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Forum Discussion
Netgear Readynas NVX (Buisness)
I just bought the device for 30 euros and have managed to install the latest official firmware (4.2.31) with Root SSH and fixed the TLS issue. Now I am wondering moving onto flashing something more m...
But it should be possible? My main concern is how to get it to boot to the usb and then how and if the ethernet will be working also what will happen to the lcd?
While I've not tried it on an NVX, most units that shipped with RAIDiator 4.2.x aren't picky about the contents of the contents of the USB drive when you choose to boot from USB using the procedure you normally use for USB recovery: RAIDiator-4-2-USB-Recovery-Tool I've successfully booted even MS-DOS on a Pro6 that way. Most do not have a BIOS option to automatically boot from USB, but the NVX may be different.
My main issue is that the NVX doesnt seem to have a USB boot section in the boot menu am I missing something?
After reading through I guess I need a usb 2 stick before I can get inte the usb boot?
If you read the article I linked to, you'll see the menu isn't involved in booting from USB, you use the backup button. That's because the menu is also in flash memory, and a USB recovery recovers it as well. I assume backup button USB boot is implemented in the BIOS.
Now, you don't need to make a USB recovery stick, you can put on your own bootable OS that uses MBR. But you do have to adhere to the size and speed requirements. Most ReadyNAS of that generation are a bit picky regarding the USB drive even beyond the stated requirements. I've found that cheap 8GB sticks you can get on Amazon and eBay tend to work rather well.
As for the display once you get an alternate OS installed, I've not seen anyone post a method for using it. But as long as you leave the flash memory intact, the menu functions will continue to be available, though "Normal Boot" won't work. Unless there is a BIOS option to make it automatic, you'll always have to use the backup button method to boot. That's where the legacy and OS6 units differ -- native OS6 units won't boot a USB other than the USB recovery one without going into the BIOS and selecting it. (Well, I think all legacy OS4.2.x systems -- as I said, I've not tried on an NVX.)
Since you are going to be loading a Linux OS, you could try doing what Netgear has done -- create a trimmed-down kernel and OS that fit in flash memory and then chain-load the main OS on disk from that. But you'll definitely want to back up the flash before you do so (or at least the vpd file, since USB recovery should restore everything else) in case you decide to go back.
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