The Thecus n8800Pro is a 2U, 8 drive, inexpensive storage array. It comes with a pretty GUI running what appears to be embedded Linux. Clearly I had to get a normal Linux distribution running on there!
A quick Google on installing Linux on other Thecus models suggests that they are standard x86 hardware and perfect to get Linux onto.
The first thing you’ll notice is that there’s no VGA port on the back of the device:
Not to matter, there is a header on the motherboard for VGA:
First things first, you need a VGA cable, some pliers and other cutting instruments:
Carefully remove the blue plastic case and as much metal as you can from the cable, you should end up with something looking like this:
Next, you’ll want to ease your new plug into the holes on the motherboard. Use paper to insulate any metal parts of your plug from unintentional contacts on the motherboard. You’ll need to use something to hold the plug in place, paper works well. You may need to wiggle the cable a little to get signal:
Once you’ve got the cable in place, a quick reboot of the Thecus will give you the option to press DEL to enter the Phoenix BIOS:
Now you’ll need to change the boot order to allow your device to boot from USB CD-ROM before the Hard Disk. I couldn’t get LAN(PXE) booting to work. Then you’ll be able to boot from a CD and install an operating system of your choice.
A few useful bits of output:
lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GR/GH/GHM (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 02)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GR/GH/GHM (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GHM (ICH7-M DH) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82574L Gigabit Network Connection
03:00.0 Mass storage controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3132 Serial ATA Raid II Controller (rev 01)
04:00.0 Mass storage controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3132 Serial ATA Raid II Controller (rev 01)
05:00.0 Mass storage controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3132 Serial ATA Raid II Controller (rev 01)
06:00.0 Mass storage controller: Silicon Image, Inc. SiI 3132 Serial ATA Raid II Controller (rev 01)
cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5500 @ 1.66GHz
stepping : 2
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 0
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca
cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm
syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2
cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 3333.64
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5500 @ 1.66GHz
stepping : 2
cpu MHz : 1000.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 1
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca
cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm
syscall nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2
cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 3333.13
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
