How to upgrade from OS 4.2.31 to OS 6 on a Readynas Ultra 6

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thekidbass wrote:

Can anyone provide me with the steps to upgrade from OS 4.2.31 to OS 6 on a Readynas Ultra 6. And do I have to update the BIOS as well before the upgrade? Thanks.

 

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I usually start by recommending upgrading the RAM to at least 2 GB, but it looks like you have already done that.

If you have the skills, you should probably back up the VPD before conversion.  Sometimes it does get corrupted.  Netgear Mods so far have repaired the VPD for users who have run into this, but backing it up would allow you to resolve the issue on your own if you ever do.  More information on this is here:

• https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS-in-Business/Backup-and-restore-of-VPD-file-for-legacy-ReadyNAS-running-oS6/td-p/2253308

The conversion steps 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.

Basic instructions for the conversion itself are

1. BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP (probably not relevant in your case, as you just created a new volume).
2. 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)
3. Upload R4toR6_6.9.5.bin using the ReadyNAS web gui firmware update
4. After you upload the addon+firmware and reboot, it will update the firmware and start a factory default.
5. Go through the setup process on the converted NAS 
6. Update the NAS to the current OS 6 (check for updates will work).
7. Restore files from the backup.

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.

Note that if you ever need to do a USB recovery later on, you will need to use the procedure for 4.2 systems - substituting an OS-6 image for the 4.2.31 one.

• https://kb.netgear.com/30267/RAIDiator-4-2-USB-Recovery-Tool