7924 and firmware reverts to term42.default

[Derrb0001]

I have 16 Cisco 7942 phones that I am having issues with.  Our setup is that the call manager (and firmware files) are located across a satellite link.  What we are experiencing is that our phones can update to 9.1.3 SR1, but when I unplug and replug the phone, the phone attempts to load the firmware updates all over.  It seems to default to the term42.default load, instead of the correct firmware.  I'm no expert in these, and these phones are part of an emergency communication package (first responders and all).  

I've called the call manager center, and everything looks fine, as far as they know.

Once the correct firmware loads from the call manager, which can take 4 hours or so, the phone works phone.  It just seems to default to the term42 load on a power cycle.

Any help is appreciated.

[Jonathan Schulenberg]

First off, I would recommend configuring a local TFTP server, referred to within CUCM as a LOADS server, so the phone can download firmware locally and only fetch the dynamic XML configuration files across the satellite link. Anything can serve as the TFTP server but the most common choice is an IOS router with sufficient free flash storage.

As for the repeated download at every reset: have you confirmed that the phone successfully installed the updated firmware and was running on it? My guess is that installation failed for some reason and the phone eventually booted with the older firmware already installed. There was a notorious Auth Fail error a few years back where phones were required to upgrade to exactly 8.5(2) before they could be upgraded further, including to 9.1(3)SR1 that you are attempting to use.

[Mohammed al Baqari]

Hi,

I think the firmware upgrade isn't completed successfully which is the reason for downloading the new firmware everytime the phone reboots.

You need to follow the recommendation from Jonathan to use local TFTP especially over satellite links. TFTP is aggressive protocol and can cause performance degradation especially for firmware files with multiple phones.