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RNDP6000-100NAS Firmware upgrade RAIDiator 4.2.12
Recently purchased off Ebay an RNDP6000-100NAS server running firmware 4.2.12. All 6 drives are recognized but looking at documentation online not sure if this server can get a higher firmware. Can...
Yes, the last OS intended for your NAS is 4.2.31. But there is also an unofficial path to OS6.
Your current OS may be too old to see the update server, so you can download it here: RAIDiator-x86-4.2.31.zip . You have to unzip it and use the file with no extension to update using the System/Update/Local option in the GUI. I'm not sure at what point some additions were made that require a factory default to use, but StephenB can probably let you know if that's required.
Upgrading to OS6 is more complicated, but IMHO is well worth it if you are already starting fresh. Besides having a more up to date system supporting current standards, your volume can later be moved to a native OS6 machine without the need for a data backup and restore. It is recommended you have at least 2GB of RAM for OS6, though.
Okay, I was able to upgrade the firmware to 4.2.31 (latest) successfully. Thanks for the info. You mentioned in your reply that there is a patch to update to OS6. I take it that it is more than the upgrade to 4.2.31 was. Can you provide info or refer someoe to me that might be able to help?
General instructions are:
(Optionally) make sure the latest BIOS is installed before you do the conversion. To do this you install http://www.readynas.com/download/addons/x86/4.2/BIOS_Update_Package_0.5-x86.bin as an add-on and reboot the NAS. Do this after you backup the NAS. This isn't necessary, but if you do want to update the bios it is easiest to do it prior to conversion
Instructions for the conversion itself are
- BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP
- Upload PREPR4TOR6_0.1-x86.bin as an add-on using the ReadyNAS web gui, but do not reboot afterwards (avoids the need to do manual factory resets)
- Upload R4toR6_6.9.5.bin using the ReadyNAS web gui firmware update
- After you upload the addon+firmware and reboot, it will update the firmware and start a factory default.
- Go through the setup process on the converted NAS
- Update the NAS to the current OS 6 (check for updates will work).
- Restore files from the backup.
Netgear won't provide paid support on a converted NAS, so that is one consideration. There is a small risk that the process could fail, and if that were to happen it might not be possible to get the NAS running again.
If you do decide to convert the Pro, then you should also consider increasing the RAM. Shipping OS-6 NAS have at least 2 GB of RAM, your Pro only has 1 GB. Some here have reported out of memory conditions with only 1 GB. It would be sensible to match the resources in the currently shipping NAS. The upgrade to 2x1GB or 2x2GB is inexpensive, and is simple to do. Compatible 4 GB modules are hard to find (and expensive), so I don't recommend going beyond 2x2GB.
StephenB wrote:Netgear won't provide paid support on a converted NAS, so that is one consideration. There is a small risk that the process could fail, and if that were to happen it might not be possible to get the NAS running again.
Since Netgear doesn't support second-hand NAS, the loss of support really isn't a factor for you.
Unless the previous owner upgraded it, your NAS CPU is a Pentium Dual E2160 @ 1.80GHz. Once you have updated the BIOS, it can accept up to a Core2 Duo E7600 @ 3.06GHz. I've found those to be a bit pricey and rare, but the E7500 is readily available on eBay quite cheap, and you will notice improved performance, especially with OS6. You can do the conversion first and see if you think you need a faster processor, but do make sure you do the BIOS update if you think you might upgrade at some point. The last processor supported by the original BIOS is the E6600.
You can check what processor you have by downloading the log .zip package and looking down about 100 lines in dmesg.log.
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