Re: Backup and restore of VPD file for legacy ReadyNAS running oS6

Sandshark · ‎2022-08-31

We have recently seen a rash of errors reported here on legacy machines upgraded to OS6 that are associated with a corrupt VPD (Vendor Product Data) file. This doesn't usually occur when the NAS is converted to OS6, but on a later update to OS6.10.x. This results in an unbootable unit, and USB recovery will not fix it. Thus, I have recognized that owners of legacy units running OS6 would be well served to backup their VPD for potential future recovery. Even if you're still running OS4.2.x, it's probably not a bad idea. Lots of users never run into this issue, but this is what you can do now in case it does affect you at some point.

The VPD is an encrypted file in the boot flash that contains the model and serial number of your NAS. It lets the OS know how to configure your unit, and it's probably encrypted to keep meddlers from messing with it and anyone from trying to create a "do it yourself ReadyNAS". Thus, it's unique to your unit and can't be re-created by anyone other than Netgear. While the forum mods have been helpful for many by creating a replacement, there is no guarantee they will be able to continue doing so.

Note that this is not applicable to native OS6 units -- they use another method to ID the hardware that's more robust.

In a standard boot (except in rack-mount units that use a USB drive for their flash), the boot flash is unavailable. But it is available in tech support mode in both OS4.2.x and OS6. The procedure is nearly the same for each, so this will cover both. If you are about to upgrade from OS4.2.x to OS6, then I recommend you back up your VPD first. If you have already completed the conversion, then do it before you apply another OS update.

For this, we'll save the VPD on a USB flash drive. It must be formatted as FAT, FAT32, or EXT with just one partition. Also make sure it doesn't have a boot sector. I recommend you have at least one file on it so you can properly ID that it's mounted. Note that I've tried with a couple flash drives, up to 32GB, with success.

Step one is to boot into tech support mode using the reset button boot menu. For units running OS4.2.x, do so with the USB drive already inserted. Start here to determine how to access the boot menu on your unit: ReadyNAS-ReadyDATA-Boot-Menu .

Now, you have to telnet into the unit. If you normally use a static IP assigned in the NAS, the NAS may not be at that address. If you reserve an address in your router, it should be. If it's not where you expect it to be, use RAIDar to determine the IP address. I use PUTTY for a telnet client, but you can use whatever you want to. Log in as user root with password infr8ntdebug.

If you are running OS6 and didn't boot with the USB inserted, insert it now.

If your unit is a 2-drive unit (as was the Pro2 I tested this on), the two hard drives will be /dev/sda and /dev/sdb. Then /dev/sdc will be the unit flash and /dev/sdd will be the USB drive. If you have more drives (actual drives, not empty slots), they'll be the next two (so sdg and sdh on a 6-drive unit). We'll be mounting the first partition of each.

On an OS6 machine, you have to move to the root directory: CD /

Now you can mount the internal flash: mount /dev/sdc1 mnt (or whatever is the right sd_1 device for your NAS).
Verify the contents of flash are there: ls mnt will return something like this:

csums.md5     kernel.up     root.tlz      version.txt
initrd.gz     ldlinux.sys   supplmnt.tlz  vpd
kernel        memtest       syslinux.cfg

It'll be a bit different on an OS6 unit, but the big thing is that vpd is there.

Next, we'll make a directory to which we can mount the USB, do the mount, and check that it worked:

mkdir usb
mount /dev/sdd1 usb (again, or appropriate sd_1 device for your NAS)
ls usb

This is where having something already on the USB helps. You'll see it in the results.

Now, we just copy the VPD. If you're backing up, do cp /mnt/vpd /usb. If recovering, do the opposite: cp /usb/vpd /mnt and verify with ls usb or ls mnt.

Then unmount the USB with umount usb and remove the USB drive. Now you can do a normal boot.

Put a copy of the file somewhere you'll not misplace it. On the NAS itself is OK only if you also do a backup that'll include it and can be accessed without the NAS. When you need it, you won't have access to the NAS.

Note that I don't recommend you use this method to backup and restore anything else. Leave that to USB recovery.

If anyone knows how to mount a USB drive not present at boot on OS4.2.x, please add that information. I gave up trying since I had a work-around. If added afterward, it shows up in dmesg, but not /dev.

If you only found this because you already lost your VPD, I don't recommend you copy one from another identical machine and you absolutely should not from another machine type. They'll end up showing the same serial number or worse. Ask the mods to help you create and install a replacement.

DanielEnochsson · ‎2022-12-13

After happily recovering my Ultra 6 and then getting it back on version 6.9.5 Hotfix 1, as per the new owner's wish, I've selected to be notified on LTS updates only. I think main reason is to be able to expand storage beyond the current 6 * 4 TB.
It keeps offering me 6.9.6 and I've followed your advice to backup VPD. Would you consider 6.9.6 a relatively safe version to upgrade to, just to get rid of the reminders or just keep cancel the update reminders to remain on 6.9.5 Hotfix 1? I notice you say the corruption happens mostly with 6.10.x releases...

Sandshark · ‎2022-12-13

I've been running 6.9.6 for about 2 years. I'm not a first adopter on my main and backup NAS, I have a couple "sandbox" NAS for that. But given how long it's been since the LTS string got any security update, I'm likely to move to 6.10.8 on all. I think others have been running it long enough that's it's proven stable.

afflab · ‎2024-08-21

a couple things that weren't clear to me, as someone who'd never used telnet before:

-after logging in, i got a "#" symbol, which apparently means you're connected.

-I wasn't sure how to get disk info to display (i.e. dev/sda, dev/sdb, etc) so after googling (and finding this page https://linuxhandbook.com/linux-list-disks) i used sfdisk to confirm devices id's for the remaining commands.

Again I'm the last person you should get telnet info from, but it worked for me. More notes on the telnet aspect of the vpd backup here: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS-in-Business/Best-firmware-for-RNDP2000-after-OS...

also https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS-in-Business/PuTTY-connection/m-p/1497551

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-07

While i have not been to a linux command prompt in years none of these articles tell me how to mount the firmware mount location on the dead NAS??

I have been able to telnet in to the dead NAS but i can't for the life of me figure out what is the proper command to mount the drive so I can copy the VPD file from another NAS.

dmesg | grep -i 'disk'

[ 0.000000] RAMDISK: [mem 0x7f6a6000-0x7fffffff]

[ 3.168449] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk

[ 3.486127] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk

[ 3.788597] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk

[ 4.088025] sd 3:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI disk

[ 5.146077] sd 4:0:0:0: [sde] Attached SCSI disk

[ 5.405128] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdf] Attached SCSI disk

[ 8.367613] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access SanDisk Cruzer 7.01 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS

[ 8.368022] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access SMI USB DISK 1100 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS

[ 8.379228] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdg] Attached SCSI removable disk

[ 8.380757] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdh] Attached SCSI removable disk

# mount -t tmpfs -o size=2048M tmpfs /media/ramdisk

# mount

rootfs on / type rootfs (rw,size=2013636k,nr_inodes=503409)

proc on /proc type proc (rw,noatime,nodiratime)

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noatime,nodiratime)

devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noatime,nodiratime,mode=600,ptmxmode=000)

# cat /etc/fstab

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.

#

# <file system> <mount pt> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>

/dev/root / ext2 rw,noauto 0 1

proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

devpts /dev/pts devpts defaults,gid=5,mode=620 0 0

tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs mode=0777 0 0

tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

sysfs /sys sysfs defaults 0 0

#

some simple command to find the location where the corrupt VPD file is would be helpful 🙂

StephenB · ‎2024-12-08

@tsdampier wrote:

While i have not been to a linux command prompt in years none of these articles tell me how to mount the firmware mount location on the dead NAS??

some simple command to find the location where the corrupt VPD file is would be helpful 🙂

How many hard drives are installed?

Normally the hard drives start with sda, and you'd try the ones after them. For instance, if you have 4 disks installed, you'd start with sde1, and see if that is the correct one.

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-08

Six drives as it states in the info above. It was in a XRAID Raid 5 array. All my devices are the same configurations. Some a few different model numbers but overall the same architecture.

Thanks

Sandshark · ‎2024-12-08

# is the standard Linux command prompt.

It clearly states you use a command in the form mount /dev/sdc1 mnt . You only have to figure out which drive it is. Usually, on a 6-drive unit, it will be sdg (the 7th drive), so you mount the first partition on it, sdg1. You can use ls/dev/sd* to see the drives and partitions. It will be one of the drives with only one partition (the USB drive is the other) There aren't a lot of tools installed in the tech support mode to find it any easier.

I do not give "blow by blow" instructions for a reason. Telnetting (or SSHing in normal boot mode) into a NAS allows you to do many things you should not and can cause big issues with it. Frankly, if you cannot follow the instructions, maybe with a little help from Google, you probably shouldn't doing it.

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-08

Given the fact that the unit is currently bricked I think that we are past the point of me messing something up 🙂

FYI it was not 7th as that was the USB drive i was told to put in to copy the VPD file from. It was the 8th drive and yes the VPD file is there - have no idea whether it is corrupt but assume so.

I have the following 4 ReadyNAS units:

1) RNDP6350-100NAS - ReadyNAS Pro - RNDP6350

- this is the bricked unit

2) RNDP6350-100NAS - ReadyNAS Pro - RNDP6000

3) RNDP6000 - RND-6B - RNDP6000

4) RNDP6000 - RND-6B - RNDP6000

These all appear to be similar models and units which were purchased at different times.

My question is will any of these allow me to properly copy their VPD file across over the broken one to try and get back to a running state?

The other 3 are running and healthy.

Thanks

StephenB · ‎2024-12-08

@tsdampier wrote:

Six drives ...

As @Sandshark's first post said, the vpd device and the usb stick is after the hard drives. One is sdg, the other is sdh.

If you only have the Sandisk Cruzer attached with USB, then it looks like you want to mount sdh1

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-09

Yes figured that out but the key thing is can i copy an VPD file from another NAS.

I just had another one fail after upgrading to 6.10.9 with the same problem in Raidar 😞

So now i have two bricked ones.

Can anyone help me rebuild the VPD file for these?

Or is this a lost cause and I just need to give up and toss these units?

I will note that the 1st one that failed maybe due to a power supply issue as one of the fans on the power supply no longer works 😞

The second one was find but seems like it might be similar?

I ordered a power supply off of ebay to see if swapping that out might resolve something.

However, without a good VPD file I can't do much 🙂

Thanks in advance

Sandshark · ‎2024-12-09

Yes, you can copy the VPD from either of the un-bricked units. In the model number RNDP6xxx, the xxx just indicates how many drives the unit shipped with. The ones with the copied VPD will report the same serial number as the one it was copied from, but that would only have been a problem getting Negear support or with ReadyCloud, neither of which is now available.

I agree that your NAS can't be messed up much more, but you are not the only one that will read this email chain. So I stand by my policy of requiring users to do a little work and understand my instructions, not just type them in verbatim, especially when they can change some from NAS to NAS. As for the order of the flash and the USB drive, I guess it matters which model NAS you have. I ran my experiments on a "sandbox" Pro2 and the USB drive was first after the hard drives.

Your experience is another attestment that installing/updating to OS6.10.x can corrupt the VPD and that that all legacy ReadyNAS users. especially those running OS6, should back up their VPD. It's especially important now that there seems to be nobody at Netgear who can/will provide a repaired one. It's good that you have units to copy from -- most don't.

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-09

Okay successfully was able to copy the other units VPD file onto one of the bricked ones and then I had to format the USB stick with the USB OS6 recovery tool.

Then use the manual instructions to prepare the USB OS4 recovery tool and put on the latest 4.2.31 image on there to get it to properly boot and do anything.

I tried to USB OS6 recovery tool first with the OS6 image and no luck.

Then I tried the USB OS4 recovery tool the manual way and put the OS6 image on there - still no luck as I assume that it is hardcoded to an OS4 name 🙂

When I put the OS4 image on their then it finally started doing something,

Note: that it never said that I saw that it was performing a recovery - so I just left it running a while each time. The last method appeared to work as it shut down the NAS finally with a power off.

I tried to reboot and see if it would see the disks again and got the corrupt root error.

I then tried just an OS reinstall with no luck either.

Then I finally did a factory reset and it was able to load it back on there and it is not syncing the disks on OS 4.2.31 as shown in Raidar.

What is curious is that there is no Model Number listed but the Name shows the right MAC address. I am assuming when it is done resyncing and reboots that it will show up with the other model number and serial number duplicate on there 😞

I suspect there is simply no way to fix that 😞

Thanks for your help I will try the other one in a similar manner as well.

Sandshark · ‎2024-12-09

You do need an OS4 style recovery and an OS6 firmware file named like an OS4 one. Since you did a recovery to OS4, you'll need to re-convert to OS6 before it will recognize your volume. Just put in any old drive with content you don't care about, create a one-drive volume (which is quick), and do the conversion.

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-09

No I had to do a factory restore as that was the only thing that worked so it built an entirely new volume and is building the new volume now on both units.

I tried that method also and it did not seem to work - NBD - Should I restart and try the OS6 again? What should I name the file the same name as the 4.2.31 image?

Would it put OS6 on it this time?

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-09

well one is back to 6.9.10 and is resyncing its volume as we speak.

The second one seems to be stuck - it comes up in raidar and shows it is syncing 33%.

However, once again the model name is empty.

Also, when i try to go to the admin page the admin console comes up but the screens are blank?

It has been a long time is this because it has to finish completely synching the drive in order for me to see anything in the admin page?

Or is there some other problem?

Thanks

Sandshark · ‎2024-12-10

The OS6 image you use with the OS4 USB recovery needs to be named similarly, but I'm not sure how similarly. I know it can't have an extension, and I think it may need to start with "RAIDiator". If it shows up in the USB recovery creation tool, it should work.

Syncing can take up a significant amount of CPU time, especially on an older Pro with the Pentium Dual E2160 @ 1.80GHz, which could account for not seeing everything in RAIDar. But something else corrupted in flash could also do that. But the sync getting stuck seems like something else.

Did you try putting in a scratch drive and seeing that it was working before you put in your real drives?

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-10

I was able to get a correct VPD file for one of the units so it is back up and running fine now with OS 6.10.9 and seems to be good to go.

However, the one unit just does a loop with the copied VPD file. I do a telnet boot, copy the vpd file from another unit and reboot it. It comes up in Raidar as no model and no serial 😞

Then i try to do a factory reset and the same thing.

Then I try to do a telnet boot and copy it back out again and still it boots with no model/serial 😞

I might have to try a vpd file from another unit or go back to booting with OS4 and try to see if it will finish and then do another upgrade.

I am waiting on the correct VPD file from someone so hopefully that will fix the problem.

Definitely an issue with OS6 6.10.9 though and the legacy hardware seems to wipe that VPD file to zero bytes every time 🙂

Going to try a few more permutations and then give up and wait for the correct VPD file 😞

StephenB · ‎2024-12-10

@tsdampier wrote:

However, the one unit just does a loop with the copied VPD file. I do a telnet boot, copy the vpd file from another unit and reboot it. It comes up in Raidar as no model and no serial 😞

Did you do a file compare of the VPD on the USB drive and the one on the flash? If the flash memory is failing, they might not match.

Also, are all your Pro-6 systems -200xxx models? Or are some -100xxx?

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-10

There is nothing to compare the factory reset just plainly zero outs the file size 🙂 So basically i know the new file is correct as it is not zero bytes 😉

the problem I see is the consistency of the labeling on the product is poor at best. I have two that say RND-6B with a diskless code of RNDP6000.

Then I have a readynas Business Pro which is back up and running with the correct non zero byte vpd file. This unit actually says Business pro on the front of it but nothing to the effect on the label underneath 😉 Underneath it is listed as a RNDP6350-100NAS.

I have the one which was always fine which is also listed underneath as RNDP6350-100NAS but does not say Business Pro on the front.

The two that have RND-6B on the bottom, one is fine the other is the one which is stuck in this loop. This is the one's who match on the bottom but the one of them is the one still broken 🙂

Perhaps I need to wait until the OS6 usb recovery finishes before replacing the VPC file?

Sandshark · ‎2024-12-10

An OS re-install just copies what is in flash to the drives. If that's corrupt, then you need to fix it via USB recovery unless it's a bad flash, from which there is no recovery.

StephenB · ‎2024-12-10

@tsdampier wrote:

Underneath it is listed as a RNDP6350-100NAS.

So this is the -100xxx hardware. NAS is the code for North America - other geographies have different suffixes. It is not the same as the -200xxx. No idea if the VPD from a -200 system can be applied to a -100 system. But is seems likely that it would fail.

If you can't find the full part number on your working NAS, you can download the full log zip file and look at boot_info.log.

The -100 systems will have

loader:	RNDP6000-V1

The -200 systems will have

loader:	RNDP6000-V2

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-10

As stated I have done both 🙂 Neither works at all. Evert time it zeros out the VPD file and boots with no model/serial 🙂

tsdampier · ‎2024-12-10

On the bottom of the one that is working it says RNDP6350-100NAS and the bootloader is RNDP6000-V2

So once again this is not consistent across their products and really is different per serial number range and when the product was manufactured 🙂 Note: One of them says ReadyNAS Business Pro on the front of the unit. And I now have a working VPD file for that one.

The other unit that says RNDP6350-???NAS also but shows nothing in the boot loader section boot_info.log 🙂 The label on the bottom is unreadable with the version NAS unfortunately 🙂 This one is also working no issues and never had the corrupt VPD problem.

For the one that is not working - I am not sure where that log file is located to download it using the telnet tech support boot 😉 It is one of the RND-6B on the bottom and RNDP6000 as the model number which is a diskless model.

The VPD file I put on this non-working one is from the same unit that has the same info on the bottom exactly except the serial number/mac addresses 🙂 So if that is supposed to work then this has nothing to do with the RNDP6350's as they are both running no issues.

As always open to suggestions but I have tried a bunch of permutations and suspect this will not work until I get a new real VPD file for it 😞

Sandshark · ‎2024-12-10

The very earliest Pro6 did have a different motherboard. Maybe the one you can't get working has that.