Upgrading IOS

[cgarst321]

Hello! I'm just starting to work with Cisco switches in my IT career. I have an old Catalyst 2916XL M switch that I'm using to learn about IOS. I received this switch with IOS 11.2, but I'd like to get it up to 12. I'm snagged a little bit, I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction!

I have found this image on Cisco's website: c2900xl-c3h2l9s-mz.120-5.WC17.bin

I'm trying to download it on the switch using the following command:

"copy tftp: flash:"

It starts downloading, but eventually I get "Transfer aborted"

Loading c2900xl-c3h2l9s-mz.120-5.WC17.bin from 192.168.1.201 (via VLAN1): !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!O!O!O!

%Error reading tftp://192.168.1.201/c2900xl-c3h2l9s-mz.120-5.WC17.bin (Transfer aborted)

Tftpd32, my TFTP server app, tells me this:

Peer returns ERROR <Session terminated> -> aborting transfer [10/04 20:38:01.793]

What could be the problem? Could I not have enough flash memory space (how would I check)?

Thank you!!

[Edison Ortiz]

Hmm..

You've shown before:

cisco WS-C2916M-XL (PowerPC403GA) processor (revision 0x11) with 4096K/640K bytes of memory.

and

1728000 bytes total (1720832 bytes free)

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Per IOS requirement, your switch should be 8MB DRAM - 4MB FLASH, but your output indicates 4MB DRAM - 2MB FLASH, that's odd.

__

You didn't backup the IOS prior deleting? ugh - check your gmail address for a link to an IOS similar to the one you had before.

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Edison.

[Edison Ortiz]

BTW, you can download the file I published for you (information sent to your gmail account) or you can donwload the file from this link:

http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cat2900XL-4MB

It seems you have the original 2900XL which max out to 4MB DRAM - 2MB Flash and you can't upgrade to the latest 12.0 IOS.

__

Edison.

[Leo Laohoo]

Hi Edison,

This is indeed wierd. I have heard of a 2900 model with 4Mb flash but this is the first time I've seen this.

Did he try to delete the files in the HTML folder prior to using the "archive" command?

[Edison Ortiz · Accepted solution]

Leo,

4MB Flash, very common.

2MB Flash (what he has), not so common.

Deleting the HTML folder won't help. If you see the total and available bytes on the filesystem determines he only has 2MB Flash and the show version reflects he only has 4MB RAM.

The IOS requirement for 12.0 are 8MB DRAM and 4MB Flash.

He has the earlier version of the 2900XL switch and must remain in the 11.x train.

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Edison.

[cgarst321]

Thank you all very much for the assistance. I'll try to get a newer 11.x on there later tonight, but now that I know how to find my flash size limit I'll be much better off.

Out of curiosity, what happens to a Cisco device if it looses power while there is no bin in the flash? Is it bricked?

[cgarst321]

I have successfully loaded c2900XL-hs-mz-112.8.11-SA6.tar, which I believe is the newest version that this device will support. Thanks all!

[Leo Laohoo]

It will go into ROMmon mode. You can still pump an IOS into it but it's very slow.

[Edison Ortiz]

Bricked? :) far from it.

Please take a moment and read the documentation:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps607/products_tech_note09186a00800946e5.shtml

HTH,

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Edison