Other Buffalo Linkstation Sites

This picture was also donated to the Linkstation_General site listed below

I've noticed that a lot of random searches people do on Buffalo Linkstation related items tend to lead them to my site, but all that is really here is a little pictorial on how I took my original, first generation Linkstation apart a couple of days after I got it, so long ago.

One reason I don't have more here is because there are other sites that have far more information.

For those who are new to the hacking potential of the Linkstation, Terastation, and Kurobox (the Linkstation's twin brother), below is a list of sites I urge you to check out:

The Linkstation_General Yahoo Group

This was the first known English language site dedicated to the Linkstation community. Although it is being largely abandoned in favor of the Wiki listed below, it is still a good place to ask questions that won't get lost in the traffic as easily. You need to have a [free and harmless] Yahoo membership to access this site, but for many it's worth the trouble to sign up.

The Linkstation Wiki

This site is maintained by an enthusiastic Linkstation user and contains a lot of good information and some cool downloads including two alternative operating systems: "Openlink" and "Freelink".

Unfortunately his enthusiasm wore out. The site was abandoned and left to expire without handing its stewardship to a successor. As much as possible was salvaged from it and moved to a new site listed below:

The Newer Linkstation Wiki

Currently the best source of up-to-date information on unlocking the potential of your Linkstation. "OpenLink" and "Freelink" landed safely here too. Now replaced with the site listed below:

The Newest Wiki: www.nas-central.org

Today we have a whole family of Melco-produced NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices which are not all called "LinkStations". Therefore the Wiki was once again reborn under a new name, growing bigger and better than ever. The old linkstationwiki.net name is expected to work until 2009 and simply points to this site. This is where most of the action is!

Buffalo area of the above site

I'm sure this wiki has grown way beyond the dreams of its original creator. It now has a format that features hacking potentials of other brands of network storage devices. So here is a link that hopefully will stay working for awhile to the Buffalo vendor area. Great work people!

www.kurobox.com

Kuroboxes are versions of the Linkstation sold by a different division of Buffalo's parent company (Melco) that ship without hard drives. They cost less than Linkstations with the idea that you then put your own choice of hard drives into it. Since the Kurobox is also marketed to be a customizable/hackable box, it is a little easier to do that with. On the down side, don't expect the easy-to-use web interface found on the Linkstation or to be able to use it without knowing a little bit about what you are doing. You can install the Linkstation OS on these if you need too, but there are tricks to it. The forum section of this site tends to be more technical than the Linkstation sites but much is also relevant to Linkstation owners too. The Kurobox forums site has also had a troubled past, but is going strong now.

It looks like the kurobox.com people also joined the nas-central band wagon as the above link seems to go to an abandoned site. The actual wiki is here Kurobox at nas-central.org Welcome aboard! It looks like this combined community site should be a safe place for all and hopefully prevent some of the troublesome incidents of the past.

Long ago when I purchased my Linkstation, the only hacking sites available were Japanese language ones where the Linkstation had a one year head start on. This was a challenge for me since I'm a monolingual English speaking US citizen. Nevertheless, I managed to install the Debian-Linux file system that I found available on one of these sites. Since then, things have gotten a lot better thanks to the people who created "Openlink" (a hacked version of the original Buffalo Linux OS), and "Freelink" (A more current and easier to install version of Debian Linux for the Linkstation). Gentoo-Linux is also popular with Kurobox Owners. Consult their forum for details. I'm still running that original Japanese Debian version, but have kept it updated with updates from Debian. Therefore my Linkstation is similar, but not exactly like those running Freelink.

Over the years, I've had my Linkstation doing all kinds of things thanks to the ease of installing new software to the Debian system I put on it. Running this web server on it is only a small part of what I use it for. It is very handy for me to have this little computer online, tucked away in a corner of my room purring quietly.

It is funny that years ago I was probably considered by some to be among the "experts" in this field of hacking Linkstations. Since getting my Linkstation to do most of what I always dreamed of getting it to do years ago, I have not kept current with development. Therefore I can no longer be considered an "expert" by any standard and am humbled by the those who currently hold that distinction. I consider this a good thing and wish to thank all those whose knowledge and work I now can draw from.