Hardware Troubleshooting for Catalyst 8540/8510 MSRs and LightStream 1010 ATM Switch: Start Up Issues

Document ID: 21458

This document is part of a documentation set. Refer to the Hardware Troubleshooting for Catalyst 8540/8510 MSRs and LightStream 1010 ATM Switch Index page for the Introduction to this documentation set.

Introduction
Prerequisites
      Requirements
      Components Used
      Conventions
Catalyst MSR Does Not Boot
Recover from Corrupt or Lost Cisco IOS Images
Related Information

Introduction

This document provides troubleshoot steps to take when a Cisco Catalyst multiservice ATM switch router (MSR) fails to boot. The document also describes how to recover Cisco IOS® Software images.

Prerequisites

Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

This document is not restricted to specific software and hardware versions.

Conventions

For more information on document conventions, refer to the Cisco Technical Tips Conventions.

The capture of information from the console of the switch router is essential to troubleshoot a Catalyst MSR that does not boot. Log the console output in a file for later analysis or for Cisco Technical Support, if you need to create a service request.

The Catalyst MSR has a Bootstrap image and the Boot image embedded in the ROM. Even if there are no valid images on the Flash, the switch router is always able to load these images. If you are not familiar with the boot process of Cisco switch routers, refer to Figure 12: Booting Process in the document Rebooting. Also refer to the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Configuration Guide, Release 12.2.

This table lists symptoms and actions to take if you encounter boot problems:

Symptom

Action to Take

The LEDs are on after you power on the switch router, but there is nothing on the console.

Verify that you have set the baud rate to 9600 bits per second (bps). If the baud rate is not the issue, verify that the equipment that you use to connect to the console operates properly. Connect to a known good switch router to check your console equipment. If you successfully test the equipment but the problem remains, replace the switch router.

The router displays the system Bootstrap version and hangs at that point or falls into a boot loop:

System Bootstrap, Version 11.1(7)AX [kuong (7)AX],

EARLY DEPLOYMENT RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc2)

Copyright (c) 1994-1996 by cisco Systems, Inc.

The memory may not be well seated. First, try to reseat the single inline memory module (SIMM) memory. To reseat the SIMM, remove and then reinsert it. If the switch router still does not boot, replace the switch router.

The router boots in ROM monitor (ROMmon); there are no error messages on the console.

Set the configuration register to 0x2102 and reload the switch router:

rommon 1 > confreg 0x2102
rommon 2 > reset

The router boots in boot mode; there are no error messages on the console.

Set the configuration register to 0x2102 and reload the switch router. There is no need to save the running configuration before you reload:

Switch(boot)# configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Switch(boot)(config)# config-register 0x2102
Switch(boot)(config)# end
Switch(boot)# reload
System configuration has been modified. Save? [yes/no]: no
Proceed with reload? [confirm]

Note: The config-register command is the only Cisco IOS Software configuration command which does not save in NVRAM. The command changes the configuration register immediately, but only takes effect at the time of the next boot.

The router boots in boot mode and displays these messages on the console:

getdevnum warning: device "PCMCIA slot 1" has size of zero
getdevnum warning: device "PCMCIA slot 1" has size of zero
pen: read error...requested 0x4 bytes, got 0x0
trouble reading device magic number
boot: cannot open "flash:"
boot: cannot determine first file name on device "flash:"

You have removed the Flash card or the card insertion is incorrect. Issue the show flash executable command to verify the presence of the Flash card:

Switch(boot)# show flash
%Device in REMOVED state

Insert or reseat the Flash. If the problem persists, replace the Flash card. If a Flash card replacement does not resolve the problem, replace the switch router.

The switch router boots in boot mode and displays these messages on the console:

device does not contain a valid magic number

boot: cannot open "flash:"

boot: cannot determine first file name on device "flash:"

The Flash is empty or the file system is corrupt. Copy a valid image on the Flash, erase the Flash at the prompt, and reload the switch router.

The switch router boots in boot mode and displays this message on the console:

SYSTEM INIT: INSUFFICIENT MEMORY TO BOOT THE IMAGE!

This message only occurs when you load images that run from RAM. Switch routers support images that run in RAM and images that run directly from Flash, such as relocatable images. There are two solutions for the problem:

Upgrade the DRAM.
Load a relocatable image.

For more information on image types, refer to the Image Naming Conventions section of the document Loading and Maintaining System Images.

For information on memory requirements, refer to the Memory Requirements section of the document How to Choose a Cisco IOS Software Release.

For information on the upgrade of the DRAM SIMMs, refer to the Release Notes for Replacing Flash Memory SIMM.

The switch router boots in boot mode and displays this message on the console:

loadprog: error - Invalid image for platform

The Cisco IOS Software image is not appropriate for the switch router, or the image is corrupt. Erase the Flash and download a new, valid Cisco IOS Software image.

For more information on the load of new software, refer to the document Loading and Maintaining System Images.

Recover from Corrupt or Lost Cisco IOS Images

Normally, if your ATM switch comes up in ROMmon mode, you can use the boot command to tell the switch which image to load.

Note: The Loading and Maintaining System Images chapter of the Cisco IOS Configuration Fundamentals Configuration Guide, Release 12.2 provides step-by-step instructions for file system management for all platforms that run Cisco IOS Software.

Issue the ? help command to list the commands that are available while in ROMmon mode.

rommon 1 > ?
alias               set and display aliases command
boot                boot up an external process
break               set/show/clear the breakpoint
confreg             configuration register utility
cont                continue executing a downloaded image
context             display the context of a loaded image
dev                 list the device table
dir                 list files in file system
dis                 disassemble instruction stream
dnld                serial download a program module
frame               print out a selected stack frame
help                monitor builtin command help
history             monitor command history
meminfo             main memory information
repeat              repeat a monitor command
reset               system reset
set                 display the monitor variables
stack               produce a stack trace
sync                write monitor environment to NVRAM
sysret              print out info from last system return
unalias             unset an alias
unset               unset a monitor variable
rommon 2 >

Note: The ROMmon command-line interface (CLI) lists a dnld command. The Cisco LightStream 1010 ATM switch does not support Xmodem download. The dnld command still exists from the Cisco IOS branch that ported it.

If the image in bootflash becomes corrupt and your ATM switch goes into ROMmon, you can manually boot from a network file. Issue the boot command.

Note: For more information on how to manually boot from a network file, refer to the document Rebooting.

The only other recovery method is to use a PC card. Cisco platforms support three flash memory file system types: Class A, Class B, and Class C. The LightStream 1010 and Catalyst 8500 series use a Class A file system. If you do not have a PC card in your ATM switch, you can use a card from one of these platforms, which also use a Class A file system and format:

Route Switch Module (RSM) from the Catalyst 5000
Gigabit Switch Router (GSR) Route Processor (GRP)
Cisco 7500 series Route Switch Processor (RSP) 2, 4, or 8
Cisco 7000 series RSP (RSP7000)

Use the document PCMCIA Filesystem Compatibility Matrix and Filesystem Information to confirm that the PC card in use is from a platform with the same file system.

You can format the PC card for your ATM switch in other RSP-based systems or in an ATM switch that operates. After you format the PC card, copy the appropriate image to the card via the copy tftp slot0: command or a similar command. Then, move the PC card back to the ATM switch PC card slot.

Use these steps to boot an image from a PC card slot:

Issue the dev command to determine the device names of the PC card slots.

rommon 18 > dev 
Devices in device table: 
        id  name 
bootflash:  boot flash 
    slot0:  PCMCIA slot 0 
    slot1:  PCMCIA slot 1 
    eprom:  eprom

Issue the dir command to view the files on your PC card.

rommon 19 > dir 
usage: dir <device> 
rommon 20 > dir slot0: 
         File size         Checksum   File name 
   401756 bytes (0x80335c) 0x2a290d95 cat8540m-wp-mz_120-10_W5_18c.bin

Issue the boot command and specify a PC card slot number and a Cisco IOS image name.

rommon 21 > boot slot0:cat8540m-wp-mz_120-10_W5_18c.bin 
Self decompressing the image : ######################
##################################################### 
##################################################### 
##################################################### 
################################################ 

   PRIMARY CPU: 
Booting on Mar 23 2001 13:10:06 

 Cat8540 Diagnostics V1.4, Dated Aug 19 2000 00:54:12 
 Model ACTIVE CPU-Card, Serial# MIC025006YD, H/W V5.5 
 Copyright (c) Cisco Systems Inc.  1999 

...................................... 

Power-on Diagnostics Passed. 
Reading cubi version..Done

In rare cases, you see these error messages:

rommon 20 > dir slot0:
PCMCIA slot0 device is not initialized
open: read error...requested 0x4 bytes, got 0x0
trouble reading device magic number
dir: cannot open device "slot0:"

These messages indicate that ROMmon detected a bad checksum or one that ROMmon did not expect when you issued the directory command. To fix the problem, try these:

Read the PC card in another system.
Swap the PC card with a known good card from another system.
If necessary, reformat the card on a system that operates and copy the appropriate image to the card via the copy tftp slot0: command or a similar command. Move the PC card back to the ATM switch PC card slot.

Class A File System Commands

The methods you use to erase, delete, and recover files depend on the class of the file system. Class A file systems support these file management commands:

delete—"Marks" files as deleted, but the files still occupy space in flash memory. Issue the undelete command to recover these files later.
squeeze—Permanently removes all the files with the "deleted" mark from the specific flash memory device. You can no longer recover these files. The squeeze operation can take several minutes if the erase and rewrite of most of the flash memory space on a PC card is necessary.
format—Erases all the files on a flash device.
verify—Recomputes and verifies the checksum of a file in flash memory.

Related Information

Updated: Jun 05, 2005

Document ID: 21458

Hierarchical Navigation

Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Multiservice Switch Routers