Good afternoon

Apologies if this isn't in the correct section, but it isn't really just a Syncthing problem.

I have several Unraid servers, 1 of which has TV Shows on it. I use Syncthing to sync this folder to a Zyxel Nas 542. This NAS unfortunately has an old Kernel so won't support Volumes bigger than 16TB! I have upgraded from 4 6TB drives (one by one) to 4 8TB drives, and now have a 16TB volume (well, 15.87 TB) and a 5.78 TB volume.

As you can see, Volume 1 is almost full!

I have Syncthing syncing /TV Shows/ to this Volume. I would like to be able to Sync some of my TV Shows to Volume 2, but this is a little tricky as it would affect the database of Sonarr / Plex etc. If I split the /TV Shows share. I tried Symlink from Volume 1 to Volume 2, but that didn't work, as Syncthing doesn't support Symlinks.

A guy on the Zyxel forum suggest using Binds, but did mention that they don't get created on a restart, and have to be created manually. This could cause problems if Syncthing starts on the Zyxel Nas before the Binds are re-created!

Is there any easyish way to achieve this? Or will I have to split my /TV Shows share into 2 shares and Sync each to Volume 1 and Volume 2?

Any help or advise would be gratefully appreciated.

Msny thanks

S

On 6/3/2025 at 9:12 AM, ssmith369 said:

Good afternoon

Apologies if this isn't in the correct section, but it isn't really just a Syncthing problem.

I have several Unraid servers, 1 of which has TV Shows on it. I use Syncthing to sync this folder to a Zyxel Nas 542. This NAS unfortunately has an old Kernel so won't support Volumes bigger than 16TB! I have upgraded from 4 6TB drives (one by one) to 4 8TB drives, and now have a 16TB volume (well, 15.87 TB) and a 5.78 TB volume.

As you can see, Volume 1 is almost full!

I have Syncthing syncing /TV Shows/ to this Volume. I would like to be able to Sync some of my TV Shows to Volume 2, but this is a little tricky as it would affect the database of Sonarr / Plex etc. If I split the /TV Shows share. I tried Symlink from Volume 1 to Volume 2, but that didn't work, as Syncthing doesn't support Symlinks.

A guy on the Zyxel forum suggest using Binds, but did mention that they don't get created on a restart, and have to be created manually. This could cause problems if Syncthing starts on the Zyxel Nas before the Binds are re-created!

Is there any easyish way to achieve this? Or will I have to split my /TV Shows share into 2 shares and Sync each to Volume 1 and Volume 2?

Any help or advise would be gratefully appreciated.

Msny thanks

S

-I tried Symlink from Volume 1 to Volume 2, but that didn't work

Also the *Ars stack won';t use symlinks and will complain...

A guy on the Zyxel forum suggest using Binds
You would need to make a user scirpt on unraid / use teh /etc/fstab to set binds to survive a reboot.

Binds are good here.

Example fstab bind options:

/source /destination none defaults,bind 0 0

so I have volume 1 and volume 2 in the mount folder, for example
/mnt/volume1
/mnt/volume2

lets say volume2 has a appdata path of

/mnt/volume2/appdata

lets say this path for the folder you want bound for the ars..
/mnt/volume2/appdata/ars/media/tv

and you want to bind this path to
/mnt/volume1/tv

/mnt/volume2/appdata/ars/media/tv /mnt/volume1/tv none defaults,bind 0 0

This line should be placed in the /etc/fstab to survive a reboot to set a bind...

BUT as synology made some eidts seting that line is not easy... synology forum may be better able to assit you here...
?unless the volume 1 and volume 2 are on unraid.... then i would make a user script to make the bind in the go file / script at array start....

Review:

https://serverfault.com/questions/613179/how-do-i-do-mount-bind-in-etc-fstab
https://www.reddit.com/r/synology/comments/4w7ynw/etcfstab/

https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/17/post/7815

I would honelty for go the OG OS with the Zyxel Nas 542

plugin in a usb HD for the new OS and goe OMV (Open Media Vault)

GitHub

GitHub - roysbike/zyxel-nas-omv: Install Openmediavault o...

Install Openmediavault on Zyxel NAS 520/540/542. Contribute to roysbike/zyxel-nas-omv development by creating an account on GitHub.

Let OMV setup all the disk in a zfs / md setup with ext or xfs etc...

Thank you both so much for the replies. I am going to give the bind option a try initially with one TV Show sub-folder to see how it works.

@bmartino1 Regarding the OMV. does that boot from a USB in a similar way to Unraid? I am not sure if I can get the Zyxel NAS 542 to boot from a USB?

Many thanks

so this is my current fstab file:

/dev/ram0 / ext2 defaults 0 0

none /proc proc defaults 0 0

none /sys sysfs defaults 0 0

none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0

Syncthing syncs to "/i-data/c8c5d1df/video/TV Shows" currently on the NAS542 (/i-data/c8c5d1df/ is volume 1 on the NAS)

I would like to physically move some TV show folders to "/i-data/a96dfbf8/video2/TVShows2" then bind this to it's original location so that Syncthing still thinks the files are in their original location.

So would the command be:

/i-data/c8c5d1df/video/TV Shows/Show 1 /i-data/a96dfbf8/video2/TVShows2/Show 1 none defaults,bind 0 0 ?

I guess there will be an issue with the gap in "Tv Shows"? can I just put each path like this '/i-data/c8c5d1df/video/TV Shows/Show 1'

Is this the right way round, and does this need to go on the top row of the fstab file?

Sorry for so many questions.

Many thanks

7 hours ago, ssmith369 said:

Thank you both so much for the replies. I am going to give the bind option a try initially with one TV Show sub-folder to see how it works.

@bmartino1 Regarding the OMV. does that boot from a USB in a similar way to Unraid? I am not sure if I can get the Zyxel NAS 542 to boot from a USB?

Many thanks

the zyxel is kinda locked down.

Yes and no. the usb/sd card becomes the OS install disk. Yes, the usb is like unraid on the zyzel where the os lies. no unraid loads in ram whereas OMV stay on physical media.

Requires installing a kernel and flashing Debian to the flash drive and telling zyxel linux to boot the flash drive...

More example non english (google translate to english from german)
https://seafile.servator.de/nas/zyxel/images/nas5xx-debian-howto.txt

AS it is a "Hack" to give the device more and better functionality (gets you out to the 16 TB volume issues...)
https://forum.openmediavault.org/index.php?thread/5179-installing-omv-on-zyxel-nsa325-arm/

as example, my OMV install is less then 10 GB

thjis is runnin g docker with 3x 16 TB in a raid z1

Similarly to edit the fstab for binds you have to run a hack to allow editing the fstab so a reboot will load your curent fstab and teh bind mount...

the space makes it hard. that looks correct.

/i-data/c8c5d1df/video/TV Shows/Show 1 /i-data/a96dfbf8/video2/TVShows2/Show 1 none defaults,bind 0 0 ?

i think the line would be:

/i-data/a96dfbf8/video2/TVShows2/Show\0401 /i-data/c8c5d1df/video/TV\040Shows/Show\0401 none bind 0 0

Notes:

• Use \040 in place of spaces (\040 is ASCII for a space).

• none bind is enough; no need for defaults.

example of what it should look like now:

zyxel nas fstab

/dev/ram0 / ext2 defaults 0 0

none /proc proc defaults 0 0

none /sys sysfs defaults 0 0

none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0

# Bind mounts (below)

# TV Show bind

/i-data/a96dfbf8/video2/TVShows2/Show\0401 /i-data/c8c5d1df/video/TV\040Shows/Show\0401 none bind 0 0

as Zyxel NAS runs a BusyBox Linux under the hood. To make your bind mounts persistent:

*Make a boot script...

/i-data/sysvol/.system/rc.d/S99bindmounts.sh

#!/bin/sh

# Bind mount TV shows on boot

mount --bind "/i-data/a96dfbf8/video2/TVShows2/Show 1" "/i-data/c8c5d1df/video/TV Shows/Show 1"

*Create a boot script

Create a file called something like S99bindmounts.sh in /i-data/sysvol/.system/rc.d/ (this path may vary slightly — check your actual volume).

*make sure the script can run...

chmod +x /i-data/sysvol/.system/rc.d/S99bindmounts.sh

at reboot make sure script ran / fstab stayed...

cat /etc/fstab
mount | grep video

@bmartino1 Amazing. Thank you so much for all the above information. That is so useful and clear instructions (even I can follow)

I have a little going on in the next week or so, but I think I am going to try the OMV solution. It seems to be a much better option than trying to bind across 2 volumes. It has a nice GUI too.

Maybe there is life in the old NAS 542 yet :-)

I finally had some spare time. I do love the idea of installing OMV, but with the Zyxel being so old now, and low spec, and it is literally only a third backup for my TV Shows, I decided to go another way.

It all actually works really well. It is a workaround, and not perfect, but I am happy with it. here's what I did:

1. made another share on my Unraid server called "TV Shows 2".

2. mapped this in the Sonarr docker as /media2.

3. added /media2 as another root folder.

4. moved all Tv Shows beginning with T-Z to /media2 root folder

5. used Syncthing to Sync the "TV Shows 2" folder to the second volume on the Nas.

6. In Plex, added the "TV Shows 2" share to the "TV Shows " Directory.

It is still Syncing currently, but as and when I change a TV Show root folder in Sonarr, all the Plex / Syncthing sorts itself out.

I do still think I may build a NAS in the future to play with OMV though. I have a spare NSA325v2 kicking aroung, so might use that just for fun.

Thank you for all your help with this.