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ReadyNAS 4200 upgrade from RAIDiator 4.x to OS 6.x
Anyone has any experience with upgrading ReadyNAS 4200 from RAIDiator 4.x to OS 6.x? Thank you, Avram
- The Prep add-on is to avoid having to do the factory default manually via the boot menu (the boot menu can be a pain to use especially if the NAS is off-site). It’ll trigger a factory reset at the appropriate time in the update process.
The R4 to R6 firmware image tricks RAIDiator-x86 into thinking you are installing a RAIDiator-x86 image by overwriting the header of the OS6 image to make it look like a RAIDiator-x86 one.
If you open R4 to R6 6.9.5 and the stock 6.9.5 images in text editors (don’t make any changes) you’ll see that the checksum in the header matches. The checksum is for the rest of the file after the header.
Installing OS6 over RAIDiator-x86 leaves the 4GB root volume in a weird state which the factory reset, of course fixes.
Once you are on OS6 you install the normal OS6 images. To go back to RAIDiator-x86 you can install a downgrade image designed to trick OS6 into thinking it is an OS6 image. With the downgrade it will come back up with a status in RAIDar of corrupt root at which point a factory reset via the boot menu is required.
I have done two RN4200V2's and one RD5200. The standard legacy to OS6 process works, though I believe it can be done even easier by removing the internal USB drive and just putting the applicable OS image on it instead of 4.2.x. I didn't know about that option when I did it, so never have gone that way. If you try that, just be sure not to delete anything you don't know what it is. It might be wise to make an image of the drive before you mess with it, or even use a substitute created from that image instead of the original.
Thanks for your reply Sandshark.
Would you mind please confirm that the update you followed is the one described in several posts respectively using PREP4TOR6_0.1-x86.bin and then R4toR6_6.9.5.bin (obviously after doing a full backup of the data)?
Thank you,
Avram
- The Prep add-on is to avoid having to do the factory default manually via the boot menu (the boot menu can be a pain to use especially if the NAS is off-site). It’ll trigger a factory reset at the appropriate time in the update process.
The R4 to R6 firmware image tricks RAIDiator-x86 into thinking you are installing a RAIDiator-x86 image by overwriting the header of the OS6 image to make it look like a RAIDiator-x86 one.
If you open R4 to R6 6.9.5 and the stock 6.9.5 images in text editors (don’t make any changes) you’ll see that the checksum in the header matches. The checksum is for the rest of the file after the header.
Installing OS6 over RAIDiator-x86 leaves the 4GB root volume in a weird state which the factory reset, of course fixes.
Once you are on OS6 you install the normal OS6 images. To go back to RAIDiator-x86 you can install a downgrade image designed to trick OS6 into thinking it is an OS6 image. With the downgrade it will come back up with a status in RAIDar of corrupt root at which point a factory reset via the boot menu is required.The ReadyData 5200 required a little something extra since their native OS isn't RAIDiator, but the process mdgm described is what I followed for the 4200V2 and will also work on a 3200/4200(V1). Since the internal flash on those devices is a removable USB flash drive, making an image of it before the upgrade makes going back even easier, as well as giving you a layer of protection if something goes wrong in the upgrade or the flash should fail at some point later on.
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