Unraid on ASUSTORE AS6704T

[BarbaGrump]

So...been using UR for about a year on different HW, and LOVE the flexibility it gives me...before that a long time Synology user, but since Synology started to make it difficult for us poor users(for example using USB zigbee controller) and all the nagging because I didn't buy Synologys EXPENSIVE disks and RAM, I simply love UR!

 

Up to this point I've been running UR on DIY intel hardware(i5, 16GB RAM Array: 2x12TB, Pool: 2x1TB Nvme, Cache: 1TB SSD, 30 containers running all of my family needs(home assistant, plex, sonarr, nextcloud, vaultwarden etc, etc) and 3 VMs (for fun) The server clocks in at an average of about 35-40W, which isnt bad - but I think I could do better 🙂

 

So, bought my self a ASUSTORE LOCKERSTORE 4 GEN 2 (AS6704T) Celeron N5105, 4 Bay(Drives) 4 slots NvME on Amazon, and here's my experience so far.

 

 Well, It works 🙂!!

 

1. Connect Display to HDMI, and keyboard to USB(Im using USB-hub and a wireless Logitech keyboard)

1.5(optional) Open the case and disconnect front LCD-panel. The LCD will go black but two green diods on the front will flash. Most irritating...

2. To get into the BIOS, press F5 after POST(small white square in upper left corner of screen, and then TAB to Settings page.

3. Set Your Unraid USB to be no 1 in boot order

4. Set other parameters in BIOS as you see fit - I Would love to hear from someone who knows which settings to set to optimize for power saving...I'm just guessing on my own 😞

5. F10 and reboot - Viola! Unraid's running on a freaking nas!!!

6. Install IT87 drivers through apps (modprob it87 > /boot/config/go to SEE fan speed. Fan runs at a constant 735-ish rpm.

7. Install Powertop and config. See 

7.5 DONT USE powertop --auto-tune! (see post below for details) add the following to /boot/config/go:

• /etc/rc.d/rc.cpufreq powersave
• for i in /sys/class/net/eth?; do dev=$(basename $i); [[ $(echo $(ethtool --show-eee $dev 2> /dev/null) | grep -c "Supported EEE link modes: 1") -eq 1 ]] && ethtool --set-eee $dev eee on; done
• for i in /sys/class/net/eth?; do ethtool -s  $(basename $i) wol d; done
• echo auto | tee /sys/bus/i2c/devices/i2c-*/device/power/control
• echo auto | tee /sys/bus/usb/devices/*/power/control
• echo auto | tee /sys/block/sd*/device/power/control
• echo auto | tee /sys/bus/pci/devices/????:??:??.?/power/control
• echo auto | tee /sys/bus/pci/devices/????:??:??.?/ata*/power/control

8. I'm now at an average of 15-22W 🙂

 

What doesn't work:

- Fan Control

- LEDs on front panel

 

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by BarbaGrump

[Lolight]

10 hours ago, BarbaGrump said:

Fan runs at a constant 735-ish rpm.

Did you install the drives?

What are the running drives temps?

The box seems to have a strangely arranged, limited air flow, that is mostly reserved for M.2's.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Lolight

[BarbaGrump]

2 hours ago, Lolight said:

Did you install the drives?

What are the running drives temps?

Yes drivers installed, but no fan control. So instead I’ve swapped the 4-pin fan to a 3-pin fan, this fan then runs at max (1900+ rpm), so to reduce the speed (and noise) I,ve put in a resistor so now it’s running at 950 rpms.

 

Cpu temp are idling 45-50C, and with my bios settings temp never exceeds 87C(4 cores 100% a full hour), and throttling starts somewhere over 78C, taking speed down to 2400-2500 MHz.

 

And from what I’ve noticed, NvMEs never gets warmer than 65C

[Lolight]

59 minutes ago, BarbaGrump said:

Cpu temp are idling 45-50C, and with my bios settings temp never exceeds 87C(4 cores 100% a full hour), and throttling starts somewhere over 78C, taking speed down to 2400-2500 MHz.

And from what I’ve noticed, NvMEs never gets warmer than 65C

Yeah, but how about the hard drives' temperatures?

Edited October 16, 2022 by Lolight

[BarbaGrump]

23 hours ago, Lolight said:

Yeah, but how about the hard drives' temperatures?

2x12Tb Ironwolf in array mostly sleeping(media library) so I’ve not been watching the temp, but no warnings from UR of overheating (default temp warning settings)

[Lolight]

On 10/17/2022 at 7:36 AM, BarbaGrump said:

2x12Tb Ironwolf in array mostly sleeping(media library) so I’ve not been watching the temp, but no warnings from UR of overheating (default temp warning settings)

In a limited air flow box your HDD's might be subjected to wide temperature swings - not a good thing for the HDD's longevity.

The condition might be considered to be even more detrimental than the consistently high, but relatively stable temperatures.

I'd advice to check their temps when active.

Edited February 17, 2023 by Lolight

[BarbaGrump]

On 10/15/2022 at 9:06 PM, BarbaGrump said:

So...been using UR for about a year on different HW, and LOVE the flexibility it gives me...before that a long time Synology user, but since Synology started to make it difficult for us poor users(for example using USB zigbee controller) and all the nagging because I didn't buy Synologys EXPENSIVE disks and RAM, I simply love UR!

 

Up to this point I've been running UR on DIY intel hardware(i5, 16GB RAM Array: 2x12TB, Pool: 2x1TB Nvme, Cache: 1TB SSD, 30 containers running all of my family needs(home assistant, plex, sonarr, nextcloud, vaultwarden etc, etc) and 3 VMs (for fun) The server clocks in at an average of about 35-40W, which isnt bad - but I think I could do better 🙂

 

So, bought my self a ASUSTORE LOCKERSTORE 4 GEN 2 (AS6704T) Celeron N5105, 4 Bay(Drives) 4 slots NvME on Amazon, and here's my experience so far.

 

 Well, It works 🙂!!

 

1. Connect Display to HDMI, and keyboard to USB(Im using USB-hub and a wireless Logitech keyboard)

1.5(optional) Open the case and disconnect front LCD-panel. The LCD will go black but two green diods on the front will flash. Most irritating...

2. To get into the BIOS, press F5 after POST(small white square in upper left corner of screen, and then TAB to Settings page.

3. Set Your Unraid USB to be no 1 in boot order

4. Set other parameters in BIOS as you see fit - I Would love to hear from someone who knows which settings to set to optimize for power saving...I'm just guessing on my own 😞

5. F10 and reboot - Viola! Unraid's running on a freaking nas!!!

6. Install IT87 drivers through apps (modprob it87 > /boot/config/go to SEE fan speed. Fan runs at a constant 735-ish rpm.

7. Install Powertop and config. See 

8. I'm now at an average of 15-22W 🙂

 

What doesn't work:

- Fan Control

- LEDs on front panel

 

 

 

After running this setup, problems mounting...

I wanted to add a second SSD to the cache-pool to up the redundancy, but when I start the system up again, I get errors from the ata-system, and according to Internet, the errors is due to bad SATA cables, connectors or the like. This system has a 4xSATA backplane and such no cables. What to do? I have tried to move disks around in the chassi, but now its always one or two of the slots(not always the same)that produces errors, and it doesn't seems to make a difference how many disks or which type(SSD, HDD) I use. So this is not a stable system!

 

Instead I ordered a Topton n5105 mini-ITX motherboard to replace the "old" Core i5 system the asustore were to replace.

Edited December 9, 2022 by BarbaGrump

[Lolight]

On 12/9/2022 at 9:34 PM, BarbaGrump said:

 

This system has a 4xSATA backplane and such no cables. What to do?

Sorry to hear about the problem.

I'd suggest to repost this question into the "General Support" forum section.

[BarbaGrump]

On 12/9/2022 at 3:34 PM, BarbaGrump said:

After running this setup, problems mounting...

I wanted to add a second SSD to the cache-pool to up the redundancy, but when I start the system up again, I get errors from the ata-system, and according to Internet, the errors is due to bad SATA cables, connectors or the like. This system has a 4xSATA backplane and such no cables. What to do? I have tried to move disks around in the chassi, but now its always one or two of the slots(not always the same)that produces errors, and it doesn't seems to make a difference how many disks or which type(SSD, HDD) I use. So this is not a stable system!

 

Well, hell...did some more testing, and what do you know...as it seems, the problem above comes from the command "powertop --auto-tune" as recommended in the first post.

The SATA system in this box doesn't like the tunable "Enable SATA link power management for hostX" being set to "good" in powertop, which happens when you run "powertop --auto-tune" So when I run each powertop command as described in 1st post, and leaving out the SATA-part...every thing works as normal. The box is now idling on 16W, so maybe the SATA-tunable counted for about 1W.  
 

Edit:

here is energy stats from Homeassistant for 24h…guess when this new box went into business 🤔🤔🤔?

 

Edited December 15, 2022 by BarbaGrump

[independence]

@BarbaGrump

Would you suggest the Asustor Unraid solution with your experiences? I am also looking for an out of the Box System like this but ma, be the terramaster is also an option.

[BarbaGrump]

@independence

Well, yes. It's working well if your user case is anything like mine above.

But I've moved to a new environment with Unraid virtulized on a Proxmox host together with some other Linux, Windows and MacOS VMs, and this new environment was too much for the n5105 to handle, so I'm now on a DIY core i5-11400(same rig mentioned in first post) instead with a power average at 26w(been able to tune this down) instead of 19-20 for the Asustor.

Edited February 20, 2023 by BarbaGrump

[independence]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Some months ago I thought that I need an Win10or11 VM 24/7 but I started to use docker a bit more extensively and now I only use the Win VM some hours per week. I think that the n5105 is sufficient enough to run 10-20 containers 24/7 and the VM sometimes. I like the form factor of the Asustor and the 4x NVMe option that much that I will give it a try

[BarbaGrump]

On 2/20/2023 at 10:59 AM, independence said:

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Some months ago I thought that I need an Win10or11 VM 24/7 but I started to use docker a bit more extensively and now I only use the Win VM some hours per week. I think that the n5105 is sufficient enough to run 10-20 containers 24/7 and the VM sometimes. I like the form factor of the Asustor and the 4x NVMe option that much that I will give it a try

@independence

Any updates on your adventures with the Asustor?

[independence]

Hi,

 

everything looks good at the moment. The CPU usage was pretty high last weeks but that was related to my Backup job which ran 24/7.

In general I can say that the CPU Power is not that high but I hope that it is enough for my needs.

[Jacksaur_]

On 4/22/2023 at 12:31 PM, independence said:

Hi,

 

everything looks good at the moment. The CPU usage was pretty high last weeks but that was related to my Backup job which ran 24/7.

In general I can say that the CPU Power is not that high but I hope that it is enough for my needs.

Yet another old necro (Apologies!), but this seems like the best thread for talking about this device in particular.

How's it going for you these days? Considering running the same myself, though with an AS6604T instead of an 670.

 

The OP mentions that the LEDs on the front don't work: Does that include the LCD screen? Does it just not display anything at all?

[Giorgio]

Hi Guys,

I have an asustor lockerstor 6 gen2.

I update the bios version to 1.21 and use it with proxmox and unraid in a VM.

Previously I had unraid on a different system and I migrate the same USB key to this one without problem.

 

I had only problem with HIGH TEMPERATURE of the CPU, about 70°C in idle condition and over 90°C at full. I already have changed the thermal paste because the standard one was a big messy of white paste, with the new one I lowered from 87 to 70°C the idle temperature, but still high.

About this I read above that the FAN is not controlled (I also notice that). I think to replace the FAN supplying the new with 12V without throttling it. Do you think is a good idea?

 

About the BIOS setting, how do you set the parameters, I didn't find information.

 

In this condition UNRAID works well for a few days, but after that UNRAID stopped with a KERNEL PANIC error. I try to attach an image with the error. Any idea? It can depends to high cpu temperature?

 

[BarbaGrump]

On 5/22/2023 at 10:02 AM, Jacksaur_ said:

Yet another old necro (Apologies!), but this seems like the best thread for talking about this device in particular.

How's it going for you these days? Considering running the same myself, though with an AS6604T instead of an 670.

 

The OP mentions that the LEDs on the front don't work: Does that include the LCD screen? Does it just not display anything at all?

It just showin "Starting up..." or something like that. I've disconnectad the display, so I dont remember exactly.

[BarbaGrump]

On 5/25/2023 at 9:25 AM, Giorgio said:

Hi Guys,

I have an asustor lockerstor 6 gen2.

I update the bios version to 1.21 and use it with proxmox and unraid in a VM.

Previously I had unraid on a different system and I migrate the same USB key to this one without problem.

 

I had only problem with HIGH TEMPERATURE of the CPU, about 70°C in idle condition and over 90°C at full. I already have changed the thermal paste because the standard one was a big messy of white paste, with the new one I lowered from 87 to 70°C the idle temperature, but still high.

About this I read above that the FAN is not controlled (I also notice that). I think to replace the FAN supplying the new with 12V without throttling it. Do you think is a good idea?

 

About the BIOS setting, how do you set the parameters, I didn't find information.

 

In this condition UNRAID works well for a few days, but after that UNRAID stopped with a KERNEL PANIC error. I try to attach an image with the error. Any idea? It can depends to high cpu temperature?

 

 

Interesting! Exactly this is my next adventure...to put proxmox on the AS6704T and move my unraid VM(and the rest of VMs) that runs on a DIY rig for the moment. Will get back with my findings.

 

I did replace the Fan(se post #1) and that had effect on the temp. 

 

You hammer F5 to get to a menu att boot where you use tab to choose "settings". From there its a ordinary bios.

 

Kernel panic...yikes! Is it Unraid VM that panics or is it Proxmox? I'm running Unraid under Proxmox(SATA-controller and GPU passed through), and its rock solid. My reason to step away from my much more powerfull DIY-rig(core i5 11500T) back to this nice AS6704T, is due to severe problems with the nic...the dreaded V225-I that craches under load dispite me trying every solution on the Internet.

 

 

[independence]

On 6/12/2023 at 10:40 AM, BarbaGrump said:

It just showin "Starting up..." or something like that. I've disconnectad the display, so I dont remember exactly.

Same here. I disconnected the LCD, but I was not able to disconnect the LEDs so that the green and blue LED (one of them) constantly flashes

[independence]

On 10/16/2022 at 9:34 AM, BarbaGrump said:

Yes drivers installed, but no fan control. So instead I’ve swapped the 4-pin fan to a 3-pin fan, this fan then runs at max (1900+ rpm), so to reduce the speed (and noise) I,ve put in a resistor so now it’s running at 950 rpms.

 

Cpu temp are idling 45-50C, and with my bios settings temp never exceeds 87C(4 cores 100% a full hour), and throttling starts somewhere over 78C, taking speed down to 2400-2500 MHz.

 

And from what I’ve noticed, NvMEs never gets warmer than 65C

Could you tell us which fan you installed? (the temp of the CPU could be a bit lower in my opinion)

[BarbaGrump]

On 7/5/2023 at 5:32 PM, independence said:

Same here. I disconnected the LCD, but I was not able to disconnect the LEDs so that the green and blue LED (one of them) constantly flashes

I've fixed that problem with black scotch-tape... 🙂

[BarbaGrump]

On 7/5/2023 at 5:37 PM, independence said:

Could you tell us which fan you installed? (the temp of the CPU could be a bit lower in my opinion)

It is a 120mm Arctic fan. Not the most effective.

[Terebi]

The information below is beyond my linux expertise, but claims to have fan control working on an asustor running truenas (debian)

 

Perhaps the information there could be adapted to unraid?  It uses a different IT87 driver (I am running the one from the unraid app store). but I do not know if that is important or not. 

 

https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/bae122274fc6f0e006fdf0bc92fe6237

 

https://gist.github.com/johndavisnz/b5aae0236141666a77aac094701d7839

 

 

[boggydigital]

Just wanted to chime in as I've recently moved from Synology to a similar model (AS6706T). Most of the transition was straightforward with the exception of Plex docker container (official) that absolutely refused to use hardware transcoding. 

 

Poking around various Reddit threads, Plex forum threads and this forum - here's what has worked for me and my apologies as I've lost the source in a billion open tabs. You can verify just running those commands in the current session, if that works - adding them to /boot/config/go works great:

 

rmmod i915
echo "options i915 enable_fbc=1 enable_guc=3" > /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf
modprobe i915

 

Having tried about a million of suggestion and workaround proposals, this is the only one that has helped for this device and has been working for couple days now without any issues.

 

My only outstanding gripes with this device + UR combo are already noted in this thread:

 

- Lack of fan control - hoping to mitigate this with 3-pin 1300rpm model. Currently my 3 HDDs are about 50C (idle) - 55C (used) and 2 SSDs with heatsinks are 40C (idle) - 45C (used) at ambient temperature of about 28C. I'm hoping I can knock ~5C on HDDs with more ventilation.

- Lack of LCD/LED controls - though disabling LCD seems like a decent solution to me.

[Lolight]

3 hours ago, boggydigital said:

Currently my 3 HDDs are about 50C (idle) - 55C (used) and 2 SSDs with heatsinks are 40C (idle) - 45C (used) at ambient temperature of about 28C.

The HDD temps at idle (if reported correctly) are way too hot, even at 28C ambient.

What are the temps during the parity check?