Restore LS-XL from scratch - NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstatio... file:///E:/Download/Buffalo Linkstation LS-X3.0TL/How To Replace ...

Restore LS-XL from scratch

From NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstation Wiki

Contents
1 Abstract
2 System configuration
3 Important note
4 Required software
5 Network configuration
6 Firmware extraction
7 TFTP32 configuration
8 Booting the rescue system
9 Firmware restore

Abstract
This page shows how to restore the original firmware on a LinkStation LS-XL which does not boot (because the system has been
damaged, or the drive has been replaced). The instructions should also be applicable to other similar devices.

System configuration
These instructions are for Windows systems (mainly because the Buffalo firmware updater apparently does not provide access to
debug options on other systems). They were tested on Windows 7 64-bit. Your mileage may vary.

Important note
This process works if the LS-XLs hard drive has a completely empty partition table. Result is not guaranteed in other cases (actually,
result is never guaranteed. Do this at your own risk!).

This means that you may need to take the unit apart (possibly losing your warranty). Before formatting the disk, you may try to recover
the data you had stored on it.

To remove the drives partitions, you may use the Windows Disk Management Console.

Required software
LS-XL firmware updater (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/home-and-small-office-nas/linkstation-
live-1#downloads) (choose Firmware Release 1.65 - For Windows or equivalent in the Download tab)
TFTP32 (http://tftpd32.jounin.net/)

Network configuration
Configure the computers Ethernet interface to use the static IPv4 address 192.168.11.1 and a netmask of 255.255.255.0 (No need to
specify a route). Connect the LS-XL directly to this interface.

Firmware extraction
Uncompress the firmware updater somewhere, and open the ls_series-165\LinkStation_FW1.65 folder. Make a copy of uImage.img and
initrd.img, rename the copies uImage.zip and initrd.zip respectively.

From initrd.zip, extract initrd.buffalo with the password YvSInIQopeipx66t_DCdfEvfP47qeVPhNhAuSYmA4

From uImage.zip, extract uImage-lsp.5.x.buffalo with the password aAhvlM1Yp7_2VSm6BhgkmTOrCN1JyE0C5Q6cB3oBB. Rename this file

1 of 5 3/23/2017 9:27 PM
Restore LS-XL from scratch - NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstatio... file:///E:/Download/Buffalo Linkstation LS-X3.0TL/How To Replace ...

uImage.buffalo.

Note: If your device is not a LS-XL, see this page to find which files are necessary for your device and how to get them.

Create a folder named TFTP. Put initrd.buffalo and uImage.buffalo in it.

TFTP32 configuration
Start TFTP32, click Settings, and configure it as follows:

GLOBAL: Check TFTP Server, Syslog server and DHCP server, and uncheck the rest. (The syslog server is not strictly needed,
but it allows seeing the boot messages of the rescue OS, which can be useful to debug issues)
TFTP:
Set the base directory to the TFTP folder you created earlier.
Set TFTP Security to Read Only
Set Bind TFTP to this address to 192.168.11.1.
DHCP:
Set IP pool start address to 192.168.11.2
Set Default router (Opt 3) to 192.168.11.1
Set Mask (Opt 1) to 255.255.255.0
Set Bind DHCP to this address to 192.168.11.1.

Booting the rescue system

Once TFTP32 settings are saved (and TFTP32 restarted), you can plug in the LS-XL.

1. After around 10-15 seconds, The Tftp Server tab should indicate that the boot files are being uploaded to the device.
The process should take around 10 seconds.

2. After around 30 seconds the rescue system will request an IP address from the DHCP server. TFTP32 will show the allocated
address in its DHCP server tab.
The boot messages will be available in the Syslog server tab.

2 of 5 3/23/2017 9:27 PM
Restore LS-XL from scratch - NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstatio... file:///E:/Download/Buffalo Linkstation LS-X3.0TL/How To Replace ...

The LS-XL blue LED should also stop blinking.

Keep TFP32 opened for the rest of the operations.

Firmware restore
In ls_series-165\LinkStation_FW1.65, open LSUpdater.ini in a text editor, and add

[specialflags]
debug = 1

at the end. Run LSUpdater.exe. It should find the LS-XL at the IP address given by TFTP32s DHCP server.

Click on the LSUpdater system menu icon (the two rings in the top left corner of the window) and choose Debug.

Choose the following options:

Deselect the four checkboxes in the Update column

Select Do not check version, Rebuild partition table and Force update in the Config column.

3 of 5 3/23/2017 9:27 PM
Restore LS-XL from scratch - NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstatio... file:///E:/Download/Buffalo Linkstation LS-X3.0TL/How To Replace ...

After around 10 minutes, you will get the message Linkstation has been updated. You should now be able to connect to the LS-XL
with the IP address given by TFTP32s DHCP module, usually ***192.168.11.2*** (or put it back on your network and access it as usual).

The Web interface is in Japanese. You can change the language by doing this:

1. On the login screen, fill the two fields with the username (admin) and the password password, and click the login button
underneath (
 ).

2. Click on the fourth upper tab ( 
), the first lower tab ( 

), and the third box ( 
). Click the button in this box (
 ); see the attached image for details.

3. Set your preferred language in the drop down menu, and click the lower left button ( ) to confirm.

4 of 5 3/23/2017 9:27 PM
Restore LS-XL from scratch - NAS-Central Buffalo - The Linkstatio... file:///E:/Download/Buffalo Linkstation LS-X3.0TL/How To Replace ...

Retrieved from "http://buffalo.nas-central.org/w/index.php?title=Restore_LS-XL_from_scratch&oldid=32389"

Category: LS-XL

This page was last modified on 25 May 2014, at 21:50.

Content is available under Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported unless otherwise noted.

5 of 5 3/23/2017 9:27 PM