Console connectivity issue...

mattipler

Hey up all.

I've got two Cisco 2500's and one Cisco 2600 that are no longer required by my employer and they've said I can have them! They'll come in use superbly for practising router config and routing protocols.

Problem is I can't access any of them via the console port.

I've got a rollover cable, a female DB9 connector which is attached to my PC serial port and the Router console port. All of the Hyper terminal settings are definitely correct. The COM port speed on my PC is set to 9600. I've tried two rollover cables.

Surely this is a problem with Hyper terminal on my PC?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys.

Ta

Matt

sexion8

mattipler wrote:

Hey up all.

I've got two Cisco 2500's and one Cisco 2600 that are no longer required by my employer and they've said I can have them! They'll come in use superbly for practising router config and routing protocols.

Problem is I can't access any of them via the console port.

I've got a rollover cable, a female DB9 connector which is attached to my PC serial port and the Router console port. All of the Hyper terminal settings are definitely correct. The COM port speed on my PC is set to 9600. I've tried two rollover cables.

Surely this is a problem with Hyper terminal on my PC?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys.

Ta

Matt

Make sure flow control is set to none not hardware: 9600, 8 data, no parity, 1 stop bit, no flow control. You solely mention baud for your settings, make sure its all set right. Double check your cable as well, should be a DB9-RJ45 adapter connected to an RJ45 rollover. (http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/701/14.html)

mattipler

Yeah mate ALL the settings are correct. I forgot to mention I've tried 2 db9 rj45 adapters. 2 rollover cables as well.

mattipler

Just tried a console connection from a different PC. Still doesn't work so now I'm completely confused.

bmauro

I've had issues in the past with the COM port, where the application was setup to use COM 1, while it should have been COM 4 (on my laptop)

malcybood

mis-read the post sorry

***removed***

Have you tried a Cisco RJ45 - DB9 cable as opposed to using a rollover and a DB9 convertor? You can pick them up off Ebay for a couple of £.....Although you should have got one shipped with the routers

Cisco Console / Rollover Router Cable New RJ45 - DB9

Who initially configured the routers? Have you asked them how they done it and if they had any probs?

sexion8

malcybood wrote:

Matt,

Rollover cables are used for connecting to the AUX port not the Console port as they are wired differently.

Malc

And where did you get that notion from? (rolled are not for console connections) http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/701/14.html#topic14

malcybood

sexion8 wrote:

malcybood wrote:

Matt,

Rollover cables are used for connecting to the AUX port not the Console port as they are wired differently.

Malc

And where did you get that notion from? (rolled are not for console connections) http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/701/14.html#topic14

I said I mis-read it...see above

mattipler

Unfortunately guys there's no chance of speaking to the person who initially configured the routers. They left the business about 4 years ago.

I've got both a cisco rollover cable (big flat cable pinned out as a rollover that has cisco 72-0876-01 REV A0 LDW3198 printed on it) and a normal CAT 5e that I pinned out and crimped myself... neither work.

I LOVE A CHALLENGE! LOL!

sexion8

mattipler wrote:

Unfortunately guys there's no chance of speaking to the person who initially configured the routers. They left the business about 4 years ago.

I've got both a cisco rollover cable (big flat cable pinned out as a rollover that has cisco 72-0876-01 REV A0 LDW3198 printed on it) and a normal CAT 5e that I pinned out and crimped myself... neither work.

I LOVE A CHALLENGE! LOL!

Try using tera-term or Secure CRT

mattipler

Pardon? lol

sexion8

mattipler wrote:

Pardon? lol

http://www.ayera.com/teraterm/
http://www.vandyke.com/products/securecrt/

malcybood

How long since they were taken out of the live environment?

Do you know the ethernet interface IP address of the router and the VTY/telnet password? (if it was setup for telnet but I would assume it was)

You could assign your PC a static IP on the same subnet as the router connect PC - Ethernet port via rj45 cable and telnet to the router?

start - run - cmd - press ok

C:\>telnet 10.20.20.2 (but the IP address for the ethernet port on your router obviously)

malcybood

sexion8 wrote:

mattipler wrote:

Pardon? lol

http://www.ayera.com/teraterm/
http://www.vandyke.com/products/securecrt/

Nice one sexion8, Think I'll download that myself

mattipler

They've been out for years Malc. I'd thought of that one but there's no way of getting the IP addresses from them. Thanks for the suggestion though... appreciated.

sexion8

malcybood wrote:

How long since they were taken out of the live environment?

Do you know the ethernet interface IP address of the router and the VTY/telnet password? (if it was setup for telnet but I would assume it was)

You could assign your PC a static IP on the same subnet as the router connect PC - Ethernet port via rj45 cable and telnet to the router?

start - run - cmd - press ok

C:\>telnet 10.20.20.2 (but the IP address for the ethernet port on your router obviously)

If the eth interface was configured with a non rfc1918 address it wouldn't do him any good. Besides, it would also need to be configured for DHCP to pass data through to it. There is no guarantee that say even it it were configured to a 10.20.20.x address, the default gateway on the router would be the same as configured on the pc.

For example, I have at one client a default gateway of 172.31.254.254. Not the standard/typical xxx.xxx.xxx.1. You could always fire up nmap and if by chance it is configured with the same subnet (nmap -sS -p 23 -T5 -v -v 10.20.0.0/16) and hope to find the address, but again, if the default gateway is not the same as your machine, your data is likely not going to get through. Hrmm. If nmap is not familiar to some of you, its likely you want to familiarize yourself with it

malcybood

sexion8 wrote:

malcybood wrote:

How long since they were taken out of the live environment?

Do you know the ethernet interface IP address of the router and the VTY/telnet password? (if it was setup for telnet but I would assume it was)

You could assign your PC a static IP on the same subnet as the router connect PC - Ethernet port via rj45 cable and telnet to the router?

start - run - cmd - press ok

C:\>telnet 10.20.20.2 (but the IP address for the ethernet port on your router obviously)

If the eth interface was configured with a non rfc1918 address it wouldn't do him any good. Besides, it would also need to be configured for DHCP to pass data through to it. There is no guarantee that say even it it were configured to a 10.20.20.x address, the default gateway on the router would be the same as configured on the pc.

But if he knew the IP address of the ethernet port on the router (why I asked if he knew it), for arguements' sake it was 10.20.20.1 /24 he would set his workstation tcp/ip properties to

i.e.
ip address - 10.20.20.100 (or another address in static range)
S/M - 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway - 10.20.20.1

Providing the VTY lines are setup on the Ethernet interface he is connecting to and he knew the VTY and secret/enable password on the router he would be able to telnet to the router and view/edit the configuration & troubleshoot the console port. I use this method for telnetting all the time at work and on my home lab, but then again I know the eth IP addresses.

Why would he need the router to be configured for DHCP to pass through the ethernet port? That has completely thrown me unless I'm missing something........

sexion8

malcybood wrote:

Why would he need the router to be configured for DHCP to pass through the ethernet port? That has completely thrown me unless I'm missing something........

Dur... I'm thinking of placing the router on a switch (don't ask I did some fuzzy stuff with routers using DHCP), then connecting to the router via the switch. Directly into the ethernet port, it would work if he did have the IP information and security was not configured to block telnet from certain points, e.g:

router(config)# access-list *NUMBER* permit 10.20.20.2
router(config)# access-list *NUMBER* deny 0.0.0.0 (default deny? ... who knows just in case)
router(config)# line vty 0 4
router(config-line)# access-class *NUMBER* in

edited ....
Actually above should have read:

router(config)# no access-list 30
router(config)# access-list 30 permit 10.20.20.2 any log
router(config)# access-list 30 deny any log
router(config)# line vty 0 4
router(config-line)# access-class 30 in
router(config-line)# transport input none
router(config-line)# login local
router(config-line)# exec-timeout 0 1
router(config-line)# no exec
router(config-line)# end
router#

mattipler

I too was a little perplexed by the DHCP statement!

Cheers for your help though guys!

sexion8

mattipler wrote:

I too was a little perplexed by the DHCP statement!

Cheers for your help though guys!

Heh sorry about that. I'll explain what I was thinking... The other night I was doing a tftp update for my 3810's and I wanted to test some expect scripting I was doing (I use OpenBSD, Linux, Solaris a lot), so I turned a 2501 into a DHCP server, turned on dhcp on the 3810's, connected the 2501 and 3810's to a switch and mangled with expect for some time. So my first thought was ... How do you expect to connect without a default gateway, thinking the set up would have been the same... PC to Switch, Router to Switch, connectivity as such... Sorry for the confusion mea culpa

malcybood

mattipler wrote:

I've got both a cisco rollover cable (big flat cable pinned out as a rollover that has cisco 72-0876-01 REV A0 LDW3198 printed on it)

Does this rollover cable have rj45 type connectors at both ends?

Seriously try getting a proper Cisco RJ45 to DB9 cable from Ebay as previously suggested, only £2!.......

I've seen some other posts on this site from people having problems using DB9 connectors such as you are using and also USB - DB9 connectors (for laptops with no COM port)....With the USB - DB9 connectors I think it was not enabled for Break Key which is why they didn't work for those particular people.

It may be something similar with your connector, not specifically the break key but some other compatibility issue......so try an official Cisco Console NOT a rollover rj45 - rj45 with a DB9 convertor. This is my advice.

After reviewing everything else you have said I have a feeling the problem has to lie with either the cables or the connectors that you are using as it is extremely unlikely that all 3 of the router's con ports are faulty! (possible but unlikely). Saying that it may be the reason they were removed from the production environment!

Good luck, let us know how you get on!

Malc

dargueta

You might also consider trying different speeds on your hyperterminal settings. Some admins think that it's a security feature to change the speed that the console communicates at on the routers to throw people off....it's possible your previous admin did this. Some symptoms of mismatched console speeds are no input/output, or invalid characters (at least from my experience..). Try switching the speeds around and see if it helps any.

eastp

Perhaps a stupid comment but, did you open up HyperTerminal first and then plugged the console cable in the router?
Otherwise it won’t show you anything, unless you hit enter

Kind regards
Eastp

mikej412

malcybood wrote:

Cisco Console / Rollover Router Cable New RJ45 - DB9

FYI ... I edited the URL so I wouldn't have to scroll to the right to read the posts.....

Am I missing a option/preference in Firefox to break/wrap long lines? Or are you guys just used to texting on tiny screens and just scroll without thinking about it?

Or do you have one of those new 108" Plasma TVs that you use a computer monitor?

malcybood

mikej412 wrote:

.........

Or do you have one of those new 108" Plasma TVs that you use a computer monitor?

No, I haven't convinced my office their current plasma is dated, needs replaced and "environmentally disposed of" yet, they don't believe me for some reason.......I am working on it though!

Kaminsky

sexion8 wrote:

mattipler wrote:

... The other night I was doing a tftp update for my 3810's and I wanted to test some expect scripting I was doing (I use OpenBSD, Linux, Solaris a lot), so I turned a 2501 into a DHCP server, turned on dhcp on the 3810's, connected the 2501 and 3810's to a switch and mangled with expect for some time. So my first thought was ... How do you expect to connect without a default gateway....

You seriously need to get out more mate!

I mean.... god damn!
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20381

Just funnin with ya!

sexion8

Kaminsky wrote:

sexion8 wrote:

mattipler wrote:

I mean.... god damn!
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20381

Just funnin with ya!

That's what I used my 20's (age range) for ... If I posted half the crap I deal with on a daily basis along with half the crap I have @ home... Wow...

http://www.infiltrated.net/mydesk/
I've since fixed up my desk. Well somewhat... My work lab is to the left of me, I have a Cisco 7xxx series in my garage I am soon going to convert into a refrigerated beer keg. I have an SGI Origin, 3 Sun Netras, 1 Ultra 60, 1 Nokia IP650, some Snom 360's and 190's, and like 4 laptops... This is @ home now. At work, I stopped stacking stuff I give it to my coworkers and have sometimes donated it to like local "school/work" environments for the underprivileged. (You know, those workforce/welfare type programs.... I've chucked quite a few desktops and printers their way... Karma I guess)

mattipler

How old are you guys just out of interest?

Tried all the different hyperterminal BPS speeds, no joy I'm afraid.

I'll get a Cisco RJ45 - DB9 cable from ebay as Malc suggested... one of my mates who's at the academy with me has one. I'll give that one a shot.

sexion8

mattipler wrote:

How old are you guys just out of interest?

Tried all the different hyperterminal BPS speeds, no joy I'm afraid.

I'll get a Cisco RJ45 - DB9 cable from ebay as Malc suggested... one of my mates who's at the academy with me has one. I'll give that one a shot.

30 something under the mid 30's though...

malcybood

mattipler wrote:

How old are you guys just out of interest?

Tried all the different hyperterminal BPS speeds, no joy I'm afraid.

I'll get a Cisco RJ45 - DB9 cable from ebay as Malc suggested... one of my mates who's at the academy with me has one. I'll give that one a shot.

I turned 25 in Sep 06 so I'm a young 25 lol

mattipler

I'm 25 too.

Will let you know how I go on with Cisco db9 to rj45 guys.

Cheers for your help.