*WARNING* TFCfg.bin + firmware upgrades

[Crispy]

After searching here, I noticed that a few people have asked what happens if you export TFCfg.bin upgrade and add it back in.

If you export your TFCfg.bin from an earlier version of the router firmware, upgrade the firmware and put back the TFCfg.bin into the upgraded router ... it completely kills the router! (simply like SPLAT! Your dead!)

Basically the TFCfg.bin is a complete waste of time and effort! You end up with some 'interesting but expensive (and very small) disco lights' and a big wish that you had not tried to do it.

I kind of 'stupidly' assumed that it was all my settings in one handy package ready for reuse wh4en I found I had lost them after the upgrade But its not ...

@Solwise: Please put a warning in the manual somewhere about this as I did not see one

HELP! Anyone know how to reset it? (or if its even possible? - this is looking expensive)

[chippie]

You could try the console cable and Hyperterminal route to try and restore the router.

Plug the console cable into the router and your computer, and then use Hyperterminal to connect to the router (the correct settings are detailed in the manual).

then if yuou can connect type: reboot default

at the $ prompt and press enter.

If you can't get access that way, then you will need to phone Solwise, and send the router back for them to sort out i'm afraid!!

[Crispy]

Thanks for your quick reply

I was afraid you were going to say that ...

[chippie]

For your information, the settings on how to use hyperterminal are on page 160 of the manual.

[Crispy]

I found them thanks

All its saying is:

Passed
Decompressing "TEAppl.gsz" (1092478->3095048) ... Done

Text Segment Size = 2846048 bytes
Data Segment Size = 249000 bytes
Bss Segment Size = 1935904 bytes
System Stack Size = 16536 bytes
HISR Stack Size = 16536 bytes
NetBuffer Pool Size= 710512 bytes
System Memory Size = 815240 bytes
Start of DSPText = 207aa8d0 bytes
Decompressing "TEMod.gsz" (100200->347000) ... Done

Device FACT: Checksum failed.
Decompressing "TEDSL.gsz" (68991->154832) ... Done

File System Memory Size = 1101824 bytes
UnTar File System .....\..\.\..\..\..\.\........................\... .......\....
..\..\..........\................................. ..................\.......\...
....................\\\.\..\..\.\.\.\... Done

Config size = 94, DHCP size = 125
Normal Execution Mode

CfgInit: System Coming up from Default Configuration

Starting POST - V2.0
SDRAM ... Passed
Loader Checksum ... Passed
Loader (V2.0) Self-Extracting ... Done
Decompressing UMON (V1.6) ... Done/Activated
Flash AT45DB161 (Capacity=2112K, PageSize=528, TotalPages=4096)
Testing FILESYS Checksum ... Passed
Testing DSLCODE Checksum ... Passed
Testing APPCODE Checksum ... Passed
Decompressing "TEAppl.gsz" (1092478->3095048) ... Done

Text Segment Size = 2846048 bytes
Data Segment Size = 249000 bytes
Bss Segment Size = 1935904 bytes
System Stack Size = 16536 bytes
HISR Stack Size = 16536 bytes
NetBuffer Pool Size= 710512 bytes
System Memory Size = 815240 bytes
Start of DSPText = 207aa8d0 bytes
Decompressing "TEMod.gsz" (100200->347000) ... Done

Device FACT: Checksum failed.
Decompressing "TEDSL.gsz" (68991->154832) ... Done

File System Memory Size = 1101824 bytes
UnTar File System .....\..\.\..\..\..\.\........................\... .......\....
..\..\..........\................................. ..................\.......\...
....................\\\.\..\..\.\.\.\... Done

Config size = 94, DHCP size = 125
Normal Execution Mode

CfgInit: System Coming up from Default Configuration

Starting POST - V2.0
SDRAM ... Passed
Loader Checksum ... Passed
Loader (V2.0) Self-Extracting ... Done
Decompressing UMON (V1.6) ... Done/Activated
Flash AT45DB161 (Capacity=2112K, PageSize=528, TotalPages=4096)
Testing FILESYS Checksum ... Passed
Testing DSLCODE Checksum ... Passed
Testing APPCODE Checksum ... Passed
Decompressing "TEAppl.gsz" (1092478->3095048) ... Done

Text Segment Size = 2846048 bytes
Data Segment Size = 249000 bytes
Bss Segment Size = 1935904 bytes
System Stack Size = 16536 bytes
HISR Stack Size = 16536 bytes
NetBuffer Pool Size= 710512 bytes
System Memory Size = 815240 bytes
Start of DSPText = 207aa8d0 bytes
Decompressing "TEMod.gsz" (100200->347000) ... Done

Device FACT: Checksum failed.
Decompressing "TEDSL.gsz" (68991->154832) ... Done

File System Memory Size = 1101824 bytes
UnTar File System .....\..\.\..\..\..\.\........................\... .......\....
..\..\..........\................................. ..................\.......\...
....................\\\.\..\..\.\.\.\... Done

Config size = 94, DHCP size = 125
Normal Execution Mode

CfgInit: System Coming up from Default Configuration

Starting POST - V2.0
SDRAM ... Passed
Loader Checksum ... Passed
Loader (V2.0) Self-Extracting ... Done
Decompressing UMON (V1.6) ... Done/Activated
Flash AT45DB161 (Capacity=2112K, PageSize=528, TotalPages=4096)
Testing FILESYS Checksum ... Passed
Testing DSLCODE Checksum ... Passed
Testing APPCODE Checksum ... Passed
Decompressing "TEAppl.gsz" (1092478->3095048) ... Done

Text Segment Size = 2846048 bytes
Data Segment Size = 249000 bytes
Bss Segment Size = 1935904 bytes
System Stack Size = 16536 bytes
HISR Stack Size = 16536 bytes
NetBuffer Pool Size= 710512 bytes
System Memory Size = 815240 bytes
Start of DSPText = 207aa8d0 bytes
Decompressing "TEMod.gsz" (100200->347000) ... Done

Device FACT: Checksum failed.
Decompressing "TEDSL.gsz" (68991->154832) ... Done

File System Memory Size = 1101824 bytes
UnTar File System .....\..\.\..\..\..\.\........................\... .......\....
..\..\..........\................................. ..................\.......\...
....................\\\.\..\..\.\.\.\... Done

Config size = 94, DHCP size = 125
Normal Execution Mode

CfgInit: System Coming up from Default Configuration

Starting POST - V2.0
SDRAM ... Passed
Loader Checksum ... Passed
Loader (V2.0) Self-Extracting ... Done
Decompressing UMON (V1.6) ... Done/Activated
Flash AT45DB161 (Capacity=2112K, PageSize=528, TotalPages=4096)
Testing FILESYS Checksum ... Passed
Testing DSLCODE Checksum ... Passed
Testing APPCODE Checksum ... Passed
Decompressing "TEAppl.gsz" (1092478->3095048) ... Done

Text Segment Size = 2846048 bytes
Data Segment Size = 249000 bytes
Bss Segment Size = 1935904 bytes
System Stack Size = 16536 bytes
HISR Stack Size = 16536 bytes
NetBuffer Pool Size= 710512 bytes
System Memory Size = 815240 bytes
Start of DSPText = 207aa8d0 bytes
Decompressing "TEMod.gsz" (100200->347000) ... Done

Device FACT: Checksum failed.
Decompressing "TEDSL.gsz" (68991->154832) ... Done

File System Memory Size = 1101824 bytes
UnTar File System .....\..\.\..\..\..\.\........................\... .......\....
..\..\..........\................................. ..................\.......\...
....................\\\.\..\..\.\.\.\... Done

Config size = 94, DHCP size = 125
Normal Execution Mode

CfgInit: System Coming up from Default Configuration

Starting POST - V2.0
SDRAM ... Passed
Loader Checksum ... Passed
Loader (V2.0) Self-Extracting ... Done
Decompressing UMON (V1.6) ... Done/Activated
Flash AT45DB161 (Capacity=2112K, PageSize=528, TotalPages=4096)
Testing FILESYS Checksum ... Passed
Testing DSLCODE Checksum ... Passed
Testing APPCODE Checksum ... Passed
Decompressing "TEAppl.gsz" (1092478->3095048) ... Done

Text Segment Size = 2846048 bytes
Data Segment Size = 249000 bytes
Bss Segment Size = 1935904 bytes
System Stack Size = 16536 bytes
HISR Stack Size = 16536 bytes
NetBuffer Pool Size= 710512 bytes
System Memory Size = 815240 bytes
Start of DSPText = 207aa8d0 bytes
Decompressing "TEMod.gsz" (100200->347000) ... Done

Device FACT: Checksum failed.
Decompressing "TEDSL.gsz" (68991->154832) ... Done

File System Memory Size = 1101824 bytes
UnTar File System .....\..\.\..\..\..\.\........................\... .......\....
..\..\..........\................................. ..................\.......\...
....................\\\.\..\..\.\.\.\... Done

Config size = 94, DHCP size = 125
Normal Execution Mode

CfgInit: System Coming up from Default Configuration

and that just repeats forever Looks completely f**ked to me at this point

[chippie]

Hmmm. Not looking good.....

Phone Solwise tomorrow is your best bet I think

[Crispy]

Thanks chippie, I think thats the only option too

Hope this helps anyone else considering doing the firmware upgrade and saving their old settings (the upgrade seemed to go fine by the way - it was just adding the settings afterwards that killed it)

[chippie]

Not that it's much use to you at the moment, but the new firmware does allow you to save, and then restore your configuration.

[Crispy]

LOL thats what I did but via TFTP ... I think I will just manually put the settings back in (if there are any more upgrades in the future) rather than risk this happening again

[chippie]

The method on the new firmware actually works, and is a feature that is designed to be used.

I'm not sure if the TECfg.bin method is actually a documented way of doing it or not. I've not ever tried it myself.

Each time I upgrade the firmware I just re-do everything manually. It helps get rid of all those rules you add, that you can't remember why you added them!!

The method via the web interface saves a .cfg file that is then applied. Basically a long list of commands that you could just ebter via the CLI thru telnet. Uploading a bin file is completely different approach, which i don't know how it works.

[Crispy]

Sadly its a firmware upgrade too late ...

[Jay]

Have you tried the following from p.22 of the reference guide? It looks promising given your current problems, especially the last paragraph...

4.5.2 Recovering from a Failed Upgrade

If the upgrade process fails while uploading the application code file, (for example, your FTP/TFTP connection is lost during the process), or if for any reason the new application code fails to boot after loading, the device may boot to a special TFTP mode that enables you to continue the upgrade. This procedure enables you avoid having to re-flash the device with an entire image using a serial connection to the flash header.

This TFTP server mode is invoked automatically when the application checksum test fails during boot-up. If you have a serial connection to the board, the following message will display on the terminal:

Testing Application Checksum ... Failed
TFTP Server Started ... Please upload flash image to 192.168.1.1

In addition, all the software controlled test LEDs will blink at about twice per second. This indicates that the application code has not been loaded and all subsequent routine boot processes were aborted. The unit’s built-in TFTP server is invoked and an IPenabled Ethernet interface is set up with the following properties:

* IP Address: 192.168.1.1
* Mask: 255.255.255.0

To continue the image upgrade via TFTP, verify that the IP properties on the PC assign it to the same subnet as this Ethernet interface. Then, upload the new application code file via TFTP (FTP is not supported in this mode). The LEDs will blink rapidly as the image is uploaded.

You can also access this mode as a shortcut if you want to boot a board solely to perform an image upgrade via TFTP. To force a unit into this mode, begin booting the board and monitor the boot messages on your PC. Before "Testing Application Checksum....." displays (or during), type "tao" and press <Backspace>. The ordinary boot process will be aborted and the board will boot in the TFTP mode as described above.

[Crispy]

Goes off to give it a try ...

[Crispy]

You are going to believe this ... but its fixed (took like 6 hours)

I managed to get in as Jay suggested but ould not get the firmware or the cfg to load in because of checksum errors, so i went back to V1.38 and managed to load that in!! It was a bit screwed still but the web interface was 'mostly' working. I then upgraded the firmware to the latest version and it worked!!

I could give you both a big sloppy kiss but I am not that way inclined ...

Thanks for the help and advice otherwise I would be paying the bill for getting it fixed!! I now know 'what not to do' when upgrading!! I will try to write it up just in case anyone else does something that silly - you never know!

[Jay]

The trials and tribulations of being a guinea pig... Glad to hear it's fixed