Upgrading PIM FPGA firmware on 8630GBR

Michael McNamara — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:00:17 +0000

You’ve just installed a 8630GBR into your Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 and you observe the following on the serial console;

CPU5 [08/04/09 11:54:53] SW INFO R-Module inserted: Slot=7 Type=8630GBR, waiting to bootup...
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:54:59] SW INFO Slot  7: Loading /flash/p80j4130.dld
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:55:34] SW INFO Slot  7: Restart new image version 4.1.3.0/012
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:55:44] SW INFO Slot  7: Loading /flash/p80j4130.dld
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:55:54] SW INFO Slot  7: Starting software version 4.1.3.0
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:56:02] SW INFO slot 7 found NP heartbeat - R-Module is online
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:56:02] SW WARNING Slot 7 is running older software version(s) of FPGA. Please upgrade to the latest version(s)
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:56:02] SW WARNING PIM FPGA current revision:257. Upgrade to the latest revision: 769
CPU5 [08/04/09 11:56:02] HW INFO Initializing 8630GBR in slot #7 ...

I’ve come across this problem quite a bit lately as we’ve been removing some of our legacy 8608GBE and 8616SXE modules and replacing them with 8630GBRs. Each time I’ve found myself digging around looking for the command to upgrade the PIM FPGA firmware so I thought this would be a great place to document the process and procedure. The update can be very processor intensive so I would advise that you perform it from the serial console if at all possible or during non-peak hours. You’ll need to upload the firmware images to either the PCMCIA card or the FLASH memory.

ERS-8610:5# config diag fpga pim update 7 /flash/PI_769.xsvf

In the command above I’m upgrading the PIM FPGA of the 8630GBR in slot 7 using the file /flash/PI_769.xsvf. Here’s the output you should expect to see;

ERS-8610:5# config diag fpga pim update 7 /flash/PI_769.xsvf

Found /flash/PI_769.xsvf

WARNING: Starting the FPGA update process. DO NOT reset the card or  box during
this process. Please wait for FPGA UPDATE SUCCESS message. (Command prompt will
be returned but update process will take several minutes)
This Message will get appended to the log file upon completion of the update.
The command prompt will return after the upgrade is complete.

ERS-8610:5#CPU 5 [08/04/09 12:16:18] COP-SW INFO Slot 7:
FPGA UPDATE SUCCESS.

Once the upgrade is complete you’ll need to either restart your entire switch (not advisable) or just reset the 8630GBR card. The easiest way to reset a card is to just physical remove it from the chassis and then re-insert it again after a few seconds.

Cheers!