9148s fabric switches not responding to break keys - Password recovery

[Jbaggins]

Hi,

i'm having some issues with a couple of grey market fabric switches i have purchased.
I am currently trying to go through the admin password reset process which should be easy but hasn't been for 3 out of 4 of them.

The issue i'm am currently having is the last two switches are not responding to ctrl+r or ctrl+] during boot to break the boot and dump me into the loader.

I'm on a Mac, using Secure CRT, connected by console and didn't have any issues with the previous devices breaking their boot. This is doing my head in. I just want to factory reset the switches to remove any left over config and upgrade to a more recent NXOS.

I have tried on a windows laptop it also didn't break the boot. Any help is appreciated.

Cheers,

J

[Georg Pauwen · Accepted solution]

Hello,

tough one...

'Grey' market means these are used switches ? Either way, as far as I recall, the 9148 has a maintenance mode button. If that is indeed the case, try the procedure below:

To recover a switch, follow these steps:

Isolate the switch from the fabric.

Establish a serial connection from the PC console to the switch console port.

Place the switch in maintenance mode. Press and hold the Maintenance button with a pointed tool. When the Heartbeat LED turns on continuously, release the button.

Enter the maintenance mode account name and password (prom, prom), and press the Enter key.

Switch login: prom
Password:xxxx

The Maintenance menu presents several recovery options. Select a switch recovery option by pressing the corresponding number (displayed in option: field) on the keyboard and press the Enter key.

0) Exit
1) Image Unpack
2) Reset Network Config
3) Reset User Accounts to Default
4) Copy Log Files
5) Remove Switch Config
6) Remake Filesystem
7) Reset Switch
Update Boot Loader
Option:

To return to normal operation, select option 7, Reset Switch.

[Jbaggins · Accepted solution]

Hi Georg,

Yes they are used "grey" market switches that i have picked up for my home lab

Sadly i don't think there is a physical maintenance mode button on the 9148s. I got a recommendation off the guys in the reddit /Cisco subreddit that says to drop the console baud to 1200 and power cycle the device and hold the space bar for 15 seconds. Apparently it outputs a break like signal that might get the job done, change back to 9600 and hopefully see the loader prompt.