IOS upgrade 4700 router

[simonvyrdal]

I like to upgrade to 12.2 release from 11.3. However, this fails and the system says not enough memory. threre is 65536K/4096K bytes of memory which should ebe enough.

Question: Does the boot rom have to follow the IOS release

IOS (tm) 4500 Software (C4500-IS-M), Version 11.3(11b)T5, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

BOOTFLASH: 4500 Software (C4500-BOOT-M), Version 11.3(11a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

Thanks

simon

[Richard Burts]

Simon

No in general the boot rom does not have to follow the IOS release. There may be a few circumstances (especially related to hardware upgrades or new interfaces added to the router) where the boot rom needs to be updated. But essentially the boot rom version and the IOS version are not tied together.

There are two kinds of memory that you need to consider when planning an IOS upgrade. There is active memory (RAM) which is what you refer to in your post and there is flash memory. I suspect that your router does not have enough flash to support the version of IOS that you are trying to load.

If the problem is not enough RAM the problem will be seen when the router attempts to load and run the IOS. If the problem is not enough flash the copy command when you copy the new IOS to the router will fail. Are you experiencing the problem when you copy the IOS or when you try to run it?

Each release has requirements for the amount of flash and amount of RAM that it needs. In the release notes for each release will be a table which states the memory and flash requirements.

HTH

Rick

[simonvyrdal]

Hi Rick

Thanks for your very detailed answer. The 12.2 image needs (ip pluss) needs 65mb RAM and 8mb FLASH according to cisco's upg. planner - which the router has.

The problem occurs when I try to run it - and it explicitly says not enough RAM. Strange.

regards simon

[Richard Burts]

Simon

Is your machine a 4500 or a 4500-M?

Perhaps a complete show version as Sankar suggests would be helpful.

Rick

[simonvyrdal]

Rick, the router is a 4700. sh ver and crash dump is attached. this is the image that caused the dump.

c4500-is-mz.122-31.bin. According to IOS upg. planner it needs 32mb RAM and 8mb FLASH.

[thisisshanky]

Simon,

It need not be the RAM. It could be your flash. Can you paste a complete sh version. Your IOS image probably does not have enough space to load on flash.

[simonvyrdal]

Hi, I provided sh ver and crash info to Rich and like you to have the same info. Can you read the info? Or is ti costum to dup. the info to several parties. Thanks.

[Richard Burts]

Simon

I think that what you have done fits the custom well. When you include files in the forum (as you did) then everyone can see them and many people have the opportunity to participate. This is good.

There have been some situations where people who post about a problem will send information directly to responders. Sometimes there are good reasons to do this way. But the general custom is to post the files in the forum.

Thanks for posting the show version and the crashinfo files. As I interpret the show version I believe that you have a 4700M router. The upgrade planner does show that router can run the 12.2(31) release IP Plus feature set and requires only 32 MB of memory and 8 MB of flash. Your router certainly meets those requirements.

The crashinfo file is very interesting. It does clearly say there is not enough memory to run the software even though your router has more memory than the requirement. I also find it interesting that the crashinfo contains a message about memory fragmentation even though at boot time there should be no fragmentation.

This gives me the feeling that there is an incompatibility between your hardware and that version of software. Are you in a position to open a case with Cisco TAC about this? Another possibility might be to run a version in 12.2 earlier than the (31) release.

HTH

Rick

[simonvyrdal]

Rich

Thanks for your answers. Yes I can open a case with TAC and I do that. I will be back with the result.

regards

Simon

[simonvyrdal]

Rich

I opened a cisco TAC case. The problem was IO packet DRAM (shared dram). From 12.0 the IOS allocates 8mb of packet DRAM and fails if there are less. I only had 4mb. Thanks for the help.

//Simon

[Richard Burts]

Simon

That is good to know. I am glad that you found an explanation for the problem.

Thanks for updating the forum with the solution. It helps the forum be more useful when people do follow up with solutions or explanations of their problems.

I encourage you to keep up your participation in the forums.

HTH

Rick