Driveless system auto-updated flash firmware

Question

I have been playing around with a semi-functional RD5200 running OS6.9.5 (yes, a ReadyData configured as a ReadyNAS). The problem it has can make the drives not visible at boot. When that happened, I was surprised that the OS on the flash had updated itself to 6.10.0, as visible on the monitor screen and also in the UI once I got it to recognize a drive. I re-imaged it to 6.9.5 and tried it again, first with the Ethernet disconnected (no update) and then with it connected (it updated). Is this something new? I can see why there could be a desire to insure newly installed units have the most recent firmware. But booting with no drives is a troubleshooting tool we often recommend, and having the flash firmware updated in the middle of troubleshooting another problem is a recipe for disaster.
Do we need to start telling folks to pull the Ethernet cable before booting with no drives and then insert it after the NAS has had time to boot? When I did that, it didn't update the flash. Or is this something unique because I have a chassis that identifies itself as an RD5200? If it weren't for the warnings about going back to 6.9.x from 6.10.0 and the fact I'm not convinced 6.10.0 is really stable, I'd just try it on another NAS.

StephenB · Answer

Sandshark&nbsp;wrote:
Do we need to start telling folks to pull the Ethernet cable before booting with no drives and then insert it after the NAS has had time to boot? .

JohnCM_S&nbsp;:&nbsp; I agree with Sandshark that we need to understand when the NAS will update it's flash while diskless, and how to prevent that.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Can you provide some guidance on this?&nbsp; Otherwise we'll need to tell folks to pull the ethernet cables and reinsert them after - which is annoying to say the least.&nbsp; Also if the NAS doesn't have an LCD panel, it will be hard to know when it's safe to reinsert the cable.

JohnCM_S · Answer

Hi Sandshark, StephenB,

&nbsp;

The system needs a volume to perform a firmware update so a diskless system updating itself is not normal. Also, the system will notify you if there is&nbsp;an update available but not just upgrade.

&nbsp;

Regards,

StephenB · Answer

JohnCM_S&nbsp;wrote:
Hi Sandshark, StephenB
The system needs a volume to perform a firmware update so a diskless system updating itself is not normal. Also, the system will notify you if there is&nbsp;an update available but not just upgrade.
&nbsp;

Any explanation for what Sandshark is seeing?

JohnCM_S · Answer

Hi StephenB,

&nbsp;

I am not sure what caused his RD5200 to just update without any disks. I checked this&nbsp;with L3 and said that it is really not normal and they cannot really explain how that happened. They said that the RD5200 with an OS6 firmware is a hack and unsupported. They do not know if the hack allowed the system to "see" a volume and update the firmware without any drives installed.

&nbsp;

Regards,

Sandshark · Answer

It's definately not accessing any disk when it does this.&nbsp; But, there is a unused section of the USB that it might be doing something with.&nbsp; I cloned the 256M USB boot drive from a RN4200V2 to the 512MB one from the RD5200.&nbsp; But it still comes up not showing any drives when the problem occurs, which makes me think that's not it.

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Driveless system auto-updated flash firmware

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