Won't boot - help needed!!!

[NewBoy]

Hi guys - desperate for help! Be warned: this is quite long; I just wanted to be fairly exact to avoid going to and fro between posts.



I have a cisco 801. It was running IOS version c800-g3-mw.120-3.T1 and I updated the firmware to a version validated by my employer: c800-y6-mw.121-5.bin.

I've done this 20+ times, so I am confident the procedure I followed should work.

1. copied new flash file onto router
2. told it to run off the new file (boot system flash...)
3. rebooted, so now it was looking at the new file (did sh ver to check)
4. deleted old file (del <file_name>)
5. squeeze flash
6. reloaded

Now, at this point I have a router with the correct IOS (file X), but with a command in its startup-config telling it to boot from file X. However I want the router to be in a state such that a new config may be pasted in without worrying about having a boot commmand in there somewhere.

So, I do

7. erase startup
8. reload

Normally, I get a good boot-up, or 'configured boot failed, booting from default' (or words to that effect). Either way, it boots up - with the former there are no errors, with the latter it moans a bit but still gets there.

With this router it just went to the boot# prompt after the POST, and no matter which file-name I set, it won't boot up.

Any ideas? I've tried unsuccessfully to boot from a tftp'd file. I'd appreciate suggestions...

THANKS

 

[jeter]

If you can get into he router look at the config ( sh run ) and make sure that there is no system boot command if so revove.

What is your reg set at ? type sh ver and it will be at the end.

If all else fails wr erase and start over. Good Luck !!! Jeter@LasVegas.com
J.Fisher CCNA

 

[NewBoy]

Thanks for your suggestions Jeter.

I can't get to the normal <router_name># prompt - it fails at boot-up and takes me to the boot# prompt. So I can't see the startup config (but anyway, because of the stage at which it fails, I don't think the startup config will matter because it hasn't been read yet).

(Anyway, before everything went wrong I had definitely cleared the startup config.)

For the same reason, I can't do 'sh ver', but when I do 'set' I see that 'set ios-conf = 0x2102' which is the standard one as far as I know.

Also, 'wr erase' will not work from this boot# prompt.


In case I haven't made it clear, I'm at the boot# prompt, which loads if the router doesn't know where to boot from (or can't). You can get there by doing 'Ctrl <break>' during the POST.

Thanks - help still needed!!!

 

[jacro]

Hi NewBoy

Have you tried this.

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/620/6.html#8xx

 

[NewBoy]

That was helpful Jacro. It hasn't solved the problem, but I've learnt more about IOS/TinyROM.

I think I know how to transfer a nice new IOS (and TinyROM if necessary) to the router via tftp/xmodem. However, when I try tftp, it complains that there isn't enough memory. And when I try xmodem, it says: &quot;upload: failed (20 seconds), &quot;buffer overflow&quot;&quot;

But when I do 'list' I get:

boot# list
Status Size Dev Name
------ 48K flash TinyROM-1.2(2)
8128K free 8192K total

Which looks to me like there's no IOS there at all!!

What's going on?

1 - I'm sure I left at least ONE IOS in flash.
2 - The router won't accept tftp transfer of an IOS file because it has insufficient memory (which might back up 1).
3 - When I list the contents of flash, it appears to have 8Mb free (which contradicts 1 & 2).

I still really need help, but your suggestions are very useful. Keep 'em coming!!

 

[jacro]

Hi NewBoy!

What do you get if you type show -command in boot# ?

 

[jacro]

Hi NewBoy!

Here is an one to check for.

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/770/fn13141.shtml

 

[NewBoy]

Thanks for the link jacro - but it's not that problem. Will bear this in mind for future routers though.

By the way, here's what I can do with show:

boot# help show
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
show [saved]

Show current or saved boot environment.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I'm not sure what [saved] represents. However, show on its own just lists the parameters set and some hardware details:

**********
boot# show
TinyROM version 1.2(2)
16:22 08/02/99
Copyright (c) 1998-1999 by cisco Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

serial-no: JAD04130F62
Type: C801
DRAM: 4MB
Flash: 8MB

set baud =9600
set data-bits =8
set parity =none
set stop-bits =1
set console-flags =0
set mac-address =00B0.C289.0666
set unit-ip =194.238.49.120
set serv-ip =194.238.48.2
set netmask =255.255.255.224
set gate-ip =194.238.49.126
set pkt-timeout =8
set tftp-timeout =16
set boot-action =flash
set file-name =&quot;&quot;
set watchdog =off
set prompt =&quot;boot&quot;
set ios-conf =0x2102
******************


Does anyone have experience of diagnosing/fixing routers from the boot# prompt? I think what I need to do is delete all (non-TinyROM-) files in flash, so I have room to upload a new file with tftp. But I don't know how!

The only 2 files which were on there (except TinyROM) were c800-g3-mw.120-3.T1 and c800-y6-mw.121-5.bin.

So I try:

boot# delete c800-g3-mw.120-3.T1
c800-g3-mw.120-3.T1: failed, &quot;no such file&quot;
boot# delete c800-y6-mw.121-5.bin
c800-y6-mw.121-5.bin: failed, &quot;no such file&quot;

????

 

[jacro]

Hi NewBoy!

Try these.

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/access/acs_fix/800/800swcfg/rommon.htm

Booting from TFTP Server
Before setting up your router to boot from a TFTP server, you must do the following:


Understand that booting from a TFTP server consumes more dynamic RAM (DRAM) than booting from Flash memory. The amount of DRAM lost is equivalent to the software image size and is displayed when the router boots.

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/130/recovery_c800.html

 

[NewBoy]

Hi Jacro,

Was too busy to post anything yesterday. Thanks for those links. You know what I needed to do?

boot# erase

That cleared everything which I had deleted, leaving room for me to load a new IOS file into flash.

Sounds simple now, but I've been puzzled by this one from day one. Learnt a lot though.

Thanks again jacro - couldn't have done it without your help.

:?)