This project provides everything needed to run a fully updateable Debian GNU/Linux system on a Seagate Blackarmor NAS. All components are supported by open source code: bootloader, kernel, SATA hard disks, automatic fan control, status LEDs and LC display (depending on the model).
It started years ago with reverse engineering the Blackarmor NAS 220: first a way to enable SSH on the stock firmware, then an alternative firmware based on Debian 5 Lenny sideloaded through the same mechanism — both long superseded and not for production use. What grew out of it is a proper Debian installation with its own U-Boot and device tree, and finally a kernel patch that fixes the SATA controller of the NAS440.
Please do me a favor: 👍 If you use any information or code you find here, please link back to this page. ⭐ Also, please consider to star this project. I really like to keep track of who is using this to do creative things, especially if you are from other parts of the world. 😃 You are welcome to open an issue to report on your personal success project and share it with others.
All Blackarmor NAS devices are based on the Marvell 88F6000 SoC series with Sheeva CPU Technology, which has been released in 2008.
Quick specs: 800 Mhz CPU (Marvell 88F6192), 128MB RAM, 1 USB port, 1 network interface, max 1 drive. Motherboard codename 'Mono'.
Quick specs: 800 Mhz CPU (Marvell 88F6192), 128MB RAM, 2 USB ports, 1 network interface, max 2 drives. Motherboard codename 'Lassen', based on Marvell DB-88F6192A-BP development board.
Quick specs: 1.2 Ghz CPU (Marvell 88F6281), 256MB RAM, 4 USB ports, 2 network interfaces, max 4 drives. Motherboard codename 'Shasta', based on Marvell DB-88F6281A-BP development board.
All the NAS 4XX series products have the same motherboard and 4-bay enclosure. The second digit in this number scheme refers to the number of drives that ship with the device: no drives (NAS 400), 2 drives RAID 1 (NAS 420) and 4 drives RAID 5 (NAS 440).
This completely removes the Seagate firmware and bootloader -- and there is no easy way of going back. There is a risk of bricking your device (but there is usually a viable way to revive it). You have been warned.
It is possible to install Debian 11 on a NAS110 or NAS220, but during the installation
process a low memory warning is displayed. It seems safe to ignore this warning.
During the installation process you have to manually load the installer
components sata-modules-*-marvell-di, partman-ext3, partman-auto and
parted-udeb into the installer via the menu item Download installer components.
When installing Debian 9 or 10 (default for NAS110 and NAS220), this warning does not occur.
If you want to run a RAID across all four drives, you can create it as a degraded array on slots 3 and 4 during installation and add the disks from slots 1 and 2 afterwards, once the driver is in place.
In principle, it would be possible to patch the kernel before the initial installation and thus make hard drive slots 1 and 2 directly usable during installation, but this would go beyond the scope of this project.
Setup a serial terminal (115200 baud 8N1 e.g. by using sudo screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200) by connecting a 3.3V serial cable like this:
This script generally supports installing Debian 9 (Stretch), Debian 10 (Buster, default for NAS110 and NAS220), Debian 11 (Bullseye) and Debian 12 (Bookworm, default for NAS440).
Changing the default and installing Debian 12 (Bookworm) on the NAS110 and NAS220 is somewhat riskier, due to the limited RAM of only 128MB, check this note first.
Use your favourite Linux workstation to execute blackarmor-nas-debian-prep.sh to download and prepare Das U-Boot bootloader and kernel image:
$ ./blackarmor-nas-debian-prep.sh
Usage: ./blackarmor-nas-debian-prep.sh [--rebuild] <nas110|nas220|nas440>
$ ./blackarmor-nas-debian-prep.sh nas220
NAS model set to: nas220
Using Debian dist 'buster' with kernel 4.9.0-8 for installation.
mkdir: created directory 'blackarmor-nas220-debian'
URL:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hn/seagate-blackarmor-nas/master/u-boot-nas220.kwb [553356/553356] -> "u-boot-nas220.kwb" [1]
URL:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hn/seagate-blackarmor-nas/master/u-boot-env.bin [65536/65536] -> "u-boot-env.bin" [1]
URL:https://cdn-fastly.deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stretch/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/initrd.gz [11703715/11703715] -> "initrd.gz" [1]
URL:https://cdn-fastly.deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stretch/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/netboot/vmlinuz-4.9.0-8-marvell [2056160/2056160] -> "vmlinuz-4.9.0-8-marvell" [1]
URL:https://cdn-fastly.deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stretch/main/installer-armel/current/images/kirkwood/device-tree/kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb [10756/10756] -> "kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb" [1]
Image Name: Linux-4.9.0-8 + nas220.dtb
Image Type: ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
Data Size: 2066916 Bytes = 2018.47 kB = 1.97 MB
Load Address: 00040000
Entry Point: 00040000
Image Name: Debian stretch netboot initrd
Image Type: ARM Linux RAMDisk Image (uncompressed)
Data Size: 11703715 Bytes = 11429.41 kB = 11.16 MB
Load Address: 00000000
Entry Point: 00000000
u-boot-nas220.kwb file size (512-byte aligned): 0x87200
u-boot-env.bin file size (512-byte aligned): 0x10000
Execute the following commands on the Blackarmor NAS:
usb start
fatload usb 0:1 0x800000 u-boot-nas220.kwb
nand erase 0x0 0x87200
nand write 0x800000 0x0 0x87200
fatload usb 0:1 0x800000 u-boot-env.bin
nand erase 0xA0000 0x10000
nand write 0x800000 0xA0000 0x10000
Copy the files u-boot-nas220.kwb, u-boot-env.bin, uImage-dtb and uInitrd from directory blackarmor-nas220-debian to a FAT formatted USB stick. Carefully examine the flash commands shown at the end of the script output.
This step is only necessary for the very first installation. If you're updating or re-installing Debian, directly skip to Starting Debian installation.
Use the serial terminal to stop the Seagate boot process and to show the ethernet MAC address:
__ __ _ _
| \/ | __ _ _ ____ _____| | |
| |\/| |/ _` | '__\ \ / / _ \ | |
| | | | (_| | | \ V / __/ | |
|_| |_|\__,_|_| \_/ \___|_|_|
_ _ ____ _
| | | | | __ ) ___ ___ | |_
| | | |___| _ \ / _ \ / _ \| __|
| |_| |___| |_) | (_) | (_) | |_
\___/ |____/ \___/ \___/ \__| ** uboot_ver:v0.1.7 **
** MARVELL BOARD: LASSEN LE
U-Boot 1.1.4 (Aug 17 2009 - 10:16:51) Marvell version: 3.4.14
U-Boot code: 00600000 -> 0067FFF0 BSS: -> 006CDE60
Soc: 88F6192 A0 (DDR2)
CPU running @ 800Mhz L2 running @ 400Mhz
SysClock = 200Mhz , TClock = 166Mhz
DRAM CAS Latency = 3 tRP = 3 tRAS = 8 tRCD=3
DRAM CS[0] base 0x00000000 size 128MB
DRAM Total size 128MB 16bit width
Found ADT7473, program PWM1 ... OK
Addresses 8M - 0M are saved for the U-Boot usage.
Mem malloc Initialization (8M - 7M): Done
NAND:32 MB
Marvell Serial ATA Adapter
Integrated Sata device found
CPU : Marvell Feroceon (Rev 1)
Scanning partition header:
Found sign PrEr at c0000
Found sign KrNl at 2c0000
Found sign RoOt at 540000
Streaming disabled
Write allocate disabled
USB 0: host mode
PEX 0: interface detected no Link.
Net: egiga0 [PRIME]
Hit any key to stop autoboot: 0
Marvell>>
Marvell>> printenv ethaddr
ethaddr=00:10:75:42:42:42
Marvell>> printenv eth1addr # NAS440 only
eth1addr=00:10:75:42:ca:fe
Write down the MAC adress, you'll need it later. Connect the USB stick to port 1 of the NAS and flash the new bootloader (enter usb start ... nand write commands exactly as shown during preparation phase):
Marvell>> usb start
(Re)start USB...
USB: scanning bus for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
scanning bus for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
Marvell>>
Marvell>> fatload usb 0:1 0x800000 u-boot-nas220.kwb
reading u-boot-nas220.kwb
.............................................................
553356 bytes read
Marvell>> nand erase 0x0 0x87200
NAND erase: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x87200
Erasing at 0x84000 -- 100% complete.
OK
Marvell>> nand write 0x800000 0x0 0x87200
NAND write: device 0 offset 0x0, size 0x87200
553472 bytes written: OK
Marvell>>
Marvell>> fatload usb 0:1 0x800000 u-boot-env.bin
reading u-boot-env.bin
.............
65532 bytes read
Marvell>> nand erase 0xA0000 0x10000
NAND erase: device 0 offset 0xA0000, size 0x10000
Erasing at 0x84000 -- 100% complete.
OK
Marvell>> nand write 0x800000 0xA0000 0x10000
NAND write: device 0 offset 0xA0000, size 0x10000
65532 bytes written: OK
Marvell>>
Marvell>> reset
Make sure to restart the NAS via reset command after flashing the bootloader!
If the NAS resets with a cpu reset message instead of loading the file, the stock Seagate
bootloader chokes on reading from the USB stick. There are two ways around it: format the
stick as ext2 and use ext2load usb 0:1 ... in place of fatload, or leave the stock
bootloader out of the picture entirely and run the new U-Boot over the serial line with
kwboot, as described under Revive a bricked device.
After resetting the NAS, connect a network cable to the NAS and execute run bootcmd_usb to start the Debian netboot installation:
U-Boot 2017.11 (Dec 18 2018 - 09:52:13 +0100)
NAS 220
SoC: Kirkwood 88F6281_A0
DRAM: 128 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND: 32 MiB
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial
Net: egiga0
88E1116 Initialized on egiga0
IDE: Bus 0: not available Bus 1: not available
nas220>
nas220> run bootcmd_usb
starting USB...
USB0: USB EHCI 1.00
scanning bus 0 for devices... 3 USB Device(s) found
scanning usb for storage devices... 1 Storage Device(s) found
reading uImage-dtb
2066980 bytes read in 148 ms (13.3 MiB/s)
reading uInitrd
11703779 bytes read in 672 ms (16.6 MiB/s)
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 00040000 ...
Image Name: Linux-4.9.0-8+nas220-dtb
Created: 2018-12-18 19:16:01 UTC
Image Type: ARM Linux Kernel Image (uncompressed)
Data Size: 2066916 Bytes = 2 MiB
Load Address: 00040000
Entry Point: 00040000
Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Loading init Ramdisk from Legacy Image at 00800000 ...
Image Name: netboot-initrd
Created: 2018-12-19 9:26:51 UTC
Image Type: ARM Linux RAMDisk Image (uncompressed)
Data Size: 11703715 Bytes = 11.2 MiB
Load Address: 00000000
Entry Point: 00000000
Verifying Checksum ... OK
Loading Kernel Image ... OK
Loading Ramdisk to 07009000, end 07b325a3 ... OK
Starting kernel ...
Uncompressing Linux... done, booting the kernel.
[ 0.000000] Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
[ 0.000000] Linux version 4.9.0-8-marvell (debian-kernel@lists.debian.org) (gcc version 6.3.0 20170516 (Debian 6.3.0-18+deb9u1) ) #1 Debian 4.9.1
[ 0.000000] CPU: Feroceon 88FR131 [56251311] revision 1 (ARMv5TE), cr=0005397f
[ 0.000000] CPU: VIVT data cache, VIVT instruction cache
[ 0.000000] OF: fdt:Machine model: Seagate Blackarmor NAS220
...
Proceed with Debian installation as usual (configure RAID, select packages, ...). Ignore the No installable kernel was found and No boot loader installed warnings (Continue without installing a kernel?=Yes and Continue), but do not reboot yet!
Before rebooting the installation system (the Installation complete screen appears) select the Go Back button. Select Execute a shell (second last option in main menu) and chroot to the target system:
# mount -o bind /proc /target/proc
# mount -o bind /sys /target/sys
# chroot /target
# cd /tmp
Download and execute blackarmor-nas-debian-postinstall.sh like this:
# wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hn/seagate-blackarmor-nas/master/blackarmor-nas-debian-postinstall.sh
# chmod +x blackarmor-nas-debian-postinstall.sh
# ./blackarmor-nas-debian-postinstall.sh
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
busybox device-tree-compiler devio initramfs-tools initramfs-tools-core
klibc-utils libklibc liblzo2-2 linux-base mtd-utils
Suggested packages:
sharutils-doc bsd-mailx | mailx
The following NEW packages will be installed:
busybox device-tree-compiler devio flash-kernel initramfs-tools
initramfs-tools-core klibc-utils libklibc liblzo2-2 linux-base mtd-utils
sharutils u-boot-tools
0 upgraded, 13 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1737 kB of archives.
After this operation, 5340 kB of additional disk space will be used.
...
The following additional packages will be installed:
firmware-linux-free linux-image-4.9.0-8-marvell
Suggested packages:
linux-doc-4.9 debian-kernel-handbook
The following NEW packages will be installed:
firmware-linux-free linux-image-4.9.0-8-marvell linux-image-marvell
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 22.0 MB of archives.
After this operation, 91.3 MB of additional disk space will be used.
...
Preparing to unpack .../firmware-linux-free_3.4_all.deb ...
Unpacking firmware-linux-free (3.4) ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-image-4.9.0-8-marvell.
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-4.9.0-8-marvell_4.9.130-2_armel.deb ...
Unpacking linux-image-4.9.0-8-marvell (4.9.130-2) ...
...
Using DTB: kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb
Installing /usr/lib/linux-image-4.9.0-8-marvell/kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb into /boot/dtbs/4.9.0-8-marvell/kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb
Taking backup of kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb.
Installing new kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb.
flash-kernel: installing version 4.9.0-8-marvell
flash-kernel: appending /usr/lib/linux-image-4.9.0-8-marvell/kirkwood-blackarmor-nas220.dtb to kernel
Generating kernel u-boot image... done.
Erasing 16 Kibl (using 2066980/5242880 bytes)...
...
Writing data to block 124 at offset 0x1f0000
Writing data to block 125 at offset 0x1f4000
Writing data to block 126 at offset 0x1f8000
done.
The Writing data to block ... output above is the
flash-kernel package writing kernel and
initrd into the NAND flash partitions. The script registers this machine with it, so every
future kernel update from Debian is flashed automatically — that is what keeps the
installation updateable without ever touching the bootloader again.
Set ethernet MAC address and enable autoboot (only needed after flashing Das U-Boot bootloader):
# fw_setenv ethaddr 00:10:75:42:42:42 # YOUR mac address as noted above
# fw_setenv eth1addr 00:10:75:42:ca:fe # NAS440 only (dual NIC)
# fw_setenv bootdelay 3
# exit
# exit
Exit the shell, remove USB stick and reboot the system via the Debian installer main menu. Don't forget the Finish installation item last or you won't be able to login later!
-
As Moritz suggests it is advisable to install the
lm-sensorsandhdparmpackages. -
With hwmon you can adjust the fan speed automatically. This script installs a corresponding template file in
/etc/sysfs.d.
The Marvell SoC waits in a very early boot phase on the serial port for a
special "magic" sequence, and when this is received, it accepts to transfer the boot loader via
Xmodem. The kwboot tool can be used if your device
is bricked or if you want to test an U-Boot image before actually flashing to NAND. Simply
set up the serial port like this:
$ kwboot -b u-boot-nas440.kwb -p -t /dev/ttyS8
Sending boot message. Please reboot the target.../
Sending boot image...
0 % [......................................................................]
1 % [......................................................................]
3 % [......................................................................]
...
95 % [......................................................................]
97 % [......................................................................]
99 % [....................................]
[Type Ctrl-\ + c to quit]
U-Boot 2017.11 (May 20 2021 - 11:42:00 +0200)
NAS 440
SoC: Kirkwood 88F6281_A1
DRAM: 256 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
NAND: 32 MiB
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial
nas440>
To permanently flash the bootloader to NAND, follow the steps described in Flashing Das U-Boot bootloader.
This patch fully implements support for the NAS440 board and peripherals within U-Boot:
-
Hard disk drives 3 and 4 are connected to the 88F6281 SoC (on chip peripherals, OCP) and working. HDD power (12V) for drives 3 and 4 can be controlled via GPIO pin 28.
-
The LCD has a HD44780 compatible controller communicating via 12 GPIO pins (8 bit data width). Support within U-Boot has been implemented (see
lcd_*functions innas440.c). -
The LEDs are connected via an 8-bit serial-in/parallel-out 74AHC164 shift register. Support within U-Boot has been implemented (see
led_*functions innas440.c). -
Various buttons (power, reset, LCD pageup/down) are connected via GPIO pins (see
GPIO_*definitions innas440.h).
For the Linux kernel a long-standing bug has been fixed: Hard drive slots 1 and 2 are connected to an 88SE6121 SATA II controller, which is connected via PCIe. The controller does not fully comply with the AHCI standard and therefore requires a special kernel patch to ensure that Gen2/Gen3 hard drives, in particular, function correctly. This had been mistakenly discussed at great length as a problem with the MVEBU PCIe driver or the SATA interface before a solution could be found. This project provides a Debian DKMS package that modifies the kernel's ahci module accordingly.
This project is based on the work of several dedicated people:
-
Evgeni Dobrev created a kernel patch to include hardware support for the Blackarmor 220 in the mainline linux kernel.
-
Moritz Rosenthal has released detailed docs on how to update the NAS 220 with an up-to-date linux kernel and Debian distribution.
-
Andreas Fischer did groundbreaking work in providing an initial U-Boot and kernel patch for the NAS 440.
-
Tony Dinh has put enormous work into providing U-Boot and Linux kernel and rootfs binaries for other kirkwood-based devices.
-
Pali Rohár for patiently helping me debug the MVEBU PCI controller.
-
Seagate publishes the GPL source code as a download at NAS110, NAS220, NAS440.
-
Marvell Kirkwood CPU Functional Specifications offers all the details you never dared to ask (794 pages PDF) about the 88F6192 and 88F6281. See also Product Brief and Hardware Spec at Marvell Kirkwood Homepage and Linux Kernel Marvell ARM SoC Support.
-
The Blackarmor NAS motherboard code names are likely inspired by lake 'Mono' (NAS110), 'Lassen' peak (NAS220) and mount 'Shasta' (NAS440). All of them are located in California within the Cascade Range.
-
The Iomega ix4-200d has very simliar hardware to the NAS440 (88F6281 SoC with 88SE6121 SATA via PCIe). Lenovo publishes the GPL source code and 1000001101000 did further research on the device.