BOINC Pentathlon 2020

[Gorgon]

250 tasks bunkered for the Marathon so far

[Windows7ge]

@Gorgon So I kept Googling while I waited and found only 3 pins are necessary (possibly only 2 even). Tx, Rx, and GND.

 

As it turns out with very short wires:

Spoiler

A proper console cable isn't needed at all:

Spoiler

Found the problem. It's stuck on decompressing the system image then boot-loops. Is this typically a fixable issue? I know updating firmware on Switches is possible but I don't know if it's a problem with the image or the hardware/application that decompresses the image.

 

@leadeater Your insight would also be appreciated.

[Gorgon]

2 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

@Gorgon So I kept Googling while I waited and found only 3 pins are necessary (possibly only 2 even). Tx, Rx, and GND.

 

As it turns out with very short wires:

  Hide contents

A proper console cable isn't needed at all:

  Hide contents

Found the problem. It's stuck on decompressing the system image then boot-loops. Is this typically a fixable issue? I know updating firmware on Switches is possible but I don't know if it's a problem with the image or the hardware/application that decompresses the image.

 

@leadeater Your insight would also be appreciated.

Usually one of two causes. 1. the image is corrupted. 2. there is a hardware issue.

There should be a backup firmware image. Reboot the switch and press Enter to access the boot menu then you should be able to tell it which image to boot

[Gorgon]

Created a User Guide to Help get people up and running on BOINC and some hints on Bunkering:

 

[Windows7ge]

25 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

Usually one of two causes. 1. the image is corrupted. 2. there is a hardware issue.

There should be a backup firmware image. Reboot the switch and press Enter to access the boot menu then you should be able to tell it which image to boot

No back-up image that I can find.

      Startup Menu

[1]   Download Software
[2]   Erase Flash File
[3]   Password Recovery Procedure
[4]   Enter Diagnostic Mode
[5]   Set Terminal Baud-Rate
[6]   Stack menu
[7]   Back
 Enter your choice or press 'ESC' to exit:

Download Software brings up a prompt saying downloading using something called XMODEM but it fails.

Tried entering Diagnostic Mode but it states it will begin once the image loads. Which is no good here.

I'm worried to try Erase Flash File as I don't currently know how to load a new one on.

[Gorgon]

4 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

No back-up image that I can find.

      Startup Menu

[1]   Download Software
[2]   Erase Flash File
[3]   Password Recovery Procedure
[4]   Enter Diagnostic Mode
[5]   Set Terminal Baud-Rate
[6]   Stack menu
[7]   Back
 Enter your choice or press 'ESC' to exit:

Download Software brings up a prompt saying downloading using something called XMODEM but it fails.

Tried entering Diagnostic Mode but it states it will begin once the image loads. Which is no good here.

I'm worried to try Erase Flash File as I don't currently know how to load a new one on.

Erase Flash file just deletes the config found in Flash not the image. Hang on - let me look at the manual.

[Gorgon]

Yeah, it looks like the firmware is corrupted so you can't get in to the OS.

 

You'll need to use a serial connection running Xmodem to copy new firmware to the device.

 

Grab the firmware from Dell here then unzip the file and take a look at "Using XMODEM and the Startup Menu" in "Downloading the Software.pdf"

 

You should try setting the terminal Baud rate as fast as you can before attempting the Xmodem transfer as it WILL take hours.

 

It presumes you're using HyperTerm from Windoze. Otherwise you'd have to find a Xmodem app for Linux.

 

https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-networking-3/minicom-xmodem-643777/

 

https://linux.die.net/man/1/minicom

[Windows7ge]

3 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

It presumes you're using HyperTerm from Windoze. Otherwise you'd have to find a Xmodem app for Linux.

I have access to HyperTerm. Will see if I can get it going. I'll update you if I get anywhere with it.

[Gorgon]

10 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

I have access to HyperTerm. Will see if I can get it going. I'll update you if I get anywhere with it.

There's also a secret key combination <Ctrl>+<Shift>+6 to get an Advanced menu

 

See: https://www.dell.com/community/Networking-General/PowerConnect-3424P-firmware-upgrade-problem/td-p/3375605

 

You apparently have to make sure the boot code matches the sw version

[Windows7ge]

11 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

There's also a secret key combination <Ctrl>+<Shift>+6 to get an Advanced menu

 

See: https://www.dell.com/community/Networking-General/PowerConnect-3424P-firmware-upgrade-problem/td-p/3375605

 

You apparently have to make sure the boot code matches the sw version

It wants a password...

[Eschew]

On 5/1/2020 at 10:49 PM, Windows7ge said:

I have no reason to need to know but for shits'n'giggles who's bunkering what?

 

I'm on Javlin.

Gorgon's on Marathon

leadeater's on Marathon & Javlin?

 

Anyone else?

Now bunkering Rosetta@home (Marathon), NumberFields@home (Javelin), and Universe@home (City Run). (Shoutout to @Gorgon, thank you for the Idiot's Guide to Bunkering on BOINC!) Probably not the most efficient way of getting points, but I'm only rocking my one system (no VMs either), and I'll keep doing this until someone tells me to do otherwise. 

[Gorgon]

Just now, Windows7ge said:

It wants a password...

The switch or Dell's support site? If it's the switch just reset the passwords from the top menu

[Windows7ge]

26 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

The switch or Dell's support site? If it's the switch just reset the passwords from the top menu

On the Switch.

 

Little googling says the password is "ryan". It was. Based on what I see in this menu It looks like there is no backup image.

 

Having trouble with HyperTerm though. It will connect but it won't accept input. I have it working on PuTTY. Anyway to make XMODEM work through that?

 

Edit: Scratch that. Got it working in HT.

[Gorgon]

4 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

On the Switch.

 

Little googling says the password is "ryan". It was. Based on what I see in this menu It looks like there is no backup image.

 

Having trouble with HyperTerm though. It will connect but it won't accept input. I have it working on PuTTY. Anyway to make XMODEM work through that?

etraputty https://www.extraputty.com/features/xmodem.html

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, Gorgon said:

etraputty https://www.extraputty.com/features/xmodem.html

Sorry had a little update there:

Quote

Edit: Scratch that. Got it working in HT.

Before I push the update file could you clarify on this a bit?:

Quote

You apparently have to make sure the boot code matches the sw version

Does this mean it could brick the switch if I don't match this "boot code"?

[Gorgon]

14 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Sorry had a little update there:

Before I push the update file could you clarify on this a bit?:

Does this mean it could brick the switch if I don't match this "boot code"?

Not quite certain. I'm seeing conflicting information on the Dell support forms. Generally the rom or bootloader firmware gets updated less often and will work with a wider range of Switch firmware. Dell only shows the latest firmware on their support site for that switch.

 

I doubt you'd brick the switch. You just might have to upgrade to the included rom so it could boot.

 

Hang on - let me see if I can find a real answer ...

[Windows7ge]

3 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

Not quite certain. I'm seeing conflicting information on the Dell support forms. Generally the rom or bootloader firmware gets updated less often and will work with a wider range of Switch firmware. Dell only shows the latest firmware on their support site for that switch.

 

I doubt you'd brick the switch. You just might have to upgrade to the included rom so it could boot.

 

Hang on - let me see if I can find a real answer ...

In the meantime the switch has actually managed to boot. Albeit there's about 2 full pages of errors before the "console>" prompt. I wouldn't trust it to survive a reboot.

[Gorgon]

6 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

In the meantime the switch has actually managed to boot. Albeit there's about 2 full pages of errors before the "console>" prompt. I wouldn't trust it to survive a reboot.

If that's the case then if you can get in you could configure it to download the latest boot and firmware versions via tftp.

[Gorgon]

38 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Sorry had a little update there:

Before I push the update file could you clarify on this a bit?:

Does this mean it could brick the switch if I don't match this "boot code"?

The firmware is likely corrupt so worst case you'd be where you are already stuck in the boot rom if you Xmodem a newer firmware than the rom supports.

 

On the SW download the firmware is dated 2018 and the rom 2009

 

Now that your in what does "show bootvar" in enabled mode display?

[Windows7ge]

5 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

The firmware is likely corrupt so worst case you'd be where you are already stuck in the boot rom if you Xmodem a newer firmware than the rom supports.

 

On the SW download the firmware is dates 2018 and the rom 2009

 

Now that your in what does "show bootvar" in enabled mode display?

Image  Filename   Version     Date                    Status
-----  ---------  ---------   ---------------------   -----------
1      image-1    2.0.0.52    26-May-2013  17:10:29   Active*
2      image-2    2.0.0.52    26-May-2013  17:10:29   Not active

"*" designates that the image was selected for the next boot

 

[Gorgon]

Just now, Windows7ge said:

Image  Filename   Version     Date                    Status
-----  ---------  ---------   ---------------------   -----------
1      image-1    2.0.0.52    26-May-2013  17:10:29   Active*
2      image-2    2.0.0.52    26-May-2013  17:10:29   Not active

"*" designates that the image was selected for the next boot

 

You could try switching over to image-2 and try a "reload"

console# boot system image-2

reload

[Windows7ge]

4 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

You could try switching over to image-2 and try a "reload"

 

console# boot system image-2

reload

 

I was right when I said I didn't think it'd survive a reboot. Same error as before. Fails while decompressing.

 

The image name appears to follow the same structure as the image you had me download just ending in 68 instead of 52. It may be fine to run the firmware update.

[miker07]

Just an fyi I've go about 70 cores (140 threads) on marathon and  a few gpus (2 radeon vii's, 3 2080ti's, and a 2060 super) on javelin, and started bunkering today. Sounds like universe for city run runs significantly better on linux, so since mine are all windows I don't plan to run unless requested. With numberfields, it isn't pushing the gpus at all, does anyone know if there are config settings to fully utilize gpu's, or can it not push them? I know sometimes you can try running multiple tasks per gpu on some projects, but that isn't recommended on some gpu projects. Collatz likes 1 per gpu, while einstein and milkyway like multiple tasks per gpu. 

[Gorgon]

4 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

I was right when I said I didn't think it'd survive a reboot. Same error as before. Fails while decompressing.

 

The image name appears to follow the same structure as the image you had me download just ending in 68 instead of 52. It may be fine to run the firmware update.

It may seeing as the existing firmware is from 2013 and the rom from 2009.

 

The flash filesystem may be corrupt and require a reformat but try the new firmware first.

 

Even if the Flash FS has errors as long as the RAM is OK you could still setup a TFTP server on your network and configure the switch to load the firmware and config from that on boot. If the RAM has errors and it's not socketed your SOL

 

I've seen a couple of posts wheer they recommend using 38,400 as the terminal speed so the UART may not support 115,200 but you'll definitely want to take the time to get the serial connection running as fast as possible as the firmware's about 5MB

[Windows7ge]

2 minutes ago, Gorgon said:

It may seeing as the existing firmware is from 2013 and the rom from 2009.

 

The flash filesystem may be corrupt and require a reformat but try the new firmware first.

 

Even if the Flash FS has errors as long as the RAM is OK you could still setup a TFTP server on your network and configure the switch to load the firmware and config from that on boot. If the RAM has errors and it's not socketed your SOL

I already had the whole thing apart while dusting it out. The RAM isn't socketed.

 

If it ever boots again I'll consider a tftp server. For now I'll try the firmware update and see if that gets me anywhere.