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Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

burchbri
Aspirant

GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

I have three of these switches, which have been running with firmware 2.00.08 firmware for 2 years. I upgraded each of them with the web gui under linux from the older as-shipped firmware. Recently, I've been working on a strange network problem and suspected the switches, so decided to upgrade to the latest firmware on one of them. Initially, I tried 2.06.03, but it failed with "invalid firmware image" and remained at 2.00.08 when rebooted. I then tried 2.00.12 but this failed the same way. I tried chrome, chromium and firefox, but nothing changed. Flow control was off but tcpdump suggested the tcp traffic might be swamping the switch. I even tried 10 mbs, but it didn't help.

 

The factory reset web feature did not work, so I used the front panel recessed button. This worked. I stopped my PC firewall and configured it to use 192.168.0.210 on a straight-through cable to port 1. The web gui responded and after using the default password I tried the firmware upgrades again. All combinations of browser and image still failed the same way, but the switch always rebooted to 2.00.08.

 

After searching for more clues, I did the "hold reset for 30 seconds, power off for 5 seconds while still holding reset, power on while still holding reset and then release after 5 seconds" procedure. The port LED came on at 100 mbs, but I could not ping the switch on 192.168.0.239. The arp table entry remained "incomplete" no matter how long I waited.

 

I tried manually assigning an entry with "arp -s 192.168.0.239 switch-mac-address", but the ping and subsequent udp/tcp port scans found nothing.

 

Based on another post, I tried a tftp client binary PUT of the 2.00.12 image, but even with a very long timeout specified the first message was never acked.

 

In desperation, I borrowed a windows 10 system, installed the latest ProSafe untility package and the latest Switch Discovery Tool. I manually configured the ethernet port to 192.168.0.210, defined 192.168.0.239 as its next hop router and turned off the firewall. Both tools failed with the message "no switches found".

 

During all these attempts, I've occasionally tried a simple "press reset button for 30 seconds, then power off-on" procedure, in the hope I might get back to factory defaults, but no luck!

 

I guess the switch is stuck with a configuration that will not boot the original firmware and factory default settings, but I have not deduced the correct way to either force it to boot or to accept a new image. Is there some way to get out of this situation?

Model: GS108Ev3|ProSAFE 8-port Gigabit Plus Switch
Message 1 of 7

Accepted Solutions
burchbri
Aspirant

Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

Thanks, Dane. I will resist the temptation to open the case. I will just assume the unit is "bricked".

 

I will follow your advice and try to obtain a replacement under the lifetime warranty.

 

Regards,

 

Brian

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Message 5 of 7

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DaneA
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

Hi @burchbri,

 

Welcome to the community! 🙂 

 

Based from the troubleshooting steps you have done, since the GS108Ev3 switch/es were unable to be reset back to factory default settings, it is possible that there is a fault on the switch itself.  I suggest you to open a chat or online support ticket with NETGEAR Support at anytime and let them know about your concern.  If ever the GS108Ev3 switch/es were declared faulty, be ready to submit a .pdf or .doc copy of the Proof of Purchase or Sales Invoice of the GS108Ev3 switch/es for warranty verification.  If ever the hardware warranty is still valid, an online replacement will follow.

 

 

Regards,

 

DaneA

NETGEAR Community Team

Message 2 of 7
burchbri
Aspirant

Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

Thanks very much for your reassuring reply, DaneA. I will follow your advice and report the defective hardware early next week.

 

I have worked on quite a few of this kind of "lightweight" embedded system over the years. With those other devices I have been able to open the outer case and find a serial port 3-pin connector. By hanging a serial-USB dongle off the pins and connecting a terminal emulator, I can usually catch the bootloader and break into a busybox session. That allows me to edit the bootloader environment file and restore a "bricked" device to factory defaults. I have not opened the case of my GS108Ev3 to preserve its lifetime warranty. However, if I were to look at the motherboard, would I find a serial interface and be able to catch the bootloader messages?

Message 3 of 7
DaneA
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

@burchbri,

 

I have not opened the case of my GS108Ev3 to preserve its lifetime warranty. However, if I were to look at the motherboard, would I find a serial interface and be able to catch the bootloader messages?

I do not have any idea if there is a serial interface in the motherboard because I have never opened the metal case of any GS108Ev3 switch as well as any other switches. 

 

 

Regards,

 

DaneA

NETGEAR Community Team

Message 4 of 7
burchbri
Aspirant

Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

Thanks, Dane. I will resist the temptation to open the case. I will just assume the unit is "bricked".

 

I will follow your advice and try to obtain a replacement under the lifetime warranty.

 

Regards,

 

Brian

Message 5 of 7
tolland
Aspirant

Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

I got the same unit delivered yesterday, and saw that there was new firmware, so I tried upgrading from the web GUI, and had the same experience.

 

The unit is still functioning, but the admin gui is hung in the "Firmware Upgrade" screen and is not responding to any of the reboot, factory reset or power cycling. So this one seems bricked as well. Have opened a ticket on the 90 day support.

Model: GS108Ev3|ProSAFE 8-port Gigabit Plus Switch
Message 6 of 7
yoyo42
Aspirant

Re: GS108Ev3 firmware upgrade failed and cannot factory reset

And another one, exactly the same: got a new switch, updated the firmware to GS108Ev3_V2.06.03EN.bin (using  Chrome or Fireox on CentOS 7) and now it's stuck on the firmware update screen.

 

I've tried the various ARP and TFP solutions, although since nmap reports only port 80 open on the switch at this point I suspect the HTTP POST method is the only one used now. But... the HTTP upload only transfers 14500 bytes before stopping (of the 665KBytes of the binary) every time.

 

Looks like I'll be asking for a new one too...

 

 

Model: GS108Ev3|ProSAFE 8-port Gigabit Plus Switch
Message 7 of 7
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