ReadyNAS Ultra 6 - Replace OS with any linux distro or NAS-OS e.g. Openmediavault possible?

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Hello community,

model version: ReadyNAS Ultra 6

firmware: RAIDiator 4.2.31

My device is running very well and I don't had any troubles until now, but due to the fact:

1. That my device is very old and won't see any security updates, so I blocked all internet acces for the NAS

2. Firefox tells me that I will soon not be able to log in anymore (TLS < 1.2 will be deactivated)

I'm thinking about what to do with my old NAS to put this device to a more solid and future proof ground. Yes it is possible to upgrade to OS6 but as far as I understand there is always the risk that support for the old devices will be dropped and some guys reporting various problems. In the past I already upgraded but had some issues and so downgraded again.

When I look at my device I would assume that this a completly normal PC, as this test confirms me: https://www.storagereview.com/review/netgear-readynas-ultra-6-review-rndu6000

So why it should not be possible to install another linux distro to prevent another vendor lock-in with OS6?

I remember that I read some time ago that some guys successfully replaced the Netgear OS with another OS but the links which I saves are all dead. I only found in my archive (only as PDF -> website is dead) a "guide" (very short) where somebody explains how he installed CentOS 6 on a ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer edition RNDP600E.

My quesion to you:

Have you experience with replacing the OS from a legacy device?

Any troubles which I'm probably not thinked about?

Thanks in advance!

[mdgm]

You could connect a VGA header cable if you want to use a monitor. You could also plug in a USB keyboard and mouse.

Alternatively you could use the serial console. If you choose that option the first step would be to get familiar with connecting that and how to use it. The serial console port should be hidden under a sticker on the rear of the unit.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Thanks for your thoughts, I assume that means you never tried to install a different OS? At the back I found only 2 USB ports, a 4 pin connector which I never saw before and a port which looks like a VGA port but it is blocked by a steel sheet. Do you know whether this 4 pin connector at the back is this a serial port? See picture above the two USB ports: https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Netgear-ReadyNAS-Ultra-6-back1.jpg According to the guide which I stored the ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer edition RNDP600E has a VGA connector directly on the mainboard. When I look at this picture https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Netgear-ReadyNAS-Ultra-6-motherboard.jpg I see several pins but nothing what looks like a VGA connector which I know from my normal PC mainboards.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Pictures of connectors.

blocked VGA(?)-port

4-pin connector

[Sandshark]

That is the serial port.  The VGA is just a header on the motherboard and you'll need a cable that goes from that to a standard VGA connector.  If it's long enough, you can punch out that blank and install the connector there.  I recommend it over the serial port, as you can even use it with the OS you ultimately install.

I've not installed another OS, but I have used a bootable USB based OS on a ReadyNAS.

While the version of FreeNAS talked about is older, this is a good place to start for information on doing a conversion: https://www.truenas.com/community/threads/freenas-on-readynas-pro-6.24666/ .

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Thanks for your input and the link. Ok that's new for me, I thought this "serial console port" is the same like a 9-pin serial cable: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-RS-232-Adapter-Prolific-SBT-USC1K/dp/B00065H0QQ

Until now I couldn't find online a 4-pin serial console cable, when you have a link that would be very helpful!

[Sandshark]

I will state again that using the serial port on any system that has a VGA capability is the wrong way to go.  The necessary adapter cable is under $10.

You can find articles on using the serial port via Google if you insist on not following my advice.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Hello @Sandshark,

I want to follow your advise! Probably I misunderstood you because as you probably recognized I'm not a native speaker...

From your first answer I understood that this 4-pin connector which I can see on the back of the device is this serial console port?

When I search for serial console port I only find informations to 9-pin serial port and nothing to this 4-pins port, e.g.:

VGA-header cable (15-pins) and Serial-header cable (9-pins) I already own, so that is not the problem.

Thank you again for all input so far!

[Sandshark]

Yes, that is the serial port.  Since you have a working VGA connection (and I assume USB keybord/mouse connection), I fail to see why you continue to worry about the far less useful TTY serial port.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Until now I don't have any connection. The device is still not opened because I wanted to collect information before changing anything.

Why I care about the serial port? Because I understood from your first answer that: " I recommend it over the serial port".

I'm still confused because I know "serial port" as 9-pin connector and not as 4-pin connector. o.O

Probably some pins are hidden, I don't know yet.

When I find the time during holidays I will open the device, find out what connectors are really available and try to install a different OS.

[StephenB]

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@Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X wrote:

I'm still confused because I know "serial port" as 9-pin connector and not as 4-pin connector. o.O

Probably some pins are hidden, I don't know yet.

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Normally you wouldn't need the serial port, as a USB keyboard/mouse would be enough.

But you don't need all 9 pins - the console just needs ground, tx, and rx.  There is more info here you might find useful (though it is for a pro-6, the ultra-6 should be the same in this regard): http://www.mb200d.nl/wordpress/2014/09/readynas-pro-6-serial-console-port/

Note the links for replacing the ReadyNAS OS.

[Sandshark]

I'm sure this is a language issue.  In this case, recommending VGA over the serial port means as a better choice than the serial port.  This is what I have been trying to convey.  If the VGA port is functional, you gain absolutely nothing additional from the less-capable serial port.  Some ReadyNAS have only the serial port, so it's the only choice.  You are not in that position.

The serial port is not a full serial port, it is TTY only -- text only, with a fixed communications protocol (baud rate, etc.), so it does not need any other signals.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Ok thank you both for clarification. I think now I understood 😉

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Hello,

I have successfully installed a debian linux on my Netgear Ultra 6 device.

Has anybody informations to the following points?

1. On the mainboard I found 2 connectors which are not clearly named for what they are for. J3 with 10 pins and JP7 with 7 pins.

2. Is there a way to access / control the LCD display and the backup button on the front side?

3. Has anybody replaced the fan of the power supply?

Thanks!

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Probably interessting for anybody:

I can mount my Netgear X-RAID in Openmediavault without any problems...

[StephenB]

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@Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X wrote:

Probably interessting for anybody:

I can mount my Netgear X-RAID in Openmediavault without any problems...

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There are several flavors of X-RAID.  Was this array built on a 4.2.x ReadyNAS?

[Sandshark]

If Netgear ever stops updating ReadyNAS OS6 or makes it incompatible with my legacy NAS, Openmediavault does sound interesting over pure Linux.

Were you able to find the article about Ultra6 conversion pointed to in their forum thread?  It seems to be gone (not surprising since it's 7 years old).  Of course, being that old, much may be out of date.

Do you boot from the internal flash, or were you able to leave that intact in case you ever want to move back?  If you are booting from it and that does a lot of writes to it, you may have problems in the future -- it was designed for read-mostly use.

That your NAS has VGA capability (with the right cable) is clearly a plus here.  Though most (maybe all) ReadyNAS have a serial console port, the pin-out and voltage levels are not consistent between models and is not easy to implement, so users with machines without VGA capability will find this more difficult.

As for the 10-pin header.  Two rows of 5?  All pins are populated, or one is missing for keying?  My Ultra6 is in storage, so I can't look and the only photo I found on the net isn't clear enough to see the labeling.  If it's two rows of 5 with one missing, my guess would be an internal USB or RS-232 port, depending on which pin is missing.  If it's all 10 pins, it could still be RS-232.  Google the pin-out of those connectors and check for the voltages and grounds.  RS-232 is a bit harder to ID with a volt meter, especially since there are two different "standards", but any 12V on it would indicate that's a probability.  Of course, it could be used only for factory test.

"JP" is normally used to indicate a set of "JumPer" pins, not a connector, so the other may be factory use only.

You can mount a ReadyNAS on any Linux machine, including another ReadyNAS.  I run OwnCloud on a Pro2 but have some shares on my main NAS mounted as read-only on the Ultra2 and then available in OwnCloud.  I may be fooling myself, but I figure that's an added layer of protection for the main NAS since the shares are exported via NFS as read-only.  Even hacking the Pro2 should not directly expose my main NAS.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Yes on my Ultra 6 I had only version 4.2.latest

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

I thought this could be useful for somebody who want to rescue the data without buying a new Netgear device or spare parts for the Ultra 6.

[StephenB]

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@Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X wrote:
I thought this could be useful for somebody who want to rescue the data without buying a new Netgear device or spare parts for the Ultra 6.

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Certainly it could be. But it might not work for ReadyNAS that run OS-6 (and many Ultras have been converted to OS-6), so I thought I'd get clarification.

However, it is possible to mount the OS-6 volumes in linux too, as they do use standard mdadm and btrfs.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Some things are not working directly in openmediavault because some plugins are missing or are only compatible with omv4. So you have to use some terminal apps over SSH for example fan control or you have a really loud fan ^^ At the moment I try to get the LCD working with lcd4linux. Problem is here what type of LCD is it in the Ultra6.... I only found here somebody who seems to have gain control over the LCD. --> https://forum.openmediavault.org/index.php?thread/1785-not-my-build-netgear-readynas-ultra-6-omv/#po... The link in his post is dead and he seems to use another app which I couldn't find with apt. During writing this post I found out that I forgot that there is a wayback machine, means I could get now most content of all dead links. (OMV forum, truenas forum) I stored now everything as PDF just to be safe 😉 So now I can research deeper for example how I can use that LCD display. On thing I detected: I upgraded to 4 GB RAM. During startup and all programs detecting the 4GB. But when I enter the BIOS only 3 GB are reported here. BIOS is the latest version, I already checked that. No I don't boot from the internal flash because: 1. I wanted to leave it, for example to go back or probably I can somehow figure out what linux apps Netgear used for some functions. 2. The flash memory (128 MB) is far to small for debian (at least 450 MB) and OMV (at least 4 GB) I use an external 2,5" harddrive. VGA was really good to have but I don't own a VGA monitor. It was not so easy to get a adapter to HDMI / displayport. Most adapters only work in one direction, from digital to VGA not in the other way. The 10pin port has 2 rows of 5 pins. Thanks for your input here. I was thinking whether I could use this connectors for additional things (no exact idea for now). Ok I thought Netgears X-RAID is something special and you could only rescue the data with a new Netgear device, so I was surprised that omv detected everything. Regarding your fear to hacking your NAS. I'm not an expert, but as long as you don't expose your devices with port-forwarding and unsecured protocols you are save. Only use port-forwarding on protocols which are made for this, for example wireguard and openvpn. Then you need only to open this one port and you can use all network devices after connecting to your home-VPN.

[StephenB]

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@Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X wrote:
Ok I thought Netgears X-RAID is something special and you could only rescue the data with a new Netgear device

It's not proprietary - systems running 4.2, 5.3, and 6.x firmware all use standard software RAID (either lvm or mdadm).  XRAID is application software on top of those tools which simplifies RAID managment, and automates expansion.

The original 4.1 (Sparc) systems are a bit different.  They have some acceleration hardware, and run RAID-4.  Even those arrays can be mounted in linux systems though.

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Ok I found out how this mini-LCD work. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20141229214439/http://www.nexentastor.org/boards/9/topics/8238 LCD info The LCD module on the ReadyNAS (Ultra/Pro series) shows up in Illumos/Solaris as a serial port device. On my systems, it is always described as /dev/term/b Here are the commands currently available for font/bitmaps development to be sent to the serial port: Value Outcome C X Y ­ Set x, y coordinates (0 <= x <= 127, 0 <= y <= 33). Hex only, example c40 10, set x=64 y=16. E Clear screen F N ­Set font size. N=(0:Ariel 9, 1:Ariel 18, 2:Mono58) L string ­ Display the string, starting from (x, y) B h w b Set height,width,bitmap, starting from (x. y) i0-3 Scroll (0:None, 1:Right, 2:Up, 3:Diagonal) In practice, a runner could be created to show faulty disks and such to the LCD screen. For now, all I have it do is show 'NexentaStor' on bootup. $ cat /etc/init.d/lcd #!/bin/bash echo "E" > /dev/term/b sleep 0.5 echo "L NexentaStor" > /dev/term/b On Debian it is a little bit different: Check out what serial devices are connected: sudo dmesg | grep tty Add your user to the needed groups: sudo usermod -a -G tty dialout username Log out, log in again and then test both serial devices: echo "E" > /dev/ttySx to clear the screen, then echo "L Text" > /dev/ttySx

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Ok I found out how this mini-LCD work. Source, see copy below: https://web.archive.org/web/20141229214439/http://www.nexentastor.org/boards/9/topics/8238 LCD info The LCD module on the ReadyNAS (Ultra/Pro series) shows up in Illumos/Solaris as a serial port device. On my systems, it is always described as /dev/term/b Here are the commands currently available for font/bitmaps development to be sent to the serial port: Value Outcome C X Y ­ Set x, y coordinates (0 <= x <= 127, 0 <= y <= 33). Hex only, example c40 10, set x=64 y=16. E Clear screen F N ­Set font size. N=(0:Ariel 9, 1:Ariel 18, 2:Mono58) L string ­ Display the string, starting from (x, y) B h w b Set height,width,bitmap, starting from (x. y) i0-3 Scroll (0:None, 1:Right, 2:Up, 3:Diagonal) In practice, a runner could be created to show faulty disks and such to the LCD screen. For now, all I have it do is show 'NexentaStor' on bootup. $ cat /etc/init.d/lcd #!/bin/bash echo "E" > /dev/term/b sleep 0.5 echo "L NexentaStor" > /dev/term/b On Debian it is a little bit different: Check out what serial devices are connected: sudo dmesg | grep tty Add your user to the needed groups: sudo usermod -a -G tty dialout username Log out, log in again and then test both serial devices: echo "E" > /dev/ttySx to clear the screen, then echo "L Text" > /dev/ttySx

[Z4IcHt6N7smgz2X]

Probably useful, this guy modified several ARM-based Netgear models: http://natisbad.org/NAS3/index.html