RNDP400u stuck at 99% after upgrade from firmware 4 to 6

[wcasanov]

Attempting to upgrade firmware from Radiator 4.19 using R4toR6_6.9.5.bin. Device does not boot past 99%. Is it possible to restore the original firmware? Any options to salvage the device? I appreciate any input towards resolving this issue.

[wcasanov · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your reply. That is exactly what I tried. The initial boot got stuck at 94%, the factory reset with 1 disk got to 99%. I also tried an OS reinstall with similar results. All get stuck somewhere in the 90% range on upnphttpd.service.

[StephenB]

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@wcasanov wrote:

Attempting to upgrade firmware from Radiator 4.19 using R4toR6_6.9.5.bin. Device does not boot past 99%. Is it possible to restore the original firmware? Any options to salvage the device? I appreciate any input towards resolving this issue.

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Maybe first try a single disk (doing a factory install), and see if that boots.

[wcasanov · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your reply. That is exactly what I tried. The initial boot got stuck at 94%, the factory reset with 1 disk got to 99%. I also tried an OS reinstall with similar results. All get stuck somewhere in the 90% range on upnphttpd.service.

[StephenB]

You can't revert using the normal method, since the system doesn't boot. 

You can try reverting using the USB recovery tool.  Note you don't use the one for OS 6. https://kb.netgear.com/30267/RAIDiator-4-2-USB-Recovery-Tool

[Sandshark]

Although it really doesn't sound that much like it'll help, you may want to try a USB recovery to OS6 first before you give up on it.  To do that, you follow the instructions for creating an OS4.2 USB recovery drive and use the same altered OS6 file you used for the conversion as the image file.  Using an OS6 style USB recovery will not work, since the cutr down OS that boots from that USB won't recognize legacy hardware.

Note that ReadyNAS, and legacy ones in particular, are very picky about the USB drive you use for recovery.  Anything above 8GB or USB3 is just not going to work.  Basically, the older and simpler, the better.  Using one with an access LED can help you know that something is actually happeneing with it.

BTW, if you succeed and plan to go to OS6.10.x, you'll want to update your RAM to 2GB.  Users have reported problems with only 1GB and OS6 on Intel based systems.  Netgear has cut back the OS for older ARM systems with just 1GB, but all native OS6 Intel ones have at least 2GB.

[StephenB]

I'm also wondering if it is worth trying a different disk.

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@Sandshark wrote:

Netgear has cut back the OS for older ARM systems with just 1GB, but all native OS6 Intel ones have at least 2GB.

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Just to clarify this, the RN100 series has only 512 MB of RAM.  The RN200, RN210 series and the rackmount RN2120 (also ARM) all have 2 GB.

One aspect here is that Netgear has disabled some features in the RN100s (likely related to the small amount of memory).