Pix 506E hangs on reboot after displaying PCI Device table.

[rhysclementevans]

I have a 506E that hangs after displaying the PCI device table. After some research I found that this can be resolved by switching the internal jumper, and having done this the device now boots successfully and loads the config.

I was hoping someone might be able to advise what this jumper is so that I have a better understanding of why this problem occurred. Secondly I came across a post which suggested that this is just a temporary fix, and that once it happens the device should be replaced. Again if anyone has experience and could comment on this I would appreciate some feedback.

[smahbub]

The jumper on the PIX Firewall 16 MB Flash circuit board must not be removed or repositioned. The PIX Firewall system will not work if this jumper is moved.

Refer to the following url for more info:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/pix/pix53/hw/installation/guide/board.html#wp1019930

[Matt Wilson]

Apologies for reviving an old thread.

I had the same problem with my Pix506e. In the first photo you can see the green jumper (J5) just to the right of the fan. It is in the normal operating position. I moved it across to the left to jump the centre and left pins, started the unit and let it boot. Then I turned it off and set the jumper back to the original position and re-started. It then operated as normal.

I'd suggest that being close to the CMOS battery it would reset the BIOS, These Pix are basically an Intel 440BX based computer. I've upgraded the processor to a Pentium III 900MHz CPU. The original CPU is a SL36A Celeron 300A. You can get around 512MB of RAM in there but you have to use the lower profile SIMMs due to case height restrictions. The RAM is just standard PC133 stuff.

Matt.

[johnwalvet]

dear rhysclementevans,

I have 515E that hangs similarly after displaying the PCI device table.

-----------------------------

CISCO SYSTEMS PIX FIREWALL

Embedded BIOS Version 4.3.207 01/02/02 16:12:22.73

Compiled by morlee

64 MB RAM

PCI Device Table.

Bus Dev Func VendID DevID Class Irq

00 00 00 8086 7192 Host Bridge

00 07 00 8086 7110 ISA Bridge

00 07 01 8086 7111 IDE Controller

00 07 02 8086 7112 Serial Bus 9

00 07 03 8086 7113 PCI Bridge

00 0D 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 11

00 0E 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 10

00 11 00 1011 0026 PCI-to-PCI Br

00 13 00 14E4 5823 Co-Processor 5

01 04 00 8086 1229 Ethernet 11

01 05 00 8086 1229 Ethernet 10

01 06 00 8086 1229 Ethernet 9

01 07 00 8086 1229 Ethernet 5

--------------------------------

Could you please guide me the details of jumper setting u used to solve the problem, so that i can try to fix my machine too. Thanks...

[rhysclementevans]

Hello John,

According to Smahbub this can break your pix. If you have any other recourse then I would investigate those options first. Having said that I did some web-mining regarding the 506E and found that some posters reported that they had resolved this issue by opening their case, moving the jumper inside (only one, located in the centre of the board) to the other position (three pins, jumper on right hand two, switched it to left hand two), and the system then booted.

I performed that operation and got past the problem. I switched the jumper back to the original position and the Pix has been working reliably since.

I do have to highlight Smahbub's comments though (copied below) and another poster elsewhere reported that once it manifests this problem the device should be considered unreliable as the issue will reoccur (I haven't seen that comment repeated elsewhere, and my own experience shows otherwise - so far).

Best of luck in resolving your issue.

Rhys

Smahbub wrote "The jumper on the PIX Firewall 16 MB Flash circuit board must not be removed or repositioned. The PIX Firewall system will not work if this jumper is moved."

[johnwalvet]

Thanx rhysclementevans, it worked for my 515E too.