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OS 6 Upgrade Instructions for ReadyNAS Ultra RNDU2000
It appears I have an Ultra 2 with 1GB of RAM which I have a 2GB DIMM coming as an upgrade, which should be plenty to run OS 6. However, I haven't seen any instructions on how to upgrade the ReadyNAS Duo Ultra v2 to OS 6, officially or unofficially - the latter of which I hear is provided by others. In another thread there is a link to a solution but it doesn't go to a location that provides a way to upgrade from OS 4 to OS 6. Wiping my NAS is fine as all my data is backed up. Much prefer to be able to use Samba 2 with Windows 10 and 11 without the workarounds. Thank you for all providing assistance.
However, I haven't seen any instructions on how to upgrade the ReadyNAS Duo Ultra v2 to OS 6, officially or unofficially - the latter of which I hear is provided by others.
Netgear doesn't officially support the conversion, so you won't find anything "official".
Do the RAM upgrade first. After that, the steps are
(Optionally) make sure the latest BIOS is installed before you do the conversion. To do this you install http://www.readynas.com/download/addons/x86/4.2/BIOS_Update_Package_0.5-x86.bin as an add-on and reboot the NAS. Do this after you backup the NAS. This isn't necessary, but if you do want to update the bios it is easiest to do it prior to conversion
Basic instructions for the conversion itself are
BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP
Upload PREPR4TOR6_0.1-x86.bin as an add-on using the ReadyNAS web gui, but do not reboot afterwards (avoids the need to do manual factory resets)
Upload R4toR6_6.9.5.bin using the ReadyNAS web gui firmware update
After you upload the addon+firmware and reboot, it will update the firmware and start a factory default.
Go through the setup process on the converted NAS
Update the NAS to the current OS 6 (check for updates will work).
Restore files from the backup.
Netgear won't provide paid support on a converted NAS, so that is one consideration. There is a small risk that the process could fail, and if that were to happen it might not be possible to get the NAS running again. Sometimes the VPD ends up corrupted - only Netgear can fix that, and so far the mods have taken care of that as a courtesy.
However, I haven't seen any instructions on how to upgrade the ReadyNAS Duo Ultra v2 to OS 6, officially or unofficially - the latter of which I hear is provided by others.
Netgear doesn't officially support the conversion, so you won't find anything "official".
Do the RAM upgrade first. After that, the steps are
(Optionally) make sure the latest BIOS is installed before you do the conversion. To do this you install http://www.readynas.com/download/addons/x86/4.2/BIOS_Update_Package_0.5-x86.bin as an add-on and reboot the NAS. Do this after you backup the NAS. This isn't necessary, but if you do want to update the bios it is easiest to do it prior to conversion
Basic instructions for the conversion itself are
BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP
Upload PREPR4TOR6_0.1-x86.bin as an add-on using the ReadyNAS web gui, but do not reboot afterwards (avoids the need to do manual factory resets)
Upload R4toR6_6.9.5.bin using the ReadyNAS web gui firmware update
After you upload the addon+firmware and reboot, it will update the firmware and start a factory default.
Go through the setup process on the converted NAS
Update the NAS to the current OS 6 (check for updates will work).
Restore files from the backup.
Netgear won't provide paid support on a converted NAS, so that is one consideration. There is a small risk that the process could fail, and if that were to happen it might not be possible to get the NAS running again. Sometimes the VPD ends up corrupted - only Netgear can fix that, and so far the mods have taken care of that as a courtesy.
Re: OS 6 Upgrade Instructions for ReadyNAS Ultra RNDU2000
Thank you for breathing new life into my two ReadyNAS Duos, which turns out to be a ReadyNAS Ultra 2 . It's a beautiful, metal box that looks far more impressive than the cheap plastic boxes I have from other manufacturers. I first upgraded the RAM to 2GB, which was extremely fortunate to have this option. Worked perfectly.
I wanted to add a few helping tips for those following and avoid serious frustration - and reasons to upgrade this NAS:
1) You will have TLS 1 problems trying to enter the admin mode using any current browser. This is because they have depracated usage and you'll get an error like a cipher mismatch in your browser. To enable TLS1 mode, follow this:
2) Upgrading the rest was fairly routine. Requires some patience for things to upgrade. I successfully upgraded the firmware to the latest version and it works well. However, while the destruction of my data wasn't unexpected, it is important to note that you'll get formtted into X-RAID by default. I had my volumes as ext volumes because I could easily copy files on and off into windows without worry about being unable to be read due to encryption, etc. I'll have to figure out how to change this later so I have 2 ext volumes.
This device worked very well for my purposes - hosting my personal photos and videos (up to 4K) and served them well. Now I don't have to play around with Samba issues in windows or other devices trying to access. Very much appreciated!
Re: OS 6 Upgrade Instructions for ReadyNAS Ultra RNDU2000
I 'destroyed" the disk that was created which didn't destroy the OS. Created 2 JBODs. Everything is working well and OS 6 is a MASSIVE improvement. No sudden lack of access errors, write protection errors, browser access and cipher errors.... cannot thank you enough. I really love the ReadyNAS for what it is and so glad I did not scrap it. $8 upgrade and it works like a champ.
Re: OS 6 Upgrade Instructions for ReadyNAS Ultra RNDU2000
Just be aware that your two JBOD volumes are not ext volumes, as they were under OS4.2.x. OS6 does not support that. They are actually MDADM RAID1 volumes with one drive "missing" with a BTRFS file system on top.
You seem to be under the impression that XRAID is in some way proprietary or encrypted. It's not (though an encryption option is available). In OS4.2.x they are standard Linux LVM volumes with an ext file system and in OS6 they are Linux standard MDADM volumes with a BTRFS file system. "All" XRAID is is a system that makes the expansion capabilities of these systems more automatic and user friendly, but at the expense of reducing options -- thus the FlexRAID option.
Re: OS 6 Upgrade Instructions for ReadyNAS Ultra RNDU2000
Thanks for the explanation. They didn't seem to be an EXT FS and I appreciate the explanation, also about the encryption. For me, the potential for data recovery far outweighs any need for encryption, which is commonplace in many RAID systems given the need. You've connected the dots for me as I wondered about some options I was seeing and now it makes sense.
While it would have been nice to have one large volume, recovery (especially for the second volume) is usually lost with JBODs from my understanding. It's also easier to replace drives that may go bad or upgraded, so all is good.
With OS 6, operations are so much easier, don't worry about an inability to access the drive with browsers, don't have the unusual error where the drive becomes read onl y and even the admin doesn't have access to edit or delete files, etc. Not sure how much of a difference the 2GB of RAM upgrade made but everything seems snappier. Thanks again everyone.
While it would have been nice to have one large volume, recovery (especially for the second volume) is usually lost with JBODs from my understanding. It's also easier to replace drives that may go bad or upgraded, so all is good.
Not sure what you mean by the recovery bit.
With RAID-0 (one volume) when either drive fails, you lose everything. Since the data is striped across the drives, RAID recovery requires both drives to be readable. RAID-0 is in some situations faster, though in practice you won't see much if any performance gain with a 2-bay ReadyNAS. Upgrades require replacing both drives, and starting over with a fresh volume (recreating shares, etc, and restoring from backup).
With two JBOD volumes, when either drive fails you only lose what's on the failed drive. Since each drive is self-contained, you don't need RAID recovery software at all (though you would need some recovery tools). The main downside is the largest shares need to fit comfortably on one volume. You do need to roughly balance the free space between the two volumes (making sure each volume has enough) - in practice I haven't found that to be difficult, especially with larger drives. Upgrading either volume requires destroying (or exporting it) and then creating a new one on the replacement.
If you have apps installed, you do need to know which volume the apps are installed on. If you upgrade that volume, you will also need to uninstall any apps first, and then reinstall them later. (If you destroy the volume the apps are on, the apps folder is recreated on the other volume. But unfortunately the apps aren't moved).
There's a similar situation with the home folders - though they aren't recreated until users access them. Though personally I don't find those folders to be worth the trouble for home use, so I don't use them (and have all sharing protocols turned off for them).
