I just tried that, and I get nothing -- Still the blank white screen with a blinking cursor.
Any other ideas?
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Attempting to Connect to Cisco 2610 Router via Console Port w/ Hyperterminal
I've got a DB9 - RJ45 cable connected to my PC.
I've got hypterminal, and I've setup a new connection with 9600 baud, 8 data bits, 0 parity, and 1 stop bit.
I've tried with and without flow control.
The router is already running when I try the connection.
Any tips on making this work? All I see is a white screen with a blinking black cursor.
Do I have to reboot the router while I'm connected?
Thanks
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Answers
Do you have one end of a flat blue Cisco console cable plugged into the
port on the router that has a blue [Console] label by it,
and the other end of that cable plugged into the DE-9 connector attached to your PC?
9600 baud is the proper _default_ baud setting.
IF someone else configured the device, they may have changed
the baud rate on the console port from the default of 9600 to something else.
It's also possible that the router is failing to boot.
Assuming the router is not attached to a production network
on which it's operating: try powering down the router and power it
back up, _while_ the console cable is plugged in and hyperterminal is
already running.
Then you can see if there are any console boot messages or if there
is any output at all.
Perhaps there is a problem with the console, DE-9 connector, or
your computer's serial port.
Perhaps you have selected the wrong COM port in hyperterminal --
maybe you need to select COM2 or COM3 instead of COM1, or perhaps
you need to select COM1 instead of COM2 or COM3.
"Do you have one end of a flat blue Cisco console cable plugged into the
port on the router that has a blue [Console] label by it,
and the other end of that cable plugged into the DE-9 connector attached to your PC?"
I have another cable that is RJ45 -> DB9 -- I was digging around in the server closet and found it. I also found a DB9 --> Rj45 Adapter which I would assume some sort of patch cable plugs into from the console port of the router, but I don't know which cord. I suppose I could try several. I figured the RJ45 -> DB9 Cable would be adequate though, perhaps I was wrong.
"9600 baud is the proper _default_ baud setting.
IF someone else configured the device, they may have changed
the baud rate on the console port from the default of 9600 to something else."
I tried every setting from 1200 to 9600, both on com1 and com2 -- and I tried "xon xoff" and "off" or maybe "none" on whatever setting where hardware was an option -- I tried all combinations of what i just mentioned (I believe that makes 16 attempts)
"It's also possible that the router is failing to boot."
True but it's a production router for the phone system and the phone system is still working, so I think it's working.
"Assuming the router is not attached to a production network
on which it's operating: try powering down the router and power it
back up, _while_ the console cable is plugged in and hyperterminal is
already running.
Then you can see if there are any console boot messages or if there
is any output at all."
I can do this, but I have to go in after hours. is this worth trying? I'm afraid of screwing things up. I can't backup the config because I can't connect to the router.
Perhaps there is a problem with the console, DE-9 connector, or
your computer's serial port.
All possibilities - I could try the other serial port, but under device manager it seems to be enabled properly.
Perhaps you have selected the wrong COM port in hyperterminal --
maybe you need to select COM2 or COM3 instead of COM1, or perhaps
you need to select COM1 instead of COM2 or COM3."
There's only com1 and com2 available, and I tried 16 combinations, 8 for each com.
If you sure , that you was using right cable, and tryed diffrent speed/ COM ports settings, and still no luck, - considere to reset switch to default.
I don't think I should do this, because this router was configured 4 years ago by somebody - we have no idea who, and a 50 phone live phone system depends on this router working. Maybe if I can backup the config, I'd do this - but I'd have to connect to the router first to be able to back it up.
"Do you have multiple serial ports
on your computer?"
Yes, 2 - tried 8 combinations of settings in hyperterminal for each port.
"If the console line is not configured with 'login' and 'password xxx' commands, you may not be able to access the router via console. You may have to try a password recovery procedure to bypass the start-up config and change the configuration."
I'm a little confused by this -- surely nobody would have configured the router to disallow console access right?
The router is plugged into a switch, can I just plug an ethernet patch cable into the switch to connect to the router?
The switch I can connect to - It's a 3550 cisco switch if I remember right. It has IOS 12.1 of some sort.
when i do a "sh ip route" it shows a certain IP address as the gateway, which I assume can only be the router.
I am unable to telnet to this address from what I think is either VLAN on the switch ( i can be wrong on this ).
When I'm on a server that can ping the IP address of what I believe to be the router, when I try to telnet, it rejects a connection on port 23. That's why I'm trying this direct connection.
Any ideas?
Thanks very much for your time.
In the absence of any new ideas, I will try the other DB9 --> RJ45 + various adapters to see if they work better.
I saw a diagram some place that showed which RJ45 --> RJ45 cord to use in this scenario, It was either a standard one or the light blue one.
Either way, I doubt this will fix it, because this DB9 --> RJ45 once-piece cord seems to be an old cisco cord made for this purpose.
Any Ideas? Thanks
Have you tried using SSH instead of telnet? It could be that when this was configured they disabled telnet.
Also to see if your hyperterminal connection us setup properly and you are using the correct cable (blue ribbon cable), can you try accessing the switch via console? If that works you can then rule out incorrect cable / hyperterm settings.
> can do this, but I have to go in after hours. is this worth trying?
That should let you know if the baud rate was changed, because it will boot at the default of 9600 and then change once it's booted... during the time it's at 9600 you should see the boot info ouput scroll onto the screen. If it's lasted 4+ years I doubt it's got the running config NOT backed up to the saved config. Oh, and the main reason to change the baud rate from the default would be to make it faster (19200, 38400, et cetera)... I have never seen one set slower than default.
If you figured IP of the router, then you'll see output in IE , using this ip - http://x.x.x.x
Personally I would reset it ti default , not to wory to much.
"Have you tried using SSH instead of telnet? It could be that when this was configured they disabled telnet. "
I can try this -- If I connect to my switch via telnet, could I use the IOS on that switch to SSH to the router perhaps? I don't think there's a ssh client on any of the servers in the system. I could boot my laptop with Linux and connect to a switch I guess!
Also to see if your hyperterminal connection us setup properly and you are using the correct cable (blue ribbon cable), can you try accessing the switch via console? If that works you can then rule out incorrect cable / hyperterm settings."
That is a brilliant idea! Thank you!
"That should let you know if the baud rate was changed, because it will boot at the default of 9600 and then change once it's booted... during the time it's at 9600 you should see the boot info ouput scroll onto the screen. If it's lasted 4+ years I doubt it's got the running config NOT backed up to the saved config. Oh, and the main reason to change the baud rate from the default would be to make it faster (19200, 38400, et cetera)... I have never seen one set slower than default."
Good point -- Do i have to hit a key or anything while the thing is booting, or should stuff just scroll by on the hyperterminal?
"If you figured IP of the router, then you'll see output in IE , using this ip - http://x.x.x.x
Personally I would reset it ti default , not to worry to much."
It didn't occur to me to try to connect to the router via http, I will try that to see what happens.
"If the router is connected to the switch that you were able to login to I would do a "show cdp neighbors detail". This will give you a listing of each directly connected cisco device and what it is reporting as it's IP."
show cdp is not available on the switch IOS 12.1 -- However, "sh ip route" works and it shows a gateway IP address - one which I can ping on most systems but which will not accept telnet sessions.
you may or may not be able to SSH directly from the switch. You can try the following command:
ssh -v 2 -l username router_ip
I would highly recommend downloading the free tool called putty. It is a great desktop SSH client and you will be able to use that to connect via SSH (or telnet) to any devices.You can get it here: http://www.chiark.greenend
Also, let me know the result of trying to console directly into the switch using hyperterminal. If it doesn't work, all signs would point to the cable. I am attaching a picture of the blue rollover cable that comes with cisco routers for this task.
- newerconsolecable-2-.jpg
- 21 KB
Cisco Rollover Cable
I had success!
1. I tried a different cable (didn't work)
2. I tried a ssh connection with putty (didn't work)
3. Tried two different cables to connect to switch (didn't work). This made me think serial ports weren't operating correctly, despite the fact that everything looked OK in the device manager.
4. I bought a USB -> Serial adapter. Connected it to my laptop and the other end in the console port of the router with the default 9600 / no flow control settings. After hitting enter a few times it worked (with hyperterminal)
Also complicating the factor -- The first RJ45 -> DB9 cable that I used (straight out of a cisco box) didn't work - It was either bad or the wrong kind. Fortunately, I found another DB9 -> RJ45 adapter and corresponding RJ45 -> RJ45 flat-light-blue cable and this cable worked.
What a relief!
I owe everybody here a big thank you... you all went above and beyond to help me and it is very much appreciated.
Glad to hear you got it working.
Here are a couple links that might come in handy in the future...
Cisco console settings and cables for routers
http://www.cisco.com/en/US
Cisco console settings and cables for switches
http://www.cisco.com/en/US
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by: donmanrobbPosted on 2008-09-10 at 19:15:48ID: 22445340
Have you tried pressing enter a few times once you connected?