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ReadyNAS Ultra 6 missing model name and serial number, corrupt VPD
My ReadyNAS Ultra 6 was running stable for many years, also after upgrading to OS6. But at some point it wouldn't boot anymore and only showed 'ReadyNAS' on the display . This text is shown as soons as the NAS is powered on and is not an indicator that it is booting. Also the boot menu couldn't be selected. Since I have another NAS with the exact the same hardware that was running fine, I start swapping components to rule out hardware issues. PSU, memory, disks were put from the dective NAS to the working one and everything was working, so the problem was related to the mortherboard not starting up. The last resort was to try and fix it with USB recovery.
The machine was originally shipped with Firmware v4.2.19, but before it was stuck it was already running on OS6.10.x. The first USB stick I created was with using the ReadyNAS OS6 Recovery Tool. But when booting according to the recovery procedure and pressing the backup button on the front of the NAS, nothing happened. The machine just stayed ON and didn't shut down, also not after 20 minutes. I tried several other brands and sizes of USB sticks, all with the same results. Then I moved to using the old RAIDiator 4.2 USB recovery tool. Under Windows 10 running the usbrecovery.exe to prepare the USB stick, only threw an error: "The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect". The same happended when I tried to run the tool using Windows 8. Luckily I found an old version of the RAIDiator recovery tool in my archive that didn't have the executable to create the bootstick, but manual instructions on how to create the bootstick. I still used the RAIDiator 4.2 USB Recovery Tool that can be still downloaded from the Netgear website, but followed the manual instructions:
1. Get a spare USB flash drive, formatted to FAT32 on Windows XP
2. Download the recovery tool
3. Extract everything to a temporary directory, e.g. c:\Pro-Recovery
4. In DOS window (Command Prompt), go to recovery directory and issue the following command: syslinux.exe -m E: (Assume USB drive is E drive, otherwise, replace with actual driver letter of recovery drive)
5. Copy all files except syslinx.exe from C:\Pro-Recovery to USB recovery drive E:
6. Download latest RAIdiator release and copy it to USB recovery drive
7. Eject USB from Windows and put it in front USB port and remove any other USB devices from back ports
8. Press and hold backup button, turn on power, continue to hold backup button, until power LED becomes solid, hold 5 more seconds and release button.
9. OS should boot into front USB and perform internal boot device
The result was still the same. The NAS only showed 'READYNAS' and nothing happended when booting with the Recovery USB stick in the front USB port. The next thing I did was instead of putting the 4.2.31 image on the USB stick (step 6), I copied the image of the latest OS 6.10.3 firmware to the stick. And finally things started rolling. After booting the NAS with USB recovery, it shuts down within a few minutes, which confirms that the internal flash is refreshed with the firmware image provided on the USB stick.
The Ultra 6 is fully operational again with OS 6.10.3. Hdd are recognized and after formatting, a new volume was created. There is only one issue left and that is during the process the VPD file that sits on the internal flas has become corrupt. Now OS 6 show a blank Model Type and blank serial number. Due to the device type is unknown to the OS, also the available application page, where one can select an App to install, remains empty. I hope the Netgear staff @Marc_V or @JohnCM_S on this forum are able to update the VPD on my machine, this would be much appreciated.
In the mean time I have bought the RN426. Of course performance of this newer machine is better, but I really would like to continue using the Ultra 6 alongside, as it is still performing well for file sharing and backups.
Re: ReadyNAS Ultra 6 missing model name and serial number, corrupt VPD
Yes, there was remote assistance provided by NetGear staff to add the missing information.
I was contacted by NetGear and had to put NAS in remote assistance mode and make sure it is exposed to the internet (port forwarding in firewall). Before this I had many attemps myself, which all failed.
Re: ReadyNAS Ultra 6 missing model name and serial number, corrupt VPD
Your attempts at USB recovery didn't fail -- USB recovery is not intended to restore the VPD file since it's an encrypted file that is specific to your NAS. OS6 native units use another method for identifying the model and serial number that's not as prone to corruption since it's not in the flash, so I'm wondering if recent OS upgrades may not be testing that they don't corrupt the VPD on legacy systems. While not everyone has the problem, not even the majority. it has definitely increased significantly with the latest OS releases.
