PIX 501 Stability

[bennieg]

Hi everyone

I use a PIX 501 as a VPN Concentrator for a few remote workers. This has been working fine, but for some reason it has become unstable over the last few weeks

The PIX becomes unstable, and cannot be pinged either internally or connected to externally (via VPN)

The lights on the front of the PIX are flashing in a very "specific" way, as if they are trying to tell me something (but I dont know what!!)

Unplugging the PIX and plugging it back in resolves the issue (until next time!)

My questions are:

1) How can I find out what the light flashing sequence means?

2) How can I enable tracing to see what was going on?

3) Has anyone got any ideas??

Thanks in advance for your help!!

[jackko]

have a look at this doc: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/vpndevc/ps2030/products_installation_guide_chapter09186a0080172799.html#wp1121696

further, connect to the pix via console to start with. i suggest you to do "sh int" and then try to ping inside host and the internet.

[craig.coffey]

I have noticed a power connection issue with the 501's that may be responsible for what you are seeing. Any shifting of the chassis or power cord causes the PIX to reboot - this might be the 'flashing' of the lights that you are seeing.

We have taken to securing the chassis and cord to prevent this issue.

[Patrick Iseli]

I confirm the post from Craiq Coffey. The Power connector in some 501 and 506 are really unstable and can on a micro fibration get instable when power plug moves a little bit.

This is easy to check. Move the power connector on the PIX 501 a little bit if the all lights turn on, then you have the source of your problem.

Replace the device if you have a Smart Net (Warranty).

sincerely

Patrick