I could gut the NSLU2 and put a small Single Board Computer in it, like a Pi or something?
HP prodesk SFF with 8th gen and platinum PSU. Two sata drives, idles at 6-8w, and x86. Pre-ram shortages, these would go for $60.
I'm on low income, has to be something cheaper and compact small
Rarely (and towards the lower-end), not impossible.
Just hitting the local second-hand sites suggest prices above 130 bucks, while the examples I gave above start around 20-25 bucks (delivered). Yes, 1-4 hotplug SATA ports are cool (perferable) for a stationary NAS (the thin-clients typically only support a single M.2 slot, sometimes a short (E-key) second one), but I don't think the OP was looking at that form-factor/ size.
You don't get an RPi for that either, especially not one meeting the performance of an j4125 or r1505g.
my drives already have enclosures there USB 3.0, just need to connect them on the network, I have three RPi's two zeros and 3B+, I could get the Seagate FreeAgent DockStar and put it in the NSLU2
You know what you have (~= already own, no new expenses) and what you need/ want. I can only give advice what would be sensible to buy (used) today, what is technically feasible or viable.
The NSLU2 is not, even if it's sitting on your desk. A RPi3 and newer might be (still performance capped by its single USB2 system bus, only the RPi >=4 has done away with that limit), but only if it's already sitting on your desk, 'for free' - not if you had to buy it.
The beauty of the aforementioned -modern- thin-clients is that they come complete, internal storage, RAM, robust case, PSU, >=two USB3 ports, 25-60 bucks, depending on your choice and persistence. Performance, decent graphics, compatible with any OS you can throw at them, plenty on the used markets, relatively cheap (compared to the RPi), no assembly needed.
I've been looking for an interesting ARM device capable of running a general purpose linux distribution (~= debian) for over 15 years, I haven't found any meeting my requirements (mainline (maybe next-next) support, generic boot process (~= ARM SBSA/ ARMSR, (u-boot+)UEFI+ACPI), performance and price roughly equivalent to entry-level x86_64 gear, being able to compile a distro-like kernel in under an hour). The RPi doesn't meet the mainline requirements (while the models in question are still interesting), sunxi never had a competitor after the A20, rockchip is getting interesting (but not really meeting either) - nothing coming close to 'cheap' x86_64. I want to play with ARM, but only if that's 'generically useful' (no special board support packages, experiences applying to future upgrades) and if that is sensible ~= on-par with x86_64.
Yes, needs replacing - or recycling.
but I bought it new in box
Electrolytic capacitors age and die, regardless if you use them or not - it only happens much quicker if you do (heat).
System requirements increase, slowly, but steadily, regardless of the question if you use the system or not.
…the manufacturing date of your NSLU2 fits right into that time span.
The NSLU2 was already dead-slow when it was brand new and came to the market (that was a complaint from day one, literally), that doesn't magically improve with age. In 2004 it was a novelty device, past 2006-2007 it became obsolete and electronic waste. It's consumer electronics, not a fine wine.
I bought a Seagate Dockstar but can't get it to work or activate it?
Openwrt doesn't require any activation.
installing it is too Complicated, I need something that I can use as a NAS for USB Drives
You posted at Openwrt, installing Openwrt was assumed.
I'm sure the device is a brick using stock firmware.
I'm talking about the dockstar now
And so am I.
I really like my WD Mycloud gen 2. I use mine with plain Debian as a portable audio player and media server, but it’s also compatible with Openwrt. Just be aware that 32bit ARM has a limitation of max 16TB partition size.
The original firmware/software ain’t the worst either and should be fine for basic NAS duties, but not quite full featured as, say, Synology DSM.