Installing Debian on the Nimbustor4/2 ( as5304t/as5202t )

lockerstor-debian.md

Whilst Asustor's ADM suits most people, it is possible to install ANY intel operating system on the nimbustor4/2 (as5202t/as5304t) as they run fairly generic intel hardware (asmedia sata controller, rtl8125 2.5gbe nic and ite system management chip)

in this gist I'll detail the steps needed to install and configure Debian11

Before proceeding you need to decide where you're going to install Debian.

Most people will choose to install it to a usb3 attached drive - either a usb3 ssd ( samsung t5 or similar ) or a usb3 hdd. This gives the most straightforward install ( just tell Debian to use the entire usb3 drive to install to ) and maximises available space on the NAS HDDs

The other option is to install Debian direct to the NAS hard drives - that means no extra drive hanging off the nas, and you can raid1 mirror the system partition across all drives for added resiliency ( though this is somewhat limited as the EFI boot partition is only on sda - so in the case of sda failing you'd need to boot off install media and rebuild the EFI partition). Downside is a more complex setup procedure and you'll need to go thru manual partitioning as opposed to guided (you'll also need a working knowledge of how to setup md raid1 in the partitioner)

NOTE - do NOT try and use a basic usb pendrive to install the system to - they have neither the write speed nor the write durability needed

Similarly do NOT try and install to the eMMC built into the unit - it's only 8gb ( which is too small for anything but the most minimal install ), and like pendrives, eMMC lacks write durability and write speed. Most importantly if you over-write the eMMC you will be unable to revert to ADM ( the eMMc has a minimal boot image on it which is used to recover the system - and there is no tool to restore it if wiped )

For this guide I'll detail the external system drive method

step 1 - change BIOS settings https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/3b47df6a255b718b3e910e6331656cf6

step 2 - install Debian https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/0d721c0b97615a5720660024f4a5f158

step 3 - install custom kmod for fan control and setup lm_sensors https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/b5aae0236141666a77aac094701d7839

step 4 - install custom fan control script https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/06a5e1aabaf878add0ad95669b3a0b3d

step 5 - install rtl8125 and i915 firmware, install OMV6 and Plex https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/d4d8cf1304ebade08f924411d2c83327

Amazing guide. If anyone came here looking to see if this works for the AS5402T, it definitely does. I've included my shell script and service info below, hopefully it will help someone. I made these changes to the original script because it seems these 2nd gen Asustors like to run very hot.

With the original script, it didn't seem to be setting the fans to a fast enough rpm or max rpm even under heavy load and with high temps. Not sure if that is due to my misunderstanding or a quirk with the 2nd gen Nimbustor. Possibly both.

This script will set the fans to around 80 percent of max speed when sys temp is greater than 65 degrees c and set to max fan rpm when sys temp is greater than 70 degrees. Otherwise it will fall back to the guides original logic.

I also created a systemd service with the following config so that the script will run automatically on reboot and generate journal info.

[Unit]
Description=Custom Fan Control Script
After=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/fancontrol.sh
Restart=always
User=root
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

With the service running I can now monitor what its doing with

sudo journalctl -u fancontrol.service -f

Here is the 'heavily plagiarised' version of the shell script, tweaked for the AS5402T. Can't promise it is bug free, use at own risk.

# Adjusted for IT87-based fan control

debug=0  # Debug level (0 = off, 1 = minimal, 2 = verbose, 3 = very verbose)

# How often we check temps / set speed (in seconds)
frequency=2

# HDD and system temperature thresholds
hdd_threshold=35
sys_threshold=45

# Minimum PWM value (higher means lower fan speed)
min_pwm=190  # Since PWM is inverted, this is actually the lowest speed
max_pwm=0    # This is the true max speed

# Get the correct hwmon path for IT87 fan control
hwmon_it87="/sys/class/hwmon/"`ls -lQ /sys/class/hwmon | grep -i it87 | cut -d "\"" -f 2`
hwmon_coretemp="/sys/class/hwmon/"`ls -lQ /sys/class/hwmon | grep -i coretemp | cut -d "\"" -f 2`
hwmon_acpi="/sys/class/hwmon/"`ls -lQ /sys/class/hwmon | grep -i thermal_zone0 | cut -d "\"" -f 2`

# Set the fan speed
function set_fan_speed() {
    echo $desired_pwm > $hwmon_it87/pwm1
    get_fan_speed
    if [[ $debug -ge 1 ]]; then
        echo "Fan RPM = $fan_rpm, SET_FAN_SPEED: Setting PWM to $desired_pwm"
    fi
}

# Get current fan RPM
function get_fan_speed() {
    fan_rpm=$(cat $hwmon_it87/fan1_input)
}

# Get highest HDD temperature
function get_hdd_temp() {
    hdd_temp=$(hddtemp -n /dev/sd[a,b,c,d,e,f,g] | sort -rn | head -1)
}

# Get highest system temperature
function get_sys_temp() {
    local acpi_temp=$(($(cat $hwmon_acpi/temp1_input) / 1000))
    local cpu_temp=$(($(cat $hwmon_coretemp/temp?_input | sort -nr | head -1) / 1000))
    sys_temp=$(( acpi_temp > cpu_temp ? acpi_temp : cpu_temp ))
}

# Map HDD temperature to PWM value
function map_hdd_temp() {
    if [[ $hdd_temp -le $hdd_threshold ]]; then
        hdd_desired_pwm=$min_pwm
    else
        let hdd_desired_pwm=$hdd_temp-$hdd_threshold
        let hdd_desired_pwm=$hdd_desired_pwm*$hdd_desired_pwm
        let hdd_desired_pwm=$min_pwm-$hdd_desired_pwm
        if [[ $hdd_desired_pwm -lt $max_pwm ]]; then hdd_desired_pwm=$max_pwm; fi
    fi
}

# Map system temperature to PWM value
function map_sys_temp() {
    if [[ $sys_temp -le $sys_threshold ]]; then
        sys_desired_pwm=$min_pwm
    else
        let sys_desired_pwm=$sys_temp-$sys_threshold
        let sys_desired_pwm=$sys_desired_pwm/2
        let sys_desired_pwm=$sys_desired_pwm*$sys_desired_pwm
        let sys_desired_pwm=$min_pwm-$sys_desired_pwm
        if [[ $sys_desired_pwm -lt $max_pwm ]]; then sys_desired_pwm=$max_pwm; fi
    fi
}

# Determine desired PWM value
function get_desired_pwm() {
    map_sys_temp
    map_hdd_temp

    # Emergency override: If system temp exceeds 70°C, force max speed
    if [[ $sys_temp -gt 69 ]]; then
	desired_pwm=0
        echo "BIGGER WARNING: System temp ($sys_temp°C) exceeded 70°C! Setting fans to a MAX RPM."
    elif [[ $sys_temp -gt 64 ]]; then
        desired_pwm=50
	echo "WARNING: System temp ($sys_temp°C) exceeded 65°C! Setting fans to ludicrous RPM."
    elif [[ $sys_temp -le 64 ]]; then
    	if [[ $hdd_desired_pwm -gt $sys_desired_pwm ]]; then
        	desired_pwm=$sys_desired_pwm
		echo "Business as usual. System temp ($sys_temp°C)."
    	else
        	desired_pwm=$hdd_desired_pwm
		echo "Business as usual. System temp ($sys_temp°C)."
   	 fi
    fi
    if [[ $debug -ge 2 ]]; then
        echo "GET_DESIRED_PWM: Final chosen PWM = $desired_pwm"
    fi
}

# Initialize
get_sys_temp
get_hdd_temp
get_fan_speed
get_desired_pwm
set_fan_speed

# Monitoring loop
while true; do
    get_fan_speed
    get_sys_temp
    get_hdd_temp
    get_desired_pwm
    set_fan_speed
    sleep $frequency
done