[j-nsp] JUNOS upgrade 7.0R2.7->7.3R2.9 failed on M5

[Richard A Steenbergen]

On Fri, Oct 14, 2005 at 03:06:48PM +0100, dmitri at nominet.org.uk wrote:
> Thanks everyone for help. The internal flash card has now failed 
> completely:
> 
> fer-gw> request system snapshot partition
> Performing preliminary partition checks ...
> Partitioning ad0 ...
> ad0c: hard error reading fsbn 34 of 0-15 (ad0 bn 34; cn 0 tn 1 sn 2) 
> status=59 error=40
> error: partdrive: could not write a clean disklabel on ad0c
> 
> And after reboot:
> 
> ...
> ad0: not attached, missing in Boot List
> ...

It's supposed to do that. If there are errors on the drive, it will be 
automagically removed from the boot list. This means that not only will it 
not be considered for booting, it won't even be detected by the OS. If the 
drive is bad, the goal is to make the drive disappear completely so that 
it will be able to boot off the backup drive properly.

If you want to put it back, do:

sysctl -w machdep.bootdevs=pcmcia-flash,compact-flash,disk,lan

(you can also do it via bios, if you like 9600 ansi screen draws :P)

> ref-gw> request system snapshot partition
> Snapshot requires two pieces of storage media.
> error: Flash disk not present or readable.  Snapshot aborted.
> 
> This Juniper M5 has RE-333 Routing engine. Is flash card in it 
> replaceable? I can't
> find it anywhere on the board.

It is upside down, under a couple of boards, so it isn't obviously visible 
from the outside. You need to remove the white plastic sheet covering on 
the bottom, and unscrew the board with the hard-drive on it. It is 
connected to the bottom via several points, as well as to the silver 
faceplate, the easiest method for this operation is to unscrew the 1 
connection from the silver faceplate rather than unscrewing the whole 
silver faceplate from the lower board. Left the board with the hard-drive, 
and it will expose a smaller upside-down board near the center of the 
entire RE with a couple of small plasic screws. Remove the screws and pull 
this board off, and you will see the compact flash. Just pull and replace 
it, then put the whole thing back together. Sorry I don't have pictures, 
I'll get around to taking some eventually, but if you can work a screw 
driver this is a pretty easy fix.

Disclaimer: Don't do this if you value your warranty or support contracts, 
and if you screw it up then call JTAC for support and claim some guy over 
the Internet told you to unscrew your RE I will find you and smack you 
personally.

-- 
Richard A Steenbergen <ras at e-gerbil.net>       http://www.e-gerbil.net/ras
GPG Key ID: 0xF8B12CBC (7535 7F59 8204 ED1F CC1C 53AF 4C41 5ECA F8B1 2CBC)