2900 XL with no image or cfg

Type

flash_init boot

If this does not work, check to see if there is image by doing a directory of the flash. If there is no image you need to copy an image using xmodem via the console.

Scott

OK, no there is no image or cnfg or anything. So I am plugged into the console port and have xp running on my notebook. How do you use xmodem? I have a copy command in the switch, now what?

P.S. thanks for the reply.

From Cisco's Website:

Introduction This document describes how to recover from a corrupt or missing software image on the Cisco Catalyst 2900XL and 3500XL Series Switches. When this problem exists, the error message error loading flash appears when you boot up after power loss or after an incorrect software upgrade.

Note: Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) may be used to transfer software image files from a PC to your device. This document was written using output from the Cisco TFTP server application. Cisco has discontinued this application and no longer supports it. If you do not have a TFTP server, obtain any third-party TFTP server application from another source.

Prerequisites Requirements There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used To create the examples in this document, this equipment is used:

Hyperterminal software used in Microsoft Operating Systems.

A console cable suitable for the Catalyst 2900XL / 3500XL in the switch.

The information presented in this document was created from devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If you are working in a live network, ensure that you understand the potential impact of any command before using it.

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

Problem If you receive the error loading flash message, this indicates that there is a problem loading the current image in Flash. The image may be corrupt, an incorrect image, or the image in Flash may be missing. If the system is unable to load a software image in Flash, the system loads the boot helper and brings up a switch: prompt. Otherwise it is in a continuous boot cycle. If the switch is stuck in a continuous boot cycle, use this procedure to bring up a switch: prompt:

Unplug the power cable.

Hold down the mode button located on the left side of the front panel while you reconnect the power cord to the switch. Release the mode button a second or two after the LED above port 1x is no longer illuminated.

Enter the commands flash_init and load_helper.

This problem occurs only on XL switches. For a complete list of affected switches, see the XL Models, Their Amount of Memory, and Category of Images They Support section of this document.

This is a sample output from a failed bootup:

C2900XL Boot Loader (C2900-HBOOT-M) Version 11.2(0.28)SA4, BETA TEST SOFTWARE Compiled Fri 06-Nov-98 00:15 by paulines starting... Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:50:80:39:f8:80 Xmodem file system is available. Initializing Flash... flashfs[0]: 175 files, 4 directories flashfs[0]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories flashfs[0]: Total bytes: 3612672 flashfs[0]: Bytes used: 3113472 flashfs[0]: Bytes available: 499200 flashfs[0]: flashfs fsck took 85 seconds. ...done Initializing Flash. Boot Sector Filesystem (bs:) installed, fsid: 3 Parameter Block Filesystem (pb:) installed, fsid: 4 Loading "flash:c2900XL-h2s-mz-120.5-XP.bin"...flash:c2900XL-h2s-mz-120.5-XP.bin: no such file or directory

Error loading "flash:c2900XL-h2s-mz-120.5-XP.bin"

Interrupt within 5 seconds to abort boot process. Boot process failed... Solution (Section A) Verify Software Image in Flash and Attempt to Manually Boot Process Follow these steps when you verify the software image in Flash and attempt to boot manually.

Connect a terminal to the console port of the switch.

In the absence of software image or with corrupted image, the software image does not load.

The switch starts in boot loader mode. This is indicated by the switch: prompt

Verify the software contents of Flash by issuing the dir flash: command.

switch: dir flash: Directory of flash:/

189 -rwx 856 vlan.dat 3 -rwx 1112393 c2900XL-h2-mz-112.8.5-SA6.bin 4 drwx 10816 html 2 -rwx 106 info 175 -rwx 1490584 c2900XL-h2s-mz-120.5-XP.bin 176 -r-- 302 env_vars 174 -rwx 106 info.ver 177 -r-- 1306 config.text 499200 bytes available (3113472 bytes used) Verify that the image in Flash is the correct image for the platform. The hardware model number is on the front of the switch. For information on how to verify the image, refer to the Catalyst 2900XL and 3500XL section of Managing Software Images and Working with Configuration Files on Catalyst Switches.

Note the hardware model here.

For Standard / Enterprise Edition hardware, the image name must contain the suffix "h2".

For Original Edition hardware, the image name must contain the suffix "h" and not "h2".

If the software image present is incorrect for the switch, or if it is missing, proceed to (Section B) Copy a New Software Image from ROM Monitor.

If the software image in Flash is correct, manually boot this software image with the help of the boot flash: command.

switch: boot flash:c2900XL-h2s-mz-120.5-XP.bin

If the system boots correctly and does not return to the switch: prompt, proceed to (Section C) Change and Verify Boot Configuration.

If the system still fails to load the image correctly, proceed to (Section B) Copy a New Software Image from ROM Monitor.

(Section B) Copy a New Software Image from ROM Monitor To copy a new software image from a ROMmon follow these steps. For additional documentation on this procedure, refer to Recovering Catalyst

2950, 2955, and 3550 Series Switches from a Corrupted or Missing Image.

Check the remaining memory capacity. If the size of the file to be loaded is larger than the available capacity, delete the existing image in Flash to make space for a new image.

The command to delete the existing image in Flash is delete flash: filname , where filename is the name of the file to be deleted. A sample command output is shown here.

delete flash:cat2900XL-h2s-mz.112-8.5-SA6.bin

Download a new Cisco IOS-only image file from the Cisco Software Center ( registered customers only) to your PC. Do not download a Cisco IOS image with Cluster Management Suite (CMS) files. Xmodem transfer is a very slow procedure. It takes longer to copy the larger images.

Copy the image to the Flash using HyperTerminal for Microsoft Windows, or another terminal software program. The command on the switch is copy xmodem: flash:filename , where filename is the name of file that you downloaded. With HyperTerminal, use the TRANSFER -- SEND FILE option using the XMODEM protocol. Start the XMODEM download within three seconds. Otherwise, the switch times out the XMODEM copy.

When the XMODEM request appears, issue the appropriate command on the terminal-emulation software to start the transfer. Copy the software image into Flash memory. The command to issue is switch: copy xmodem: flash:image_filename .

An example is shown here.

switch: switch: copy xmodem: flash:c3500XL-c3h2s-mz.120-5.1.XP.bin

CCC..........................................................................

(BEGIN XMODEM DOWNLOAD ON TERMINAL SOFTWARE NOW)

File "xmodem:" successfully copied to "flash:c3500XL-c3h2s-mz.120-5.1.XP.bin" After the new image has been loaded, boot the new image using the boot flash:filname command where filename is the name of the file that is downloaded. A sample command output is shown here.

boot flash:c2900XL-hs-mz.112-8.6-SA6.bin

After you boot the system, download a bundled image. For information on how to download a bundled image (.tar), refer to Upgrading Software in Catalyst

2900XL and 3500XL Switches Using the Command Line Interface.

Note: The .tar file on Cisco.com is named c3500XL-c3h2s-mz-120_5_1-XP .tar. The Cisco IOS file inside is called c3500XL-c3h2s-mz-120.5.1-XP.bin.

When you follow the upgrade instructions in the above link, the old image is renamed using an underscore. The new image is copied into Flash. Instead of the new image overwriting the old one, the result is two images, one old and one new. Reloading this causes the XL series switch to reload to the old image (now confusingly called by the new name in Flash).

The problem is overcome by renaming the .tar file downloaded from Cisco.com to the exact same name as the .bin file enclosed within it.

After you upgrade from Cisco IOS Software Release 11.2 to Cisco IOS Software Release 12.0.5(1), there is a file left in Flash named c3500XL-diag-mz-112.8.2-SA6. The box now runs Cisco IOS Software Release

12.0. There is no similar diag file for Cisco IOS Software Release 12.0. The Cisco IOS Software Release 11.2 diag file is useless and can be deleted.

(Section C) Change and Verify Boot Configuration Follow these steps when you change and verify the boot configuration.

Enter enable mode by issuing the enable command. View the boot configuration by issuing the show boot command. A sample command output is shown here.

Switch#: show boot BOOT path-list: Flash:c3500XL-c3h2s-mz-120.5.1-XP.bin

Config file: Flash:config.text E

Enable Break: no

Manual Boot: no

HELPER path-list:

NVRAM / Config file

buffer size: 32768 Verify that the boot configuration is correct by viewing the contents of Flash. Issue the dir flash: command to view the boot configuration.

Switch# dir flash: Directory of Flash:/

189 -rwx 856 vlan.dat 4 drwx 10816 html 2 -rwx 106 info 175 -rwx 1490584 c2900XL-h2s-mz-120.5-XP.bin 176 -r-- 302 env_vars 174 -rwx 106 info.ver 177 -r-- 1306 config.text 499200 bytes available (3113472 bytes used) If the boot variable is not correct, change the boot variable by entering the global configuration mode and issuing the command boot system flash:filename , where filename is the name of the image to boot.

Save the configuration by issuing the write memory command. Verify the boot parameter by issuing the show boot command.

The switch boots automatically the next time that the switch is reloaded.

XL Models, Their Amount of Memory, and Category of Images They Support Original Edition XLs (2 MB Flash, 4 MB DRAM) Catalyst XL Series Switch

Original Catalyst 2900XL Cisco IOS Software Release 11.2.SA6 Software Download

OR

Earlier Catalyst 2900XL Original Software Download WS-C2908-XL

WS-C2916M-XL

WS-C2924-XL

WS-C2924C-XL

Standard / Enterprise Edition XLs (4 MB Flash, 8 MB DRAM) Catalyst XL Series Switch

Catalyst 2900XL Cisco IOS Software Release 12.0 Standard / Enterprise Software Download

OR

Earlier Catalyst 2900XL Standard / Enterprise Software Download WS-C2912-XL-Av

WS-C2924-XL-A

WS-C2924-XL-ENv

WS-C2924C-XL-A

WS-C2924C-XL-EN

WS-C2924M-XL-A

WS-C2924M-XL-EN

Standard / Enterprise Edition XLs (4 MB Flash, 8 MB DRAM) Catalyst XL Series Switch

Catalyst 3500XL Cisco IOS Software Release 12.0 Standard / Enterprise Software Download

OR

Earlier Catalyst 3500XL Standard / Enterprise Software Download WS-C3508G-XL-A

WS-C3508-XL-EN

WS-C3512-XL-A

WS-C3512-XL-EN

WS-C3524-XL-A

WS-C3524-XL-EN

WS-C3524-XL-A

WS-C3524-XL-EN

WS-C3548-XL-A

WS-C3548-XL-EN

HTH,

-Richard

Thanks Richard, That is what I was looking for!