Router not pingable?

[dajo]

A CISCO 770 ISDN router at one of our satellite offices does not work suddenly. It cannot be pinged from afar, and even the two machines attached to it in house time-out when pinging it. I haven't gone there to investigate yet, but I've had the users power it down and up, as well as check the cabling. About all they can tell me is that all the lights on the front panel are green but "there used to be more".

Any ideas?
Any way to reset it without losing the settings?

 

[mmaki]

Sounds like it may have lost its config. If the local users can't ping or telnet into the router you'll likely need to visit the site and connect through the consol port to see what's up. If you have a copy of the config, bring it with you and reload with tftp. Good Luck!

 

[dajo]

If it has lost its config, does that mean I won't have to supply the admin password? This router was set up a long time ago by a company that did not leave the password with anyone.

Is there a way to clear the password via some type of reset?

 

[mmaki]

Here you go:

Password Recovery

Make sure you have a roll-over cable that connects to your serial port and the console port (Probably RJ 45). Then do the password recovery stuff above and reconfig. So, have you determined for sure your users can not access (ping) the router?

 

[dajo]

Cool! Thanks.

What's a rollover cable? I don't use a regular CAT5 cable to hook into the console?

I'll know more about the situation when I go there today. Yesterday, I had a conference call with a user at the cite where the router is located and a remote site that is networked to the router. Neither could ping it.

Looks like I'll need either a DB9 or DB25 serial connector, but I don't quite get how the rollover cable connects to this item. Also, I don't seem to be able to find any vendors who sell these items.

I can make the rollover cable myself, assuming I can find some diagrams to help me, as I have cable, terminators, crimping tool, but could someone explain the DB9/25 connection, or point me to where I could purchase such an adapter.

Thanks for your help!

 

[reicherb]

I think he is talking about a cable with a serial connector at one end (PC) and an RJ45 connector at the other end (console port on router). Your router might just use a standard serial cable though (or maybe it has to be a null modem cable).

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

 

[dajo]

Right, but where do I purchase, or how do I make, such a cable?

Is this rollover cable the same thing as a null modem cable?

Just found this visual guide to Cisco routers - pretty cool!

Looks like I need a RJ45-DB9 adapter and a rollover cable. Have not found a "diagram" driven description of how to construct the rollover cable, nor where to purchase the DB9-RJ45 (may have it locally like at OfficeMax?).

Every day you learn something new, whether you want to or not!

 

[mmaki]

dajo,

The pin-out for a rollover cable is actually pretty simple. If you have the tools to crimp RJ-45 connectors you can make it. I don't think there is any problem using any particular type cable. Here is a link Good luck again!

Mike

 

[dajo]

Yeah, and here's one with color coding for the "network cabling challenged" like myself. It looks as though the lines are simply reversed, as in 1->8, 2->7, 3->6, etc. (look down the page or search for "roll-over&quot.

Can you confirm this mapping? I have the gear to make it.

Thank you for your help.


Update:
Found this at Cisco "Rolled ? the colored wires at one end of the cable are in the reverse sequence of the colored wires at the other end of the cable."

Guess that answers my question - only problem is it looks as though I'll have to order the RJ45-to-DB-25 adapter.

 

[mmaki]

dajo, that's it. I don't know how much hardware you have lying around, but if you have bought, or your predecessor bought any quantity of Cisco products you should have an adapter laying around somewhere.

 

[dajo]

Well, this is sort of a sister company and the networking was installed by a local company that probably didn't leave anything behind, including the password.

Can I get that RJ45-DB9 female adapter on the net somewhere, or am I going to have to order it directly from Cisco?

 

[mmaki]

You should be able to find it locally or on the net for a couple of bucks. Just make sure it is labeled TERMINAL (DTE). That should have the right configuration. The other config is labeled MODEM (DCE) and that is the incorrect one.

 

[Herr Yunta]

You could simply use a db9 to db9 serial cable and forget the rolled cable with adapters.

 

[mmaki]

Herr Yuna,

The problem with a BD9 to DB9 is the connection on the router is RJ-45, so you need something with DB9 (or DB25 depending on you serial port) on one end and RJ-45 on the other.

 

[Herr Yunta]

My bad, thats right.

Another option could be to buy the DB9 to Db9 cable and cut an end off and put an rj45 back on. Crude but quickly attainable.

 

[dajo]

I've decided to make my own cable since everybody wants $70-90 for it and it seems pretty simple.

I've cut off a DB9 female which will mate with the DB9 male on the Cisco 770 router. Only thing is I'm not quite sure how to do the wiring with the RJ45 cable. I've found schematics but none show the color coding for the DB9 wires.

Can I assume the same color coding for the DB9 as the RJ45 or do I need to remove the inner casing so that I must actually trace the wires out of the pin assignment? I have diagrams showing the pin-to-wire assignments.

Any help from those more knowledgeable than I would be appreciated.

 

[Herr Yunta]

Here you are

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/dsl_prod/c1400/icg/cables.htm#26010

 

[dajo]

Well, oddly enough, I was able to connect to the router with a modem cable I had lying around and a couple of 25-to-DB9 adapters. I still don't quite believe that this works, but I'm able to access the router with Hyperterminal no problem.

Once in the configuration, I saw that the IP address had somehow been set to 0.0.0.0 which explains why it wouldn't work. I've reset the IP address, but I'm wondering if there are other parameters I need to set (I haven't tested the router on the network yet - I brought it home to work with).

Do I need to enter anything other than the IP address of the unit? Do I need to enter the ISDN phone number? Do I need to enter the IP address of the router on the other end?

If so, could someone give me some quick reference tips on doing that? I've printed out the IOS Command Reference for this router, and I'm sure that I can get this going eventually, but the office where this router lives is down now, so it's extremely important that I get them up as soon as possible.

Thanks for all your help - I appreciate it very much!

 

[Dark]

Good luck

 

[dajo]

Thanks! A lot of good stuff there.

When I took the router to the site today I still could not ping it. Then I looked at the back of both computers at that site and saw that there was not light on the NIC. Hooked another cable up to the router and was able to ping it.

Evidently, this building got zapped at some point and not only did the router lose its configuration, the COAX cable from the two PCs there got fried also.

Never a dull moment with computers...