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Netinstall Nightmare

Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:32 pm
by jdarden
Hi,

I was trying to upgrade my RB112 from 2.9.29 to 2.9.32 using WinBox. This is something I've done hundreds of times. Unfortunately, this time, the power went down during the upgrade. I'm now trying to use Netinstall to set everthing back up. Here's what I get from the console:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
RouterBOOT booter 2.1

RouterBoard 112

CPU frequency: 175 MHz
Memory size: 16 MB

Press any key within 5 seconds to enter setup.....
trying bootp protocol... OK
Got IP address: 10.10.10.5
resolved mac address 00:01:4A:CA:4A:B2
transfer started .................. transfer ok, time=2.16s
setting up elf image... OK
jumping to kernel code
Welcome to MikroTik Router Software remote installation
Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to abort

mac-address: 00:0C:42:08:A7:E6
software-id: M5AG-3TT key:
*****

Waiting for installation server...
Found server at 00:01:4A:CA:4A:B2

Formatting disk..........

FATAL ERROR: bad network connection
Press ENTER to reboot
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I've tried this with several different cables (crossovers, switches, etc.). On the Netinstal side, it shows that it's starting to transfer the "system" package, then it fails. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. I've been working on this for a couple of days with no luck.

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 6:26 am
by GotNet
Have not had that happen. Yet. :)

Things to try:
Format NAND - maybe the flash is corrupt.
Force the PC Eth to 10 / half - the 112 has an auto neg/auto MDX.
Maybe bad package?

I do lots of these too. Let us know what works...

Mike

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 5:52 pm
by jdarden
Thanks for the suggestiion. I've formatted NAND. I've tried 10/Half, 10/Full, 100/Half, 100/Full. I just downloaded the latest version of Netinstall (2.9.33). Each time I do it I get the same results. Very strange.

Is there a way to install the packages over the serial cable?

Thanks again,

Jim

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 10:54 am
by jscoulter
I cant say I had any success with NetInstall. I was doing it from PC to PC, as the second PC was going to be running Router OS. In the end I gave up and just put in a CDROM and did it off a boot disk,

BTW, I was gettig the same error, AND I was installing onto a harddrive not a flash card, so, like I say I just installed of a CD.

JEREMY

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:16 pm
by GotNet
Well, at least you didn't lose the board. Seems many have problems with Netinstall. I've been lucky I guess. Just like WinBox there is no changelog or version tracking for this utility. Hard to tell when to upgrade the tool or just the packages.

Mike

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:11 pm
by raymonvdm

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:19 pm
by jdarden
Ya, I've had no luck with it. I'm resigned to just return/replace it. There must be something hosed with the board. If anyone figures this out, let me know.

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:09 pm
by GotNet
I just messed up (kernal not found) a 112 doing an upgrade over a poor wireless link. Downloading a new netinstall now...

...and this one won't net boot. Looks like I've trashed one too! Zero packets out of the ethernet port.

Mike

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 12:00 am
by GotNet
And the last entry -

Use option "R" reset configuration. Saved two hosed RBs!

Mike

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:01 am
by jdarden
Okay, this is nuts. I just ran Netinstall on my Ubuntu box using Wine. It worked! Here's something else; I don't think this is what solved the problem.

I did something different this time with the IP addresses. Before, I was using the same IP address for both the Net Boot IP address (that funny dialog box with the ip address and the check box) and the IP address that would be sent to the RB112 (on the right side of the screen next to the gateway and baud rate setting). I think that was causing the network problem, am I right? Those two IP addresses needed to be different? I'm not positive about this and I'm not going to try to test it. I've spent way too much time with this thing and I don't want to mess with it anymore. It works now and I'm done fiddling with it! Thanks for all the responses guys.

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:22 am
by sergejs
jdarden, yes you are correct.
Next time if you will need to use netinstall,
IP addresses should be different on workstation and client IP in Netinstall configuration, as it described here,
http://www.mikrotik.com/docs/ros/2.9/gu ... 6657223797

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:27 pm
by jdarden
Thanks, that's clear now. However, in my defense, this is not at all clear in the documentation you reference. From my perspective it makes total sense for these IP addresses to be the same. It's also not obvious there would be a conflict during the Netinstall installation. I would assume the permanent IP would be assigned after the installation/reboot as is stated in the documentation, "IP address/mask - address with subnet mask that will be assigned to ether1 interface AFTER the packages are installed." I saw the conflict before the packages even finished transfering. Anyway, I do appreciate all the responses and I hope this thread can help some other newbie like me.