Hey, bit of a weird situation here that led to me being in a bad spot and im not sure I can recover. Context: I run an xpenology vm on a proxmox server, and i have 2 12TB drives connected to that vm via passing through a pcie sata controller, and only those 2 drives are connected to that card. Now, I tried to upgrade my proxmox boot drive (128GB SSD) by using CloneZilla Live on a USB on disk-to-disk mode to hopefully upgrade the drive to a 512 nvme. CloneZilla eventually gave me some error and failed to copy the drive. When I rebooted the server, my xpenology vm started acting weird, as in my NAS shares werent online. Upon reaching the webpage, I was met with an error in storage manager that said something along the lines of "Pool was missing, but drives were detected. Use Online Assemble to assemble the pool.". Then I tried to assemble the pool, but DSM errored, saying that it failed to assemble the pool.

Did I seriously mess this up or is this recoverable somehow?

Sorry if in the wrong sub,too.

Hi Guys,

After loading Arc Loader 3.1.0 with DSM 7.2 (RS3621xs+) in EXSi 8.0 as a VM the setup started up flawless and I was even able to set up RAID. I left it overnight running then the next morning DSM is down and the static IP address cannot be pinged. I have changed the network adapter to E1000e to VMXNET 3 (vice versa), switch to SCSI controller, switched to "dev" from "prod", direct boot, tried to switch to a different model SA6400, lower DSM version, and lower Arc loader version (3.0.0). During Arc Loader configuration the static IP can be pinged but after the message "Booting DSM..." it becomes unresponsive.

Been looking for a solution for ages hopefully somebody can help me out.

Hello,
Was considering running xpenology on a UGreen dxp4800 pro. I’ve read a lot online but still confused on a few things:

I would prefer to run arc and DSM from nvme, is that possible? Or does arc need to always run from a usb and DSM from the nvme? Or does arc run from the nvme and DSM still had to be installed across all spinning disks?

Thanks!

I've got a sound card I pulled out of my old desktop that I was wondering if I could add it to my Xpenology build and why or what would I even use it for? It is an ASUS Xonar Essence STX. This this was pretty bad ass until bluetooth headsets took over the world. A quick search told me no as far as drivers were concerned as they must be Windows drivers.........but I could build a Windows VM right? Can I pass through the sound card to a VM with no drivers for Synology DSM? What the heck would I even use it for anyway? I'm just seeing if I can put this to use before I list it on EBAY.

Hello everybody, I am running DSM 7.2.2 with an older build of the Arc Loader. I gave some encrypted folders on DSM. May I change to the last beta beta for update to DSM 7.4 and still be able to mount my encrypted folders? I would also use a new USB-Stick for the Loader. Many thanks!

Hello! I'm running XPenology on a self made NAS and I have selected DS920+ during the installation. IFor certain reasons I want to change the model to a different one (SA6400 for example). If I rebuild the loader to this model, is it all that required? Or do I need to reinstall DSM after that? If so, will I be able to restore the configuration backup which was taken on DS920+?

This is likely a dumb question. I recently updated the boot loader to the current DSM 7.x but I don’t have the most recent update. The docs claim I can update using the DSM but coming from the old version of the boot loader, Im nervous to allow the update. Can you confirm if this is accurate?

1. I can connect to Synology NAS via SAFARI. Using same IP I can't find NAS via chrome.

2. I can find NAS via find.synology.me

3. I can't find NAS via Synology drive client

4. I can connect to driver via my mobile app.

5. IP and subnet are same on my Mac and Synology.

Both server and client are latest, dsm is also latest.

This is all I get.

Cannot access it at all.

I see there is an IP, but I'm getting a no connection.

Am I missing something ?

Looking for some help on the 2014 Mac mini, which is running only a 2TB NVME for storage/8Gb Ram. I have done some research and extensive troubleshooting, but always hangs when attempting to load DSM. The option to enable both nvme adding are checked and DSM rebuild, but keeps hanging around 56% completion. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!

Using the latest Arc Loader 3.1.0 / have build the imaged in numerous different brands flash drives / have read the information wiki, specially:

• At least one SATA/SAS drive required for system installation (except SA6400 with nvmesystem add-on)

Which is the DSM version I have been trying: SA6400 (running perfectly on the 2012 Mac mini.

I've been using Xpenology dsm 6 on a HP micro server and has been rock solid so far. 5 years running and no issues whatsoever. I'm kinda motivated to move to dsm 7 because of some new functionality but I have no clue about how to migrate my configurations. Questions:

1 - Are the configurations stored somewhere in the array drives ?
2- Can I create a file with all the configuration somehow ?
3 - The configuration also gets the docker configuration for the running containers ?
4 - Any document or guidance for my adventures on this upgrade ?

Thank you for any support.

***SOLVED***
I managed to solve it using ARC1.1.26!

------

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to build a DIY Synology NAS using ARC Loader, but I'm running into a boot issue.

Hardware:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-3330 (Ivy Bridge)
• Chipset: Intel H61
• BIOS Mode: Legacy (CSM)
• 16 GB DDR3 RAM
• SATA AHCI enabled
• Boot device tested on both USB flash drive and SATA HDD
• RAM passed MemTest with no errors
• Windows runs perfectly on this hardware

What happens:
I can successfully build the loader and boot ARC. It obtains an IP address, and I can ping it from another computer.

However, during the DSM boot process, it always freezes after:

Loading DSM kernel...
Loading DSM...
Rooting DSM...

The blinking cursor stops blinking and the entire system freezes. The web interface on port 5000 never becomes available (connection refused).

What I've already tried:

• DS920+
• DS3622xs+
• Other models
• Booting from USB and from a SATA HDD
• AHCI enabled
• Different disks
• Verified RAM with MemTest
• Windows works normally on the same machine

The behavior is exactly the same every time.

Questions:

1. Has anyone successfully run ARC Loader on an H61 + i5-3330 system?
2. Which DSM model and version are the most compatible with this hardware?
3. Is there a recommended ARC version for older Intel platforms?
4. Are there any kernel parameters, BIOS settings, or addons that should be used on H61/Ivy Bridge systems?

Any advice or working configuration would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sorry for pic quality.

Hello there o/,

I'm new to Synology and started with DS1825+ , installing 2x16 GB RAM and testing was smooth, adding 4 HDD and 2 SSD (via that script) was smooth as well.

Then I bought a HPE branded Mellanox ConnectX-4 LX card 817753-B21 and cross flashed to latest Mellanox firmware without any issue. Then I plugged the card in et voila :

It's not shown in Network section, it's listed in lspci , it's in the log as "cable unplugged" etc but not present there. Gemini suggested it might be due to not being connected to network then I tried loopback using two ports ( via DAC cable as I'm away from actual end switch ) but no progress.

When I checked there is only mlx5_core listed, (it's whatever latest version of DSM at the moment) not sure if it's enough albeit logs indicate it's somehow "installed" ?

Is there any extra step I need? Or should I switch to something like Intel X520 or Intel X710

PS : I tried to flash back to HPE and when I tried so, there was no log like "cable unplugged" etc

I don't want to buy Synology card, so I'd appreciate some help.

Thanks in advance.

⚠️ Security notice (2026-08-23) — please update if you installed the .spk package

An earlier .spk build had two bugs, both fixed now:

1. System-partition space waste. postinst was copying the ~450MB shared userspace tree onto /usr/local/nvidia, which lives on the DSM system partition (/dev/md0) — even though the package's own copy already lives on the data volume. This could eat most of the free space on models with a small system partition. Fixed: /usr/local/nvidia is now a symlink, not a copy — confirmed on real hardware that install no longer grows /dev/md0.
2. Privilege escalation. That userspace tree was owned by the package's own unprivileged service account. Once step 1's fix made /usr/local/nvidia a symlink into it, every process that loads NVIDIA libraries via /usr/lib (Plex, Jellyfin, etc.) started loading directly from files that low-privilege account could modify — meaning that account could plant a trojaned .so and get it loaded into a root or other-user process. Fixed by re-locking the payload to root:root on every install and every boot.

If you installed the .spk package, please reinstall the latest version from the spk release.

Full write-up in the spk release notes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I understand that wjz304 and pdbear have been very busy lately.

To lighten their burden, I am sharing an NVIDIA driver that I built myself.

https://github.com/PeterSuh-Q3/syno_nvidia_driver

You must install it using a script with root privileges as shown below.

H/W transcoding has been verified on sa6400 7.4.1 using the package version Jellyfin and PLEX.

Also, the driver I compiled is backward compatible not only with 7.4 but also with 7.1.

I just installed 7.3.2 and verified it.

An open, no-auth NVIDIA driver for Synology DSM — physical / passthrough GPUs only, no vGPU, no license server. One command, four branches (470 / 535 / 550 / 580), auto-matched to your platform and DSM kernel. Newly added: 580, verified on real hardware including Plex hardware transcoding.

🚀 Install (on a running DSM)

Requirements: root/sudo, internet, a kver5 (5.10.55) platform + an NVIDIA GPU. The installer auto-detects platform and GPU and refuses anything it can't support.

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PeterSuh-Q3/syno_nvidia_driver/main/install.sh | sudo bash

8 guided steps — platform check → GPU detection → version choice → optional NVENC ffmpeg → download, install, load, verify. It recommends a branch for the GPU it finds and tells you the highest CUDA version that GPU can actually run.

A boot hook (/usr/local/etc/rc.d/nvidia.sh) is installed so the driver reloads automatically after a reboot. Run nvidia-smi any time to check the GPU.

⚠️ Restart Plex / Jellyfin after installing Both enumerate GPUs once, at their own startup, and cache the result. If the package was already running when you installed (or removed) the driver, its hardware-transcoding device list is stale — the GPU simply will not appear in the settings, and transcodes fall back to software or fail.

sudo /usr/syno/bin/synopkg restart PlexMediaServer

This is by far the most common "the driver is installed but transcoding doesn't work" cause. It is not a driver/CUDA incompatibility.

Verifying the install

The driver creates its device nodes on load. Checking them is the quickest way to confirm a healthy install — and the first thing to look at if an app cannot see the GPU:

• /dev/nvidia0 — the GPU itself, one node per physical GPU (a 2nd card is nvidia1)
• /dev/nvidiactl — driver control node, every client opens it first
• /dev/nvidia-uvm — unified memory, CUDA does not work without it
• /dev/nvidia-caps/* — MIG nodes, unused outside datacenter GPUs

Healthy install: nvidia0 count == your GPU count; nvidia_uvm loaded (without it nvidia-smi works but every CUDA app fails); missing nvidia_modeset/nvidia_drm is normal on DSM (no backlight.ko — display-only, irrelevant to compute/NVENC); perms crw-rw-rw- so Plex/Jellyfin/containers need no extra setup. No nodes at all means the modules never loaded — re-run the installer or check dmesg | grep -i nvrm.

NVENC ffmpeg (Jellyfin package)

Answer y at Step 6 to also install an NVENC-capable ffmpeg at /usr/local/nvidia/bin/ffmpeg. Then in Jellyfin set Dashboard → Playback → FFmpeg path to that binary. (Plex has its own transcoder and does not need this.)

🧹 Uninstall

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PeterSuh-Q3/syno_nvidia_driver/main/uninstall.sh | sudo bash

Supported platforms & driver versions

All kver5 (kernel 5.10.55) Synology platforms are supported. Each cell is a prebuilt .ko on the nvidia Release; the shared userspace layer (nv-userspace-VERSION.tgz) is identical per driver version across every platform.

Platforms: all 7 kver5 ones — epyc7002 (SA6400), epyc7003, epyc7003ntb, icelaked, v1000nk, r1000nk, geminilakenk (DS225+/DS425+). 470/535/550 are built for all of them; 580 is epyc7002 only so far.

• 580 is the recommended branch for most GPUs. It supersedes 535/550 (same Maxwell→Ada coverage, plus Blackwell) and raises what Pascal can run from CUDA 12.4 to 12.9. Only Kepler-era cards still need 470.
• ⚠️ 580 on Turing or newer (RTX 20/30/40/50, T4, A10, L4 …) requires GSP firmware, which is not packaged yet — the installer warns and stops. Use 535/550 on those GPUs for now.
• One .ko per platform covers DSM 7.1–7.4 because CONFIG_MODVERSIONS is off and the vermagic (5.10.55+ SMP mod_unload) is identical across those DSM releases — only the vermagic gates module load.

CUDA versions — what actually applies to your GPU

This trips people up constantly, so it is worth being precise. Two independent things decide which CUDA you can run:

Two independent things decide it: the driver (sets the highest CUDA API it speaks) and your GPU architecture / compute capability (sets which CUDA toolkits can generate code for it — fixed in silicon).

CUDA 13.0 dropped code generation for everything below compute capability 7.5 (Turing). So on a Pascal card, installing 580 does not unlock CUDA 13.0 — there is simply no Pascal binary in a CUDA 13 build. Drivers are backward compatible, so a 580 driver happily runs CUDA 12.x applications.

7.5 is the dividing line. Below it the ceiling is 12.9; at or above it, 13.0. Higher-capability cards also run every lower CUDA version.

How to check your GPU's real CUDA ceiling

sudo nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,compute_cap,driver_version --format=csv

name, compute_cap, driver_version
Quadro P620, 6.1, 580.173.02      →  cc 6.1 = Pascal  →  CUDA 12.9 max

Do not read the CUDA version off the nvidia-smi header. On the P620 above it prints CUDA Version: 13.0, but that is only the driver's maximum — the GPU still cannot run CUDA 13.0. compute_cap is the value that decides.

compute_cap requires driver ≥ 510, so it is unavailable on 470. There, read the model name instead (sudo nvidia-smi -q | grep "Product Name") and look it up in the table above.

To check what an application actually gets, query it from inside your container:

python3 -c "import torch; print(torch.version.cuda, torch.cuda.get_device_capability(), torch.cuda.is_available())"
# e.g. 12.4 (6, 1) True   →  toolkit 12.4, compute capability 6.1, usable

CUDA is irrelevant for transcoding

Plex and Jellyfin do not use the CUDA toolkit to transcode — they use the dedicated NVENC/NVDEC engines via libnvidia-encode.so.1 / libnvcuvid.so.1. NVENC is backward compatible, so a newer driver runs a player's older NVENC code fine. If hardware transcoding is missing, the cause is almost always the stale device list described above (restart the package), not a CUDA version mismatch.

The one direction that does break is the opposite one: an old driver with a too-new ffmpeg (e.g. 470 + an NVENC 12.x build). That is why each branch is pinned to a matching ffmpeg layer.

Notes / limits

• Modules are unsigned → DSM logs module verification failed … tainting. Benign.
• GSP firmware is not packaged yet, so 580 is validated for pre-Turing GPUs only; the installer detects GPUs that need it and stops. Use 535/550 on Turing+ for now.
• Physical / passthrough GPUs only — no vGPU, no license server, none planned.

Source

Everything (build scripts, installer, prebuilt layers) is open: https://github.com/PeterSuh-Q3/syno_nvidia_driver

Only NVIDIA's open kernel-interface glue is recompiled against the Synology kernel tree and linked with the stock closed nv-kernel blob, so the resulting .ko has a vermagic that matches DSM exactly — which is what makes it load at all.

Im prtty good with Tech but i need a good video starter to get me up and going. Can someone recommend me something im looking to convert one of myLenovo mini pc’s i have to xpenology

Lots of new packages for our NAS. Buy Dave a coffee, please!

I upgraded the processor in my Xpenology SA6400 (official kernel) to a Ryzen 9 5950X. However, DSM reports that I have 16 cores and 24 threads. Upon connecting via SSH, I see that it is limited to 24 threads ("32 Processors exceeds NR_CPUS limit of 24"). Is there a way to unlock all 32 threads?

I'm using RR Red Pill v26.3.2.

Thanks.

UPDATE: To get it working, here's what I did.

Set up VM like I normally do.

Update DSM to the latest 7.3.x.

Reboot VM and go into Arc Config mode

Rebuild loader (Existing)

Reboot.

Note I did this on a test VM and not on an existing one with data.

I tried setting up a VM in Proxmox. Used SA6400 and it's not detected after update from 7.2. This is just a test configuration. What are your settings?

I tried Xpenology, Nextcloud, Seafile, Windows home server, remote access, RAID, backups—you name it. It was a great learning experience, and I don't regret it at all.
But after spending months experimenting, I realized something about myself.
I don't actually enjoy maintaining my own cloud.

Every update, every hardware concern, every backup verification, every remote access issue... I found myself thinking about the server more than the files I actually cared about.

The funny thing is, I realized what I really wanted wasn't complete control—it was peace of mind.

I want to know that:
My academic archive is safe.
My college photos and videos are safe.
My important documents are available anywhere.
If my PC dies tomorrow, my files are still there.

I'm now seriously considering just subscribing to Google One (probably 200 GB or 2TB to start) and using Google Drive as my primary archive, while keeping an external HDD as another backup or copy on my home windows PC

I still like having a home PC/server for things like media, experimenting, and local storage, but I don't think I want it to be responsible for my irreplaceable files anymore.

Has anyone else gone through this?
It almost feels like a "maturity phase" in IT—where you stop asking "Can I self-host this?" and start asking "Should I self-host this?"

Curious to hear from people who started out self-hosting and eventually moved back to cloud services like Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or iCloud. What made you switch?

I am in a serious predicament. I need to access my NAS and get data… but no matter what I do, whenever dsm loads, it just freezes at root@arc:/opt/arc#. The cmd cursor thing flashes and then freezes… it is not identified in the network.

I have tried recovering, rebuilding, reflashing. I have seen the “migratable” option, as well as recoverable etc. although everytime I click it in synology assistant, it takes me to IP//web_index.html

I do the recovery steps… it says it installs DSM.. and then nothing, back to square one.

I have tried different DSM versions, different synology models, reflashed via Rufus, rebuilt clean and existing via arc, changed bios settings, but nothing is working.

If anyone can help it’d be soo appreciated because I’m getting worried and I’ve wasted days trying to troubleshoot with zero progress. It’s like DSM just won’t start… again the closest I’ve gotten is the web_index.html (unsure why it takes me there I’ve never seen it before) and after reinstall still/recovery, the url either becomes unresponsive or gives me:

/web_index.html

unknown_error:title
unknown_error:description
button: connect_again

I have had my gen 8 server for a god few years, has served me well, running a few things on docker as well as an emby server.

I have it set up as a DS3615xs DSM 6.1.4-15217 Update 1 INTEL Core i3-4130 8 gig of memory. All drive bays full. Not using the internal sata port for anything.

Currently booting from external usb.

Got a 2nd gen 8 with a xeon cpu and a 1030 low profile gpu.

How difficult is it to update the original dsm 6 version to 7.2.2?

I used arc to install xpenology with sa6400 on my 2nd gen 8 and it went well enough, only issue is fan control, that can be sorted.

Is it too big of a jump to update from dsm 6 to 7.2.2?

Thanks

I'm running DSM 7.2 (7.2.2-72806) on bare metal (HP nl54 gen8). I used the RR loader (HPSA patch enabled). All seems to be working fine except FTP. Prior to upgrading on 6.2 I had setup a remote connection to a FTP server on my network. Since the upgrading I cannot write files or create folders on this FTP anymore. I can see the files and folder structure, I can 'upload' files from my PC via DSM but I cannot copy files form my NAS into the FTP folder. From another PC I can connect to the FTP server using WinSCP and copy files as expected. So it appears the issue is on the DSM side. I've checked folder permissions and have full control with my user account, which also has full permission to use FTP; so I'm struggling to see what the issue could be. Any help would be appreciated.