Can't console on to baystack 5520

[Gonzouk]

Hello,

One of our Nortel 5520 Baystack switches has failed (no signs of power) and it just so happens we have a spare and the backup file of the failed one.

I wanted to just put a console cable into the front and add the config, but would you believe it I can't even do that. I can console into our Cisco kit absolutely fine, but this Nortel I get nothing pop up just a black screen (in putty), I would expect to see the Control-Y menu screen you get when you telnet onto these. I've tried putty, teraterm and Hyper terminal but i get nothing, I even tried it on a another working Nortel 5520 just in case the spare one we have is faulty, but no luck. How do you get onto these switches to configure?

Thanks

 

[anthonyanderberg]

It's a straight-through serial cable, which is different than many devices.

 

[Gonzouk]

Hi,

will I tried the cable that came with it which I have attached a photo of, and I tried 4 other cables and I get nothing.

 

[Gonzouk]

Just tried that cable on our 2 x Nortel 8600 core switches and it works on them, but not any of our 5520's.

 

[Gonzouk]

Thanks I got he right cable now, How would I upload the config to the switch?

 

[anthonyanderberg]

If you open up the backup file in Notepad does it look like switch commands or does it look like a bunch of unreadable characters (a binary file)? In the menus you should be able to find options to load either kind onto the switch via TFTP.

 

[Gonzouk]

It seems to be totally unreadable

 

[anthonyanderberg]

OK so it's a binary config file.

You'll need a TFTP server that can talk via IP to the switch, I like the one at

http://tftpd32.jounin.net

but a simple one like 3CServer will work fine. Once you can ping back and forth between server and switch you'll load the binary config file on the TFTP server and then from the switch's main menu the option should be under 'config file', then 'config file download/upload'. Enter the server's IP address and the filename, then indicate that you want to retrieve the config from the server.

When complete the switch will reset and use the new config. Note that a few parameters are not updated by the binary config file, most notably management IP addresses and passwords.