[HowTo] QNAP BIOS recovery of completely dead mainboard [SPI flash method] [x51, x53]

[chrishamm]

I just wanted to say thank you for bringing up the idea to reflash the BIOS/EC when my NAS didn't do ANYTHING on start-up, i.e. no LEDs, no FAN, nothing. I was able to get my TS-453A back up with different BIOS files and a slightly different procedure.

When searching for BIOS files for the TS-453A I stumbled upon this thread: https://mail.coreboot.org/pipermail/fla ... 15002.html There they mentioned that there are two different BIOS versions for my NAS model, one for the Intel N3150and another one for the N3160 processors (mine). Apparently choosing the wrong one could result a bricked device. Note that I flashed both the BIOS and EC chips.

The pin assignment of the JSPI headers was equal to the one described in the main thread:

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1 - VCC
2 - GND
3 - CS
4 - SCLK
5 - MISO
6 - MOSI

It turns out the BIOS chip (MX25U6435F) operates at 1.8V and the EC chip (MX25L512E) at 3.3V. So I started with a Raspberry Pi + EC chip at 3.3V and flashed it with flashrom. Note that it is crucial to specify the SPI clock speed (in this case 512KHz, reduce to 100KHz if it doesn't work):

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flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=512 -w ./QX47EC20.BIN

Then I moved on to the BIOS chip. Because I was afraid I could toast the BIOS chip I tried some voltage divider combinations but my first attempts didn't seem to provide sufficient power. That's why I ended up placing a 15 Ohm resistor between +3.3V and VCC to get at least some drop between the 3.3V and 1.8V lines. I also added 18 Ohm resistors between the CS, SCLK, and MOSI lines - MISO should not need one. Then I reflashed the BIOS chip with

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flashrom -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0,spispeed=512 -w ./QX47AR25.bin

After this step I reassmbled everything and my NAS came back up to life. I'm really happy this could save me from buying an exchange motherboard and/or RMA repair!

[GRX21]

My TS-453Be will not start, it has stayed with the red status light for locked.

I am determined to try this recovery method but ...

Where could I download the files to flash BIOS and EC?

The reference QY47 Rev1.5 appears on the motherboard

Thanks so much

[buggy82]

Hey @buggy82, I am trying to reflash a TS-251+ using your original instructions, but I am stuck at the stage after connecting the wires. When I run "flashrom -E -V -p linux_spi:dev=/dev/spidev0.0" I get a print-out of what looks like flashrom attempting to identify a rom, ultimately saying No EEPROM/flash device found. Maybe I did not connect the wires properly?

Hi Eulogium,

If you know the EEPROM chip type, you can also fix flashrom to that chip and skip the auto detect stage. Please investigate on the EEPROM and the flashrom command options.

[buggy82]

Where could I download the files to flash BIOS and EC?

Contact QNAP Support via Ticket system and EXPLICITELY tell them what you want. You need to somehow pass the QNAPs 1st level support (who know literally nothing) and get them to forward your request to someone actually knowledgeable.

QNAP has a public FTP server with all BIOS files. I just cant find the link atm.

[komede]

On 2022-09-15 the update QTS 5.0.1.2145 build 20220903 killed my TS-451.
I recognized, that the fan went loud, but when I checked about 3 hours later, the TS-451 NAS did not respond anymore.
HDD 2 and 4 went red. HD1 was green, USB was blue, LAN was flashing orange.
HDs 1,2,4 are a Raid 5 cluster, 3 is empty. USB is the 4bay extension.

I removed all HDs, attached a monitor and a keyboard and started again. No beep at startup and only a black screen. No LED turned on on the keyboard, only the fan was running.

On this chanel it looks al little bit, like QNAP is killing boards and BIOS randomly -not knowing- but stil purpose?
Any idea what could help?

[dolbyman]

TS-451 .. that sounds more like the LPC degradation (fan,hdd light etc)

Please check here
viewtopic.php?t=157459