Cisco 3640 problem

slinky malinky · 16 Sep 2006 at 11:30

I have a customers 3640 that i am trying to reconfigure but i cannot get anything but starnge characters from the console connection. i am using, 9600,8,none,2, no flow control. i have tried 1 stop bits but there is no difference. I cannot telent into it as it is a second hand router and the config is unknown. It appears to have booted ok as the lights do not indicate any problem.

I know my cable works and i know the pc is ok because i have just used it to configure a PIX and 2503 router.

Any help would be appreciated.

bigredshark · 16 Sep 2006 at 11:37

Well, I'd have to say it sounds like an issue with the terminal software, there are no specific settings to the 3640. When you boot it, does all the test appear fine? can you get sensical commands into it in password recovery mode??

Ricochet J · 16 Sep 2006 at 12:06

Perhaps you can do something when the router is loading.
In Hyperterminal (for Windows) press Ctrl + Pause/Break and it should stop loading and leave you with a ">" or a name then >, like "name>". Within this you can configure any failed startup items like lost passwords, broken IOS image files etc. It might work in your case.

bigredshark · 16 Sep 2006 at 12:09

eXSBass said:
Perhaps you can do something when the router is loading.
In Hyperterminal (for Windows) press Ctrl + Pause/Break and it should stop loading and leave you with a ">" or a name then >, like "name>". Within this you can configure any failed startup items like lost passwords, broken IOS image files etc. It might work in your case.

I'm not sure it's ctrl-break on a 3640 but there will be a way, thats why i asked about password recovery mode...

slinky malinky · 16 Sep 2006 at 12:11

terminal software is fine, all that gets displayed is about 5 lines of random characters, as if its loading ok, but just displaying correctly. i get no login or > prompt.

bigredshark · 16 Sep 2006 at 12:16

umm, well, you'll get a fair bit of recognisable text if you connect the console before you apply power, if you don't get this then I'd say either you have a problem with the terminal config/console cable or something about the router is shafted

V-Spec · 16 Sep 2006 at 14:06

I use teraterm for all my console stuff... give it a try as I have had problems with hyperterminal in the past...
If you don't see post screen then it probably is screwed. about 10 seconds after boot send the break command and see if you can get into rommon mode.. if you can't I'd say it was broken.

R4z0r · 16 Sep 2006 at 18:53

V-Spec said:
I use teraterm for all my console stuff... give it a try as I have had problems with hyperterminal in the past...
If you don't see post screen then it probably is screwed. about 10 seconds after boot send the break command and see if you can get into rommon mode.. if you can't I'd say it was broken.

I'll echo this, Hyperterminal is a horrible program, TeraTerm is far superior

BTW, break sequence in TerraTerm is Alt-B.

Curiosityx · 16 Sep 2006 at 20:02

Tried a different console cable? Do you have access to a similar router to swap the boot rom with?

slinky malinky · 16 Sep 2006 at 20:55

just to be sure i will try terraterm, but i think the router must be faulty. i have tried 3 console cables, all work on other routers and PIX's. It is annoying because i know it was working when i bought it but it has been sat in a room for 6 months, doing nothing, and when i come to use it i get the problem. frustrating to say the least. thanks for all you suggestions.

Sone · 17 Sep 2006 at 13:47

this may be a stupid answer, but could they of setup the console port as a modem port?

V-Spec · 17 Sep 2006 at 18:24

Sone said:
this may be a stupid answer, but could they of setup the console port as a modem port?

On the front of a 3640 you get both the console port and the aux port,,,, if he'd plugged into the aux port he would be getting loads of gibberish... you can connect a modem to both the aux and the console port, but it has to be setup correctly... its possible someone has done this.. but usually its the aux port which is used for backup/reverse telnet..