IPC Technical Knowledge Base

Flash an IQMAX/Edge Turret Onsite

If an IQ/MAX or EDGE turret appears to be caught in a loop and only "Initialising Network" is shown after a restart. It is likely the /var/log/snmp log
has corrupted the partition.
This guide is for engineers to reflash/fix turrets onsite affected by Defect 14141 / PBI6500, as a quick fix option instead of organising a physical
replacement. Especially if there are a high number of multiple turrets which cannot be quickly swapped out/replaced at a remote location.

WARNING - Here be dragons! This is not for the faint-hearted, so experience in a lab is recommended before attempting at a customer site.

Prerequisites:

IPC Laptop with:

Windows 7 and admin rights to allow changes to Windows firewall settings
A physical serial COM port (or USB to RS232/Serial converter)
IPC turret 3-pin serial console cable. (male-2-male gender changer will be required for Edge turrets)
TFTP Server Software (recommend: SolarWinds Free tftp server and will use this in this tutorial)
WinSCP (to copy from CCM) and PuTTY software and access to Unigy CCM for turret software images equivalent to customer's
system. e.g. if customer is at v3.1p7
Path to software will be /opt/ipc/deployment/stage/turret/iqmax-03.01.00.08/*
(If this version causes issues during flashing, suggest getting iqmax-02.00.01.05 as the most basic version for flash
compatibility. Turret will upgrade themselves once registered)

Step-by-step Guide

1. Download / install /run free TFTP server Solarwinds tftp http://www.solarwinds.com/free-tools/free-tftp-server - you will also have to
MANUALLY add this to the Windows Firewall exceptions. There are 2 executables which need to be added to all 3 classifications of
networks: Domain, Private (Home/Office), Public:

- SolarWinds TFTP Server.exe

- TFTPServer.exe

I recommend not leaving this as an automatic start-up service when Windows boots up.

2. Solarwinds software will create C:\TFTP-Root . Create the following additional (cache\maxturret) sub folder structure in that path:
C:\TFTP-Root\cache\maxturret

3. From any v2.01.5+ CCM, Use WinSCP to copy all the contents of /opt/ipc/deployment/stage/turret/iqmax-02.00.01.05/* into the maxturre
t folder created in Step 2 above. There are around 28 files in that folder, some examples filenames include:

bmu_fs0.tgz
fs_patch.cksum
uboot_8270.bin

4. Start the SolarWinds TFTP Server application. Go into the File menu -> Configuration and to the Server Bindings tab.

a. Use a custom binding to make sure that it is on the Ethernet port/IP address which will be used, rather than all addresses

b. If the Laptop/PC being used is connected to the same network as the failed turret then the laptop's current IP can be used as the
‘Server’ in the next few steps, otherwise disconnect both the Laptop/PC and turret from the network and connect them both back
to back on Ethernet and configure your laptop IP address statically (e.g. 10.0.0.1 mask 255.255.255.0, no gateway)

c. Then go back to the General tab of config and restart the service.

5. Start Putty. Select the COM port for your serial device - The use these settings for connection: Speed: 57600, Data Bits 8, Stop Bits 1,
No Parity, no Flow Control
and then click Open.

6. If the turret is powered on, you should see plain text appear as the turret boots/reboots/etc. (If you do not see anything or everything is
garbled, you may have plugged the cable in backwards on the turret, pull out the 3-pin connector from the turret, reverse the direction
and try again) (Note: I will find out which way it normally goes and update this section)

7. As turret boots it prompts for password (will supply this on demand). Enter the password * * * to break out to command line.

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8. At the u-boot prompt, type: => ipcconf

Select Boot Mode: [2] : 3 (Initflash, re-initialize flash)

Enable DHCP auto configuration? [Y/n] : n

Check and confirm IP address/mask/gateway is correct and put (your laptop) windows tftp server address as server. If you are using a
direct / back-to-back Ethernet cable between the two, there should be NO default gateway set for either the laptop or the turret.

Do you want all flash to be reprogrammed? [Y/n] : y

Are you sure? [y/N] : y

The system will now reboot and run initflash. OK? [y/N] : y

The Turret will then reboots and loads the files.

You will know almost instantly from the display on the turret that it has connected and it will say on the console it is downloading the
image. You will also see information of connections and activity on the TFTP Server window.

It takes about 30-45 minutes to complete and the turret will be at the admin prompt when it finishes booting.

9. Once it is finished, it will reboot and you should see the regular console login banner. It is now ready to set up with the customer's correct
environment settings. Then restart and it should connect to CCM. It will download the latest version of software if required and continue
CDI registration etc etc.

If the flash procedure is not completely successful, you will know fairly quickly.

Once it has finished reflashing/rebooting and you repoint it to connect to the CCM, the download of latest software will fail and it will go
straight to registering CDI. This is where the Patch 5 image will be required to reflash Edge turrets. If an IQ/MAX turret has the same
problem it might be worth trying Patch 5 on it too.

Related articles

[Turret][IQMAX] Injector Tool

[Turret][IQMAX] Factory Default Turret IQ/MAX
[Turret] BCP behavior
[FA 72] Non-service affecting (707 and 708) alarms received from IQ/max turrets when installed with 15.3.x
[FA 32] IQMax turrets reboot after 248 days of continuous operation

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