Debian on QNAP TS-210, TS-219 and TS-219P

The QNAP TS-210, TS-219 and QNAP TS-219P are powerful NAS devices that can be used for a variety of tasks. Support for these devices will be in the next stable version of Debian. However, it is already possible to install Debian. In fact, there are the following two options:

• You can use the user-friendly Debian installer to install either Debian stable (lenny), the current stable version of Debian, or Debian testing (squeeze), the version of Debian currently under development.
• As an alternative to the Debian installer, you can manually install a tar ball of Debian lenny. However, please note that the installer is the recommended installation mechanism.

2010-05-20: Note for existing users of Debian on TS-21x: please read my message on creating a full backup of the flash of your device!

Information

• A set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
• Troubleshooting information with common problems and their solutions.
• Some tips and tricks about running Debian on the QNAP TS-21x.
• A status page showing which components of the TS-21x are currently supported.
• An internals page listing the specs of the TS-210, TS-219 and TS-219P.
• An image gallery with various pictures showing the internals of the TS-219.
• Information about the recovery mode.
• Instructions for restoring the original QNAP firmware.
• Connecting a serial console.
• Instructions for using U-Boot (if you have a serial console). U-Boot is the boot loader used by QNAP.

External Resources

• Information about QNAP devices at NAS-Central.

Help

If you have problems with Debian on QNAP TS-210, TS-219 or TS-219P and cannot solve them with Google, there are the following resources you can consult:

• The debian-arm list for questions specifically related to the ARM port of Debian or about running Debian on the QNAP TS-21x.
• If you don't want to post to a mailing list, please post to the Debian area on the QNAP forum.
• For questions about the QNAP TS-21x that are not related to Debian, please use the QNAP forum.

Acknowledgements

A lot of people helped to make Debian on QNAP Turbo NAS possible. The folks at QNAP have been very supportive of this effort and have supplied some hardware and technical expertise. Marvell has done a fabulous job integrating Kirkwood support into the mainline kernel.