AP8830 Stuck on "Network Management Card Restarting..."

[rbartholemy]

Howdy,

My colleague was setting static IPs on our APC PDUs for management purposes, and one went sideways on him. It got assigned an IP in our DHCP range and the management GUI was unreachable from the browser. Seemed easy enough to reset the management card, so I went on-site and did so. It rebooted the card successfully a few times, but the GUI was still not reachable. After the last reset attempt (using a paperclip in the reset port on the device), it never appeared to successfully reset again. The display on the unit is lit constantly and displays “Network Management Card Restarting…”. The menu buttons have no functionality.

I was able to connect a serial cable and interact with it through an SSH connection. I even was able to change the IP address to our desired static IP, but the reboot commands do nothing and the GUI is still unreachable.

It’s pretty much exactly this issue. This post did not receive a community response. https://community.se.com/t5/APC-UPS-Data-Center-Enterprise/Metered-PDU-AP8953-stuck-on-NMC-boot/td-p...

Anything I can do?

[Teken]

Please review this APC FAQ as it relates to upgrading the firmware. Along with the steps to reset the unit to a factory state:

https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA237061/

[rbartholemy]

Thanks for this. My firmware version is beyond the affected and remediated versions. Should I just issue a factory reset command then?

[Teken]

Yes, and let us know the results. 👍

[rbartholemy]

Howdy. I was on-site yesterday but got a little caught up on the tasks. I'm assuming I'm starting from loading to BootMonitor mode, but I'd like to clarify that process. My questions in bold:

1. Select a serial port at the local computer and disable any service that uses the port.

2. Connect the 940-0144 serial configuration cable to the selected port and to the RJ-12 serial port at the Rack PDU.

3. Run a terminal program such as HyperTerminal, and configure the selected port for: 57600 bps, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, and no flow control. I assume I log into the PDU at this time as well?

4. Press the Reset button on the Rack PDU display (using a paperclip or similar), and then immediately press the Enter key 5-7 times rapidly, or until the BootMonitor prompt displays the following: To confirm: I reset the PDU NMC and then, from my logged in Putty session, press the Enter key rapidly?

Rhodes BootMonitor
BM>

Thanks, and sorry for the confusion.

[Teken]

Yes, to both questions you posed keeping in mind the following caveat from the APC FAQ.

Note: If this does not work, you may need to try to reboot the PDU's management interface by pressing Reset again to get the timing right. Perhaps start pressing Enter before you press the reset button and continue to while you press the pinhole reset button.

Furthermore, if using HyperTerminal, try configuring the port settings, going to Call->Disconnect menu then to File->Properties press the Configure button on that screen and OK to confirm the correct settings. Press OK on the remaining dialog boxes and try the process again.

[rbartholemy]

Thanks. I was able to log into the BootMonitor and pass a factory_reset command, and it indeed factory reset the device, but the physical display is still stuck on "Network Management Card Restarting". 

I can set the IP and run other commands through the serial connection still, and have done so. Instead of the browser being unable to connect to the console, I get the attached now. I haven't reinstalled the firmware yet so I'm supposing that'll help me access the interface, but still have some pause about the display not allowing me to interact with it. 

[Teken]

Please try and issue the format command to see how the unit behaves. Once the format process has completed. Cold boot the PDU by removing AC Mains and waiting ten seconds than reconnecting AC Mains.

Let me know what happens . . . 👍