User Ratings

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ease 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
features 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
design 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
support 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5

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User Reviews

  • This thing keeps my DNS-323 alive.
  • I own a DNS-320 and was wondering if such project exist as Windows does not support SMB 1 anymore and the vendor is not supporting this models for many years. I'm glad that Alf-F exist and the install worked fine for me. Although, like the docs says, it's a major OS update and if you are tempted to use it, you must be aware of a couple things: 1 - Backup: do not attempt any similar firmware change without a backup! It works fine for me and I did not lost any files, but I also had a backup handy just in case. 2 - Linux experience: some Linux and networking experience is preferable. I would not recommend to flash the firmware by any alternative OSS if you don't have a basic knowledge of Linux. 3 - Read the Documentation carefully! It will save you precious time ;) 4 - Security: not sure the product is up to date, make sure this is well protected by other means (UTM, network segregation, etc) I had it installed only for one day and will come back later after a little while to share more experience. So far, pretty happy and impressed with the capabilities (I need to explore the Add Packages a little more), I wished the project was more actively supported, but as far as I'm concerned, an amazing replacement to the original clunky, bloated and low performance firmware. Kudos to the Alt-F team!
  • Installed on a 321 that I got for 6 bux from Goodwill. Alt-F is far superior to the outdated D-link crap that was on the unit. Flashed the device and was up and running in 10 minutes after entering network details. Though I'm not fluent in linux, I've had enough experience on folder and file hierarchy. Alt-F cannot overcome the limitations and crappy speed of the 321 box. On a 1000 Network, transfers run at 10 at best, 14 if you're lucky. Through some trial and error with folder permissions, I setup FTP, as other users have stated that its actually faster. We'll see.... I'm still playing around with settings and the feature-set. BEFORE TINKERING, Be sure to SAVE your settings to disk so you can restore to a point where the system was working. This is how I got the unit to do what I needed.
  • Estou em junho de 2022, ainda hoje este projeto esta me ajudando a dar uma nova vida para meu NAS DLink DNS-320L. Somente tenho a agradecer pelo projeto. I am in June 2022, even today this project is helping me to give a new life to my NAS DLink DNS-320L. I just have to thank you for the project.
  • Great. I was pointed to this alternative firmware after I read that smbv1 -support would be removed soon from Windows 11, and it was also removed from more recent linux-kernels. I have an ancient Conceptronic CH3SNAS which I already had upgraded with DNS-323-firmware. Still working great. But this firmware makes this NAS which I bought in 2008 or 2009 or so a bit longer usable. Installation worked like a charm. The fsck took ages, and after it completed and relabeled the volume it wanted to fsck again. Ran the process another time. Afterwards some slight issues which were easily solvable. Now everything is running fine again. Even updated the Linux-kernel on my Raspberry Pi4 to 5.15.y, which was done earlier a few weeks before, but after finding out I couldn't mount my sambashares anymore I had to revert back to 5.10.y. Now on 5.15.y with the 'new' firmware and smbv2-support it's working as designed. Happy with it.
  • -sorry 4 my english- I found in a box my old DNS-320 rev. A1; it's more than 5 years It's unused. It still have the original DLINK firmware with fun-plug 0.5 and both bays filled with hd (no raid, just 2 separate disks); it was still working. I decided to give this project a try and I used the dlink web interface to update the firware. The operation finished and the nas was rebooted. After that I couldn't reach it from http; I waited half a day (hoping some sort of mantenance was going). Than I went to look at it and both hd leds were on and yellow. I physically rebooted it; only the power blue led kept on, but still I couldn't reach it. Finally I found that IP was changed (from default DLINK 192.168.1.32 to 192.168.1.169), the two disks are still there with their content! Good. I am now trying to solve a "You don't seem to have enabled feeds, a name server configured, or a working internet connection, and no /tmp/ipkg_*_arm.ipk file found. Exiting" problem installing Alt-F. The interface is very crude: just a bunch of forms with no graphics or css, but it's very fast and more complete than the original, which is what matters.
  • Thanks for providing this free alternative. With the package and the instructions provided, it was really easy to replace the standard build on my DNS-325-revAx The latter reached suddenly end of life as D-Link did not renew its certificate. Any secure connection would therefore fail. The upgrade process was simple and kept all my data intact. the RAID-1 array I had built with the Dlink core was recognized and mounted without any glitch. Great firmware !
  • This is great. Alt-F allowed me to bring back to life my old DNS320L nas, with many extra functionalities. It is now the centre of my home network, where I run my DHCP server, monitoring tools, file sharing and DLNA server! What else could I ask for? Well, just to update a bit some of the packages, some of them are pretty old.
  • Excellent. I used it for my (very) old DNS-320 and it is working now.
  • Good stuff! It works!
  • DNS-320L A4 is working too! Please update compatible devices, i was many time thinking if do it cause not appears like compatible. Finally i decided to try and works great! Thanks!
  • This is freek'n amazing firmware! I have an Epson 3170 scanner from 2004 which I use at least weekly and two really old D-link NAS units stuffed with 8TB hard drives running AltF. Everything else is loooooong dead and gone! The one negative review for this AltF+F firmware makes me laugh and giggle every time I read it; I guess that's why I wrote this comment.
  • Breathed new life into my old DNS323. The stock firmware was unstable and I finally had the chance to curate my data and reformat my disks, which gave me the opportunity to try out the Alt-F firmware. The Alt-F package manager makes it so easy to install services like the Transmission torrent server or DLNA servers. There's even a one-click install of Debian 8.1.
  • I bought a DLINK-DNS-320L rev A3, which never worked properly with his original firmware, as well as on windows 7 and 10, and linux. I dicided not use it anymore. then I installed ALT-F (with some configuration problems, but easily fixed), and I found a REAL NAS, with the functionality and services that we expect, although the hardward of DLINK-DNS- 320L is unacceptable for this kind of product. Thanks very much.
  • I bought a DLINK-DNS-320L rev A3, which never worked properly with his original firmware, as well as on windows 7 and 10, and linux. I dicided not use it anymore. then I installed ALT-F (with some configuration problems, but easily fixed), and I found a REAL NAS, with the functionality and services that we expect, although the hardward of DLINK-DNS- 320L is unacceptable for this kind of product. Thanks very much.
  • Great project to a (forgotton) device by DLink. Simple, easy to use, proper documentation, lots of options and a good support group... Thanks for giving a new life to my DNS320! Keep the great work!
  • Amazing work! Have a DNS 321 in service for ages. Recently upgraded all LAN devices to Win10 and didn't want to re-enable SMB ver1. SMBv2 not supported by D-Link firmware and device EOL so not going to happen. Rescued by this firmware! Poor results would be the result of bad planning IE no backup strategy and not following the instructions. Locate the bin file for your hardware, reboot the device, apply the firmware, reboot and let Alt-F complete all system checks before you do anything. My IP didn't change between Dlink and Alt-F firmware however when you try to access the webUI it takes you to a Status page that doesn't require a login. If you try to access any of the other menus it will prompt you to set a password and then defaults to a Wizard setup. Be careful here as this is where you could inadvertently wipe/reformat the drives. Really good stuff. Thanks guys. **UPDATE Nov 2022** - still chugging along. Had one of the drives go south - RAID status is degraded. Pulled the drive - ran WD DOSDLG.exe utility - drive error repaired - re-installed drive and followed the instructions in the alt-f/wiki to rebuild the RAID=OK drive rebuilding now. I know it is now time to upgrade the hardware. Thanks again
  • After learning shortly after I purchased a DLink DNS-325 NAS Server that it was actually already discontinued by DLink and unfortunately I was not eligible for a return, I had tried to use it as is with their default firmware. All support references to it was removed from the DLink Support Site so I basically relegated the device to the scrap heap. It was completely unusable with its default Firmware and no mirrors provide any updates from DLink if there were any. For a couple of years the server sat in a bin collecting dust. Until just recently I was doing a search for Served and Network Monitoring and somehow by chance I came across this 3rd Party Firmware developed independently by a Developer who had developed this Firmware Replacement a number of years ago with the 1.0 Release only coming out about a year ago. I was somewhat hesitant at first as I have seen a number of similar those or Firmware replacements either only work with a very select few devices, not support full functions, and or just not work at all unless you had a PHd. After reading the Release Notes and the reviews, and taking definite note of the thoroughness of the Release did I decide to pull my DNS-325 out of the bin, slapped 2 1TB HDDs in it and followed the Installation notes. I was very impressed with how thorough the Release Notes were with regards to all the devices supported and some nuances with certain models. The Installation was absolutely simple and worked first time right out of the box so to speak. The Firmware not only did what it said it would, but it fully supported all the hardware features and configuration options. The Firmware does not support all of the kitchy applications that DLinks Firmware support but if you have knowledge of Linux and utilizing the huge number of services that one could install and use, you will feel right at home. The Firmware Replacement fully supports your RAID options as well as any configuration your comfort level allows. It handles the full multitude of configuration options one could want, need, or use on a simple 2 Bay (2 Disk with a 3rd being a USB connected disk) NAS Server. It will let you install a Debian Linux Version from which all supporting Services and Apps will run. Full Status Information, and all the current File Systems (as of 2019). The ability to configure pretty much any server type you may require, and well as full support for your NAS options make this Firmware one of the best Firmware Replacements I've seen. The best part is it a tualky fully works as it says it does! Even more impressive was the developer who authored this wonderful bit of code is active with its development, and is always ready to lend a hand should you find your self in a pickle as I did when a very plausible mistyped on my part in the settings caused the Firmware to no longer load the WebUI, I created a Post on the Google Forum Board the Firmware and in only a few days he responded to my Post with a few question to help identify what may have caused the problem, how to possibly correct the issue, and noted what he states is in fact a bug in the code, even though it was likely my erroneous entry that caused the issue. Based on his thoroughness with the Releases I have no doubt he will Author a change to the code to protect against such entries in a future Release. It's not often you come across a Firmware Replacement that is a well done as this, that works exactly as claimed, is simple to use, and easy to setup, though having a basic understanding of Linux is a definite plus, and where the Developer is actively supporting the project. These are all very rare. In this case it's an amazing combination and one where I will HIGHLY RECOMMEND this Firware Replacement to anyone who's got any of the support DLink Devices. Whether your using the default DLink Firmware and are looking for new ways to use your device or if you've got a model like me where DLink has pulled any and all support for their device, you will definitely want to check this out. It's very impressive. I would also like to just make a comment to those users who have left reviews warning that this Firmware will wipe all of your drives etc etc.... While there is a chance this could happen, the instances such as NOT following the install instructions or changing your hardware configuration MAY cause such instances, however the Developer of this Firmware Replacement has CLEARLY defined how and with what configurations this can happen with. It goes with out saying that ANY time you install a Firmware update or upgrade on ANY DEVICE with ANY FIRMWARE this risk has ALWAYS EXISTED. Therefore it should go with out saying that you should ALWAYS make a backup of your data before attempting any such update. If you did not heed this warning provided by the Developer in the Release/ Install Notes, and did not back up your drives first, then it is completely on you should they get wiled out and you lose all of your data. While I can assure you that of all the Firmware Upgrades and Updates I have done through the years, this one is the best one to date. Always back up your data before ever attempting to change your firmware. If the risk to your data is too great then don't attempt such a change.. The Developer in this case has done a very good job of ensuring such issues do not occur but certain configurations must wipe out the previous file systems. This is your risk to take and make sure you've read the installation notes and follow all of the warnings. However not every eventuality can be accounted for. Installing any Firmware even a fa toy provided updaye could put you at the exact same risk. Be prepared and back up your data FIRST! Cheers
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • I recently upgraded my DNS-323 NAS with ALt-F firmware. Indeed, I did not want to re-activate SMB1 in my Windows 10 network. Upgrade and configuration have been quite straightforward - though I am not a true IT expert - and my NAS has been working now extremely safe for the last ten days. Great job, and thanks a lot for this product that I really recommend to any DNS-323 owner.
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Wow thank you so much. Who gets support for anything over a year old, and this DNS-323 toaster box is 12 years old! Amazing. Thank you devs for making this happen and staying updated! About to throw in an 8GB WD, hoping it works! Edit: Working! Don't forget to setup swap partition :) So today this takes me down memory lane. Only 64MB RAM on the DNS-323? Wow that's so small. I bought it years ago (12). What else comes to mind with the magic number 64? Oh, my ol Commodore 64 from the 80's lol. That was 64 KB. Ha we came a long way today, and lost touch with our past :)
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Wow, this has come a long way, I was already impressed a few years ago when I tried first but now it's easy AF to use. Well done!
  • That's a good alternative to the default firmware. Web UI isn't so good, but it's not a big issue for me. Keep going ! :)
  • Has been invaluable. Excellent work, thanks to Joao for all your efforts thru these years.
  • People like the devs of this project restore my faith in humanity! Thank you for this, it's revived an obsolete NAS (by supporting SMBv2).
  • Alt-F Resurrected my DNS-323 I was about to throw out my old DNS-323, which I had ceased to use as it only supported drives up to 2gb. I found and easily installed Alt-F , took the plunge buying 2 x WD Red 3tb WD30EFRX disks and it works perfectly. I'm using RAID1 and ext2 ; the whole unit seems faster than with the old vendor firmware.
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