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Forum Discussion
Installing Windows on ReadyNAS Ultra 2
I have a ReadyNAS Ultra 2 and I thought it would be fun to try installing Windows on it. I made a bootable Windows USB flash drive and followed the instructions here http://home.bott.ca/webserver/?p=166 for doing a USB recovery boot (which basically says hold down the "backup" button while the device is powering on). The intention being that the device would boot Windows off the USB drive instead, instead of RAIDiator off the hard disks or internal flash.
Anyway it doesn't boot Windows (I have a startup script that writes a file back to the USB drive so I can tell if Windows finished booting). However it doesn't boot RAIDiator either, so holding down the "backup" button has some effect. Although I'm not even sure the instructions at the link above for doing a USB boot are even correct for my model of ReadyNAS (Ultra 2). The web page talks about flashing power LEDs and other LEDs that don't happen or don't exist on my device.
It is very hard to tell what the device is doing during boot without a monitor. I've seen some posts where people say to connect a monitor to the VGA header on the device's motherboard. However I think those posts were about different models as I cannot find a VGA header on my Ultra 2's motherboard.
So I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice about what I'm doing wrong or what I have to do to make this work? Thanks.
Anyway it doesn't boot Windows (I have a startup script that writes a file back to the USB drive so I can tell if Windows finished booting). However it doesn't boot RAIDiator either, so holding down the "backup" button has some effect. Although I'm not even sure the instructions at the link above for doing a USB boot are even correct for my model of ReadyNAS (Ultra 2). The web page talks about flashing power LEDs and other LEDs that don't happen or don't exist on my device.
It is very hard to tell what the device is doing during boot without a monitor. I've seen some posts where people say to connect a monitor to the VGA header on the device's motherboard. However I think those posts were about different models as I cannot find a VGA header on my Ultra 2's motherboard.
So I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice about what I'm doing wrong or what I have to do to make this work? Thanks.
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- I tried on ReadyNAS 4200 which support VGA, it is OK,
1. Set boot from disk in BIOS, (the default setting is from USB flash installed ReadyNAS FW.)
2. Install Windows,
Ultra 2 is also x86 platform, so it should be install Windows, but it does not have VGA port on mainboard. - That's encouraging to know that it can work. Unfortunately I'm still in a lurch without VGA support on the Ultra 2. Do you know if the serial port on the back of the device can be used to access BIOS setup and change the boot order?
If I can just get Windows PE to boot then I can run VNC on Windows PE, connect to it over the network from a PC and finish the Windows install interactively without VGA.
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