bootup troubleshooting - bcm50 1

[ramblingrebel]

Hi
i just dug through some of my collection of old nortel stuff and decided to power up one of my bcm50's
i don't recall if this thing ever ran since i took it in from a job i was upgrading
it is having trouble booting up
is there somewhere (though i don't recall ever seeing) that explains
how to troubleshoot based on the blinking lights as the bcm50 comes on line?
or tries to?

thanks for any insight
rr

 

[Firebird Scrambler]

There are tricks to be done. Please read the attached guide. It's a little heavy going, but I'm sure it will help.

My advice is for you to get a USB Serial port cable.

Firebird Scrambler

Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer

Website =

http://somertel.com

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[ramblingrebel]

wow, thats awesome
exactly what i was looking for, thanks
it gets to the point it lights up the power light to green the other light to orange
for a split second, and then reboots
I don't recall ever seeing one do that

thanks
gives me something to play with

rr

 

[curlycord]

Also look for BCM Troubleshooting Guide pdf.
Usually the hard drive is gone 90% of the time if it appears the lights are looping endlessly because it cannot find boot files otherwise FB's guide will help.

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[Firebird Scrambler]

Have you got the BCM 50 site ID?. It's the MAC address underneath the unit. With that, you can find out what what release of software you originally should have had.

It's possible that the hard disk was changed out and that the software on the hard disk doesn't match the boot up files on the Motherboard.

Feel free to contact one of us on this forum who have "played" with these beasts.

Firebird Scrambler

Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer

Website =

http://somertel.com

linkedin

 

[number1telecom]

I agree it's typically the HD on these that goes bad.

Get yourself a BCM 50 multi image drive part # NT9T4242E6 can be had for relatively inexpensive (search NT9T4242E6 on eBay) and you could always use that as your master and copy to other drives as needed.

http://www.number1telecom.com

 

[curlycord]

Turns out it was the HD

Replaced and upped to R6 with patches and shipping out shortly.


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[Firebird Scrambler]

Yep as suggested above, it is nearly always the hard disk that gets corrupted or fails.

Firebird Scrambler

Nortel & Avaya Meridian 1 / Succession & BCM / Norstar Programmer

Website =

http://somertel.com

linkedin

 

[ramblingrebel]

yea, thanks guys
i do find it frustrating
i'm just used to a hard drive just not working
the way the do on PC's
load bios and then poof "hard drive dead"
i wonder if its just easier for me to pop the drive out when i suspect it
load it into a external enclosure and see if i can access it to prove it out as good or bad

thanks again
rr

 

[exsmogger]

Just about all of the older release BCM50's had Maxtor hard drives which are not the most reliable. I automatically swap out the Maxtors for Seagate Barracudas in all the BCM50's I acquire.

Brian Cox
Georgia Telephone

http://Georgia-Telephone.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/briancox1952