BCM 400 4.x - hard drive crash

[ipcanfig]

Hello - I am hoping to get some advice. I have a BCM 400 4.x and the hard drive has crashed. Phones still work but no VM or auto attendant. I cannot connect with Element manager or BCM monitor. I can get to the console (serial) but I get a "failed to authenticate" error when I try to login. I thought I was going to be able to get an IDE hard drive, format it, insert it, and restore from backup. But many things I am reading suggest I need to get a pre-loaded hard drive with Nortel software installed already. I also do not have my keycodes. I was hoping these would be restored with my system backup. So here are my questions:

1. Do I have to have a hard drive with Nortel software pre-installed?
2. If yes - can I purchase Nortel system imaging tool and download it - or are there any options that allow me to avoid waiting on a drive to ship?
3. If no to #2 - where can I buy a hard drive with Nortel software preloaded. I see several on Ebay but I am weary.
4. Will my keycodes be restored when I restore my backup to the new hard drive?

Any help or suggestions is much appreciated.

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

I've done some guides on this some time ago and you might want to read the details below.

Answers

Q1 Another BCM 400 V4 image will do. The only requirements are that you are able to log in OK. I have images via disk imaging tools such as WinHex and Acronis, but there are other programs that you can use. A 20 GIG IDE disk is needed.

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=7209

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=7213

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=7224

Q2 There are companies that can supply you the disks.

Q3 If you can a valid backup from that site, then the keycodes will be contained within the backup. Go to the FAQ section on this forum.

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=7247

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbromley

If it's working, then leave it alone!.

 

[curlycord]

You could always call your local vendor, you would have been up and running by now.



=----(((((((((()----=
curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

 

[ipcanfig]

Firebirdscrambler
Thanks much for the response. I had already looked at a couple of articles you referenced these had been very helpful. I was very pleased to see your article about recovering the license file from the logs. I had copied the logs down to my machine a few hours before the crash. I was just lucky in this respect as we were having issues with AT&T service and I wanted to inspect the logs. So I have the license and a system backup in hand. I now just need a drive loaded with a Nortel image. I am hoping to get my hands on one today (at least an image - as I have a hard drive I can use). I am very familiar with imaging - I just don't know where to obtain a valid image. I cannot use my existing drive as an image source as it cannot be read from.

Curlycord
I understand the suggestion of using a local reseller as that would seem the obvious choice. I do have a company I use for this type service as I am network tech not a telco tech. However my reseller is telling me that my keycode was tied to my hard drive and I would not be able to successfully restore on another drive because the keycode would not load from the backup (it would never work on a different hard drive). He suggested configuring from scratch a temporary replacement system and sending off my BCM for repair. I am trying to make sure that is the most logical choice before I do that. I would like to avoid the whole company reconfiguring their mailboxes, reconfiguring autoattendant, etc, if possible.

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

My Acronis image just fits onto a DVD. It's a little large to send out. I guess that you are not in the UK?.

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbromley

If it's working, then leave it alone!.

 

[ipcanfig]

We are in the US. We have a fast connection so we could potentially download. We should probably discuss outside of forum (not sure about rules for stuff like this). Is there a way I can contact you (should I used linkedin)?

 

[curlycord]

Do it your self Firebird method is always the way to go....just trying to help the economy (make people spend).

Unfortunately your reseller is not in the know in this case.
Key codes tied to the system ID and not the hard drive.

Normal procedure from vendor-
-Replace hard drive (and select correct exact same version that is being replaced if multi hard drive)
-Restore programming from backup
-Restore key codes

-If client does not have key codes the vendor can acquire them from avaya KSR system.










=----(((((((((()----=
curlycord

http://www.curlycord.com

 

[BombOne]

you are heading the right way Ipcanfig. I do this all the time. I have one going right now its a matter of fact. I have BCM's all around the united states, I make the hard drives in our cooperate office then send them already restored to the site. I have walked receptionists - location managers, -anyone I can find to replace the drive for me, then they fire right up. I have the 3 image disks that go with the bit image tool. I just modified the tool so I don't need a vendor to get me a code to unlock it. I would like to make a new image though, I will have to follow what Firebird does to make it on a DVD

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

Just for the record, I've got the BCM 400 Version 4 and BCM 50 Version 1 and 2 that will each fit onto a DVD OK. However, I've been playing with an old imaging tool called WinHex.

I also have a few disks with images on them and now I also have the BCM Multi Image 50 and 450 versions on a 160 Gig drive. It saves time and effort when rebuilding systems. This is why I try to get customers to spend a few quid (pounds) on USB sticks and program the BCM to do monthly backups.

So many customers can't be bothered to do this, yet expect you to do magic when their hard disk packs up!.

All the best

Firebird Scrambler
Meridian 1 / Succession and BCM / Norstar Programmer in the UK

http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbromley

If it's working, then leave it alone!.

 

[ipcanfig]

Thanks so much for all of the response. I have ordered a hard drive and it will be here tomorrow morning. I would still be open to a source for downloading an image though as I could fix tonight instead of tomorrow night.
I wanted to ask if I should be able to log in to the system from the console. The console (serial connection to bcm) is at the login prompt but I cannot login with the nnadmin user. I know password I am using is correct as I was using yesterday before hard drive issues began. I get a "failed to authenticate" message when I attempt login. I tried the default password too with no luck. I cannot connect with element manager.
I cannot connect with BCM monitor. CallPilot web page will not load. I can ping and do have access to the console but cannot login. All handsets are working fine - just no voicemail or autoattendant.

 

[ipcanfig]

I have a follow up question if you guys would be so gracious as to indulge me again. I have received and installed my replacement drive and the system is up and running. I installed my keycodes and telephony is still working. However I am having trouble restoring my backups. When I browse to the backup and choose restore, nothing happens. I have tried loading from my PC and also from USB. When I attempt it from USB it get the message "failed to transfer file". One thing I noticed is that the new drive is running BCM version 4.02.03. My system at the time of the backup was running 4.02.01. I have read a little that the system has to be on the same patch level in order to restore the backup. Could this be my issue? If so .. then is there a way for me to roll back my system now to 4.02.01? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[ipcanfig]

I may have mistated the revision issue. The info below is from the parc.txt file which I extracted from the system before it crashed. So the load build number and the bios version are different. Not sure which is relevant to me (if either).

Load Build Number: 40B201
MSC Card FW Version: 30DrC01
MSC MFG Load Retries: N/A
BIOS Version: 2.03.50

 

[ipcanfig]

I figured it out. I had not downloaded the new element manager. I was using an old version of element manager and it was not working correctly with new OS version. Thanks again for all of the help.