Catalyst 2955 Series Switches
If a Catalyst 2955 is in a continuous reboot, you must break into switch: mode by issuing a break sequence from the keyboard.
The break sequence is determined by the terminal application and operating system used. Hyperterm running on Windows 2000 uses Ctrl + Break. For more information, refer to Standard Break Key Sequence Combinations During Password Recovery.
The example below uses Hyperterm to break into switch: mode on a 2955.
C2955 Boot Loader (C2955-HBOOT-M) Version 12.1(0.508)EA1, BETA TEST SOFTWARE
Compiled Wed 30-Oct-02 15:24 by antonino
WS-C2955T-12 starting...
Base ethernet MAC Address: 00:03:fd:62:7c:00
Xmodem file system is available.
Initializing Flash...
flashfs[0]: 19 files, 2 directories
flashfs[0]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories
flashfs[0]: Total bytes: 7741440
flashfs[0]: Bytes used: 4628480
flashfs[0]: Bytes available: 3112960
flashfs[0]: flashfs fsck took 7 seconds.
...done initializing flash.
Boot Sector Filesystem (bs:) installed, fsid: 3
Parameter Block Filesystem (pb:) installed, fsid: 4
*** The system will autoboot in 15 seconds ***
Send break character to prevent autobooting.
!--- Wait until you see this message before
!--- you issue the break sequence.
!--- Ctrl+Break is entered using Hyperterm.
The system has been interrupted prior to initializing the
flash filesystem. The following commands will initialize
the flash filesystem, and finish loading the operating
system software:
flash_init
load_helper
boot
switch:
Issue the flash_init and load_helper commands.
If the Flash has already initialized, you see the following:
switch: flash_init
Initializing Flash...
...The flash is already initialized.
switch:
If the Flash has not initalized, you see the following:
switch: flash_init
Initializing Flash...
flashfs[0]: 21 files, 2 directories
flashfs[0]: 0 orphaned files, 0 orphaned directories
flashfs[0]: Total bytes: 7741440
flashfs[0]: Bytes used: 4499456
flashfs[0]: Bytes available: 3241984
flashfs[0]: flashfs fsck took 7 seconds.
...done initializing flash.
Boot Sector Filesystem (bs:) installed, fsid: 3
Parameter Block Filesystem (pb:) installed, fsid: 4
Issue the load_helper command to load any boot helper images, as shown below.
switch: load_helper
switch:
Issue the dir flash: command to view the contents of the Flash file system. If there are no IOS image files (.bin files) or image directories (named with the image filename excluding the .bin extension) in flash:, you see the following:
switch: dir flash:
Directory of flash:/
2 -rwx 5 private-config.text
3 -rwx 110 info
4 -rwx 976 vlan.dat
6 -rwx 286 env_vars
26 -rwx 1592 config.text
8 drwx 1088 html
19 -rwx 110 info.ver
4393472 bytes available (3347968 bytes used)
switch:
!--- No IOS images or image directories exist in Flash.
If this is what your Flash directory looks like, proceed directly to Step 4 to recover the switch using an Xmodem file transfer.
If there is still an image in Flash, you may be able to recover the switch by issuing the boot command. To issue the boot command properly, you must first verify where the IOS image is stored in the Flash directory. This could be different depending on the model of switch you have.
Catalyst 2950/2955 Flash File System
The IOS image file (.bin file) always resides in the flash: directory on 2950 and 2955 series switches, as shown below.
switch: dir flash:
Directory of flash:/
3 -rwx 2888547 c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-13.EA1.bin
!--- The IOS image file(.bin file) is stored in
!--- the flash: directory
!--- on 2950 and 2955 series switches.
4 -rwx 976 vlan.dat
6 drwx 832 html
22 -rwx 110 info
23 -rwx 110 info.ver
25 -rwx 38 env_vars
3132928 bytes available (4608512 bytes used)
Catalyst 3550 Flash File System
The Flash file system on a 3550 is organized a little differently. The IOS image file can be stored in the flash:directory, however, if you are using the Cluster Management Suite (CMS) image to manage switches with a web interface, the IOS Image file may be stored in its own directory. Issue the dir flash:directory command to display the image file in this case.
switch: dir flash:
Directory of flash:/
2 -rwx 976 vlan.dat
3 -rwx 386 system_env_vars
4 -rwx 5 private-config.text
6 -rwx 1554 config.text
24 drwx 192 c3550-i5q3l2-mz.121-13.EA1
!--- The IOS image file may be stored in a directory named
!--- with the image name excluding the .bin extension.
42 -rwx 33 env_vars
--- output suppressed ---
switch: dir flash:c3550-i5q3l2-mz.121-13.EA1
!--- Issue the dir flash:directory
!--- command to view the IOS image file.
Directory of flash:c3550-i5q3l2-mz.121-13.EA1/
25 drwx 832 html
40 -rwx 3993612 c3550-i5q3l2-mz.121-13.EA1.bin
!--- This is where the IOS image file is stored for a CMS image.
41 -rwx 252 info
9992192 bytes available (6006784 bytes used)
switch:
Attempting to Boot the Image
Once you have verified where the IOS image file resides, try to boot the image. Issue either the boot flash: filename or the boot flash: directory/filename command.
Catalyst 2950
switch: boot flash:c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-13.EA1.bin
!--- The boot flash:filename
!--- command was used on a 2950.
Loading "flash:c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-13.EA1.bin"...###########
###########################################################
--- output suppressed ---
Regards
Auromira
