[j-nsp] SRX550 Memory upgrade

[Chris Cappuccio]

Chris Cappuccio [chris at nmedia.net] wrote:
> Travers Stark [travers at starkie.net] wrote:
> > HI,
> > 
> > Just seeing if anyone has upgraded a SRX550 to 4Gb?
> > 
> > I know they have  a 4gb version now and was hoping we could upgrade the older versions.
> > 
> 
> This guy appears to have made it work
> 
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/Juniper-SRX550-Security-Gateway-Junos-18-1R1-9-8GB-CF-4GB-MEMORY/123422583345?hash=item1cbc8f2a31:g:nicAAOSwnHda-J7n:rk:35:pf:0
> 
> Does anyone know what RAM and CF are compatible?

To answer my own question on the SRX550 "HM" upgrade:

RAM: 

The ATP XQ13D8E2GM-K-JP 2GB DDR3-1333 RAM stick works fine, just add
a second one for 4GB system memory.

Alternately, using two Micron MT9KSF25672AZ-1G4D1ZE 2GB DDR3-1333 sticks
works well, too.

Maybe any ECC DDR3-1333 will work fine.

I had errors mixing ATP and Micron sticks in the same chassis under JunOS 12
so I didn't attempt to go further. (It may be JunOS 12 does something wrong
when there is 4GB total memory, not a problem combining the two sticks, but
I didn't test 4GB further under JunOS 12, nor did I text mixed sticks under
15-18)

Compact Flash:

Go for ATP 8GB SLC flash, or Wintec 8GB UDMA/66 Industrial Temp flash.
Any flash limited to UDMA4 (UDMA66) will probably work.

The Wintec flash that isn't labeled as UDMA66 is UDMA100. UDMA100 stops
working between JunOS 12 and JunOS 15. All of the SiliconPower 8GB SLC
easily available is UDMA100. The Transcend 8GB SLC? That's UDMA100, too.

The 2GB Wintec flash that Juniper provides under JunOS 12 doesn't work with
JunOS 15-18 at all. It's UDMA100 too.

Most UDMA100 modules under Junos 15-18 produce intermittent DMA errors at
random blocks. The Transcend UDMA100 always errors on block 0. I don't know
what the actual failure is. Juniper certainly didn't make it easy. They
could possibly fix the bugs at the OS level, or mask them over by disabling
UDMA100 at the bootloader. I even tried upgrading u-boot to the version from 
JunOS 18, but the box just sat there and eventually started up with the
original uboot. Saved by dual flash banks?

The UDMA100 modules that don't work under JunOS 15-18 do work under JunOS 12,
with the exception of Silicon Power 8GB SLC CF, which didn't work any version.
So, on the don't try SLC CF list: Silicon Power CF-I20, Wintec UDMA100,
Transcend CF220-I.

As a side note, this platform also has a tray with screw holes and SATA
connector that would work for a 2.5" SSD or HDD. However, u-boot won't
boot up if the CF slot is not occupied. I suspect that can be tweaked if
you wanted to run OpenBSD, FreeBSD or Linux on an Octeon based SRX.

Chris