Booting to an alternative OS

[OzCam]

I was just wondering... I love the ausustor hardware and i was wondering if you can boot the 6508 to another OS. It doesnt have a video out but Im curious if it can boot a 'standard' linux os.

[Nazar78]

Unofficially yes for some model, for mine at least. Besides Ubuntu/Debian I also manage to boot it off Windows 10 but you'll lose some functionalities like LEDs (probably LED display too I'm not sure) and fan speed control as I'm not able to find and/or compile the modules, probably didn't spend much time on it. But for your model think it will take extra effort because it lacks video output to install or mod. Not sure if you can use any HDMI dongle as I haven't tested it yet. So with all these, I decided just to stick with ADM then mod it to my likings.

[ndl101]

At some point I did a customized and unattended Debian (preseed) install on a box without display just to try it out, so what you want is, at least in theory, possible. It does require some knowledge about the hardware of system you want to install to, though. The process itself can be trial and error mixed with a little frustration due to the lack of observability. As Nazar78 said, some bits and pieces might not work properly or at all. I booted Ubuntu 21.04 on my AS6604T (different hardware, though) to verify the hardware support a while back and the most vital parts seemed to work well enough which was not quite the case for Ubuntu 20.04. I did not look closer into neither fan control nor the builtin display, though, but I image that both would be generic enough to get to work with a little effort. Ubuntu also supports different types of install automation as well.
An alternative could be SSH via a USB serial console provided your NAS has the needed pins. Also, look into the RaspberryPI forums, It looks like a lot of people are doing something similar in a RPi.
There are many resources available on the web about the concepts of this and if you do not know which search terms to use, try out terms such as preseed, unattended, headless, automated install. In other words, if you want to do this, be prepared to roll your sleeves up and do the work.

• Ubuntu auto install
• Debian Automated Installation

[OzCam]

Ta. I might have a look into this. The hardware is great, but id rather btfs native than putting it over lvm.