[numeric]

Hey all,

So after a long and particularly vicious fight with Parcel Force I finally got three Cisco 2500 series routers delivered to me a couple of days ago. Now it seems that I've run into a problem when connecting via a Cisco rollover cable to the Console port on any of the routers. I can receive information across the serial cable with no problems but I can't even type (let alone) send anything in the console windows. I've tried using both Hyperterminal and Putty for connecting, with no luck and a quick browse around on the net leads me to believe that all my connection settings are good (9600, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no flow control, no parity) so I'm a bit stuck.

Anyone had similar problems? I'm running three routers (2501, 2503, 2504), two with fairly recent (i.e 12 +) IOS versions and one with an ancient version (early 11! ). The fact that it happens on all three routers makes me think of a problem with either the cable or the terminal emulator being used, but I can receive data on the cable and the problem occurs in two different emulators so I'm lost.

Any help/ideas/observations would be much appreciated,

Cheers,

-N

[no2pencil]

numeric, on 23 Jun, 2009 - 05:09 AM, said:

I've tried using both Hyperterminal and Putty for connecting, with no luck

What exactly happens why you try?

I've managed an older Cisco 1900 with no problems, so I don't remember what I had to do to use the serial cable, but I know with the LOM (lights out management) on the Sun Systems, the console will site blank until you trigger it with #. (that's both characters, hash + the period). So is it possible that it's connected, but you have to trigger it somehow? Like I said, I don't remember having problems with my Cisco 1900, but I was only on it for about an hour, & that was probably 3+ years ago.

Also, I believe that Cisco equipment has it's own OS, & there are terms & conditions to purchase rights. Is it possible that the equipment was formatted prior to being shipped? Was there any deal about the OS, or even so much as a screen dump prior to the purchase?

[numeric]

At the moment, nothing is happening - I don't even have text appearing in the console window. I double checked the documentation for both programs and can't find anything about triggering communication - I should be able to send commands as soon as the connection is initialized.

Your right about Cisco routers having they're own OS etc. However, it's present on all three routers. I'm receiving the usual info dump at start up:

Quote

System Bootstrap, Version 11.0(10c), SOFTWARE
Copyright © 1986-1996 by cisco Systems
2500 processor with 2048 Kbytes of main memory
ÿ
%SYS-4-CONFIG_NEWER: Configurations from version 11.1 may not be correctly under
stood.
F3: 3832048+95972+196092 at 0x3000060

Restricted Rights Legend

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
© of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted
Rights clause at FAR sec. 52.227-19 and subparagraph
© (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer
Software clause at DFARS sec. 252.227-7013.

cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, California 95134-1706



Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS ™ 3000 Software (IGS-I-L), Version 11.1(24), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright © 1986-1999 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 04-Jan-99 19:00 by richv
Image text-base: 0x030206C0, data-base: 0x00001000

cisco 2500 (68030) processor (revision N) with 2048K/2048K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID 08340061, with hardware revision 00000001
Bridging software.
X.25 software, Version 2.0, NET2, BFE and GOSIP compliant.
Basic Rate ISDN software, Version 1.0.
1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface.
2 Serial network interfaces.
1 ISDN Basic Rate interface.
32K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
4096K bytes of processor board System flash (Read ONLY)



Press RETURN to get started!


%LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface BRI0, changed state to up
%LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Ethernet0, changed state to up
%LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Serial0, changed state to down
%LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Serial1, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface BRI0, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Ethernet0, changed state to down

%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Serial0, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Serial1, changed state to down
%LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface BRI0, changed state to administratively down
%SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from memory by console
%SYS-5-RESTART: Syst
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS ™ 3000 Software (IGS-I-L), Version 11.1(24), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright © 1986-1999 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 04-Jan-99 19:00 by richv
%LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Serial0, changed state to administratively down
%LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Serial1, changed state to administratively down

System Bootstrap, Version 11.0(10c), SOFTWARE
Copyright © 1986-1996 by cisco Systems
2500 processor with 14336 Kbytes of main memory
ÿ
Notice: NVRAM invalid, possibly due to write erase.

F3: 7898500+123620+589764 at 0x3000060
ÿ
Restricted Rights Legend

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
© of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted
Rights clause at FAR sec. 52.227-19 and subparagraph
© (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer
Software clause at DFARS sec. 252.227-7013.

cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
170 West Tasman Drive



Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS ™ 2500 Software (C2500-I-L), Version 12.1(16), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright © 1986-2002 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Tue 09-Jul-02 02:14 by kellythw
Image text-base: 0x03041EF0, data-base: 0x00001000

cisco 2500 (68030) processor (revision L) with 14336K/2048K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID 06060519, with hardware revision 00000000
Bridging software.
X.25 software, Version 3.0.0.
Basic Rate ISDN software, Version 1.1.
1 Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 interface(s)
2 Serial network interface(s)
1 ISDN Basic Rate interface(s)
32K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read ONLY)


--- System Configuration Dialog ---

Would you like to enter the initial configuration dialog? [yes/no]:

The above is the startup info from my 2504 (apologies for the ridiculous length of that quote ). I can't see anything here to indicate that it's a problem with the router - IOS is in place and it's recognizing all of the interfaces. There's no startup config because the NVRAM has been write erased, but that shouldn't have an impact on connecting through the console port.

This post has been edited by numeric: 23 June 2009 - 05:15 AM

[numeric]

Update: Solved part of the problem - Seems that neither terminal emulator was set to echo local input by default (why on earth would you not want to see what your typing !?!).

It still appears that I can't send any commands across the connection though. Answering the "Would you like to enter the initial configuration?" prompt just results in a line feed with no new prompt, regardless of how I answer so I'm back to thinking it's a possible cable problem again - maybe a couple of pins are not working? Any more ideas?

[no2pencil]

Have you tried multiple cables? Are these the com *db9* to RJ45?

[numeric]

Yeah its a DB9/RJ45 rollover cable. I was too cheap to buy more than one console cable (I've now learned my lesson) so I couldn't swap it for a known good one.

I actually rebuilt a PC last night just to test if it was the serial port on my PC that was causing the problem and it looks like it is. The connection on the rebuilt PC was fine - I spent a couple of hours playing around with the routers then went to bed.

I'd still like to find a fix for my main PC - the rebuilt one is slower than the routers! . I've tried adjusting the COM settings in device manager and updating the drivers for the port itself but no joy. There's no IRQ conflict either so I'm tempted to say it's a problem with the port itself. Will try uninstalling/reinstalling the driver, but apart from that the only other options I can think of are to buy a USB/DB9 adapter or another serial card.

[Notorion]

you should be into the initial prompt by this point by using the hyper terminal. From what I remember (a couple of years ago) your connection settings are fine. I have been ccna certified, but do you know the commands for working with a cisco router? They can be very odd at first, and the os can be difficult to figure out if it is your first time.


You should have some sort of prompt on the left side of the screen, as in a ">", but obviously the router will not have a name to it, and you have to enter global configuration mode to change most settings. Lookup the cisco commands in the cisco academy (elabs) for practice on configuring a 2500 series router. I worked on the 1700's but it shouldn't be too much difference especially since you are working with a rollover cable and just trying to do the initial configuration.

[numeric]

Notorion, on 29 Jun, 2009 - 03:01 PM, said:

you should be into the initial prompt by this point by using the hyper terminal.

Initial prompt loads up fine - two of the routers had been write erased and one still had a startup config in the NVRAM (as well as an enable secret password). The two that had been write erased would boot up as per normal, and load up the Initial Configuration Dialog. Answering the initial question provoked no response from either router. As far as I can remember, the third router wouldn't even make it into exec mode - it just hung a little way into the boot process.

I've since managed to connect and configure all three routers with the same cables on a separate PC (as per my last post) so I know it's not a problem with the routers themselves.

Notorion, on 29 Jun, 2009 - 03:01 PM, said:

I have been ccna certified, but do you know the commands for working with a cisco router? They can be very odd at first, and the os can be difficult to figure out if it is your first time.

I'm pretty familiar with the basic IOS commands - I'd actually bought these routers because I wanted some hands on experience with the real thing, rather than just over-priced simulators and had gotten fed up with studying from textbooks and video's. It's much more fun this way

Cheers,

-N