Serial interface still not solved. :(

Hi All,

Some of you may remember a thread I started a week or so ago about not being able to find serial interfaces on my routers. (two which I bought through ebay!) Well I still havent managed to get them working and the person I bought them from isnt replying to my emails

So I wanted to ask you all, Should I contact cisco about getting the routers fixed? (They are two 2503 models) or should I try upgrading the IOS.(currently running 11.2) Even though the guy whom I bought it from said they worked fine when he was using them for this CCNP preparations.

To sum up the problem. the following is what I get when I type in "show ip interface brief"
Router#show ip interface brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol

BRI0 unassigned YES unset administratively down down

BRI0:1 unassigned YES unset administratively down down

BRI0:2 unassigned YES unset administratively down down

Ethernet0 unassigned YES unset administratively down down

Any help or advice that can be given is much appreciated. Thanks.

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

keenon

i remember, did u use the write erase to clear the config? what are your hardware specs on your router.. i may be able to help u out if u have 16/16

fusebox

Hi Keenon

I'll start by pasting in the results of show version.

Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) 2500 Software (C2500-G-L), Version 11.2(15a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright (c) 1986-1998 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 24-Aug-98 01:08 by tmullins
Image text-base: 0x030214C0, data-base: 0x00001000

ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 11.0(10c), SOFTWARE
BOOTFLASH: 3000 Bootstrap Software (IGS-BOOT-R), Version 11.0(10c), RELEASE SOFT
WARE (fc1)

Router uptime is 4 days, 22 hours, 43 minutes
System restarted by power-on
System image file is "flash:c2500-g-l.112-15a", booted via flash

cisco 2500 (68030) processor (revision N) with 6144K/2048K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID 11835396, with hardware revision 00000001
Bridging software.
Basic Rate ISDN software, Version 1.0.
1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)
1 ISDN Basic Rate interface(s)
32K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
8192K bytes of processor board System flash partition 1 (Read ONLY)
8192K bytes of processor board System flash partition 2 (Read/Write)

Configuration register is 0x2102

Also I did try the write erase you mentioned in the other thread.. it didnt work unfortunately.
[/b][/i]

keenon

fusebox wrote:

Hi Keenon

I'll start by pasting in the results of show version.

Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) 2500 Software (C2500-G-L), Version 11.2(15a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright (c) 1986-1998 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 24-Aug-98 01:08 by tmullins
Image text-base: 0x030214C0, data-base: 0x00001000

ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 11.0(10c), SOFTWARE
BOOTFLASH: 3000 Bootstrap Software (IGS-BOOT-R), Version 11.0(10c), RELEASE SOFT
WARE (fc1)

Router uptime is 4 days, 22 hours, 43 minutes
System restarted by power-on
System image file is "flash:c2500-g-l.112-15a", booted via flash

cisco 2500 (68030) processor (revision N) with 6144K/2048K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID 11835396, with hardware revision 00000001
Bridging software.
Basic Rate ISDN software, Version 1.0.
1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)
1 ISDN Basic Rate interface(s)
32K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
8192K bytes of processor board System flash partition 1 (Read ONLY)
8192K bytes of processor board System flash partition 2 (Read/Write)

Configuration register is 0x2102

Also I did try the write erase you mentioned in the other thread.. it didnt work unfortunately.
[/b][/i]

well first thing i noticed is that the flash is viewed as in 2 partitions.. we need to get this reformatted into 1 partition then you would have 16 mb flash.. then you could run a new ios.. back up your old ios before using this

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1824/prod_release_note09186a008007fb5f.html

once this has been done upgrade your ios see if this helps.. if anyone else has any ideas plz post

tunerX

flash:c2500-g-l.112-15a

The g stands for "ISDN subset (SNMP, IP, Bridging, ISDN, PPP, IPX, AppleTalk)" I believe that you IOS does not have software for the serial interfaces. You need to upgrade your IOS. Your boot rom is new enough and you should be able to get away with a c2500-is-l.120-9 IOS. For anything else you may need to upgrade your RAM.

fusebox

Just a quick question....

How would I go about booting from the other partition?
Perhaps that has the IOS that can enable the serial interfaces to work.

tunerX

show flash

check if you have an IOS in each partition. If you do then issue this command

boot system flash flash:2:"new IOS name"

e.g.

boot system flash flash:2:c2500-g-l.112-15a

then copy run start and reload

fusebox

Hi Tuner X,
Unfortunately I am not able to issue the boot command it says its not recognised. I wanted to show you the results I get for both routers when I do a Show Flash command.

for Router A;

RouterA#show flash

System flash directory, partition 1:
File Length Name/status
1 4054776 c2500-g-l.112-13
[4054840 bytes used, 4333768 available, 8388608 total]
8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read ONLY)

System flash directory, partition 2:
File Length Name/status
1 4059032 c2500-g-l.112-15a
[4059096 bytes used, 4329512 available, 8388608 total]
8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)

For Router B;

RouterB#show flash

System flash directory, partition 1:
File Length Name/status
1 4059032 c2500-g-l.112-15a
[4059096 bytes used, 4329512 available, 8388608 total]
8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read ONLY)

System flash directory, partition 2:
File Length Name/status
1 7432656 c2500-i-l.120-7.T.bin
[7432720 bytes used, 955888 available, 8388608 total]
8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)

As you can see both have only 1 common flash IOS between. Any one know what the 'i' stands for in c2500-i-l.120-7.T.bin ???

Drakonblayde

I'm pretty sure it's the IP subset

forbesl

fusebox wrote:

Any one know what the 'i' stands for in c2500-i-l.120-7.T.bin ???

IP-only

fusebox

tunerX wrote:

show flash

check if you have an IOS in each partition. If you do then issue this command

boot system flash flash:2:"new IOS name"

e.g.

boot system flash flash:2:c2500-g-l.112-15a

then copy run start and reload

I cant seem to be able to make this command work. Anyone know what the equivalent command is for an IOS 11.x ??

fusebox

Sorry... I managed to boot RouterA from partition 2 by issuing the following command from global configuration mode,

"boot system flash 2"

Although I booted from partition 2 it didnt solve my original problem. I tried this command on my second router RouterB and it didnt work. Im guessing it has something to do with the file name ending in .bin???

Nocturnal

First, you need to get a better IOS image...11.anything-but-what-you-have will do. I still think you have one of those "specialty boxes," and I will decline to comment on the individual from whom you purchased the routers

In global configuration mode, type "partition ?" You should see one option..."flash" Typing "no partition flash" should remove the partition, but I don't know if the router will work after that....if it's anything like fdisk, it won't. You may want to dig around cisco.com for more info.

You'll have to set up a tftp server to install whatever IOS image you get ahold of. I would be all ears if someone around here could explain the ins and outs of setting something like that up...I'm a hardware guy trying to learn software.

If all else fails with the partitions, you could always just get some new flash cards...but you still need anoher IOS image.

I wish I could be more help.

fusebox

hmmm... Alright im willing to give try an IOS upgrade.

Can anyone guide me as to how to go about it doing this... It seems I have to get additional access to be able to download IOS etc. I do I actually do this... Cisco's website doesnt seem clearcut on this issue.

Also has the Cisco Connection Online been renamed to something else? I cant seem to find it. I know they have the new CCNA prep center but I think this is irrelevant to what im after.

I came across this...http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/index.shtml but I keep going in circles with regards to trying to gain additional access etc. so that I can try to download an IOS.

nethead

Unfortunately you can't just go to Cisco and download software images. Either you need to have a CCO account (either via a company account or by being highly qualified) or you have to buy the images.
There may be other ways of getting the images but these are the official methods.

This is why it's a good idea to buy routers with the best IOS possible, I think it's a little unfair to sell a router on ebay with this type of image - unless it was specified in the item description.

forbesl

fusebox wrote:

hmmm... Alright im willing to give try an IOS upgrade.

Can anyone guide me as to how to go about it doing this...

Try http://www.vitaltech-group.com/IOSHunter.htm to locate an image. This program will not search for versions created after 2002, however.

tunerX

first, copy your c2500-i-l.120-7.T.bin to a tftp server. Then do a "no partition flash" this will make a single 16MB partition. Then copy from the tftp server back into flash. reload and your system will boot the new IOS. Your 120-7 IOS will have the software for your serial ports so you do not need to upgrade anything or download anything else.

You should really think about getting 2 16MB sticks of ram so you can run the latest IOS.

fusebox

Hi everyone!

I managed to copy the second IOS in my RouterB into the TFTP server, then made the partition into 1, then put the copy back into flash and guesswhat!! I have Serial interfaces on the router!!!.

One niggle though, I keep getting the following;

%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/network-confg (Timed out)
%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/cisconet.cfg (Timed out)
%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/routerb-confg (Timed out)
%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/routerb.cfg (Timed out)
%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/network-confg (Timed out)
%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/cisconet.cfg (Timed out)
%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/routerb-confg (Timed out)
%Error opening tftp://255.255.255.255/routerb.cfg (Timed out)

and it just keeps looping. However the main problem seems have to have been addressed, ie:

RouterB#show ip interface brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Prot
ocol
BRI0 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down

BRI0:1 unassigned YES unset administratively down down

BRI0:2 unassigned YES unset administratively down down

Ethernet0 192.168.0.5 YES NVRAM up up

Serial0 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down

Serial1 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down

Thanks to all those that that contributed in helping with this issue. Now I just have to do the same onto my other router and I'll have a home lab up and running.

tunerX

Good job in getting the IOS on your system. For your new problem, at the config prompt do a

"no service config" then "copy run start"

This should take care of the IOS wanting to pull the config from the network.

fusebox

Hi everyone.. again.

I seem to be having trouble updating my IOS on the second router. I went about the same steps as above, however when I copied the new IOS, the router did not automatically boot as it did on the other router, also my router shows this in its prompt;

RouterA(boot)# <-- what does the (boot) mean??

my serial interfaces are showing up, however when I go into global config mode, and try to enable router rip, it doesnt accept the router command!!

How do I go about fixing this little issue?

PS: ive even switched the flash modules (I have two 8mb ones) and still I get the same (boot) in my prompt after I upload my IOS via TFTP.

Kind Regards

tunerX

It means that your system did not load the IOS. You have booted with the boot ROM; this is why you have "boot" in your prompt. It could be simple, you may have bad "boot system flash" command(s) in your config and it cannot find the ios that you specify then it will boot from ROM.

Normally a router boots in these steps.

1) first file inflash
2) network
3) ROM

If you have boot system flash command then it will try to boot flash then ROM.

1) file listed in the NVRAM
2) ROM

If the file listed in NVRAM is bad then it will go straight to the boot ROM.
First thing to do is "erase start" or "write erase", then reload the router. If prompted to save the config choose no. You can also do a generic

You could also manually delete the boot system commands with the

no boot system "what ever else is listed"
copy run start

then reload

fusebox

thanks TunerX, that has solved my problem.

Back to study