Why does NAS firmware update if unit is booted diskless?

[Sandshark]

I have reported before that booting a ReadyNAS with no drives installed resulted in the firmware in flash being updated.  The response fomr the Netgear mod was that that was not possible,

I beg to disagree!

I first had it happen on a legacy rack-mount unit (RN4200V2).  So, I said to myself that maybe they are diffferent because the flash is a USB drive.  And since that configuration is unsupported, just note that it happens and avoid it.

I just tried to re-create a condition a forum user was reporting by booting my Ultra4 diskless.  And it, too, updated from 6.9.5 to to 6.10.2.  OK, so maybe it's only legacy systems that do it.

Nope, just did the same thing with my RN312.

This should not be happening!  One of the troubleshooting steps we often suggest to the users is to boot diskless.  For the flash to update at that point at best just adds another wrinkle, but at worst could make a situation worse (like for a system with an overfull OS partition).  In this particular case, it's an irreversable upgrade since downgrade from 6.10.x to 6.9.x is not recommended.  I was on 6.9.5 for a reason, and now you have completely ignored the fact that my settings are to only notify me, and then only for long-term stable updates.  I realize you have ignored the settings because they are on the (uninstalled) drives.  But that's the point, an update should not be performed when the user's preferences are unavalable.

In the meantme:  If you are booting a ReadyNAS diskless and you do not want the flash firmware updated to the latest, which will then update your disks when you boot with them re-installed, then boot with the Ethernet cable disconnected (or make the Internet not reachable by some other means) and plug the cable back in only after the boot is complete.

[EHCanadian]

Lets look at the x86\initrd.gz\initrd\init file from the firmware.

I have not looked at older versions of the readynas firmware or any varent other then the x86_64.

So subject to history/version and hardware.

v6.10.2 on a x86_64

#!/bin/sh

#ReadyNASOS 6.x.x usb recovery script

DBG="/dev/null"
mount -t proc proc /proc
mount -t sysfs sysfs /sys
mount -t devpts devpts /dev/pts
echo 3 > /proc/sys/kernel/printk
mdev -s
debug="no"
lcd="/proc/LCD"
SIZE=224

arch=`uname -m | cut -c 1-3`

netup() {
  ifconfig lo up
  addr=168
  connected="no"
  for eth in /sys/class/net/eth? ; do
    nic=$(basename $eth) 
    ifconfig $nic up
    RETRY=0
    while [ $RETRY -lt 8 ]; do
      if udhcpc -q -n -i $nic; then
        connected=$nic
        break 2 
      fi
      RETRY=$(($RETRY+1))
      usleep 250000
    done
    if [ $RETRY -eq 8 ]; then
      echo "#### DHCP fail for $nic, use static ip 192.168.168.$addr"
      ifconfig $nic 192.168.168.$addr  
    fi
    addr=$(($addr+1))
  done
  if [ $connected != "no" ]; then
    IP=`ifconfig $nic | grep "inet " | awk '{print $2}'|cut -f2 -d:` 
  else
    IP=`ifconfig eth0 | grep "inet " | awk '{print $2}'|cut -f2 -d:`
  fi
}

sethotid() {
  mac3=`ifconfig eth0 | grep "HWaddr" | awk '{print $5}' | cut -f3 -d:`
  mac4=`ifconfig eth0 | grep "HWaddr" | awk '{print $5}' | cut -f4 -d:`
  mac5=`ifconfig eth0 | grep "HWaddr" | awk '{print $5}' | cut -f5 -d:`
  mac6=`ifconfig eth0 | grep "HWaddr" | awk '{print $5}' | cut -f6 -d:`

  mac3=$((0x${mac3} & 0x7f))

  # ten to 0x
  mac3=`echo $mac3 | awk '{printf("%0x\n",$0)}'`

  echo "Hostid: ${mac3}${mac4}${mac5}${mac6}"

  echo -ne "\x${mac6}\x${mac5}\x${mac4}\x${mac3}" > /etc/hostid

}

#our lcd can display 16 characters per line
clear_lcd() {
  if [ -e $lcd ]; then
    echo "1 \"                \"" > $lcd
    echo "2 \"                \"" > $lcd
  fi
}

lcd_line1() {
  [ -e $lcd ] && echo "1 \"$1\"" > $lcd
}

lcd_line2() {
  [ -e $lcd ] && echo "2 \"$1\"" > $lcd
}

rescue_shell() {
  echo "Booting into debug mode..."
  netup
  sethotid
  telnetd
  echo "TELNET Mode" > /.os_status
  PORT="TELNET"
  cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -q -i Annapurna && cp -a -f /etc/fw_env.config.alpine /etc/fw_env.config
  if [ $debug = "yes" ]; then
    PORT=`rnutil remote_access -p`
    echo "Support: $PORT" > /.os_status
    rnutil remote_access -b
    echo "IP: $IP"
    echo "PORT: $PORT"
  fi
  clear_lcd
  lcd_line1 "DEBUG: $PORT"
  lcd_line2 $IP 
  raidard
  exec /bin/ash
}


show_error() {
  echo "ERROR: ${1}!"
  rescue_shell
}

get_sys_type_x86() {
	PRODUCT_NAME=$( cat /sys/class/dmi/id/product_name | tr -d ' ')
	echo "Model name: $PRODUCT_NAME"
	if [ $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS312' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS314' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS316' ]; then
		SYSTYPE='RN312_RN314_RN316'
	elif [ $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS516' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS716' ]; then
		SYSTYPE='RN516_RN716'
	elif [ $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS3220' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS4220' ]; then
		SYSTYPE='3220_4220'
	elif [ $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS3130' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS3138' ]; then
		SYSTYPE='3130'
	elif [ $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS526X' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS626X' ]; then
		SYSTYPE='RN526'
	elif [ $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS3312' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNAS4312' ]; then
		SYSTYPE='RR3312'
	#4360 product name , differnet ? 
	elif [ $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNASRR4360X' -o $PRODUCT_NAME = 'ReadyNASRR4360S' ]; then
		SYSTYPE='RR3312'
	fi

  if [ -z $SYSTYPE ]; then
    sku=`cat /sys/class/dmi/id/product_sku`
    #4360 usb path is the same with 3312/4312
    if [ $sku = "RR4360" ]; then
      SYSTYPE='RR3312'
    # 524/528/628 same with RN526/626
    elif [ $sku = "RN524X" -o $sku = "RN528X" -o $sku = "RN628X" ]; then
      SYSTYPE='RN526'
    elif [ $sku = "RN422" -o $sku = "RN424" -o $sku = "RN426" -o $sku = "RN428" ]; then
      SYSTYPE='RN422'
    elif [ $sku = "RR2304" -o $sku = "RR2312" ]; then
      SYSTYPE='RR2304'
    # 3312V2/4312V2 should only have CPU upgrade on 3312/4312
    elif [ $sku = "RR3312V2" -o $sku = "RR4312SV2" -o $sku = "RR4312XV2" ]; then
      SYSTYPE='RR3312'
    fi
  fi
}

find_boot_device_x86() {
  echo -n "Searching for internal boot flash device..."
  for i in `seq 1 60`; do
    # This should be the path for the internal USB port
    if [ $SYSTYPE = "RN516_RN716" ]; then
      DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.0/usb2/2-1/2-1.1/2-1.1:1.0/host*/target*/*/block/*
    elif [ $SYSTYPE = "RN312_RN314_RN316" ]; then
      DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host*/target*/*/block/*
    elif [ $SYSTYPE = "3220_4220" ]; then
      DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.2/ata3/host*/target*/*/block/*
    elif [ $SYSTYPE = '3130' ]; then
      DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:16.0/usb1/1-1/1-1.2/1-1.2:1.0/host*/target*/*/block/*
    elif [ $SYSTYPE = "RN526" ]; then
      DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-4/2-4:1.0/host*/target*/*:0:0:0/block/*
    elif [ $SYSTYPE = "RR3312" ]; then
	    DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-4/1-4:1.0/host*/target*/*:0:0:0/block/*
    elif [ $SYSTYPE = "RN422" ]; then
	    DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.0/usb1/1-2/1-2:1.0/host*/target*/*:0:0:0/block/*
    elif [ $SYSTYPE = "RR2304" ]; then
	    DEV_PATH=/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:15.0/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/host*/target*/*:0:0:0/block/*
    else
      echo "I do not know the internal boot flash location!"
      DEV_PATH="*"
      break
    fi
    BOOT_FLASH=$(basename $DEV_PATH)
    grep -q ${BOOT_FLASH}$ /proc/partitions && break
    usleep 250000
  done
  if [ "$BOOT_FLASH" = "*" ]; then
    echo "Did not find boot flash!"
    show_error "Could not find internal flash device!"
  fi
  mdev -s
  echo "$BOOT_FLASH"
  BOOT_FLASH="/dev/${BOOT_FLASH}"
}

update_flash_x86() {
  MD5SUM=$(dd if=$IMAGE bs=16384 count=1 2>/dev/null | grep -a info:: | sed -e 's/.*md5sum=//' -e 's/,.*//')
  if ! [ "$MD5SUM" = "`dd if=$IMAGE bs=16384 skip=1 2>/dev/null | md5sum | awk '{ print $1 }'`" ]; then
    show_error "flash image checksum does not match!"
  fi
  
  cd /tmp/flash
  dd if=$IMAGE bs=16384 skip=1 2>/dev/null | tar x || show_error "OS image extraction failed!"
  rm -rf bios loader
  
  mount -t msdos ${BOOT_FLASH}1 /boot_flash
  
  if ! [ -s "syslinux.cfg" ]; then
    cp /sysroot/syslinux.cfg .
  fi
  if [ $SYSTYPE = "NVX" ]; then
    rm -f kernel
    mv kernel.up kernel
  else
    rm -f kernel.up
  fi
  
  cp * /boot_flash || show_error "could not update flash device!"
  sync
  umount /boot_flash
  umount /sysroot
  cd /
}

verify_checksum() {
  if ! mount -t msdos ${BOOT_FLASH}1 /boot_flash; then
    echo "verify_checksum: Could not mount boot flash"
    return 1
  fi

  cd /boot_flash
  if ! md5sum -cs csums.md5; then
    echo "verify_checksum failed"
    cd /
    umount /boot_flash
    return 2    
  fi

  cd /
  umount /boot_flash
  return 0  
}

update_flash_x86_raw() {
  if ! mount -t vfat ${EXTERNAL_FLASH} /sysroot; then
    echo "update_flash_x86_raw: could not mount external flash"
    return 1
  fi
  RAW=`ls /sysroot/ReadyNASOS-*-x86_64*.raw | head -n1`
  if [ ! -s "$RAW" ]; then
    echo "No raw file exist, use img file to update"
    umount /sysroot
    return 2
  fi

  #verify raw file -- TBD

  echo -n "Use raw file to update..."
  if ! dd if=$RAW bs=1M of=${BOOT_FLASH}; then
    echo "DD raw file fail"
    umount /sysroot
    return 3
  fi
  echo "done"

  #verify checksum
  echo -n "Verify checksum..."
  blockdev --rereadpt $BOOT_FLASH
  mdev -s
  if verify_checksum; then
    echo "done"
  else
    umount /sysroot
    return 4
  fi
  
  umount /sysroot
  return 0
}

write_flash_x86() {

  find_external_boot_device
  find_boot_device_x86
  
  mkdir /tmp/flash  

  if mount -t msdos ${BOOT_FLASH}1 /boot_flash; then
    [ -f /boot_flash/vpd ] && cp /boot_flash/vpd /tmp/flash/
    umount /boot_flash
  fi

  #Check if there is raw image which can be used for update
  if update_flash_x86_raw; then
    return 0
  fi
  
  echo -n "Formatting boot flash device..."
  if [ $SYSTYPE = "RN516_RN716" ]; then
     mkdiskimage  $BOOT_FLASH 1024 8 32
  #elif [ $SYSTYPE = "RN526" -o $SYSTYPE = "RR3312" ]; then
  #  mkdiskimage -M $BOOT_FLASH $SIZE 64 32
  else
     mkdiskimage -M $BOOT_FLASH $SIZE 64 32
  fi
  
  blockdev --rereadpt $BOOT_FLASH
  mdev -s
  mkdosfs ${BOOT_FLASH}1 > /dev/null
  syslinux -i ${BOOT_FLASH}1
  
  # Copy back VPD as first order
  mount -t msdos ${BOOT_FLASH}1 /boot_flash
  [ -f /tmp/flash/vpd ] && cp /tmp/flash/vpd /boot_flash/
  umount /boot_flash
  echo "done"
  
  mount -t vfat ${EXTERNAL_FLASH} /sysroot || show_error "could not mount external flash"
  IMAGE=`ls /sysroot/ReadyNASOS-*-x86_64.img | head -n1`
  [ -s "$IMAGE" ] || show_error "no source flash image found"
  
  echo -n "Writing internal USB boot flash device..."
  update_flash_x86
  echo "done"
}

get_sys_type_arm() {
  SYSTYPE=$(cat /proc/cmdline | grep bdtype | sed -e 's/.*bdtype=//')
  [ $SYSTYPE = "rn2120-v2" ] && SYSTYPE="rn2120"
}

find_boot_device_arm() {
  echo -n "Searching for internal boot flash device..."
  for i in `seq 1 60`; do
    # This should be the path for the internal nand flash
    BOOT_FLASH=ubi0_0
    [ -c "/dev/${BOOT_FLASH}" ] && break
    usleep 250000
  done
  if [ $i -eq 60 ]; then
    echo "Did not find boot flash!"
    show_error "Could not find internal flash device!"
  fi
  mdev -s
  echo "mtd rootfs: $BOOT_FLASH"
  BOOT_FLASH="/dev/${BOOT_FLASH}"
}
find_RN25_external_boot_device() {
  echo -n "Searching for external boot flash device..."
  for j in `seq 1 60`; do
    # This should be the path for the front SDCARD port
    for mb in /sys/block/mmcblk?; do
      EXTERNAL_FLASH=$(basename $mb)
      if grep -q ${EXTERNAL_FLASH}p1 /proc/partitions; then
        mdev -s
        if ! mount -t vfat /dev/${EXTERNAL_FLASH}p1 /sysroot >/dev/null 2>/dev/null; then
	  rm -f /dev/${EXTERNAL_FLASH}p1
	  continue
	fi
        IMAGE=`ls /sysroot/ReadyNASOS-*-arm.img 2>/dev/null | head -n1`
        if [ ! -s "$IMAGE" ]; then
	  umount /sysroot
	  continue
	fi
        break
      fi
    done
    [ -s "$IMAGE" ] && break
    usleep 250000
  done
  if [ $j -eq 60 ]; then
    echo "Could not find RN25 external boot flash!"
    show_error "Could not find RN25 external flash device!"
  fi
  umount /sysroot
  echo "$EXTERNAL_FLASH"
  EXTERNAL_FLASH="/dev/${EXTERNAL_FLASH}"
}

find_external_boot_device() {
  echo -n "Searching for external boot flash device..."
  found="no"
  for i in `seq 1 60`; do
    mdev -s
    # This should be the path for the front USB port
    # try mount raw device first
    for sd in /sys/block/sd?; do
      EXTERNAL_FLASH=$(basename $sd)
      if ! mount -t vfat /dev/${EXTERNAL_FLASH} /sysroot >/dev/null 2>/dev/null; then
	continue
      fi
      IMAGE=`ls /sysroot/ReadyNASOS-*.img 2>/dev/null | head -n1`
      if [ ! -s "$IMAGE" ]; then
	umount /sysroot
	continue
      fi
      found="yes"
      break
    done
    # try mount partion 1 ~ 4
    if [ $found = 'no' ];then
      for p in `seq 1 4`; do
        for sd in /sys/block/sd?; do
          dev=$(basename $sd)
          EXTERNAL_FLASH=$dev$p
          if ! mount -t vfat /dev/${EXTERNAL_FLASH} /sysroot >/dev/null 2>/dev/null; then
            continue
          fi
          IMAGE=`ls /sysroot/ReadyNASOS-*.img 2>/dev/null | head -n1`
          if [ ! -s "$IMAGE" ]; then
            umount /sysroot
            continue
          fi
          break 2  
        done
      done
    fi
    [ -s "$IMAGE" ] && break
    usleep 250000
  done
  if [ $i -eq 60 ]; then
    echo "Could not find external boot flash!"
    show_error "Could not find external flash device!"
  fi
  umount /sysroot
  echo "$EXTERNAL_FLASH"
  EXTERNAL_FLASH="/dev/${EXTERNAL_FLASH}"
}

update_flash_arm() {
  MD5SUM=$(dd if=$IMAGE bs=16384 count=1 2>/dev/null | grep -a info:: | sed -e 's/.*md5sum=//' -e 's/,.*//')
  if ! [ "$MD5SUM" = "`dd if=$IMAGE bs=16384 skip=1 2>/dev/null | md5sum | awk '{ print $1 }'`" ]; then
    show_error "flash image checksum does not match!"
  fi
  [ ! -d /tmp/flash ] && mkdir /tmp/flash
  cd /tmp/flash
  dd if=$IMAGE bs=16384 skip=1 2>/dev/null | tar x || show_error "OS image extraction failed!"

  for fl in /sysroot/u-boot-${SYSTYPE}-*; do
    [ -f $fl ] || break
    cp -f $fl /tmp/flash
    echo "done"
  done
    
  for fl in /tmp/flash/u-boot-${SYSTYPE}-*; do
    [ -f $fl ] || break
    FLNAME=$(basename $fl)
    flash_erase /dev/mtd0 0 0
    nandwrite -p /dev/mtd0 ./$FLNAME
    echo "done"
  done
  for fl in /tmp/flash/kernel.${SYSTYPE}; do
    [ -f $fl ] || break
    FLNAME=$(basename $fl)
    flash_erase /dev/mtd2 0 0
    nandwrite -p /dev/mtd2 ./$FLNAME
  done

  # there is only kernel/kernel.arm/kernel.alpine from 6.4.0 
  if [ ! -f /tmp/flash/kernel.${SYSTYPE} ]; then
     if [ $SYSTYPE = "rn202" -o $SYSTYPE = "rn204" -o $SYSTYPE = "rn212" -o $SYSTYPE = "rn214" ]; then	
       #Alpine series
       if [ -f /tmp/flash/kernel.alpine ]; then
         mv /tmp/flash/kernel.alpine /tmp/flash/kernel
         sed -i -e '/kernel$/d' -e 's/kernel.alpine/kernel/' /tmp/flash/csums.md5
       fi
     fi
     if [ -f /tmp/flash/kernel ]; then
       flash_erase /dev/mtd2 0 0
       nandwrite -p /dev/mtd2 ./kernel
     fi
  fi
	
  for fl in /tmp/flash/initrd*; do
    [ -f $fl ] || break
    FLNAME=$(basename $fl)
    flash_erase /dev/mtd3 0 0
    nandwrite -p /dev/mtd3 ./$FLNAME
  done
  # copy files to ubifs, then dual boot supported by uboot works
  # Manufactures use new nand flash with low quatility which has more bad blocks then boot from /dev/mtd1 may fail
  # JustinM add feathers to let uboot fallback to boot kernel/initrd from ubifs
  cp /tmp/flash/* /boot_flash || show_error "could not update ubifs!" 
  sync
  umount /boot_flash
  umount /sysroot
  cd /
}

format_mtd4() {

     echo -n "Internal flash crashed, format it..."
     ubidetach -m 4
     flash_erase /dev/mtd4 0 0
     sleep 1
     ubiattach /dev/ubi_ctrl -m 4
     sleep 1
     ubimkvol /dev/ubi0 -N rootfs -m
     sleep 1
     echo "done"
}

write_flash_arm() {
  mdev -s
  ## find external boot usb device
  if [ $SYSTYPE = "rn25" -o $SYSTYPE = "s2000" -o $SYSTYPE = "folio" ];  then
    find_RN25_external_boot_device
    mount -t vfat ${EXTERNAL_FLASH}p1 /sysroot || show_error "could not mount external flash"
  else
    find_external_boot_device
    mount -t vfat ${EXTERNAL_FLASH} /sysroot || show_error "could not mount external flash"
  fi

  if [ -f /sysroot/NTGR_DEBUG.* ]; then
    echo "Found debug flag file"
    debug="yes"
    umount /sysroot
    rescue_shell
  fi

  #internal mtd rootfs
  if ubiattach /dev/ubi_ctrl -m 4; then
    echo "Internal flash attached"
  else
    format_mtd4
  fi
  mdev -s  
  find_boot_device_arm

  [ ! -d /boot_flash ] && mkdir /boot_flash
  
  if mount -t ubifs ${BOOT_FLASH} /boot_flash; then
     rm -f /boot_flash/root.tlz
  fi
  mdev -s
  
  IMAGE=`ls /sysroot/ReadyNASOS-*-arm.img | head -n1`
  [ -s "$IMAGE" ] || show_error "no source flash image found"
  echo -n "Writing internal nand flash device..."
  update_flash_arm
  echo "done"
}

enter_debug_mode() {
  if [ $SYSTYPE = "rn25" -o $SYSTYPE = "s2000" -o $SYSTYPE = "folio" ];  then
    find_RN25_external_boot_device
    mount -t vfat ${EXTERNAL_FLASH}p1 /sysroot || show_error "could not mount external flash"
  else
    find_external_boot_device
    mount -t vfat ${EXTERNAL_FLASH} /sysroot || show_error "could not mount external flash" 
  fi
  
  if [ -f /sysroot/NTGR_DEBUG.* ]; then
    echo "Found debug flag file"
    debug="yes"
    umount /sysroot
    rescue_shell
  else
    umount /sysroot
  fi
}

echo "Starting USB Recovery..."

lcd_line1 "    ReadyNAS    "
lcd_line2 "  USB Recovery  "

echo "ARCH: $arch"

if [ $arch = "x86" ]; then
  get_sys_type_x86
elif [ $arch = "arm" ]; then
  get_sys_type_arm
fi

if [ -z $SYSTYPE ]; then
  show_error "Get systype failed!"
else
  echo "Got systype=$SYSTYPE"
fi

enter_debug_mode

if [ $arch = "x86" ]; then
  write_flash_x86
else
  write_flash_arm
fi

clear_lcd
echo "Recovery Done"
lcd_line1 "Recovery Done"
sleep 1

/sbin/poweroff -f

How does the unit boot up?

serial 0 115200 0
timeout 30
prompt 1

default Normal

label Normal
kernel kernel
append initrd=initrd.gz reason=normal

label FactoryDefault
kernel kernel
append initrd=initrd.gz reason=factory

label OSReinstall
kernel kernel
append initrd=initrd.gz reason=os_reinstall

label TechSupport
kernel kernel
append initrd=initrd.gz reason=diag

label SkipVolCheck
kernel kernel
append initrd=initrd.gz reason=skip_fsck

label MemoryTest
kernel memtest

label TestDisks
kernel kernel
append initrd=initrd.gz reason=test_disks

The x-flex raid by default is enabled and will assimilate any non usb hardware. So that

needs to be disabled after you flash/recover the device.

What device do you have?

[Sandshark]

Was there something specific you wanted to point out in that boot code?  Note that I'm not interested in the method it uses, I want to know why someone has chosen that it does this automatic update at all.  I did not intentionally update it and did not want an update to occur.  I just booted it with no drives installed.  It is, as best I can tell, contrary to all the Netgear documentation.

As I said in my original message, I have seen this occur on an RN4200V2 and Ultra4 converted to OS6, and also on an RN312.  I can understand that the converted legacy devices could have an issue, since I'm sure there isn't a lot of testing going on with them.  But the 312 is a native OS6 device.

[EHCanadian]

Na, Just that support doesn't know what they are talking about for the most part.

So I posted the init to show you how they actual dev's did things, What you see is the actual

conditions scripted by the software team that causes the system to try to correct itself.

The readynas os itself has services in debian that auto run at boot that self update itself.

Overall they took the approach to code in micro automated management with the assumption

that we are inexperienced and has simple methods to self manage the unit.

However I have not seen them code in version control. Since we are all told that we need to update

to a speific version before applying the next. Whom do not listen end up in using the usbbootrecovery

or brinking the internal flash.

But you can turn services of that enable the self update.

Deleting the startup entries usualy casues them to return.

The interal flash has its own boot manager that boots to /dev/sda and does the automating of installing itself,

Thus enabling the system to update itself.

[mdgm]

The update server provides the recommended update from any given version and that's where they would get it from.

Not sure what the relevance of the USB Boot Recovery init file is. The init file in the firmware itself is different.