Qnap TS-431+, Synology DS416 (AL-212)

[Daniel Pocock]

I came across the Qnap wiki[1], it doesn't mention the Qnap TS-431 and
TS-431+

Does anybody know about these, for better or worse?

The specs[2] say the TS-431+ chipset is an Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-212
dual-core 1.4GHz processor.
It has 1GB RAM, 512MB flash, 4 hot-swap bays, 2 Gigabit ethernet ports
and 3x USB3

I did a search for other boxes using the same chipset and came across
the Synology DiskStation DS215+ (2 bay) and DS416 (4-bay) with similar
specs to the Qnap. I also came across a price comparison site that lets
people search by chipset[3]

Can these be operated with 100% free software, no binary firmware blobs?

Is the hardware encryption supported by Debian? Web sites mention it
can do AES-256 in hardware.




1. https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/QNAP
2. https://www.qnap.com/i/en/product/model.php?II=171&event=2
3.
https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=hdxnas&v=e&hloc=uk&sort=t&xf=3042_Annapurna+Labs+AL-212~3042_Annapurna+Labs+AL-314~3042_Annapurna+Labs+AL-514#xf_top

[JM]

Post by Daniel Pocock
I came across the Qnap wiki[1], it doesn't mention the Qnap TS-431 and
TS-431+
Does anybody know about these, for better or worse?
The specs[2] say the TS-431+ chipset is an Annapurna Labs Alpine AL-212
dual-core 1.4GHz processor.
It has 1GB RAM, 512MB flash, 4 hot-swap bays, 2 Gigabit ethernet ports
and 3x USB3
I did a search for other boxes using the same chipset and came across
the Synology DiskStation DS215+ (2 bay) and DS416 (4-bay) with similar
specs to the Qnap. I also came across a price comparison site that lets
people search by chipset[3]
Can these be operated with 100% free software, no binary firmware blobs?
Is the hardware encryption supported by Debian? Web sites mention it
can do AES-256 in hardware.
1. https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn/QNAP
2. https://www.qnap.com/i/en/product/model.php?II=171&event=2
3.
https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=hdxnas&v=e&hloc=uk&sort=t&xf=3042_Annapurna+Labs+AL-212~3042_Annapurna+Labs+AL-314~3042_Annapurna+Labs+AL-514#xf_top

As far as I know, Annapurna-based QNAPs are not officially supported
by Debian. Support for this SoC was submitted upstream only in 4.1 so
it's relatively new. There is a dtb available for the SoC [1], but not
for the entire NAS. I don't know what kind of sata controllers,
ethernet devices and flash does it use, or if the drivers are
available upstream. You could perhaps borrow the dtb used by QNAP,
decompile it and try to build your own kernel, but it would likely
require quite a bit of work.

There is some info about another Annapurna-based NAS here:
http://natisbad.org/NAS8/index.html

The hardware crypto accelerator hasn't been mainlined. I'm not aware
of any closed firmware for this SoC.

Best regards,
Jan

1. http://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/arch/arm/boot/dts/alpine.dtsi

[Martin Michlmayr]

Post by Daniel Pocock
I came across the Qnap wiki[1], it doesn't mention the Qnap TS-431 and
TS-431+
Does anybody know about these, for better or worse?

The CPU used in the TS-431 is not supported in the mainline kernel (or
wasn't like time I checked).

The TS-431+, as you say, uses an Annapurna Labs Alpine chip. They
contributed initial kernel support but then disappeared (maybe because
they were acquired by Amazon, maybe not). Free Electronics submitted
some patches recently, so there might be hope.

I wouldn't recommend any of these two devices right now if you want to
run Debian.

[Daniel Pocock]

Post by Martin Michlmayr

Post by Daniel Pocock
I came across the Qnap wiki[1], it doesn't mention the Qnap TS-431 and
TS-431+
Does anybody know about these, for better or worse?

The CPU used in the TS-431 is not supported in the mainline kernel (or
wasn't like time I checked).
The TS-431+, as you say, uses an Annapurna Labs Alpine chip. They
contributed initial kernel support but then disappeared (maybe because
they were acquired by Amazon, maybe not). Free Electronics submitted
some patches recently, so there might be hope.
I wouldn't recommend any of these two devices right now if you want to
run Debian.

Would you know if there has been any development in relation to the
Annapurna Labs chips?

Some of the newer devices, such as TS-531X[1], look interesting, but
they have similar chips.

Regards,

Daniel


1. https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/model.php?II=260&ref=product_overview

[Daniel Pocock]

Post by Daniel Pocock
Would you know if there has been any development in relation to the
Annapurna Labs chips?

Antoine Tenart from Free Electrons submitted some Alpine related
patches earlier this year, so there is some hope. OTOH, there doesn't
appear to be a lot of Alpine related activity so I wouldn't hold my
breath. I haven't spoken to him about what their plans are.

Thanks for the feedback about that.

I started a thread on debian-user today about choosing[1] such boxes,
although it is not specific to ARM devices. If anybody can contribute
any feedback there it would be great.

Regards,

Daniel

1. https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2016/11/msg01130.html

[Martin Michlmayr]

Post by Daniel Pocock
Would you know if there has been any development in relation to the
Annapurna Labs chips?

Antoine Tenart from Free Electrons submitted some Alpine related
patches earlier this year, so there is some hope. OTOH, there doesn't
appear to be a lot of Alpine related activity so I wouldn't hold my
breath. I haven't spoken to him about what their plans are.

[Daniel Pocock]

Post by Daniel Pocock
Would you know if there has been any development in relation to the
Annapurna Labs chips?

Antoine Tenart from Free Electrons submitted some Alpine related
patches earlier this year, so there is some hope. OTOH, there doesn't
appear to be a lot of Alpine related activity so I wouldn't hold my
breath. I haven't spoken to him about what their plans are.

I came across a page[1] listing all the architectures used in various
Synology devices, including the Annapurna Labs Alpine variants. They
have a link to a blog[2] which goes into detail about installing custom
binaries on the device. The blog also has a link to a forum thread[3]
on the topic.

Does this provide enough detail for somebody to get into one of these
devices and extract the information needed to prepare the necessary
kernel patches?

Is there any possibility of extracting the vendor's kernel from a
Synology or QNAP device and putting it into a Debian root filesystem and
using that to boot one of these devices?

Regards,

Daniel



1.
http://www.synology-wiki.de/index.php/Welchen_Prozessortyp_besitzt_mein_System%3F
2.
https://thingshardtofind.blogspot.com/2015/06/optware-ipkg-and-bootstrap-for-synology.html
3.
https://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=69860&start=60#p305182
4. https://lists.debian.org/debian-arm/2016/04/msg00044.html