Resetting a 7941 to Factory Defaults [In reply to]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recently we had issues with 7941/61 phones not taking firmware loads -- they
were hung up at "Upgrading" after a factory reset. The culprit was later
found - a routing issue directing a /29 network inside of the /24 DHCP
reservation scope into the digital abyss, but the damage was already done --
a factory reset corrupted the firmware load and subsequent factory resets
even in a lab environment brought no joy. There I was with 3 "bricks" and
the new moniker of the "phone mason" starting to catch on. This would not
do...

What is new news to me, and what I'd like to share after 3 nights of
frustration is how these were finally recovered. I was familiar with the
factory reset sequence of 123456789*0# after holding the # key during
power-up, but was unaware that I could format the device in case of a bad
firmware load with this sequence instead: 3491672850*#

The line appearance LEDs toggled red instead of amber once the code is
entered, but during formatting, the device appears stone-cold dead -- no
lights, LCD flicker, nada. Luckily a colleague of mine found out how to
create a serial cable so we could see what was going on via the AUX port,
otherwise I may have pulled the plug early. The terminal console showed the
entire process, and after the formatting the phone took a new firmware load
and was back up and operational. You can use the formatting sequence above
without the console access, but just remember that the phone will be
completely unresponsive for 5+ minutes while this happens. Patience.

The console access cable is definitely high on the geek-meter and IMHO it is
cool to watch the entire boot process and even look at the underlying *ix
filesystem once firmware is on it. Here are the pinouts to create your very
own AUX console cable (we used a rollover as they are abundant):

*************************************************
Straight Serial ----------------- 6 pin RJ11

Pin6 Pin2
Pin4 Pin3
Pin3 Pin4
*************************************************

*************************************************
CiscoRollOver Cable -------- 6 pin RJ11

Pin3 (Red) Pin2

Pin5 (Yellow) Pin3
Pin6 (Green) Pin4
*************************************************

Connect to serial port on computer with the following settings:

9600 baud
8 bits
N stop bits
1 parity
N flow control

Here are a couple usr/pwds to access the device software too if you're
inquisitive:

default/default
log/log
debug/debug

Adventure at your own risk. If ANYONE knows how to get around the
dynamically created root password, please let me know! This seems to be a
tightly guarded TAC secret.
I hope this helps!

ip route 10.70.40.0 255.255.254.0 10.70.8.26

router rip
version 2
redistribute static
network 10.0.0.0
network 172.20.0.0
no auto-summary

RJ-11 jack for console access (labeled AUX or RS232).

Table C-3 Access Port Connector Pinouts
Pin Number Function
1 RD+

2 RD-

3 TD+

4 Not Used

5 Not Used

6 TD-

7 Not Used

8 Not Used

This looks like it. No idea if the site is "trustworthy".

Buyer beware.

http://www.pluscom.ru/cisco_product/...0/7900con7.htm

(there was a cisco page but it has gone)

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/...0/7900con7.htm

I have pasted the raw text from the page in below for reference.
It is not very big.

Hope it doesn't cause too much trouble to anyone's reader

###############
Table Of Contents
Console Access

Console Cable Requirements

Connecting the Console

Using the Console for Troubleshooting

Console Access

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The Cisco IP Phone provides console access through a port labeled

RS-232. This port is located on the back of the phone, next to the
port labeled 10/100 SW. You can use the RS-232 port to connect a PC to
the phone for troubleshooting and debugging.

This appendix includes the following sections:

� Console Cable Requirements

� Connecting the Console

� Using the Console for Troubleshooting

Console Cable Requirements

You use a serial cable with a connector to connect a PC and a phone.
The cable uses an RJ-11 connector for the phone and an RJ-45 connector
to an RJ-45-to-DB9 converter for the PC. Table D-1 shows the pinout
requirements for the console cable.

Table D-1 Console Cable Pinouts

RJ-11 Connector RJ-45 Connector
Pin 2
Pin 6

Pin 3
Pin 4

Pin 4
Pin 3

Connecting the Console

To connect a console the a phone, verify that the following criteria
are met:

�Serial port on the PC is set to 9600 BAUD, databit 8, no parity, stop

bit 1, and no flow control.

�No Cisco 7914 Expansion Modules are connected to the phone. If an

expansion module is connected, remove it. Also, remove it from the
phone in the Cisco CallManager Administration Device Configuration
page.

To access the phone from the PC, use a program that lets you access
other devices through a PC COM port. The login password for accessing
the Cisco IP Phone is cisco.

Using the Console for Troubleshooting

In some cases, a phone may not be able to load a valid application
from the TFTP server. This problem can occur if there is no
application on the TFTP server, if DHCP is not configured correctly in
the network, or if TFTP is not configured correctly on the phone.

To correct this problem, follow these steps:

Procedure

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Step 1 Connect to and access the console as described in the the

"Connecting the Console" section.

Step 2 At the console, enter the following commands.

a. set tftp-addr tftp_server_ip_address

where tftp_server_ip_address is the IP address of the TFTP server.

b. set def-rtr default_router_ip_address

where default_router_ip_address is the IP address of the default

gateway router.

c. set dchp on or set dhcp off

depending on whether DCHP is used in your network.

Step 3 If you set DCHP off in Step 2, type the following commands.
Otherwise, continue to Step 4.

a. set ip-addr phone_ip_address

where phone_ip_address is the IP address of the phone.

b. set subnet phone_subnet_mask

where phone_ip_address is the subnet mask of the phone.

Step 4 Type save.

Step 5 Exit the connection to the phone.