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OS6 now works on x86 Legacy WARNING: NO NTGR SUPPORT!
Update: It is now unofficially possible using NTGR images to update legacy hardware to os6.X
See Post #3, for directions to install 6.2.1 on x86 Ultra and Pro Models. (ARM NOT SUPPORTED by this OS)
Be forewarned, this requires a SYSTEM WIPE and likely voids any warranty support from NTGR
Supported so far: pro 2/4/6, ultra 2/4/6, old pro / Pioneer Pro, 2100v2
Not Supported: NVX and 2100v1
Thanks go out to "HomeBrew Anonymous" for making this possible.
Update 2: A firmware image to downgrade back to 4.2.26 is now available. See this thread. While this downgrade should get you a working system again on the supported firmware, be forewarned this requires a SYSTEM WIPE and NetGear also does not provide support for this downgrade. If you have issues seek help on these forums.
Original Post/Gripes
I have been reading these forums since Monday's announcement and there has been a resounding "ooof" regarding the fact the Ultras and Pros are unsupported for future OS improvements.
To clear the air: it would appear Netgear will never support os6 on past hardware. I have almost come to grips with this, and at least they have been open and honest with their forward direction and aren't stringing us along. viewtopic.php?f=138&t=70131
The upside is our devices still work and are mostly stable and eventually we can upgrade to a new shell that has os6 support, but in the meantime our $500-1000 investment is unable to take advantage of modern features we all desire.
I don't think I can add a poll here at RN forums, but I would like to garner support for a 100% unsupported home brew of the os6 on Pro6 units.
If we get enough support perhaps a talented member(s) here would help release a homebrew of sorts.
The 3 main caveats are:
1. Netgear will never be held responsible/your warranty is void
2. A format is required (new FS and OS)
3. Data loss is highly possible
If you are still interested please post a reply to this thread.
mdgm and I have decided that its time to lock this thread. So please do post any new OS6 on Legacy issues on their own threads.
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- The USB flash has syslinux.cfg on it, which describes the boot menu. You could change 'Normal' boot to be another initrd/kernel image, instead of RAIDiator. For ease of restoring, could move the original kernel boot to SkipVolCheck, since thats rarely used.
- I bought 1 year ago an Ultra2 because this product was based on an Intel Atom, so it seemed to have a good longevity as a plateform (or future enhancements) compared to ARM products. It turns out that i was wrong (and also i had a bad surprise on the hardware unannounced D405 instead of D425). I found very rude that Netgear choosed to deceive deeply the 'not that old' buyers (after less than 1 year) : there will never be any major firmware update compared to the 3 years long warranty !! I know the 2 are not completely related but the huge difference is for me abnormal. I prefer the ethics of Synology's business model.
I would be glad to try this os6 on a legacy x86 readynas (which are still on sale by the way... but i guess not for long) - Hi Everybody!
I'm very interested in upgrade my ReadyNAS Pro 4 to OS6, but I can not afford to lose my data on it.
I can make the backup of course and restore after upgrade, but what guarantee is that there won't be any problems on my NAS?
I thinking about the potential problems unique to ReadyNas Pro 4, which won't be interested for support and never repaired :(. - Do hope make for NVX. Do want.
- I am fairly certain only high powered cpu's can power the new OS. NVX was 1ghz, might not be fast enough.
- NVX/2100v1 are 32-bit, probably out of luck for support on this models. Looks like everything in the new release, for x86, is 64-bit. ARM is also 6.0, but another CPU arch.
- for what its worth, i'll +1 this effort and volunteer my NVX into the mix (although that's ultimately worthless) and my time as a hardware/OS guy.
- actually.. could we have a new area somewhere on this forum for those of us left behind? I'm thinking it would be good kudos for NTGR if the Jedi Council would support us in being able to repurpose our devices that we love, with OSs that are being updated and supported? i.e. FAQ/HowTos on getting other OSs to run on our devices.
For example, I have an ageing NVX - so NTGR are dropping me like a bad penny.. so what can I do with my device except turn it into a door stop? - NVX and 2100v1 would need special images of whatever OS is going to go on the systems. The NTGR firmware includes two kernels (32-bit, 64-bit) to handle those two models also, as well as checking on boot for which kernel modules are needed to go with it.
My idea for an OS replacement script could include separate images of stuff, I won't be making combo images. - My end goal will be like this...
# wget myscript.sh; chmod +x myscript.sh; ./myscript.sh
# Pick an image from below:
1. blah
2. bleh
3. blih
# 1
# Updating boot flash with 'blah'.
# Update finished, reboot to start up in 'blah'.
This will only work with OSes that will fit in the internal 128MB flash space, and are compatible with this hardware. Synology DSM is one planned, but needs work to add NIC drivers first. ESXi won't fit in the boot flash, it would need an external 4GB+ USB to load it on; then a boot strap on the internal flash (or people with serial access can change the BIOS boot order).
The Ultra 6/Pro(6) have AMI BIOS that can change the boot order. The Ultra/Pro2/4 have a BIOS that won't let you change boot order, it is fixed to boot the internal flash. Either need to find a more generic BIOS image for those, or boot strap the internal flash.
Side note, the Pro(6) I've been using for testing, had BIOS v1.6 on it, my older BIOS add-on will put it to v2.0. Until I flashed this one, it wouldn't see my USB CD-ROM on boot up.
My conversion script will be for the true troopers. I don't plan on adding a flash restore to stock option, though others could add that in later.
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