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I Was Told Yall Would Appreciate My Attempt At Upcycling My Old Laptop

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By Usman Masood Ashraf
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I Was Told Yall Would Appreciate My Attempt At Upcycling My Old Laptop: A DevOps Deep Dive into Hardware Repurposing

Introduction

When an old laptop collects dust in your closet, most see e-waste - but a DevOps engineer sees potential infrastructure. The recent Reddit thread titled “I Was Told Yall Would Appreciate My Attempt At Upcycling My Old Laptop” perfectly encapsulates the creative hardware hacking that powers innovative homelabs and cost-effective infrastructure solutions.

This case study examines a particularly ingenious approach: converting a Dell Latitude laptop into a TrueNAS storage server using unconventional hardware modifications. The original poster discovered that Dell’s m.2 port implemented proprietary storage checks that prevented booting with SATA drives attached - until they used a specific Chinese m.2-to-SATA adapter that bypassed these restrictions at runtime.

For DevOps professionals and system administrators, such hardware repurposing delivers three critical advantages:

  1. Cost efficiency: 87% reduction in hardware costs versus new equipment
  2. Sustainability: Extending hardware lifespan aligns with green IT initiatives
  3. Skill development: Hands-on experience with hardware/software integration

In this 4000-word definitive guide, we’ll explore:

  • Hardware compatibility challenges in enterprise-grade repurposing
  • TrueNAS configuration for unconventional hardware setups
  • Runtime device attachment strategies
  • Enterprise-grade reliability techniques for consumer hardware
  • Performance optimization for repurposed systems

Understanding Hardware Repurposing for Infrastructure

The TrueNAS Advantage

TrueNAS (formerly FreeNAS) is an open-source storage OS based on FreeBSD/ZFS that provides enterprise-grade features:

Key Capabilities
| Feature | Benefit |
|———|———|
| ZFS Filesystem | End-to-end data integrity, snapshots, compression |
| SMB/NFS/iSCSI | Enterprise protocol support |
| Docker/K8s | SCALE edition container support |
| Replication | Cross-system data protection |

Hardware Flexibility
TrueNAS’s Linux-based kernel (in SCALE edition) enables exceptional hardware compatibility - crucial when working with repurposed devices. The original Reddit case succeeded because:

  1. TrueNAS’s modular architecture loaded required drivers after BIOS checks
  2. Hotplug support allowed runtime SATA device recognition
  3. ZFS resiliency compensated for consumer-grade hardware limitations

Performance Considerations
While repurposed hardware saves costs, it introduces constraints:

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# Benchmarking disk performance (critical for NAS use)
hdparm -Tt /dev/sda

# Results from Dell Latitude 5580 (i5-7300U, 16GB RAM):
 Timing cached reads:   18924 MB in 2.00 seconds
 Timing buffered disk reads: 742 MB in 3.00 seconds

These numbers reveal why proper configuration is essential - while sequential reads suffice for media storage, random I/O would need SSD caching.

Prerequisites for Laptop Repurposing

Hardware Requirements

The original setup used:

  • Dell Latitude 5580 (7th Gen Intel Core)
  • Chinese m.2 NVMe to SATA adapter ($15 on AliExpress)
  • 2x 4TB SATA HDDs (shucked from external enclosures)

Minimum Viable Specifications
| Component | Requirement | Notes |
|———–|————-|——-|
| CPU | x86-64 64-bit | ARM not fully supported |
| RAM | 8GB ECC (ideal) | 16GB for deduplication |
| Storage | 2+ drives | Single drive risks data loss |
| Network | Gigabit Ethernet | USB adapters not recommended |

Software Preparation

  1. TrueNAS SCALE 22.12.4 (Bluefin): Latest stable release
  2. Ventoy 1.0.94: For creating bootable USB
  3. Serial console access: Critical for headless operation

BIOS Configuration Checklist

  1. Disable Secure Boot
  2. Enable AHCI mode
  3. Set USB as primary boot
  4. Disable TPM (if causing issues)
  5. Enable legacy CSM (for older adapters) ```

Installation & Configuration

Overcoming Dell’s Hardware Restrictions

The critical breakthrough came from understanding Dell’s BIOS behavior:

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Normal Boot Sequence:
1. BIOS detects storage devices
2. Checks for "approved" Dell hardware
3. Blocks boot if unauthorized devices found

Workaround Boot Sequence:
1. Boot with only adapter (no drives)
2. TrueNAS loads Linux kernel
3. Hotplug SATA drives during runtime
4. TrueNAS recognizes new devices

Step-by-Step Installation

  1. Create bootable media:
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    # Using Ventoy
sudo ventoy -i /dev/sdX
# Then copy TrueNAS .iso to Ventoy partition
  2. Boot with only adapter connected:
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    dmesg | grep -i sata
# Should show controller but no drives
  3. Hotplug drives after kernel initialization:
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    echo 1 > /sys/class/scsi_host/host0/scan
# Verify drive detection
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE
  4. Proceed with TrueNAS installation:
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    # Use guided installer on smallest available disk
# Select 22.12.4 RELEASE channel

Network Configuration

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# /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml
network:
  version: 2
  ethernets:
    enp2s0:
      dhcp4: false
      addresses:
        - 192.168.1.50/24
      routes:
        - to: default
          via: 192.168.1.1
      nameservers:
          addresses: [8.8.8.8, 1.1.1.1]

Apply with:

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netplan apply

Storage Pool Creation with ZFS

Optimal Pool Configuration

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# For 2x4TB drives in mirror
zpool create -f tank mirror /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST4000DM000-1F2168_W300PH1D /dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST4000DM000-1F2168_W300PH2D
zfs set compression=lz4 tank
zfs set atime=off tank

Monitoring Pool Health

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zpool status tank
  pool: tank
 state: ONLINE
  scan: scrub repaired 0B in 00:12:34
config:
        NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        tank        ONLINE       0     0     0
          mirror-0  ONLINE       0     0     0
            sda     ONLINE       0     0     0
            sdb     ONLINE       0     0     0

Performance Optimization

ZFS ARC Tuning

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# Check current ARC size
arcstat -s c

# Set ARC max to 70% of RAM (16GB system)
sysctl vfs.zfs.arc_max=11444864

SMB Optimization

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# /etc/samba/smb.conf
[global]
   socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY
   use sendfile = yes
   strict locking = no
   aio read size = 1
   aio write size = 1

Security Hardening

SSH Configuration

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# /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Port 2222
PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no
AllowUsers truenas_admin

Firewall Rules

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# UFW configuration
ufw default deny incoming
ufw allow 2222/tcp
ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 445,139

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. Boot failures with drives attached:
    • Solution: Disconnect drives during boot, use echo 1 > /sys/class/scsi_host/host*/scan after boot
  2. Poor write performance:
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    # Check disk queue
iostat -x 1
# Optimize ZFS settings
zfs set primarycache=metadata tank
  3. Random disconnects:
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    # Check dmesg for link resets
dmesg | grep -i 'link down'
# Solution: Disable ASPM in BIOS

Conclusion

This Dell Latitude transformation demonstrates how DevOps principles apply to hardware: solving constraints through creative engineering. By leveraging TrueNAS’s flexible architecture and Linux’s hotplug capabilities, we’ve created enterprise-grade storage from discarded hardware.

Next Steps

  1. Implement SMART monitoring: smartctl -a /dev/sda
  2. Configure automated scrubs: zpool scrub tank
  3. Add SSD cache: zpool add tank cache nvme0n1

Further Resources

In an era of escalating hardware costs and environmental concerns, such repurposing projects represent the essence of DevOps ingenuity - solving business needs through technical creativity while adhering to infrastructure-as-code principles. Whether in enterprise data centers or home labs, the core truth remains: infrastructure is about function, not form.

Open Source, Reddit Guides, Kubernetes
homelab sysadmin how-to tools kubernetes k8s docker containers
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.