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Netgear ReadyNas Pro 6 corrupt firmware
First Netgear NAS user. I bought a defect Netgear ReadyNAS Pro 6. The previous owner said something went wrong during a firmware update and the NAS had some sort of corrupt firmware. It was 40Euro an...
This post How-to-update-BIOS-w-OS6-x-installed tells how to update the BIOS from OS6. While that part isn't applicable to you, it includes information on extracting the BIOS from the OS4.2.x package Netgear has provided and points to that package.
Did he tell you if it was running OS 4.2 or OS 6? If not, perhaps reach out to him and ask.
If it's only the firmware, than you could try a USB recovery - the OS 4.2 tool is here. https://kb.netgear.com/30267/RAIDiator-4-2-USB-Recovery-Tool. If it's a corrupted eeprom, then you'd need courtesy help from Netgear to fix it.
If you do get it working, I suggest converting it to OS-6. There is information in the forums on that. But if it is OS 4.2 now, then get it working on OS 4.2 first.
Assuming you have the right VGA cable (and I think there is only one common configuration), not seeing anything on the monitor means a serious problem. The NAS will say "ReadyNAS" if 5V is good -- it takes nothing more.
First thing to do is to be sure the previous owner didn't do some troubleshooting and leave something disconnected.
A common issue as those NASes get older is the power supply. RAM could be another, but is less common; and it would likely get to some point in the BIOS boot process unless there is no RAM at all. If you have a spare ATX power supply (or can "borrow" one from a PC), it's fairly easy to hook one up externally and see if that's the problem. Compatible supplies are available.
As for re-using the case, best of luck finding a motheboard that fits. Every conversion of a ReadyNAS to an open source NAS I have seen has retained the motherboard.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I have some reasons to believe the previous owner was quite smart and did not left many rocks unturned in trying to repair it. When I picked up the nas I saw he had at least 4 or 5 other ReadyNas in operation at the site (altough it seemed to me 2 slot models, perhaps ARM, not Intel based). It is quite likely that the internal EEPROM (containing the motherboard bios) is corrupted so I either find a way to reprogram it "in circuit" using my JTAG rig or desolder and replace it with another pre-programmed in my standalone eeprom programmer. Anyone knows a location where this BIOS might be available ?
Of course the existing board have a connector on the under-side for the drives backplane and there will be no other board having that but if I do not use the drives backplane and connect the drives using individual SATA cables to a mini-ITX motherboard with 6 SATA ports (such as Supermicro X9SCV-Q) perhaps also desoldering some connectors (HDMI and VGA) and replacing other (LAN ports) with headers, it might fit since 17x17cm is about the same size as the existing motherboard). But I am not there yet.
This post How-to-update-BIOS-w-OS6-x-installed tells how to update the BIOS from OS6. While that part isn't applicable to you, it includes information on extracting the BIOS from the OS4.2.x package Netgear has provided and points to that package.
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