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I had Utorrent installed on my ReadyNAS 626X but for some reason the folder settings all became read only. So I tried to uninstall the app (it failed) so I followed some SSH instructions to remove the folder and app.
Now I can't reinstall it as the install fails. How can I get it reinstalled?
It gives instructions on how to install the two patches without needing knowledge of the linux command line.
Though learning some linux basics can be helpful. Most NAS (all vendors) are linux servers, and often app installation needs some tweaks that have to be made manually.
I had Utorrent installed on my ReadyNAS 626X but for some reason the folder settings all became read only. So I tried to uninstall the app (it failed) so I followed some SSH instructions to remove the folder and app.
Now I can't reinstall it as the install fails. How can I get it reinstalled?
I'm confused on how to follow the post #37 instructions. I'm a total Linux newbie really - I never really do anything outside the ReadyNAS GUI.
Unfortunately, you will either need to sort out how to do it, or you will need to run apps somewhere else.
You could use these steps:
Download the two files in the post to your PC.
install WinSCP on the PC, and make an SFTP connection to the NAS. Use root as the username and the NAS admin password. This will let you see the folder in the OS partition where the two changes need to be made.
Upload the two files using the WinSCP GUI.
Reboot the NAS.
Save the two files, as if you ever need to do a factory reset or an OS reinstall, then you likely will need to apply the changes again.
App packages usually aren't completely self-contained - they depend on other linux libraries, which are automatically installed on your system if they aren't there already - or updated if they are there, but not the right verson. These other libraries are stored in repositories on the internet.
As the link I posted above says, OS-6 ReadyNAS systems are built on Debian 8 ("Jessie") linux. That's an old version now, and Debian folks have stopped supporting it. They moved the Debian 8 libraries into an archive, and also aren't keeping up the digital signatures on those libraries. So to get the installs to work, you need to tell the apt software in the ReadyNAS where to look for the relocated libraries, and also tell it to install them without doing the normal signature check.
This is something that Netgear really should take care of themselves, either with a hotfix or a small firmware update. No idea if that will ever happen, and in the meantime it's something you need to do yourself. Note that if you ever do a factory reset you'd need to apply the change again. That might also be needed if you do an OS reinstall or update firmware.
One thing to be aware of - as time goes on, apps are updated, and many will start to depend on library versions that are newer than what is in Debian 8. As that happens, more and more apps will fail to install. So while the patches will work for now, they might not work for future versions of utorrent (or other apps you might have installed). If that happens for the apps you use, then you will need to start running those apps on other machines.
The app itself isn't "broken" if you are installing the same (likely outdated) version you had before. The install mechanism is, in a manner of speaking. As @StephenB said, the install package does not normally contain all necessary "supporting" programs and/or libraries. It relies on them being downloaded over the internet at install time. This is done to keep an install of one app from unintentionally installing a too-old version of a support program or library used by another app or the OS itself. Both simply install "the latest" via the internet.
But the place that the ReadyNAS OS believes contains those programs/libraries no longer exists. So, you have to tell it where they got moved to. They are also no longer currently "certified" (signed), so you have to tell the installer to ignore that. That part of it is why I doubt Netgear will ever implement this "fix" in an OS update. The "fix" tells the NAS to accept any improperly signed or unsigned program/library, which could include one that's malware.
What @StephenB was saying is that an updated version of the app (which you, apparently, are not currently trying to install) could be "broken" in that the needed version of the supporting program/library is not available for Debian Jessie, even in the archive. It's called an 'archive" for a reason -- it's no longer updated.
Thanks Sandshark for your detailed reply as well. It's always helpful to have the backstory to an issue like this to better understand what I am trying to fix.
This is my 2nd ReadyNAS in about 7 years. I started with ReadyNAS as I liked the apps availability and didn't have to learn Linux to maintain the box. I'm wondering if Netgear is going to keep up with the support of the ReadyNAS OS to keep it current with where the Linux OS is going. It's disappointing to learn that it seems that is not currently the case.
At the end of the day, you either need to apply the patches or run the app on a different machine. There's only so many ways I can try to explain this to you. You should get them soon, as @Sandshark could take them down at any time. And keep them for future use.
why would it have broken when it had been working on my 626X for a couple of years now?
Here's another try:
Many app packages have install scripts that have dependencies on other libraries. These dependencies require the installation to access the repo that holds those libraries. Those libraries are built for specific versions of linux, so the repo location is in a configuration file for the machine, and not in the installation script itself.
So the install scripts frequently say "hey, I need version x.x.x.x of the following library". The apt software that does the installation has a separate configuration file that tells the system where to look for the libraries that are built specifically for Debian 8. Debian 12 or Ubuntu 23 (for example) need libraries built specifically for those OS, and they have their own repos. You have to get the libraries for your version of linux.
In summary, the app install says what libraries it needs, and the sources.list on the NAS tells the apt software how to find those libraries.
The Debian 8 repo that holds those libraries was moved into archive earlier this year.
As a result of that move, the NAS no longer has the correct info on where to find the needed libraries. So those installs will fail. That is what the patches address. They
replace the old repo locations with archived repos in the apt configuration file (the sources list mod).
disable the digital signature check, since that check fails on the archived libraries (the new apt.conf).
Since I don't believe the Utorrent app has been updated
For now, what matters is the library dependencies that are in the install script of the app. Personally it's not an app I care about, so I'm not planning to spend any time reverse-engineering the app install.
No idea what the future of utorrent linux packages might be, but there certainly are other apps that are no longer compatible with ReadyNAS. That will happen to more and more apps as time goes on. Imagine you are still running Windows XP. If you are, you can't install the current version of Chrome - it just fails. Some other programs might still install, but over time more and more programs fail as Chrome does now. This is the same situation with ReadyNAS. It's running a version of linux that became end-of-life in 2020.
The patches won't solve that. In the past Netgear periodically removed incompatible apps from the app list. I suspect no one is paying attention to that anymore, now that all ReadyNAS are end-of-life.
I'm wondering if Netgear is going to keep up with the support of the ReadyNAS OS to keep it current with where the Linux OS is going. It's disappointing to learn that it seems that is not currently the case.
It is disappointing, but that ship has sailed. All ReadyNAS hardware platforms are end-of-life, as is the underlying Linux OS. Some software releases are still coming out, but they are almost entirely limited to security updates.
It gives instructions on how to install the two patches without needing knowledge of the linux command line.
Though learning some linux basics can be helpful. Most NAS (all vendors) are linux servers, and often app installation needs some tweaks that have to be made manually.
I was not aware that all ReadyNAS are end-of-life. That explains a lot.
Hopefully I can continue to use the ReadyNAS for a while longer. It's in a home environment and I use it for storage, Emby media streaming and downloading torrents.
Hopefully I can continue to use the ReadyNAS for a while longer. It's in a home environment and I use it for storage, Emby media streaming and downloading torrents.
I'm planning to use mine for the foreseeable future.
I just use ReadyNAS for storage - consolidating all our files to one place, and then making sure that is properly backed up.
I use Plex for media streaming, and of course use other applications. But some years ago I decided it would be better to use a separate application server for them (which has the NAS data volume mapped to a drive letter, so storage remains on the NAS).
The idea there is to give me the ability to upgrade the applications platform separately from the storage platform. I did that a year or so ago - getting a new applications PC with a GPU to give me better performance with Plex. Anyway, splitting the platforms will make it easier to switch to a different storage solution when the time comes.
