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

Two old laptop hard drives, a Raspberry Pi 5, a 3D-printed tower and a touch screen running custom firmware, plus a local AI assistant you can chat with or call.

- Category: Interface (build)
- Made by: [MultiX0](https://github.com/MultiX0) on GitHub
- Original: https://github.com/MultiX0/ip-nas
- On Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-raspberry-pi-5-nas-with-a-3-5-firmware-touch-screen

## Can I build this?

- 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
- Parts: Raspberry Pi 5, Guition JC3248W535 3.5" touch screen (ESP32-S3), UGREEN 20611 USB 3.0 to SATA cable, Raspberry Pi Active Cooler, 2.5" SATA hard drive
- Tools: 3D printer, soldering iron, microSD card reader

Estimates based on the original write-up. How the AI-buildability score works: https://afterware.xyz/ai-buildability

## Build sheet

- Board: Raspberry Pi 5, 4 GB
- Display: Guition JC3248W535 3.5"
- Storage: 2x 2.5" laptop HDDs
- Software: CasaOS, Docker

## Starter prompt

```
Based on "A Raspberry Pi 5 NAS with a 3.5" firmware touch screen" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/a-raspberry-pi-5-nas-with-a-3-5-firmware-touch-screen

Write firmware for an ESP32-S3 3.5" touch display (Guition JC3248W535) that connects over USB serial to a Raspberry Pi 5 and shows CPU load, memory, temperature and disk usage on a dashboard. Refresh every 2 seconds and use a simple touch page to switch between screens. Use Arduino or ESP-IDF with LVGL for the UI.
```

## Story

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.

## Resources

- [Repository](https://github.com/MultiX0/ip-nas)
- [Releases](https://github.com/MultiX0/ip-nas/releases)
- [Raspberry Pi Imager](https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/)

Tags: raspberry pi 5, nas, esp32-s3, 3d-printed, casaos, docker, self-hosted, local-ai

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