For those who want to put some new life into their ReadyNAS Pro 6, here is what I did:
Download a Unraid free trial from their website and install it using the USB Creator application on a USB key;
Put the USB key in the front of your NAS and boot from the USB key by pressing the backup button while your NAS boots;
Download and install the following Unraid plugins in order to monitor your NAS temperature and nicely control the fans (Community Applications, Dynamix Auto Fan Control, Dynamix System Information, Dynamix System Temperature, ITE IT87 Driver);
And there you go…
If you like it and want to continue to use Unraid (like I'm doing since several months):
Get a Unraid license;
Get a VGA Port HD15F Adapter to IDC16 12 Inch with Bracket Ribbon Cable Connector to be able to connect a monitor to your NAS and modify the BIOS to always boot from the USB key;
Upgrade your NAS memory to 4GB if you have not done already. I got Crucial 4GB kit 2x 2GB 1GB DDR2 800MHz PC2-6400U 240Pin Desktop PC Memory RAM;
Enjoy…
PS. Since I am using Unraid, I no longer visit this forum regularly. Any further questions may take some time to get an answer to. Having said that, the info above + the Unraid documentation should provide you with sufficient info.
I'd be interested to know if this would work without issue on the ReadyNAS 62x line as well. I was going to go TrueNAS because I thought it was the only legit ZFS option, but then I did some reading on Unraid (which added ZFS support in the 6.12 release) and it's looking far more attractive in terms of flexibility, usability and helpful community support.
A Reddit post suggested that the BIOS of more recent ReadyNAS models can't be modified to always boot from the USB drive. Is that accurate?
If we can gather some accounts of successful ReadyNAS --> Unraid conversions, we should probably create a sticky with step-by-steps. I suspect there are going to be a lot of ReadyNAS users who want to repurpose their hardware now that Netgear has abandoned things.
