Debian on the Linksys NSLU2

The NSLU2 from Linksys is a small, sub $100 device that can be used for a variety of tasks. NSLU2 stands for Network Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives, a description which pretty much summarizes the original purpose of this device. However, the NSLU2 (or Slug, as it's often referred to) can be used for other tasks if you use a more powerful firmware for it. Since the device offers two USB ports, it's possible to connect a USB disk and run a full Debian system on it.

The NSLU2 is nowadays fully supported by Debian. In the following, I will describe what is needed to get Debian running on your NSLU2. Please note that this page only provides information on running a full-blown Debian system on the NSLU2 on an external USB drive. If you're looking for a firmware to be put in the flash of the NSLU2 (such as Unslung or OpenSlug) or other information on this device, please go to the NSLU2-Linux project (in particular, check out the firmware matrix).

News

• [2009-02-14] Debian GNU/Linux lenny (5.0) is out. Grab it from slug-firmware.net and follow my installation guide.
• [2008-09-09] More robust oldsys-preseed uploaded: the installer will now use DHCP if you have an incomplete networking configuration (i.e. if either the IP address or DNS is missing. This will hopefully get rid of many problems users ran into with etch.
• [2008-06-28] New behaviour for oldsys-preseed regarding default settings: If you've configured the default address 192.168.1.77, the installer will no longer use DHCP but use the address you configured.

Information

• An installation guide for Debian on the Linksys NSLU2.
• An image gallery with various pictures showing the internals of the NSLU2.
• Tips for running Linux on a flash device and for reducing memory usage.

External Resources

• A Debian/NSLU2 FAQ, answering some common questions.
• The NSLU2-Linux project provides lots of information regarding Linux on the NSLU2.
• Peter Korsgaard's guide on manually installing Debian sarge. This is only of historical interest now that debian-installer supports the NSLU2.

Help

If you have problems with Debian on NSLU2 and cannot solve them with Google, there are the following resources you can consult:

• The debian-boot list for questions and problems specifically related to the installation of Debian on NSLU2.
• The debian-arm list for questions specifically related to the ARM port of Debian.
• The mailing lists of the NSLU2-Linux project for generic questions regarding Linux on NSLU2.

Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank the NSLU2-Linux project for all their work on getting a modern version of Linux running on this device and writing lots of documentation describing how this device actually works. Without their work, getting Debian to run would have been much harder. In particular, I'd like to thank Alessandro Zummo and John Bowler for their kernel work and Rod Whitby for getting me excited about the NSLU2 and answering all of the questions I asked while porting Debian to this device. Gordon Farquharson has done lots of testing of Debian on NSLU2. Joey Hess maintains the nslu2-utils package in Debian. Finally, I'd like to thank the NSLU2-Linux project again for donating a NSLU2 to me to help with Debian porting efforts.