I have a TS-253Be with 4.5.4.2790 that I’ve been running for 5.5 years and started out with 4.3.6.0895. QTS 5 had a lot of problems when it first came out so I just stayed on QTS 4. I’m getting ready to replace it with a TS-664 and since QTS 4 isn’t available for it, I’m thinking I should upgrade my TS-253Be to 5.2.8.3359. Plus, a lot of my apps are outdated because the new versions require QTS 5. Is there anything I need to be aware of?
Yes you have to update the TS-253Be first. But also the TS-664 (without disks).
In fact, you need to have the same firmware version on both NAS (otherwise, it will work but you it will create firmware mismatch errors and you would have to re-update).
I spoke with Jeff in QNAP Technical Support today and he recommended updating the firmware through the Control Panel and updating incrementally. The first available version is 5.0.1.2425 Build 20230609. It failed to install and said the digital signature has expired. Should I just download it and install that way?
This is from the Event Log: Failed to install 5.0.1. The digital signature has expired.
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That is not what QNAP technical support recommended. He said there could be issues with that big of a jump.
And to your 2nd comment, because QTS 5 had all kinds of issues when it first came out and I wasn’t following its progress. You can probably find some complaints on the original forum. https://forum.qnap.com/
In my opinion, it was the last stable release without bloatware and things I don’t want. It works. It works well and does everything I expect it to do. It is stable. The 5.0 stream was brutally bad for so long and hardly even qualified as Beta quality.
If there is no reason to update, why would you? I have 3 x DNS-323 NAS boxes that the last support was is in 2013. They still run today just as well, doing the same functions as they have for 15 years.
There are a couple reasons why I’m updating. 1) I’m considering buying a TS-664 to replace my TS-253Be and QTS 4.5.4 isn’t on its OS download list. Apparently it’s a QTS 5 only device. 2) I’m getting digital signature expired errors for many apps that I use because they are old and outdated. I can’t install the latest releases because they require QTS 5.
Security updates, bug fixes, new features, application signature issues, ability to run new apps, etc.
And I hear you as I resisted updating from Windows XP to Windows 7 and then from Windows 7 to Windows 10/11. I would sill run Win 7 if I could!
I’m also a couple releases behind on my Macs. I’m not saying to upgrade as soon as a release is out, but 4.5 was released 5 years ago. That’s a long time in the software world…
I don’t know, I’ve never known anything but QTS/QuTS 5.x so maybe my perspective on 5.x is a bit different…
I might recommend backing up your data (which you should already be doing anyway) buying the new NAS, setting it up as RAID 5 out of the box and restoring your data to it. I’m not saying you cannot do the migration and conversion, but this introduces a lot of moving parts, complexity and potential for failure. Things might go very well and smoothly, or things could blow up.
@dosborne I had a DNS-323 before moving to QNAP in 2012.
@royta As long as you have a good back up, go for it. I’m sure its possible, (QNAP is good about this sort of thing) and is why I remain staunchly loyal to the brand. It’s just going to be a complex and lengthy process no matter which way you go. I will be very interested in hearing of the outcome.
Live update wanted 5.0.1.2425 but the update failed because the digital signature was expired. So I manually updated. I updated the apps that had required updates.
Live update to 5.1.8.2823.
Live update to 5.1.9.2954. Two options were given. A critical update to 5.1.9.2954 or go all the way to 5.2.8.3359. I’m still on 5.1.9.2954. I updated all of the apps.
It would be nice if there was a list of all the things that get broken along the O/S upgrading way and need special attention… it would make this kind of upgrading so much simpler. For example several things that were built-in are now downloadable Apps, plus some things aren’t allowed any more without special efforts, so they will be an issue until you find out what’s gone missing or seems broken, then download Apps or re-configure things until you were back to where you were…
There really should be a thread here somewhere of every O/S upgrade (at least from 4.5) and ONLY what gets removed, broken, depreciated or turned off and what action is required to stay as you were if you need/want to do that…
I’m on 5.1.9.2954 as it works well for me, but I’ll have to upgrade at some point and I know, at a minimum, that I’ll need to find Apps to replace features that have gone walkies…
I really appreciate you taking the time to detail all the steps you took to update your QNAP TS-253Be NAS. I purchased a TS-253Be back in 2018 and had set it up and working. Unfortunately, QTS was riddled with security vulnerabilities with the version 4 series. Version 5 was new at the time and fraught with issues too. I did not know which direction to take so in 2019 I turned off my NAS and it sat in the closet.
I came across the quarantined TS-253Be in Feb 2026 and I wondered if it would still work so I plugged it in and attached it to the LAN. My settings and files were all intact. The installed version of QTS was 4.3.6.0883 (2019/03/16). I decided to see if I could update it and put it to use. I did some searching and ran across your thread in the forum. This was exactly what I needed!
I followed your path on all the updates you took. I had to gamble on a couple until I reached the version where you started. I received many Digital Signature Out of Date errors but I was never stopped from upgrading. I upgraded by doing a manual download and updating the firmware using Qfinder Pro Version 7.13.2.1308 which is the most current at this time.
I will detail the version stack I used to reach the version of QTS that is current now (5.2.8.3359). The manual update may not always be required but it worked well for me so I got into a rhythm with the manual process. Another thing I did was to reboot the server right before each update even if I was doing back to back updates. Yes, it was painful waiting the 8 to 10 minutes for each reboot but I wanted to make sure everything was in a pristine state before each new update.
I found out when I reached the final version (5.2.8.3359) that this version upgrade changed the default QNAP (admin) account password. My (admin) password was not the original default but still changed. This was highlighted in the release/update notes. Be sure you have another user setup with administrator rights before you do this update!
Actually, I have already tried the cloud key and it did not work as a password. I have noticed others have had a similar issue. Thanks for the suggestion though.
The reason I put up the NAS for a longer period is that it was not working quite as well as I anticipated for backing up some systems. I was also coming from a bad experience with an TS-128A that just stopped powering up. There were several burnt components inside. I just decided to take a break.
