NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
funglenn
May 03, 2020Luminary
Downgrading Readynas from OS 6.10 to 6.9.x
The title says it all. I upgraded and now I cannot compile virtualbox 5.1 using the linux linux-4.4.190-x86_64 kernel.
I know the postings say do not, but is there anyway to go back in conjunction with a factory reset? Happy to lose it all and start over as I really need the VMs working.
I thought about pasting the source image in the root partiion, replacing the current one and forcing a factory reset--which would in theory push the 6.9 image. of course now i cannot find where the image is stored, but i saw it before...
Any thoughts? ..
Thanks.
For anyone else contemplating the same thing:
I just tested this on a virtual NAS. It is not necessary to modify the time. Instead of modifying the length, delete one byte after the header to make up for the one added in the header. To verify everything is aligned, go to 0x4000 and verify that the ASCII data csums.md5 starts exactly at 0x4000.
I called the "update" 6.10.8. The file name doesn't matter, BTW, just how it identifies itself in the file header.
I did not see any immediate issues with access, but funglenn did see Samba issues, so consider that this downgrade may cause you to have to factory default to fix issues caused by downgrading Samba, and act accordingly.
50 Replies
If you have a full backup of your VMs and files, then you could just try to downgrade and see what happens.
- funglennLuminaryAlready tried, web gui loads it and says image older than what is already installed on system and stops with an error.
- SandsharkSensei
You can do it via USB recovery. But if your drives are still installed, it may see the newer OS on them when you re-boot and update the flash to the version on them. If you have the drives out and then put the them back in after reverting, it will definately see the newer version and update the flash. So, you need to remove the partitions from the drives (losing all data) before you put them in, and start all over.
The "trick" to updating a legacy NAS to OS6 is to edit the header of the .img file with a hex editor to tell the OS the file is a 4.2.x update rather than 6.x. I have not tried to see if you can do the same with an OS6 NAS. The version number the update process checks is in plain text at the beginning of the file, and the md5sum follows it. I am pretty sure the md5sum doesn't include that version number and you can pull the same trick to downgrade an OS6 NAS. Note that the size= value is the entire length of the file, so if you are adding a digit to tell your NAS the 6.9.6 file is 6.11.0, you'll have to bump the size by one. I have no idea if it uses the time= parameter for anything, so you may need to bump it, too.
The method of updating via SSH may also work:
Via SSH, copy the firmware .img file to the /root directory then do # echo /root/name_of_image_file > /etc/.flash_update then reboot the NAS
If you find you are having problems after the downgrade with a method that doesn't already do one, you may need to factory default. So, be sure you have a backup before you try anything.
Sounds like another experiment to put on my to do list.
- ItsmearronAspirant
Hi all,
could any of you clever chaps assist me in downgrading from 6.10.10 to 6.10.8 so that i can use the apps again. i need an easy to follow step by step guide please. i have tried downgrading through the webapp but i get an unrecognised server error?
please can someone help?
Itsmearron wrote:
could any of you clever chaps assist me in downgrading from 6.10.10 to 6.10.8 so that i can use the apps again. i need an easy to follow step by step guide please. i have tried downgrading through the webapp but i get an unrecognised server error?
Did you try rebooting anyway? Then see if the system downgrades.
FWIW, 6.10.9 would also restore the apps install. Also, you can upload the app deb file as if it were a firmware update, and that will install the app. No matter what path you take, you need to manually update the apt config on the NAS, as the repositories you need have been archived (so are no longer where the NAS expects them to be).
- ItsmearronAspirantHi I have managed to downgrade to 6.10.8, please can you explain in real simple terms how I now update the apt please ?
Related Content
NETGEAR Academy

Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!