A Raspberry Pi 5 NAS with a 3.5" firmware touch screen

Difficulty

Intermediate

AI-buildability

4/5

Most of the work is software (CasaOS, Docker, ESP32 display firmware, a companion service), with a 3D-printed case, a little soldering and powered-drive wiring as the hands-on part.

Time

A weekend

Cost

$150–250

Estimates based on the original write-up. How AI-buildability is scored. Building with an AI assistant? Connect it to Afterware (free MCP server).

The touch screen on the front is a Guition JC3248W535 3.5" board with an ESP32-S3, running the maker's own firmware and showing CPU, memory, temperature and storage. The NAS itself is a black 3D-printed tower with a hard drive visible behind an X-braced window.

Two old 2.5" laptop drives sit on UGREEN USB 3.0 to SATA cables, fed by one 12 V adapter through a DC splitter. The maker found that running both drives on the Pi's USB power alone made the second one freeze for 30 seconds every time they spun up. CasaOS and Docker run the apps. Nur Hub, a small service the maker wrote, lets a companion app show status, start and stop containers, search the web and download local AI models.

Worth stealing: the full parts list with prices, the 3D models and measurements, and the power fix for multi-drive USB storage. Everything from the video is in the repo.