Pix 506E Hangs at hyperterminal & Cant get to PDM 4

[etaketa]

Hi All,

I have been using a 506E for a while running 24x7, and so far there
was no problem. However, today I had to reloate the network equipment
so I turned off the PIX.

To my horror, after reconnecting all the equipment and turning on the
PIX, I found that the PIX is dead. I cannot ping it. I can't get to it by typing in the ip address of the Pix Device Manager (PDM). I cannot even
access it with the console cable.

There is no sign of breakdown -- the power light is on, the "link"
lights on the back are on, the "ack" lights on the back blink some
times, and the "Network" light in front blinks some times. Everything
seems normal except that the "Ack" light on the front never came on.

Does anyone have experience with this problem? Or does anyone have any
suggestion how to revive the PIX?

Disconnecting and rebooting doesn't help. But I managed to get
something from the console port. If I connect to the console port and
then turn on the PIX, I get the following (and it hangs after that):

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CISCO SYSTEMS PIX FIREWALL
Embedded BIOS Version 4.3.207 01/02/02 16:12:22.73
Compiled by morlee
32 MB RAM

PCI Device Table.
Bus Dev Func VendID DevID Class Irq
00 00 00 8086 7192 Host Bridge
00 07 00 8086 7110 ISA Bridge
00 07 01 8086 7111 IDE Controller
00 07 02 8086 7112 Serial Bus 9
00 07 03 8086 7113 PCI Bridge
00 0D 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 11
00 0E 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 10

 

[NetworkGhost]

What happens with the console cable when booting up? Any data or just blank? Do you happen to have smartnet?

 

[etaketa]

when i plug in the console cable i get this and then it just hangs, nothing more. no prompt. what is smartnet?

CISCO SYSTEMS PIX FIREWALL
Embedded BIOS Version 4.3.207 01/02/02 16:12:22.73
Compiled by morlee
32 MB RAM

PCI Device Table.
Bus Dev Func VendID DevID Class Irq
00 00 00 8086 7192 Host Bridge
00 07 00 8086 7110 ISA Bridge
00 07 01 8086 7111 IDE Controller
00 07 02 8086 7112 Serial Bus 9
00 07 03 8086 7113 PCI Bridge
00 0D 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 11
00 0E 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 10

 

[NetworkGhost]

Smartnet is cisco coverage on their products, meaning if it breaks they will replace it.

 

[LloydSev]

I've had this happen before... what happens if you unplug the interfaces and try to boot it up?

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[etaketa]

its happened three times and usually i would just unplug it and let it sit for an hour or so and then it would work again, but now its not "coming back to life". LloydSev do you know the cause of this? and how did you resolve the issue? Is this a problem specific to the entire pix line in general or to just the 506E?

 

[NetworkGhost]

Maybe CPU overheating?

 

[etaketa]

I don't think its the CPU overheating because even if i leave it off for a long time and turn it back on it still hangs and is unresponsive(even before the cpu would have time to overheat.)

 

[LloydSev]

it's amazing how fast a CPU heats up, etaketa..

If you ever accidentally did not seat a heatsink correctly on an Athlon Thunderbird processor.. it blew instantaneously.. that's how fast they heat up.

Anyways, mine usually corrected itself after rebooting it again.. as is in your case, you could tell it did not work as the Ack light never lit up in the front, but a reboot would fix the problem.

Sounds like an underlying hardware problem with your particular PIX, especially as it's freezing just after initializing an ethernet port.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[etaketa]

has anyone else had this problem?

 

[NetworkGhost]

I definitly agree that it is a hardware problem. Have you opened it up yet? Check for fans not working. Most pieces of failed network equipment I have had has been caused by a bad fan going out --> leads to other hardware failure.

 

[etaketa]

**** I FINALLY FIGURED OUT THE ANSWER!!!!!!!!! IT WAS JUST A DEAD BATTERY. THERE IS A 3V REPLACEABLE WATCH BATTERY ON THE PIX 506E, SO I WENT DOWN TO LONGS DRUGS AND BOUGHT A NEW BATTERY. PUT IT IN... AND IT FIRED RIGHT UP.............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[LloydSev]

amazing. Thanks for letting us know. We'll have to keep that in mind.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[NetworkGhost]

Thats a pretty cool fix. Who knew the drug store would be involved...

 

[etaketa]

Here is a link to the info about changing the battery:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/iaabu/pix/pix_sw/v_63/hig63/506.htm#wp1029940

 

[karmic]

That's one for the bookmarks... Thanks

~ K.I.S.S - Don't make it any more complex than it has to be ~