🔴 Fixing a Synology DS218j NAS - Blinking Blue Light - No.1264

[@IanScottJohnston]

Nice repair, what luck to have an identical unit. Good to see the Dataman in operation too!

[@TheDefpom]

@@IanScottJohnston yeah if I didn’t have another unit it probably would have been the end of it.

[@IanScottJohnston]

@@TheDefpomI wonder if fitting a completely empty new blank flash IC the firmware writes a base level image and then a hidden GUI screen allows setting of MAC and S/N

[@TheDefpom]

@@IanScottJohnston I wish I had thought to try that, would certainly make sense from a manufacturer perspective, maybe next time. I have a larger synology NAS which is older than these, maybe if that dies one day I will try it.

[@GregM]

@@TheDefpom Perhaps it would be wise to read the BIOS chip of the larger Synology and store it as a backup in case that one packs it in?

[@TheDefpom]

@@GregM that has certainly crossed my mind !

[@SkySky-zr3bt]

Great video! 👍 Thanks for sharing. I did'nt quit get how you fix the mac add. from the org. bios chip to new bios chip. Cheers

[@TheDefpom]

@@SkySky-zr3bt I edited the flash file to add the correct MAC ID and serial number to it, along with the checksum’s, thankfully that part of the original flash was intact.

[@SkySky-zr3bt]

@@TheDefpom Thank you for reply. You have new subscriber.

[@Chriva]

Good old u-boot. Seeing that almost always means there's also a kernel floating around online. :) Went and ported Debian to my old Marvell box. Bet you can find a lot of fun stuff for that thing too

[@Chriva]

u-boot tend to use a partition/block for parameter storage so you can just clone the whole thing or at least read it in clear text in a hex editor and input it on the console (you can display the current stuff with printenv, set env variable with setenv and store everything with saveenv) Really user friendly if you know the trick :)

[@JonnyFix]

It's things like not being able to download firmwares that makes me think every time I get something in to repair I should be stealing a copy.

[@QsTechService1]

awesome repair usually those things fail with the clock signal .. you should put the firmware on archives

[@cmizapper]

It would be interesting to re-read the ROM after booting once to see it booting changes anything on the ROM. If so the ROM will be written often potentially killing it. Our Medusa-3 can read and write ROMs in circuit. You clip on the ROM with a Pomona clip, and it even allows you to clip on the wrong way round.

[@anthonynowlan9765]

How does a flash chip die? I hate how there is no external console/serial to show boot etc

[@TheDefpom]

@@anthonynowlan9765 at least there was an internal serial to tap into to confirm my suspicion

[@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse]

The chip doesn't always necessarily die, but it can become unreliable if the signaling is already marginal in the design. Certain voltage levels are required to write properly and if these are too high or too low, the data can become corrupted by disturbing nearby bits of data or not overwriting fully. Since Defpom mentioned these units are known for these issues, the chances do exist there is such a design flaw. If the chip does die, it can be an unresponsive cell of bits.

[@cmizapper]

The chip makes its own voltages internally for erasing and writing. If the programmer won’t program a block after erasing it the chip is certainly dead.

[@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse]

@@cmizapper I don't know who you're replying to, due to the lack of a tag or reply comment. In case you're replying to me, I can certainly assert I was referring to the initial corruption that happened in the NAS. I back my comment up with the MXIC spec: Signaling between 0.2 V and 0.7 V with a transition crossing at 0.5 V. Slew rate should be under 5 nanoseconds.🙂

[@ABalazs31]

For some reason the audio is just on the left side

[@TheDefpom]

It does have a left bias as I sit/stand on the left side of the camera, I could mono the audio but I prefer the stereo effect and room sound to give it more life.

[@ABalazs31]

@@TheDefpom For listening with the headphones - especially in a noisy environment - mono audio (ie. sound in both ears :)) - would work much better for me. Just my 2c

[@GrandsonofKong]

Nice bit of "brain surgery" there my friend!