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Solved
ReadyNAS Ultra 6 doesn't boot - Stuck on "ReadyNAS" prompt screen
Yesterday I upgraded my old ReadyNAS Ultra 6 to OS6, previously running 4.2.31. I replaced the 1GB RAM in the unit with 2x2GB sticks (new), and followed the upgrade process (BIOS_Update_Package_0...
Thanks everyone for your feedback and assistance. As identified, my VPD file was corrupt, and without the Model and Serial info, that seemed to be stopping Frontview, etc from working correctly.
Only someone with the correct Netgear tools can re-create that VPD file, luckily I've been given the help privately to restore my Serial, etc back info the unit, and we are back up and running again. Sounds like I may not have specifically done anything wrong with what I did with the unit, it is just unfortunately a scenario that can happen on these older units. Fortunately fixable, I guess just a possible scenario to be aware of for anyone else thinking of the OS4 to OS6 upgrade.
Memory test came back with no errors, so I restarted the unit, it attempted to boot, and then came up "ERR: Could not mount root RAID d". To be expected I guess - the volume was created on a newer firmware, so obviously the old firmware that's back on there doesn't understand the current volume.
It looks like Factory Reset is the only way forward from here, so I've kicked that off. I'd prefer to upgrade the unit to 6.9.5 first, to avoid creating/syncing disks multiple times, but it doesn't look like there's any way to do that that I can see, so we'll create the volume under 4.2.31, and then see if I can update to OS6 before having to resync the whole volume under 4.2.31 first.
So the factory reset went through the initial stages OK (checking disks, creating volume), and then sat there with disk 6 flashing on the front panel. I thought it might be syncing, but usually it indicates progress for that on the front panel too. I tried to access it via RAIDar, but ReadyNAS Frontview is coming up as an empty screen (the borders and frame are on the page, but no info or controls). Also in RAIDar, the "Model" string looks completely corrupt (looks like UTF-8 or Unicode or something, being converted incorrectly as ASCII).
I wondered if maybe disk 6 was actually failing (shouldn't be, it's one of the newer disks in the unit), so I shut it all down, swapped disks 4 & 6, and kicked off factory reset again. It eventually reached the same state, the disk 6 icon is flashing on the front panel, no other info (just the IP address), and Frontview is still blank.
I am assuming it is therefore syncing, and will leave it overnight, fingers crossed. If anyone has any suggestions let me know - it seems like either files/info are missing that I need to restore to get the old Frontview working again, or perhaps the OS6 bios changes mean the old firmware will no longer work correctly. In which case I guess I either need to find a way to revert to the previous BIOS, or I can try USB recovery again, but with the 6.9.5 firmware on the USB (in hindsight that's probably what I should have done to start with).
If you have an identical unit, you could try placing the disks in there (in the same bays in the same order), and see if that gets you access to the data.
Otherwise, it sounds at least like your hardware isn't dead, but you might be best starting a new thread to get suggestions - this original thread was more about issues I had upgrading from OS4 to OS6, but sounds like you have a different issue.
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