TS219P+ at EOL but I still get firmware update notices (which fail to install)

[blake]

My QNAP TS219P+ reached end-of-life in December 2017 (QTS 4.3.3). Technical Support and Security Updates ended in December 2020. So I was surprised to get (in late October 2021) an email notification of an available firmware update. I logged in and sure enough it indicated that a firmware update was available. I was not surprised when the update failed to install (error message: "Failed to update system. The firmware file format is abnormal. Error code 4."). Is it normal to receive firmware update notifications for models which are EOL, and normal for such updates to fail? If the answer is "yes and yes", then I guess I will have to train myself to ignore such notifications.

[dolbyman]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=163506

Probably fixed some catastrophic security flaw again, the x19 series was popular and many people haven't learned their lesson not to use QNAP units as "private cloud" .. so QNAP is just trying to avoid more bad brand perception

[blake]

Thank you for the prompt reply. I'm not using it in "cloud" mode; only as a local backup drive. So, "just in case", I guess I should try to run the firmware update again in a few days in the hope that QNAP will address and fix the "firmware file format is abnormal" problem. Or is that a hopeless fantasy?

[dolbyman]

Should inquire with QNAP about this error .. unless people let QNAP know there is an issue .. they will never know (assuming this is an issue with the firmware file and not a problem with your NAS)

[blake]

I tried again and the new firmware installed OK this time.

@dolbyman may have been right about fixing a security flaw: the notes accompanying the new firmware just say "Fixed a security issue".