Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System
I. Acquiring Your Firmware Update via the Internet
TO ENSURE OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO OPERATE THE CRS‐500 WITH ITS LATEST AVAILABLE FIRMWARE. The CRS‐500 1:N Redundancy System is factory‐shipped with its latest version of operating firmware. If a firmware update is needed, it can be acquired by download from the Comtech EF Data Web site (www.comtechefdata.com); it may also be obtained from Comtech EF Data Customer Support during normal business hours via e‐mail or on CD by standard mail delivery.
The CRS‐500 Firmware Update process is as follows:
Download the new firmware update for upgrading the CRS‐500 to a user‐provided PC intended for Monitor and Control (M&C) of the CRS‐500 1:1 Redundancy System.
Connect the CRS‐500 to an available serial port on the user PC.
Extract the firmware update from the transferred archive file, and then execute the upgrade process via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) from the user PC to the CRS‐500 as specified in this chapter. The upgrade can be performed without opening any of the CRS‐500 component chassis (e.g., CSU, DSU, etc.).
II. Getting Started: Preparing for the Firmware Download
1. First, identify the CRS‐500 assigned Management IP Address, and obtain the firmware number, revision letter, and version number.
User‐supplied items needed:
A Microsoft Windows‐based PC, equipped with available serial and Ethernet ports; a compatible Web browser (e.g., Internet Explorer); and a terminal emulator program (e.g., Tera Term or HyperTerminal).
A 9‐pin serial cable to connect a user PC serial port to the CRS‐500 (for use of the serial‐based remote product management interface).
A CAT5 Ethernet cable to connect a user PC Ethernet port to the CRS‐500 (for use of the Ethernet‐ based remote product management interface).
A. Connect the 9‐pin serial cable from the CSU’s CRS‐530 System Controller Module ‘P1 | Remote Control’ port to a serial port on the user PC.
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 1 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 B. Connect the CAT5 Ethernet cable from the CRS‐500 system to an Ethernet port on the user PC via a hub or a switch, or direct connection. Note that the location for this M&C connection depends both on the deployed modem model and the mode of Ethernet in use. See Chapter 4. CABLES AND CONNECTIONS for details.
C. On the PC: Open the terminal emulator program.
Refer to your terminal emulator program HELP feature or user guide for operating and configuration instructions.
Configure the utility program serial port communication and terminal display operation:
38400 bps (Baud Rate) 8 Data Bits 1 Stop Bit Parity = NO Port Flow Control = NONE Display New line Rx/Tx: CR Local Echo = ON
D. Apply power to the CRS‐500 (at the CSU rear panel):
(Top) Standard CRS‐541 AC Module (Bottom) Optional CRS‐551 DC Module
E. On the PC: Query the CRS‐500 system and firmware information in one of the following ways:
Via the front panel display – See the top‐level screen (press the [CLEAR] key several times to view) for the firmware version. The firmware number can be found within the SELECT: UTIL Firmware Info Boot, Bulk1, or Bulk2 submenus.
See Chapter 7. CSU FRONT PANEL OPERATION for more information.
Via the Web Server Interface – the Boot, Bulk1 and Bulk2 firmware loads may be viewed from the Bootrom Information and Bulk Information sections of the Util | Info page (available under the Utility page tab).
See Chapter 8. ETHERNET‐BASED REMOTE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT for more information.
Using serial remote control – The firmware information can be queried as follows:
o Abbreviated: <0/SWR? (displays the version only – e.g., SWR=1.2.4) – or –
o Detailed: <0/FRW?x where x = 1 (Image 1) or 2 (Image 2) or 3 (Boot).
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 2 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 See Chapter 9. SERIAL‐BASED REMOTE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT for more information.
2. Next, create a temporary folder (subdirectory) on the user PC for the firmware archive download.
Drive letter “c:” is used in these examples. Any valid, writable drive letter can be used.
Typical for all tasks: Type the command without quotes, and then press Enter to execute.
There are several ways to create a temporary folder on a Windows‐based PC:
A. Use the Windows Desktop to create and rename the temporary folder.
Right‐click anywhere on the desktop to open the popup submenu, and then select New > Folder to create the temporary folder. The new folder will be created on the desktop.
Right‐click on the new folder and then select “Rename” from the popup submenu. Rename this folder to "temp" or some other convenient, unused name.
B. Use Windows Explorer to create and rename the temporary folder.
Select File > New > Folder to create the temporary folder. The new folder will be created in the active folder.
Right‐click the “New Folder” folder name, and then rename this folder to "temp" or some other convenient, unused name.
C. Use the ‘Run’ and ‘Browse’ windows to create and rename the temporary folder.
Select [Start] on the Windows taskbar, and then click the Run... icon. The ‘Run’ window will open.
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 3 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 Click [Browse] in the ‘Run’ window. The ’Browse’ window will open.
Click the Create New Folder icon in the ‘Browse’ window. The new folder will be created.
Right‐click the “New Folder” folder name, and then rename this folder to “temp” or some other convenient, unused name.
D. Use Windows Command‐line to create the temporary folder.
First, click [Start] on the Windows taskbar, and then click the Run... icon (or, depending on Windows OS versions prior to Windows 95, click the MS‐DOS Prompt icon from the Main Menu).
Next, open a Command‐line window…
o For Windows 95 or Windows 98, type “command”.
o For any Windows OS versions later than Windows 98, type “cmd” or “command”.
o Alternately, from [Start], select All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.
o Finally, from the Command‐line prompt (c:\>), type “mkdir temp” or “md temp” (mkdir and md stand for make directory), and then click [OK].
There should now be a "temp" folder created and available for placement of the firmware file download.
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 4 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 III. Downloading and Extracting the Firmware Update
1. First, download the firmware update file from the Comtech EF Data Web site:
A. Go online to www.comtechefdata.com.
B. On the Main page – under Support Information or the Support tab, select the Software Downloads hyperlink.
C. On the Software Downloads page – click Download Flash and Software Update Files.
D. On the Flash & Software Update Files page – select the (Select a Product Line) Advanced VSAT Series hyperlink.
E. On the Advanced VSAT Solutions product page – select the CRS‐500 product hyperlink;
F. Select the appropriate firmware archive EXE or ZIP file download hyperlink.
About Firmware Numbers, File Versions, and Formats: The Comtech EF Data Web site catalogues its firmware update files by product type (e.g., router, modem, etc.), the specific model, and optional hardware configurations.
The CRS‐500 firmware download hyperlink appears as F0000389X_V### for CDM‐625 modems, or F0000476X_V### for CDM‐750 modems – where ‘X’ denotes the revision letter, and ‘###’ represents the firmware version (e.g., V123 = Version 1.2.3).
About File Archive Formats: Comtech EF Data provides its downloadable files in two compressed archive formats: *.exe (self‐extracting) and *.zip (compressed).
The *.exe file does not require a file archiver and compression utility program such as PKZIP for Windows, WinZip, ZipCentral, etc. (PKZIP for DOS is not supported due to file naming conventions). Comtech EF Data does not provide this utility program.
Some firewalls do not allow the download of *.exe files. Download the *.zip file instead, and extract the firmware files from the archive download with a user‐supplied utility program. For detailed information on handling archived files, refer to the utility program Help documentation.
G. Download the archive file to the temporary folder.
Once the EXE or ZIP hyperlink is selected, the ‘File Download’ window opens and prompts selection of [Open] or [Save]:
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 5 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 o Click [Open] to turn over file extraction to the user‐supplied utility program. Be sure to extract the firmware files to the “temp” folder created earlier.
o Click [Save] to open the ‘Save As’ window. Be sure to select and [Save] the archive *.exe or *.zip file to the “temp” folder created earlier.
o Otherwise, click [Cancel] to quit and exit the file download process.
2. Next, extract the firmware files from the archive file.
(If not already done with File Download > [Open]) Extract the firmware files from the downloaded *.exe or *.zip archive file with the user‐supplied utility program:
o Double‐click on the archive file name, and then follow the prompts provided by the user‐ supplied utility program. Extract, at a minimum, two files:
. FW0000###x.bin – the Firmware Bulk image file (where ‘###’ denotes the CDM‐625 or CDM‐750 Firmware part number, and ‘x’ denotes the revision letter), and
. CRS‐500 Switch Controller for CDM‐XXX #.#.# Release Note.pdf – the Firmware Release Notes PDF file (where XXX denotes the modem model – CDM‐625 or CDM‐750 – and ‘#‐ #‐#’ denotes the firmware version number).
3. Confirm availability of the firmware files in the temporary folder.
There are several ways you may view the contents of the temporary folder on a Windows‐based PC:
A. From the Windows Desktop:
Double‐left‐click the “temp” folder saved to the Windows Desktop.
Use Windows Explorer to locate, and then double‐left‐click the “temp” folder.
Use the Browse window ([Start] > ...Run > [Browse]) to locate, and then double‐click the “c:\temp” folder.
B. Using Command‐line:
Type “cd c:\temp” at the Command‐line prompt to change to the temporary directory created earlier using Command‐line.
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 6 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 Type “dir” to list the files extracted to the temporary directory from the downloaded archive file.
The firmware files have been successfully downloaded and are now available for transfer to the CRS‐ 500.
IV. Preparing for the Automated Firmware Update Procedure
Use Command‐line to send a “PING” command to confirm proper connection and communication between the user PC and the CRS‐500:
A. If the Management IP Address of the unit is still not known, use the CSU Front Panel menus, Serial Remote Control or the Web Server Interface:
CSU Front Panel Menu – Use the SELECT: Config IP Mgt‐IP menu.
Serial Remote Control – Type the “<0/IPA?” remote query (without quotes) at the Serial Interface command prompt. The unit returns the configured Management IP Address:
>0000/IPA=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/yy
Web Server Interface – View the Management IP/subnet entry in the Network Settings section of t he Config | Remote Management page:
B. Once the Management IP Address is known – use Command‐line to PING: Type “ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx” at the Command‐line prompt (where ‘xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx’ denotes the unit Management IP Address).
The response should confirm whether the CSU is properly connected and communicating.
V. Performing the Automated Firmware Update Procedure
1. From the CRS‐500 Web Server Interface, click Utility |Upload.
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 7 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 2. To upload the firmware update file: Click [Browse] to locate and select the firmware file downloaded previously into the User PC’s temporary folder.
Click [Upload!] to begin the update process, and then wait while the scrolling “File Upload Progress:” status bar displays the upload progress:
3. Once the file has been uploaded to CSU flash memory, the Bulk Image file that is not currently selected as the ‘Boot From:’ image will be overwritten (that is, if you select Image#1 as the current boot image then, accordingly, the Image#2 file slot is automatically chosen for replacement).
The Image Upgrade Progress status window appears and displays, by scrolling percentage of completion, the file transfer progress:
Once the transfer has completed (i.e., 100%), the “Firmware Application Process Complete!” message appears:
4. Open the Utility | Boot Slot page. Use the ‘Boot From:’ drop‐down list to verify that the new firmware is reported in the unselected Image slot (depending on how the ‘Boot From:’ setting was defined prior to the firmware file upload process):
Select the desired ‘Boot From:’ preference. Note the following:
Latest – Automatically chooses the Image containing the most recent firmware upload;
Image #1 – Chooses the Image loaded into Slot 1;
Image #2 – Chooses the Image loaded into Slot 2.
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 8 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 Click [Apply] to commit the selection to memory. From this point forward, the system will reboot using this selection, until you choose otherwise.
5. Reboot the system.
Open the Utility | Boot Slot page, and click [Reboot Now] to power cycle the system:
A 5‐second countdown window appears before the system reboots:
During this time you may click [click to cancel] to abort the process. Should you allow reboot to proceed, the following messages appear during the reboot process:
6. If needed, update the alternate firmware image.
Should you desire to update the originally‐selected image slot – i.e., the slot that was in use at the time the file upgrade was applied to the slot not in use – follow these steps:
a) As per Step 5, open the Utility | Boot Slot page and use the ‘Boot From:’ drop‐down list to select the newly‐upgraded image as the designated image from which to boot, and then click [Update].
b) Reboot the system as per Step 6. Once the reboot is complete, click [click to continue] to return to the Utility | Boot Slot page.
With the newly‐upgraded image now selected and active, repeat Steps 1 through 6 to automatically upload the firmware file upgrade to the alternate image slot.
The Firmware Update process is now complete.
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 9 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1 Notes:
Re‐Flashing Your CRS‐500 Redundancy System 10 FLG‐CRS500 Revision 1