ATA190 firmware upgrade

Dave Dryden · ‎05-28-2023

I purchased a ATA190 hoping that I could use it in standalone mode without using CUCM. The firmware is the original 1.1.0 (006). I have read that the web interface with this firmware is not good and I have been trying to upgrade it. The only file that the web configuration will accept is an .img file. Unfortunately there is no specific image file for this model. The one that appeared to work is one for an ATA191:

ATA19x.11-2-3MPP0001-028.img

This appears to load but doesn't work.

My question ? Is there any way to upgrade the firmware on this without using CUCM ? Would a demo version of CUCM do this ? Is there any way to TFTP a new firmware image ? Internally is there a serial connection that I could use ?

All I wanted this for was to save rewiring my house in CAT5 so that I could use the original analogue telephones and wiring for voip use.

Any help appreciated.

Dave

Jonathan Schulenberg · ‎05-28-2023

Yes, a demo/unlicensed CUCM publisher would be capable of serving it newer firmware. Or you could roll your own TFTP/HTTP server (I don’t recall which protocol the ATA19x uses) and manually create a SEPDefault.cnf.xml file to tell it the firmware load it should use; the Asterisk community long ago reverse engineered this process. You’ll need. SMARTnet contract to download newer firmware though. Also, the ATA requires a SIP registrar/proxy to function; it cannot be completely “standalone”.

PS- The MPP firmware loads are what you should be using for non-Cisco call control, eg Asterisk. Unlike IP Phones (where that conversion has a cost) an ATA cannot be converted. Depending where you got it and what you’re trying to do, consider that before a potential return period lapses.

Dave Dryden · ‎05-29-2023

Hi Jonathan,

Many thanks for the informative reply. The ATA190 (new old stock) was purchased off Ebay for GBP15 including postage so no great loss if it becomes a doorstop !

Asterisk runs under Linux and from a quick glance there seems to be many ways of installing it. I have a USB3 16GB sandisk flashdisk which I have used for booting linux distros before. The best one that I found was linux mint which seemed to be very polished. I think that I will give this a try and install asterisk on it.

Do you know if asterisk firmware can be loaded on an ATA190 if available ?

Best

Dave

Jonathan Schulenberg · ‎05-29-2023

It’s not different firmware. They just reverse engineered the XML files that a CUCM would generate and serve up to a Cisco endpoint. This is only necessary with the Enterprise firmware where the local web server is read-only. MPP firmware has a read-write admin GUI - although it can be a bit cryptic, at least there is documentation for it.

Dave Dryden · ‎06-11-2023

Hi Jonathan, sorry for the delay in replying. I managed to get the ATA190 upgraded to a newer firmware edition by using the firmware option in the web page however I think that I have gone as far as I can with this as it cannot be standalone as you say.

Am thinking of purchasing an SPA112 which should do he job I want.

Thanks for your help.

Dave

Sergio Cavataio · ‎11-09-2023

Hi Dave,

can I ask you wich firmware load have you used? I'm trying to upgrade using a .bin.sgn file but I reveive an error when trymg to upload it.

Regards

Dave Dryden · ‎11-09-2023

Hi Sergio,

If you have the upgrade software option on your unit then this is what I did. More recent firmware do not have this option so important to use the latest (ATA190.1-2-2-003_SR2-1.bin) version. I tried everything however it was not until I came across this web page that I had some success:

https://www.packetpilot.com/ata-190-recovery-firmware-page-ata-190-will-not-register/

I used the exact file mentioned in the article however this is not the latest version and it does not have the manual upgrade option. In the end I purchased a Cisco SPA112 as even with nearly the latest firmware I could not see a way to provision it. I built a PC using freepbx but every time you click on something an advert pops up.

If you download this it may (?) work. Use at your own risk. It has been modified similarly to the one in the article

https://app.box.com/s/mbyfu617cd7uuxvejg8r01vf7cja0rtt

Dave

Sergio Cavataio · ‎11-09-2023

Hi Dave,

thanks very much.

I uploaded the FW using that you provided and the ATA now is registered to CUCM 10.

Thanks again for support.

Regards

Sergio

Sergio Cavataio · ‎11-09-2023

sorry.. the CUCM version is 14...