Cisco 7200 or 7500 series router cannot access the Flash memory on the Flash disk

[TCC_2]

Core Issue

The router does not respond to slot commands after installing a Flash disk in slot 0 or slot 1 of the I/O controller or RSP, as shown in the following command output:

router#show slot0:
!-- You can substitute slot1: for slot0: where applicable.
Open device slot0 failed (Device not ready)
router#dir slot0:
%Error opening slot0: (Device not ready)

Note: The Flash Disk is supported as the primary boot medium for the RSP8-, NPE-300-, and later-based systems only.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, perform the following steps:

1. Refer to the command output of the show version command to determine if the Flash device is a card or a disk, as shown in the following example:  

   router#show version
   !-- Output omitted for brevity.
   125440K bytes of ATA PCMCIA card at slot 0 (Sector size 512 bytes)
   8192K bytes of Flash internal SIMM (Sector size 256K)
   Configuration register is 0x2102

   Look at the size of the device in slot 0. Flash cards are available in sizes up to 20MB. Flash disks begin at 48MB, and are available in sizes up to 256MB.

      
2. If you have a flash disk, issue disk commands for Flash disks, as shown in the following command output:    

   router#show disk0:
   -#- --length-- -----date/time------ path
   1 11972788 Aug 10 2000 05:33:02 c7100-jk2s-mz.121-11b.E.bin
   
   116113408 bytes available (11980800 bytes used)
   
   isp-7120-4T1-F2#dir disk0:
   Directory of disk0:/
   
   1 -rw- 11972788 Aug 10 2000 05:33:02 c7100-jk2s-mz.121-11b.E.bin
   
   128094208 bytes total (116113408 bytes free)

      

To enable booting from a Flash Disk, set configuration register bits 3, 2, 1, and 0 to a value between 2 and 15 in conjunction with the boot system [disk0: | disk1:]filename configuration command. This section includes only descriptions of boot commands specific to the Flash Disk. (You can use either the slotn: argument or the diskn: argument for boot commands.)

Following are definitions of the various Flash Disk-related boot commands:

boot system flash disk0: or boot system slot0:  Boots the first file in the Flash Disk in slot 0.

boot system flash disk1: or boot system slot1:  Boots the first file in the Flash Disk in slot 1.

boot system flash disk0:filename or boot system slot0: filename Boots the named file from the Flash Disk in slot 0.

boot system flash disk1: filename or boot system slot1: filename Boots the named file from the Flash Disk in slot 1.

Note: As you enter boot commands, pay attention to how you use the Spacebar, which influences the way your system interprets the commands. Also, ensure that you define the entire path to a file as you enter the boot commands; otherwise, the system might not be able to find the file.

For more information refer to Enabling Booting from a Flash Disk section of Using the Flash Disk.