NMC 2 AP9630 upgrade failure

[gpfr]

Hello

I downloaded apc_hw05_aos708_sumx708_bootmon109.exe, started it, filled in the SmartUPS X2200 address and user info, clicked Start Upgrade, after about one minute displayed failure 'Unable to update device ...(ip address) .. with Boot Monitor, stopping all further processes...'. Tried again, this time failed immediately with 'Firmware distribution does not match target platform...'

Web interface is then dead (worked fine before) - just displays 'The application was not able to load'.

Connecting through SSH, about command shows 'Application module invalid module header'

listing with dir command shows that the SUM file has disappeared (the config.ini as well).

How to come out of this problem ? I'd happily ignore the update and upload again the 6.21 sum that was here before, but I can't download it from the APC site.

Thanks.

[JonPro]

Hi @gpfr,

Thank you for reaching out to the SE Community, my name is Jon and I will assist you with this query. I am sorry to hear about the issue that you had during the firmware upgrade of the network management card (NMC).

I would recommend following the firmware recovery procedure outlined in the FAQ article provided below.

Video: Using Network Management Card 2 (NMC2) bootmonitor to recover/upgrade firmware 

[gpfr]

Hello @JonPro 

Thanks for your prompt reply.

While this could probably solve the problem, it has a not insignificant cost for us because it would mean that I have to go onsite for the SmartUPS, and (probably) also for the second SmartUPS that I want to upgrade. This will cost us one day of work because the sites are not near, that we will have difficulty to get paid for by the customer, since it's the result of an issue in the NMC or upgrade software.

Given that we have still connection to the UPS through SSH, is there no way to correct the problem remotely ? and as the remaining UPS that is still not touched and is then still fully functional, can we have a working upgrade done remotely (both Smart UPS are in different sites) ? The remaining and still fully working UPS is at  Bios1.02, the one with this upgrade problem is at 1.08.

[JonPro]

@gpfr 

If you can assist your customer in connecting the serial cable to the NMC and to a PC with TeraTerm installed, you can remotely do the procedure.  I was able to do this method with our customers.

You can also try reflashing the firmware using the FTP method as outlined in the FAQ article provided below.

Video: How do I upgrade the firmware on an APC Network Management Card (NMC) or NMC embedded device ... 

[Delphis1982 · Accepted solution]

OK, I know, it's a quiet old thread, but it regards this topic directly and I found my answer for axactly THIS question.

For all those trying to upgrade their firmware and failing for it...

It seems really to be the wrong files.

Free for download i found only the files for the symmetra *peeep* but not for the Smart UPS ones.

The latest firmware for AP9630/AP9631 inside a Smart-UPS is 7.1.6

I've been stuck always updating the bootmon file.

I could get it revived by uploading the AOS and the APP file, but the bootmon fails

and if I upload it, the NMC restarts and the bootmon disappears completely.

So finally I found the correct firmware for the NMC inside an Smart-UPS.

THIS one simply open the updater and let it do the magic and be happy.

All other updaters found failed, but this one worked.

If you mistrust the exe, upload the files via FTP manually in THIS order:
1: BOOTMON

2: AOS

3: SUMX

Have a nice day.

David

[gpfr]

Thanks David, it helped.

I tried the update with the updater and it failed like before, then I tried to upload like you advised using latest Winscp version (6.3) and FTP protocol, after uploading bootmon I for the first time had a connection loss as said in the official procedure, then reconnecting with ssh and using the 'system' command the bootmon version was finally to 1.09, then I could upload the remaining 2 files and it was working finally.

[jflad17]

Thank you! I tried 4 different downloads, one actually the same name and it didn't want to work, but this one did work to upgrade the NMC 2 I just bought for my SMT1500RM2.

[prunyan59]

David's steps also worked for me.   I also used WinSCP to send the files over FTP to the AP9630 card, in exactly the order described.  It's a bit scary when doing this remotely, as the card does stop responding on the network the second the BOOTMON file is uploaded to it.  (In my case, BOOTMON was missing entirely).   The card also reboots for each subsequent file you upload.    After upgrading to version 716, I tried the regular firmware GUI to upgrade to version 718.   This also failed via the GUI, but I simply uploaded the AOS and SUMX files for version 718 in that order, and it worked again as expected.  (No need to upload the BOOTMON file again for version 718.   It uses the same BOOTMON file that 716 uses.

[TechEngineer]

I have given up, half of my NMC2 cards will fail to update and soft-brick. I use the exact same procedure each time, some will update and some won't over Ethernet. The only method that worked for me every time, is the USB stick method, which unfortunately means you have to go on-site.

[NoahD]

This was the fix for me as well.  I originally upgraded to 7.20 and the application would no longer work.  I've tried different ways.  So I downloaded 7.16 and manually copied the files one by one in that order via FTP to the root folder.    It rebooted and then it started working with 7.16.  I then did the upgrade to 7.20 again and this time it upgraded without issues.  Odd.   Same 7.20 I used on another management card of the same model and hardware version.  Just strange. 

[NoahD]

Least with the USB method it would bypass all the hurdles I had to deal with in making the upgrade work properly every time. 

[prunyan59]

I also found that while I lost contact with the UPS and it quit responding on the network as a result of the standard firmware upgrade method, if you manually reset the network card using the button, it boots normally becomes available again WITH THE NEW FIRMWARE installed.    Now, you need to have DHCP reservations in place for your UPS network card so it comes back on the network with the right IP address after the network card has been reset using the reset button on the card.   And yeah, you'll have to go onsite or walk someone else with a paper clip through pressing the network card reset button.   And you'll have to reconfigure the card from scratch.  But what this behavior tells me is that the standard firmware upgrade method works, but for some reason the old configuration isn't loading with the new firmware.