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The DS216SE will eventually reach its end of support. [EDIT: it is not as soon as triggered this question originally,* but that only postpones the issue. Also I'd prefer a less restricted access.]

Are there options to install an alternative OS? Preferably a Linux flavour, or a BSD variant. It should not run as a virtual machine within Synology's DiskStation Manager.

The DS216SE is built around the ARMv7 (32-bit, 800MHz) in a Marvell Armada 370 88F6707 SoC with 256MB RAM.

The desired functionality is file server, maybe media server.

Is that possible? Not a dumb idea for some reason?

How to proceed to install the OS? E.g., how to make the DS216SE boot into a installer USB? Windows or Linux machine available if needed.

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*For the upcoming DSM 7, the cutoff between unsupported/supported is between ds213 and ds214se. Similar support duration for ds216se places support end at 2023.

calisprontix
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1 Answers1

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A prolonged web search found only attempts that stalled when it came to reverse engineering or circumventing the SATA DOM of DiskStations, but haven't succeeded.

The DS216SE has a MX 25L6406E serial storage that is likely to be the boot rom. Reading from and writing to it is not too difficult, but reverse engineering its content is beyond the scope of the project, so:

Not doable without deeper knowledge (for the time being).

calisprontix
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