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Checklist for common problems encountered upgrading GIGAswitch/FDDI
firmware:
Parts 1-4 also apply to problems doing SNMP SET commands
1) Read-write community string is not being specified properly
SNMP access to the GIGAswitch/FDDI system is controlled by the read
community string for SNMP GET commands and the read-write community
string for SNMP SET commands. This is necessary for every Network
Management System including Multichassis Manager.
The default read community string is "public", in lower case,
without the quotes.
SNMP SETs are done during the load process, either explicitly or
implicitly. The "password" required for SNMP sets is the read/write
community string.
The default read-write community string for the GIGAswitch/FDDI
system is the lowest MAC address assigned to the multi-address ROM
contained on the clock card (also known as the "box address". This is
displayed by OBM in the configuration menu, and is also visible on a
label on the outside of the clock module.
If you are standing in front of the GIGAswitch/FDDI system, the
easiest way to obtain the box address is to look at the front of the
clock module, which is in slot 7. The LAN address range should be on a
label on the clock module. The lowest address is the default
read/write community string.
If the label isn't there, you can get this information from OBM in
the configuration part of the main menu.
Note that the default read/write community string contains all
lower case characters and no "-", ":", " " or other separators, I.E. it
looks like 08002ba4c180
Common errors:
08-00-2b-a4-c1-80 "-" are not part of the default read/write
community string
08002BA4C180 Upper case characters are not used in the
default read/write community string
Note that to initiate the load using OpenVMS applications, you most
likely need to encase the read/write community string in double quotes
since otherwise it will probably be converted to uppercase for you.
I.E. you need to say "08002ba4c180"
Also note that cutting and pasting the box address from OBM won't
yield the correct results, since OBM displays it in upper case,
separated by "-".
2) IP
See the section on "can't ping" for a list of the common problems
associated with IP reachability. The most common problems are that
there is no IP address assigned to the port over which the
GIGAswitch/FDDI system is trying to send a reply, or that a valid
default gateway has not been defined for communication outside a
subnet.
3) Keyswitch position
The GIGAswitch/FDDI system has four keyswitch positions. The
leftmost two key positions disallow SNMP Set requests. The rightmost
two key positions allow SNMP Set requests (Normal Access, or Easy
Access (aka world access)). Make certain that the keyswitch position
allows SNMP Set requests.
4) Bootserver ports/Privileged ports
The GIGAswitch/FDDI system allows the network manager to place
restrictions on which ports can send firmware upgrades and which ports
can do network management (SNMP).
By default, all ports are enabled to allow upgrades (bootserver
ports) and all ports are enabled to allow network management
(privileged ports), however this may have been changed by a network
manager.
5) Load file names
Various operating systems, and various server software have load
file limitations. Keep these in mind. I.E. If you're using DOS, I
think you're limited to 9 characters. OpenVMS MOP is limited to 16
characters.
OpenVMS MOP supplies a default extension of .SYS if you don't
supply it.
6) load software
Be certain that your load software does not conflict with existing
network software. I.E. NDUplus has its own tftp server built in. It
is possible that this may conflict with a pre-existing tftp service on
the same system. For OpenVMS IP Services for VMS (UCX), do *not* turn
on the tftp/bootp features! If you do turn them on, turn them off
before attempting to use NDUplus and reload UCX!
7) Impatience
Don't power cycle the GIGAswitch/FDDI system, or individual cards
unnecessarily during the upgrade process. Some cards take a long time
to upgrade (AGL-2, PSC are the two slowest).
Starting with BL2.1, *all* the cards will reboot automatically when
it is appropriate for the reboot to happen. AGL-2 cards prior to BL3.0
take about fifteen minutes to reboot!
Be careful that you don't cause the GIGAswitch/FDDI system to
reboot by upgrading the elected SCP card while the AGL-2 card is in the
process of doing an upgrade!
8) Retries
On very busy networks, or networks with lots of errors, frame drops
may cause the load attempt to fail - Just do a retry.
9) Incompatible firmware
Occasionally, there are dependencies in the various modules on
other modules revision levels. Please read the release notes for the
proper order of upgrades. Also check to see if management memory must
be cleared.
SCP BL2.20 or later must be running in order to load SCP BL3.0 or
later firmware! This is due to the larger size of the image file.
When upgrading to BL3.0 or later, linecards (FGLs, AGLs) should be
upgraded before the SCP is upgraded.
If you are in the situation where the SCP has already been upgraded
(replacing a FGL with an older one from logistics, for example), you
can temporarily restore operation by turning off hunt group support,
upgrading the card, then restoring hunt group support.
It is *not* recommended that hunt group support be disabled in
normal operation.
How to disable/enable hunt group support:
Main Menu
System 1. Show box configuration
2. Show/set slot configuration
3. Show/set system time
4. Clear management memory
5. Reboot menu
Port 6. Show LAN address assignments
7. Show/set privileged and bootserver ports
8. Show/set delayed ports
9. IP Menu
Bridge 10. Bridge menu
MIBs 11. MIB viewer menu
Extensions 12. Extended options menu
OBM 13. OBM menu
14. End OBM session
Choice: 12
Extended Options Menu 1. Statistics and counters menu
2. Debug options menu
3. Hunt group menu
4. Management memory deletions
5. SCP revision history
6. Return to main menu
Choice: 3
Hunt Group Menu 1. Hunt group configuration menu
2. Set/disable hunt group support
3. Return to previous menu
Choice: 2
Hunt groups are currently supported
Do you want to change the configuration to disable hunt groups ?
WARNING: If you answer yes, the switch will REBOOT.
Do you want to do this? (yes/no): yes
10) Corrupt copy of the firmware
The load files are binary files and care must be taken that they
are copied properly. When using FTP, specify "binary" or "image"
before doing the copy.
11) Upgrades to the power system controller (PSC)
The PSC firmware version is visible in the OBM box configuration
menu, not the slot configuration menu. As a result, it occasionally
does not get upgraded when appropriate.
The PSC does not reside in a slot, but is connected to the clock
card via a serial connection. When doing PSC upgrades, specify slot 7,
(the clock slot) as the slot to be upgraded.
12) Missing jumpers - AGL-2 and AGL-2+
Problem:
Some AGL-2 and AGL-2+ cards may have been shipped missing jumpers.
The lack of these two jumpers prevent firmware from being upgraded on
those cards.
Symptom:
The observed symptom is that when an upgrade is attempted, SNMP
will report the upgrade as being successful, and the card will reboot.
However, after the reboot, the firmware versions have not been changed.
This can be verified by looking at either the MIB object slotCardFwRev
or the OBM Show Slot Configuration command.
Solution:
Add the two jumpers if they are missing. This requires removal of
the AGL from the card cage.
*** Please observe proper ESD precautions ***
1) Remove the AGL module
2) Place the AGL module down on a flat surface with the component side
up. Orient the module such that the handle side is closest to you.
3) The two jumper locations are at the top left hand corner of the
card, approximately 2-3 inches from both the top and left edge of the
card. The two jumpers are *not* immediately adjacent.
-----##-----####----##---#-
| ++++|
| : <- jumpers ++++|<---- DC-DC power module
| : ++++|
| ++++|
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{ } -- card handles
4) Place jumpers on both jumper locations
5) Replace the card
6) Upgrade the firmware
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