DSM 7.4 hack for non-genuine Synology hard drives

[zombiephysicist]

This is as clear as mud.

Let me see if I understand this.

If you have an 1821+ or a 2423+RP and upgrade to 7.4.x, you CAN continue to use NON-synology drives, they will work, but show up with warnings, BUT, use of NON-synology drives will not allow you to use some new features of 7.4 (like the compression features), but you WILL still be able to see all your existing storage pools and volumes?

Is the above correct?

So If I dont care about the (near useless compression features, I dont), then upgrading to 7.4 will not change any of the behaviors I've grown used to on my 2 synologies, and will bring the benefit of some security updates, but other than that, it's an otherwise basically feature wise useless update.

Is the above correct?

Thanks for any sanity check!

 

[DSfuchs]

This is as clear as mud.

Let me see if I understand this.

If you have an 1821+ or a 2423+RP and upgrade to 7.4.x, you CAN continue to use NON-synology drives, they will work, but show up with warnings, BUT, use of NON-synology drives will not allow you to use some new features of 7.4 (like the compression features), but you WILL still be able to see all your existing storage pools and volumes?

Is the above correct?

So If I dont care about the (near useless compression features, I dont), then upgrading to 7.4 will not change any of the behaviors I've grown used to on my 2 synologies, and will bring the benefit of some security updates, but other than that, it's an otherwise basically feature wise useless update.

Is the above correct?

Thanks for any sanity check!

Without the adjustment, volume1 is completely disabled. After that, everything works again, including the new features, without any error messages or warnings. That’s how it was for me on the RS3621xs+. Since my RackStation is older than the X25 series, the issue was to be expected based on the information from Rusty.

However, I had also previously configured Synology_HDD_db on DSM 7.3:

GitHub - 007revad/Synology_HDD_db: Add your HDD, SSD and NVMe drives to your Synology's compatible drive database and a lot more

Add your HDD, SSD and NVMe drives to your Synology's compatible drive database and a lot more - 007revad/Synology_HDD_db

github.com

 

[DSfuchs]

SHR is native Linux MD/LVM2. You can mount such volumes on any recent Linux box.

I am not aware of any publicly documented case where things worked out that way and which we can reproduce. Why else is there only one piece of software capable of reading SHR, and why are people willing to pay such an exorbitant price for it? We are a long way off from a "mount" in the sense of making the data usable and remounting it to DSM.

In contrast, without SHR, I can easily use, edit, delete, and copy data to Btrfs-formatted volumes using the Windows driver for md/Btrfs. Naturally, they can subsequently continue to be used in DSM without any issues. Of course, a different DSM or Linux installation is always preferable for this purpose.

 

[Telos]

SHR is native Linux MD/LVM2. You can mount such volumes on any recent Linux box.

I am not aware of any publicly documented case where things worked out that way and which we can reproduce.

Synology instructions to read Synology content (including SHR) from Ubuntu (or other Linux).

 

[zombiephysicist]

Without the adjustment, volume1 is completely disabled. After that, everything works again, including the new features, without any error messages or warnings. That’s how it was for me on the RS3621xs+. Since my RackStation is older than the X25 series, the issue was to be expected based on the information from Rusty.

However, I had also previously configured Synology_HDD_db on DSM 7.3:

GitHub - 007revad/Synology_HDD_db: Add your HDD, SSD and NVMe drives to your Synology's compatible drive database and a lot more

Add your HDD, SSD and NVMe drives to your Synology's compatible drive database and a lot more - 007revad/Synology_HDD_db

github.com

Wow. So I have 1821+, I currently have 7.3.x and a bunch of EXOS drives that establish Pool1 and Volume 1. If I do the upgrade to 7.4.x, if I do nothing after the update, I will have an inaccessible Pool1 and Volume1.

THAT
IS
INSANITY

And if you do the hack, after that, you will be able to see your Pool1/Volume1 after the hack.

Ok, so will NOT be touching 7.4.

Thanks so much for confirming this info!

 

[White Bear]

I have 1821+, I currently have 7.3.x and a bunch of EXOS drives that establish Pool1 and Volume 1. If I do the upgrade to 7.4.x, if I do nothing after the update, I will have an inaccessible Pool1 and Volume1.

THAT
IS
INSANITY

There is good reason to be skeptical of this claim. A DSM update that renders existing storage pools inaccessible would be extraordinarily disruptive and would likely be widely documented by both Synology and by affected users. Has anyone asked Synology support for a sanity check? FWIW, we have a DS725+ with EXOS - 7.4 added a warning about drives not on compatibility list; but that was it...

Synology’s inconsistent messaging and subsequent policy changes left many of us uncertain about the future usability of third-party drives. This communication vacuum has created confusion; and misinformation on social media is an inevitable consequence.

 

[Telos]

There is good reason to be skeptical of this claim.

Agree. When the x25 drive lock initially appeared. Synology permitted 3rd-party drive migrations.