           /dev/md3 RAID10 across 6 disks (so root = 21GB/more with more bays)

Partition 4 - rest of disk

I then use ZFS to make a storage pool across the 6 disks /dev/sdX4.

If you are interested in reviewing the rough notes for how to build a Debian 13 ReadyNAS, I can share them.  But beware, blanking your flash is a one-way operation, unless you've taken an image - which is a fairly expert thing to do.