TerraMaster on KnightLi Blog

Hard Drive Prices Are Soaring: Do Not Expand Your NAS Yet, Try a $200 TerraMaster + HC620 Cold Data Setup

Mon, 04 May 2026 11:46:53 +0800

When hard drive prices rise sharply, a full NAS does not always need an immediate drive upgrade. If the main NAS is still working normally and only running out of capacity, it is often better to separate data by access frequency: keep frequently used hot data on the original NAS, and move rarely used cold data and backups to a separate cold-storage disk.

This article records a low-cost approach: use large HC620 drives for cold data, then use an inexpensive TerraMaster F2-220, F2-221, or F4 as the migration and mount node. It does not aim for high performance. It solves one practical problem: during a period when upgrading disks is not cost-effective, first free up space on the main NAS.

Idea

Sort data by access frequency first:

Hot data: photos, work files, recent downloads, frequently watched videos. Keep these on the main NAS.
Cold data: old media libraries, archived materials, large files that rarely change. Move these to HC620.
Backup data: data that only needs periodic writes and occasional reads. This can also be stored on HC620.

For HC620 usage scenarios, see the site article: Misunderstandings and Correct Usage of Western Digital HC620 SMR Drives. It is better suited to sequential writes, long-term storage, and random reads. It is not suitable for workloads with frequent deletes and repeated writes.

If the goal is simply to free up space on the main NAS, I do not recommend replacing the main NAS disks on a large scale while hard drive prices are high. Move rarely used data out first, and let the main NAS continue handling hot data. This is usually more cost-effective.

Why Use an Old TerraMaster

The problem with HC620 is not capacity, but convenience. It has requirements for the operating system, interface, and usage pattern, so putting it directly into a USB hard drive enclosure is not a good fit.

An old TerraMaster F2-220, F2-221, or some F4 models can be used as a low-cost cold-data node. The advantages are straightforward:

Cheap. A used F2-220 is often under 200 RMB.
Small footprint and acceptable power consumption.
The system can be installed on a USB drive, so it does not occupy a drive bay.
Two or more SATA bays are available, making it suitable for HC620 archive disks.

These old machines are not powerful, but they are enough for cold-data migration, CIFS mounting, and background copying. Although the F2-220 only has older SATA 3G ports, HC620 can still reach around 200MB/s in outer-track disk-to-disk copies in testing. For cold-data migration, this is not slow. The bottleneck is often the network, the source disk condition, or the number of files.

If the onboard gigabit network is not fast enough, you can also add a USB 2.5G network adapter. A cold-data node does not need complicated modification. As long as the system recognizes the adapter, and both the switch and main NAS support 2.5G, the network bottleneck can be raised noticeably.

Prepare Video Output

If the machine has no HDMI port, you need VGA for system installation. The F2-220 has an internal VGA header. You can use a motherboard internal 12-pin VGA adapter cable: one end connects to the internal header, and the other end exposes a standard VGA connector for a monitor.

For VGA adapter specifications and notes, see: Installing fnOS on TerraMaster F2-220: VGA Output. In short, search terms include “12Pin VGA adapter cable”, “motherboard 12-pin VGA cable”, and “2.0mm 12Pin to VGA”. Before buying, check pitch, direction, and pinout.

Install Ubuntu Server to a USB Drive

Install Ubuntu Server to a USB drive so all hard drive bays remain available for data disks.

The F2-220 is relatively weak, so installing directly on it can be slow. A more efficient method is to plug the USB drive into a faster computer, complete the Ubuntu Server installation there, then move the USB drive back to the TerraMaster. As long as the boot mode is compatible, it usually works directly.

After installation, check the network configuration carefully. Otherwise, the machine may boot but have no network connection, making SSH management impossible.

Configure Networking

After entering the system, check the network interface name first:

`1`	`lshw -c network`

The sample output shows the logical name:

  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: enp2s0
       version: 07
       serial: 6c:bf:b5:00:63:ab
       size: 1Gbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=6.8.0-111-generic duplex=full firmware=rtl8168e-3_0.0.4 03/27/12 ip=192.168.8.205 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
       resources: irq:17 ioport:e000(size=256) memory:d0604000-d0604fff memory:d0600000-d0603fff

Here the interface name is enp2s0. Then edit the netplan configuration:

`1`	`sudo more /etc/netplan/01-install-config.yaml`

If the file does not exist, create it with this content:

network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    enp2s0:
      dhcp4: true

Replace enp2s0 with the actual interface name on your machine. Save the file and apply it:

`1`	`sudo netplan apply`

After the network is restored, you can SSH into the TerraMaster and continue without keeping a monitor connected.

Format HC620 as btrfs

If the HC620 is new, or if all data on it has been confirmed unnecessary, format it as btrfs first. The following operations erase the target drive. Confirm the disk device before running them. Do not format the main NAS share or the system USB drive by mistake.

List current disks:

`1`	`lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,MODEL,SERIAL,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINTS`

You can also check stable disk paths:

`1`	`ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/`

After confirming which device is the HC620, unmount any existing mount point:

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sudo umount /dev/sda 2>/dev/null
sudo umount /dev/sda1 2>/dev/null

If you want to create btrfs directly on the whole disk:

`1`	`sudo mkfs.btrfs -f -O zoned -d single -m single -L HC620_01 /dev/sda`

Parameter notes:

-f: force file-system creation, avoiding old signatures blocking the format.
-O zoned: enable the zoned feature, suitable for drives like HC620 that need zone-aware sequential writes.
-d single -m single: use single-disk mode for both data and metadata.
-L HC620_01: set a label for easier identification.

If your system or kernel does not handle zoned btrfs well, continue with the earlier test notes: Is a New WD HC620 14T Drive for About 600 RMB Worth Buying?. Compatibility for this type of drive depends on kernel version, SATA controller, and file-system support. Do not import real data until the setup behaves normally.

After formatting, test with a temporary mount:

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sudo mkdir -p /mnt/disk1
sudo mount /dev/sda /mnt/disk1
df -h

After confirming it mounts correctly, write /etc/fstab for automatic mounting. For long-term use, prefer /dev/disk/by-id/ instead of /dev/sda to avoid device-name changes after reboot.

Configure Mounts

This cold-data node usually needs to mount two types of paths:

The main NAS share, used to read data that needs to be migrated.
The local HC620 data disks, used to store cold data and backups.

Create mount directories first:

`1`	`sudo mkdir -p /mnt/xxxxx /mnt/disk1 /mnt/disk2`

If you need to mount CIFS/SMB shares, install the tools:

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sudo apt update
sudo apt install cifs-utils

Then edit /etc/fstab and add lines like these:

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//192.168.x.xxx/xxxxx   /mnt/xxxxx cifs auto,username=xxxxx,password=xxxxx,uid=997,gid=997,file_mode=0777,dir_mode=0777,nofail 0 0
/dev/sda  /mnt/disk1  auto  defaults,nofail  0  0
/dev/sdb  /mnt/disk2  auto  defaults,nofail  0  0

The first line mounts the main NAS share. The next two lines mount local disks.

In real use, prefer stable paths such as /dev/disk/by-id/ for data disks to avoid /dev/sda and /dev/sdb changing order after reboot. HC620 formatting and mounting notes are also covered in the earlier record: Is a New WD HC620 14T Drive for About 600 RMB Worth Buying?.

Test the mount after editing:

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sudo mount -a
df -h

After confirming that both the main NAS share and local data disks appear, start migrating data.

Copy Files in the Background

For large data migrations, do not run plain cp directly in the SSH foreground. The preferred setup here is screen + mc: screen keeps the session alive after SSH disconnects, while mc provides a clearer two-pane file-management interface.

mc is well suited to manually organizing cold data. Open the main NAS mount on the left, open the HC620 data disk on the right, select files, and press F5 to copy. During copying, it shows both current-file progress and total progress, which is much easier to read than raw command-line output when moving many files.

The image above illustrates the copy-progress window. The Midnight Commander manual also notes that copy, move, and delete operations show a file-operation dialog in verbose mode, with current-file and total progress available.

Install the tools:

`1`	`sudo apt install screen mc rsync`

Start a background session:

`1`	`screen -S cold-data`

Run mc inside screen:

mc

The usual workflow is to open the source directory and target directory in the two panels, then operate with shortcuts:

Tab: switch between panels.
Insert: select multiple files or directories.
F5: copy to the other panel.
F6: move or rename.
F8: delete, use carefully.

If you need a more scriptable and repeatable sync task, use rsync instead:

`1`	`rsync -avh --progress /mnt/xxxxx/old-data/ /mnt/disk1/old-data/`

Even if SSH disconnects during copying, the screen session remains alive. Reconnect and run:

`1`	`screen -r cold-data`

You will return to the original copy task.

Usage Advice

This setup is for cold data and backups. Do not use HC620 as a high-frequency write disk. Suggested usage:

Keep hot data and daily services on the main NAS.
Store large long-term files, media libraries, and archive materials on HC620.
Migrate mainly by sequential writes; avoid frequent deletes and repeated small-file writes.
Keep at least two copies of important data. Do not keep the only copy on a single disk.
After migration, sample-check files and confirm that directory and file counts look normal.

If hard drive prices fall later, upgrading the main NAS array can still be considered. For now, using a low-cost node to relieve capacity pressure keeps both risk and spending more controllable.

Summary

When NAS space is full, buying new drives immediately is not the only answer. Treat the main NAS as the hot-data device, treat HC620 as cold-data and backup storage, and use a cheap TerraMaster F2-220, F2-221, or F4 as the mount and copy node. This is a low-cost and practical transitional setup.

The key is not performance, but division of responsibility: the main NAS keeps the daily experience smooth, while cold data is stored separately. This frees up space and avoids a large upgrade cost during a period of high hard drive prices.

Installing fnOS on TerraMaster F2-220: F3 Backplane, NVMe, and BIOS Module Injection

Mon, 04 May 2026 06:09:40 +0800

This is a practical note on installing fnOS on a TerraMaster F2-220. The goal is to replace the original TOS and keep using the NAS after official support for the F2-220 has ended. The process also verifies that the F3 backplane can work on the F2-220, and solves the issue where the BIOS cannot boot from NVMe.

The original F3 backplane project was verified on the F2-221 with a J3355 platform. The F2-220 uses the J1800 platform, so compatibility was not guaranteed. A V1.1 version existed in a project fork with fewer components, lower cost, and less assembly difficulty, so that version was used for testing.

PCB Fabrication and Soldering

Backplane project: arnarg/f3_backplane. The board used here is the V1.1 version from a fork. Its core goal is to keep the original SATA drive bays while exposing an NVMe SSD position from the backplane connector.

Multiple PCBs were received after fabrication. One detail appeared during soldering: after soldering the M.2 connector, it became clear that the SATA connector was different from common SATA connectors.

A fully matching native SATA connector was not found on Taobao, so an existing connector was modified instead: the pins were pulled out, positions were swapped, and then the connector was soldered back to the board.

The key takeaway is that the F3 backplane approach can be tried on the F2-220, but SATA connector selection needs special attention. Do not order only by looking for a generic SATA connector.

VGA Output

The F2-220 has no exposed video output, but it has an internal 12-pin VGA header. You need an internal motherboard 12Pin VGA adapter cable. One end connects to the 12-pin header inside the machine, and the other end is usually a standard DB15 VGA female connector for an external monitor.

Useful search keywords include “12Pin VGA adapter cable”, “motherboard 12-pin VGA adapter cable”, and “2.0mm 12Pin to VGA”. Before buying, compare the connector direction, pitch, and pinout against a photo of the internal header. Do not order based only on the “12Pin” label.

This step is important for installation. Without video output, BIOS and installer troubleshooting becomes much harder.

Installing fnOS

Boot the fnOS installer through Ventoy. The installer can see the NVMe SSD, which means the backplane and NVMe hardware path are working.

However, after installation, removing the boot drive causes the machine to reboot into the BIOS screen instead of entering fnOS. The BIOS boot list does not contain the NVMe SSD. If fnOS is installed to a USB drive and booted from there, the system can still see the NVMe drive normally.

This indicates:

NVMe hardware detection is fine.
Linux can access the NVMe drive.
The failure point is the BIOS boot stage.
The F2-220 platform is old, and the stock BIOS likely lacks an NVMe boot module.

Backing Up the BIOS

At this point, fnOS can already boot from a USB drive. Since fnOS is Debian-based, flashrom can be used inside the system to back up and flash the BIOS.

Flashing BIOS is risky. Prepare a programmer if possible, so recovery is still possible after a failed flash.

Install flashrom:

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sudo apt update
sudo apt install flashrom -y

Check whether the BIOS chip can be detected:

`1`	`sudo flashrom -p internal`

Detected chip information may look like this:

`1`	`Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64.W" (8192 kB, SPI) mapped at physical address 0x00000000ff800000.`

Back up the original BIOS. Replace the chip model in the command with the actual result from your machine:

`1`	`sudo flashrom -p internal -c "W25Q64.W" -r backup_factory.bin`

Injecting the NVMe Module

The backed-up BIOS is a .bin file. You can transfer it to a PC with WinSCP, then refer to the Bilibili tutorial 让老主板用上 Nvme 协议的固态 to inject the NVMe module into the BIOS file.

After processing, transfer the modified BIOS file back to fnOS.

Do not blindly reuse someone else’s BIOS file. Different machines, BIOS versions, and flash chips may differ. The safer approach is to back up your own original BIOS and modify that backup.

Flashing the New BIOS

The flash command is shown below. Replace the chip model, firmware path, and file name according to your actual setup:

`1`	`sudo flashrom -p internal -c "W25Q64.W" -w /vol1/NEW_NVME.bin`

When the output shows this line, verification has passed:

`1`	`Verifying flash... VERIFIED.`

After flashing, the BIOS boot list may show a PATA entry. On older BIOS setups with an injected NVMe module, the NVMe boot entry often appears as PATA. Seeing it means the BIOS can now recognize the NVMe boot path.

Result

Final result:

F3 Backplane V1.1 can detect NVMe on the TerraMaster F2-220.
The fnOS installer can see the NVMe SSD.
The stock BIOS cannot boot directly from NVMe.
After injecting the NVMe module into the BIOS, a PATA boot entry appears.
The machine can boot fnOS from NVMe after the BIOS modification.

Testing feedback also notes that this NVMe channel is only a little over 300MB/s. That is enough for a system drive. There is no need to use a high-end SSD; even a small Optane drive can be sufficient.

Notes

This is not a risk-free general tutorial. It is closer to a hardware and BIOS modification record. Before trying it, note the following:

F2-220 and F2-221 use different platforms, so F2-221 results should not be treated as identical to F2-220 results.
The F3 backplane requires PCB fabrication and soldering. The SATA connector may also require pin modification.
A suitable internal VGA adapter cable is needed for installation and troubleshooting.
BIOS flashing can brick the machine. Prepare a programmer and keep the original backup.
The chip model in the flashrom command must match the chip detected on your own machine.
Do not directly flash someone else’s modified BIOS. Inject the NVMe module into your own backup first.

The value of this note is that it adds real F2-220 test results: the F3 backplane idea is not limited to the F2-221, and the F2-220 can also use an NVMe system drive. The real blocker is not Linux detecting NVMe, but whether the BIOS supports NVMe booting.

fnNAS forum test thread: 铁威马F2-220折腾飞牛OS过程

TerraMaster F2-221 NAS Backplane Pinout Notes

Mon, 04 May 2026 06:02:56 +0800

This note documents the non-standard backplane connector pinout of the TerraMaster F2-221 NAS. The connector looks close to a PCIe edge connector, but it is not a standard PCIe slot. It is a custom TerraMaster backplane interface.

The connector carries SATA, power, reset, and PCIe signals at the same time. Once PCIe1 x1 is confirmed usable, a custom backplane can expose an M.2 M-key slot and use an NVMe SSD as an internal system drive.

The same idea also applies to the TerraMaster F2-220. Although the F2-220 and F2-221 use different platforms, a fnNAS forum test shows that F3 Backplane V1.1 can detect NVMe on the F2-220, and the NVMe drive is visible inside the OS installer. The extra work is that the old BIOS may not support booting from NVMe.

Summary

The F2-221 backplane connector contains:

Signals for two native SATA ports
12V, 5V, 3.3V, and GND
SATA drive power-control related signals
PERST#
At least one usable PCIe Gen2 x1 signal group
Partial clues for a second PCIe signal group, but not fully verified

PCIe1 can be used to expose an M.2 M-key NVMe slot. In testing, the NVMe drive runs at PCIe Gen2 x1, and the BIOS can detect and boot from it.

F2-220 testing points in the same direction: the hardware can detect NVMe, but the BIOS boot stage may require injecting an NVMe module, and the boot entry may appear as PATA.

Backplane Connector Pinout

The connector has B/A sides. ? means unknown or unconnected, and NC means not connected.

Pin	B side	A side
1	12V	?
2	12V	12V
3	12V	12V
4	GND	GND
5	SATA1 A+	SATA1 B+
6	SATA1 A-	SATA1 B-
7	GND	NC
8	5V	5V
9	5V	5V
10	?	5V
11	?	?
12	3.3V	GND
13	GND	3.3V
14	SATA2 A+	3.3V
15	SATA2 A-	GND
16	GND	SATA2 B+
17	PERST#	SATA2 B-
18	GND	GND
19	PCIe1 TX+	NC
20	PCIe1 TX-	GND
21	GND	PCIe1 RX+
22	GND	PCIe1 RX-
23	PCIe1 REFCLK+	GND
24	PCIe1 REFCLK-	GND
25	GND	PCIe2 RX+
26	GND	PCIe2 RX-
27	PCIe2 TX+	GND
28	PCIe2 TX-	GND
29	GND	PCIe2 REFCLK+
30	?	PCIe2 REFCLK-
31	?	GND
32	GND	?

PCIe1 has higher practical reference value. PCIe2 is not fully verified and should only be treated as a clue, not a reliable design basis.

Signal Source Reasoning

The stock F2-221 dual-bay backplane does not include a PCIe-to-SATA controller. SATA signals go directly from the motherboard connector into the backplane. The extra PCIe signals are mainly inferred from other multi-bay models in the same product family.

The TerraMaster F5-422 backplane uses two ASMedia ASM1061 chips. ASM1061 is a PCIe Gen2 x1 to dual-SATA controller. Combined with the Intel J3355 having 2 SATA ports and 6 PCIe Gen2 lanes, this suggests that multi-bay models expand SATA ports through PCIe.

Therefore, it is reasonable for the F2-221 motherboard connector to retain PCIe signals. The vendor likely reuses motherboard designs across models with different bay counts and changes functionality through the backplane.

PCIe Differential Pair Identification

PCIe differential pairs often go into inner layers after vias, so photos alone cannot trace the complete routing. One useful rule is that, in traditional PCIe designs, TX differential pairs usually have AC coupling capacitors.

The direction must be viewed in reverse:

TX from the ASM1061 controller’s perspective corresponds to RX on the CPU or motherboard side.
RX from the ASM1061 controller’s perspective corresponds to TX on the CPU or motherboard side.
REFCLK needs to be judged together with neighboring differential pairs and routing location.

This kind of pinout is better treated as hardware reverse-engineering material, not as an official specification.

Validation

F3 Backplane designs based on this pinout have completed the following validation:

The original two SATA drive bays remain usable.
PCIe1 can be routed to an M.2 M-key slot.
The NVMe SSD can be detected by BIOS.
The NAS can boot directly from the NVMe SSD.
btrfs scrub found no disk errors.
The system ran from the NVMe SSD for weeks without obvious issues.

The test NVMe SSD was a Patriot P300 128GB. hdparm result:

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/dev/nvme0n1:
 Timing cached reads:   4554 MB in  2.00 seconds = 2279.68 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads: 1222 MB in  3.00 seconds = 407.22 MB/sec

This speed matches the PCIe Gen2 x1 limitation. The goal is not to fully utilize NVMe performance, but to replace an external USB SSD with an internal system drive.

Notes

This pinout is useful as a reference for hardware reverse engineering and custom backplanes, but it should not be treated as official documentation.

The connector is not standard PCIe and cannot directly accept generic PCIe devices.
? pins are unverified and should not be connected to critical circuits casually.
PCIe2 is not fully verified and carries higher risk than PCIe1.
CLKREQ is not fully routed like a normal M.2 design, so ASPM may not work.
SATA power includes hot-swap related load switch and slow start logic; do not route only signal lines while ignoring power control.
If reproducing the design, measure your own motherboard and backplane again instead of relying only on photos.

Original project write-up: I made a new backplane for my Terramaster F2-221 NAS
F3 Backplane KiCad project: arnarg/f3_backplane
F3 Backplane pinout CSV: f3_backplane.csv
F2-220 compatibility test: 铁威马F2-220折腾飞牛OS过程

TerraMaster on KnightLi Blog

Hard Drive Prices Are Soaring: Do Not Expand Your NAS Yet, Try a $200 TerraMaster + HC620 Cold Data Setup

Idea

Why Use an Old TerraMaster

Prepare Video Output

Install Ubuntu Server to a USB Drive

Configure Networking

Format HC620 as btrfs

Configure Mounts

Copy Files in the Background

Usage Advice

Summary

Related Links

Installing fnOS on TerraMaster F2-220: F3 Backplane, NVMe, and BIOS Module Injection

PCB Fabrication and Soldering

VGA Output

Installing fnOS

Backing Up the BIOS

Injecting the NVMe Module

Flashing the New BIOS

Result

Notes

Related Links

TerraMaster F2-221 NAS Backplane Pinout Notes

Summary

Backplane Connector Pinout

Signal Source Reasoning

PCIe Differential Pair Identification

Validation

Notes

Related Links