Release Notes: Equinox ESP Serial Hub Flash Components
This document provides installation instructions and release notes for the flash components within the Equinox branded ESP Serial hubs. Note that these download images cannot be used on Avocent branded ESP serial hubs.
Models
The following Equinox branded ESP serial hub models are supported:
- Standard ESP-8 and ESP-16
- 10/100 ESP-8 and ESP-16
- ESP-8 MI
Changes in this Release
Changes in embedded application between releases 3.04 and 3.05d:
1. The ESP has been corrected to operate serial ports correctly at 2400 baud. When running the datascope in EquiView Plus, the ESP will now forward data within 10 seconds of the first write to the file after it is created. It does not affect operation of the maximum size or the inter-character forward timeout. However, it corrects a problem where the maximum size is large and characters are arriving regularly enough so that the inter-character timer never expires. Previously, no data would be forwarded in this case until the maximum file size was reached. Now, the data will be forwarded at least every 10 seconds.
2. Upon loss of Ethernet LINK, a UDP timeout will be declared on all active TCP connections for which the UDP timeout is declared to be 4 seconds. The customer MUST set the HeartBeatTimeout to 4 to activate this feature.
3. The time to notice a UDP timeout has been reduced. In previous versions, it may have taken as long as 5 seconds, regardless of the frequency and timeout settings provided by the TCP host that connected.
4. When a UDP Heartbeat timeout occurs, the ESP will now drop the DTR and RTS control signals on every open serial port.
Flash Image Preparation On Windows Systems
The following are the steps to prepare the images for installation on Windows systems:
- Download the archive file from the web-site.
- Unzip the archive file.
- If you are using the Equinox TFTP service, copy the flash images (.img files) to the c:\%WINDIR%\system32\drivers directory. This is the root TFTP directory used by the Equinox TFTP service.
- If you plan to use a TFTP service other than the Equinox provided service, then it will be necessary to manually copy the flash image files to the appropriate TFTP transfer directory.
- Ensure that the TFTP service is properly installed and enabled.
- After installation, the temporary directory and its contents may be removed.
Flash Image Preparation On Unix Systems
The following are the steps to prepare the images for installation on Unix systems:
- Download the archive file from the web-site.
- Unzip the archive file.
- Copy the flash images (.img files) to the /etc/eqnx directory.
- If the TFTP root directory is not “/”, copy the flash images (.img files) to TFTPROOT/etc/eqnx. Note that typically TFTPROOT = /tftpboot.
- Ensure that the TFTP service is properly installed and enabled. Refer to “Enabling TFTPD on Unix Systems” within this document.
- After installation, the images may be removed.
Updating Flash
The flash images within the ESP can be updated by:
- using EquiView Plus (windows systems only).
- using espcfg utility (unix systems only).
Flash Image Update Using Device Manager (Windows 2K and above)
- Download the archive file from the web-site.
- Unzip the archive file.
- If you are using the Equinox TFTP service, copy the flash images (.img files) to the c:\%WINDIR%\system32\drivers directory. This is the root TFTP directory used by the Equinox TFTP service. Note you can use a different subdirectory if you wish. This is directory you will use in step 11 below.
- Open up Device Manager.
- Double click on the Avocent Ethernet Serial Provider.
- Click on the ESP properpty page tab. Make sure this is the correct ESP by looking at the Unit ID which is the same as the MAC Address and the IP Address.
- Click on Update Flash.
- Type in the Community Name (usually “public”) then click Next.
- In the ESP FLASH Update mode page, your will see the Version, Create Date and Create Time. You also see the Status of the Last Flash Update. The Status should be App: Last Application Flash image update successful. And Boot: Last Boot Flash image update successful.
- Click on the Manual FLASH Update.
- Click to Enable both the Bootstrap FLASH Update Parameters and the Application FLASH Update Parameters. Type in the Server IP Address, this is the address of where the image files are located. Type in the full pathname for the boot image and app image. This is the full pathname to where the images are located. Click Next.
- Here you can type in 0 for the Days Hours Minutes and Seconds or just click Next. This means the Flash updates will begin immediately.
- Now click Finish.
- After the images have been transferred you can go back to the ESP FLASH Update and you should see the App: Last Application Flash image update successful and Boot: Last Boot Flash image update successful. You should see the new Version and the Create Date and Create Time change. The Create Date and Time are the Date and Time these images where built.
Flash Image Update Using Equiview Plus (Windows systems only)
- Install, or upgrade to EquiView Plus 5.5 or later.
- If necessary, discover the ESP unit.
- Using EquiView Plus, click on “Module” and “Update FLASH”.
- Select “Update Bootstrap Image”, provide the IP address of the TFTP server system and the name of the new image file. Then click Update.
- Repeat step 4 using application image.
- Reboot the ESP serial hub.
Updating Flash Images Using espcfg (Unix systems only)
- Invoke espcfg.
- select "Update flash".
- select the appropriate esp.
- select "Update flash"
- provide the SNMP Community password (usually "public")
- select bootstrap or application.
- provide server IP address if necessary (note that the IP address for the current host will usually be displayed).
- provide bootstrap/application location. refer to "Location of Flash Components on Unix Systems". As shipped, the names of the images would be:
/etc/eqnx/espapp.img (application image)
/etc/eqnx/espboot.img (bootstrap image: standard ESP)
/etc/eqnx/espbootb.img (bootstrap image: multi-interface ESP)
/etc/eqnx/espbootc.img (bootstrap image: 10/100 ESP)
- Reboot the ESP serial hub as directed.
Enabling TFTPD on Unix Systems
For a flash update to succeed, the tftp (trivial file transfer protocol) daemon must be enabled on the server where the downloadable images are located at. This process is documented below. Note that the process varies based on operating system type:
OpenServer, UnixWare and Aix
tftpd is invoked indirectly by the internet services daemon - inetd. The configuration file for inetd must be modified to enable tftpd.
- edit /etc/inetd.conf
- uncomment the line for tftpd
- locate the inetd process: ps -eaf | grep inetd
- send signal to inetd process: kill -s SIGHUP <inetd process>
Note that the tftpd daemon can run in non-secure or secure mode. Either one may be used, but secure mode is recommended. Secure mode is specified by the “-s” option when tftpd is invoked (i.e. in the file /etc/inetd.conf). In secure mode, the default tftpd root directory is /tftpboot. If this is changed, the download images installed in the /tftpboot directory will need to be moved to the tftpd root directory.
Linux
If not already done, the tftpd package must be installed on your system. On most systems that use RPMs, this is done by the tftp-server RPM. To verify that this package is installed:
rpm -q tftp-server If not present, then it must be installed from your distribution set.
tftpd is invoked indirectly by the internet services daemon inetd or xinetd (xinetd has replaced the older inetd in most recent distribution sets). The configuration file for inetd or xinetd must be modified to enable tftpd.
Determine if your system is using inetd or xinetd:
- if /etc/inetd.conf is present, then inetd is being used.
- if /etc/xinetd.d directory exists, then xinetd is being used.
Configuring inetd for tftpd
- edit /etc/inetd.conf
- uncomment the line for tftpd
- locate the inetd process: ps -eaf | grep inetd
- send signal to inetd process: kill -s SIGHUP <inetd process>
Configuring xinetd for tftpd
- edit /etc/xinetd.d/tftp
- set these fields:
- user = root
- server_args = -s /tftpboot
- disable = no
- locate the xinetd process: ps -eaf | grep xinetd
- send signal to xinetd process: kill -s SIGUSR2 <xinetd process>
Note that the tftpd daemon can run in non-secure or secure mode. Either one may be used, but secure mode is recommended. Secure mode is specified by the “-s” option when tftpd is invoked (i.e. in the file /etc/inetd.conf or /etc/xinetd.d/tftp). In secure mode, the default tftpd root directory is /tftpboot. If this is changed, the download images located in the /tftpboot directory will need to be moved to the tftpd root directory.
Testing TFTPD
It is always a good idea to verify that tftpd is running correctly before doing a flash update. The verification can be done as follows:
- tftp localhost (or name of local system)
- get etc/eqnx/espapp.img
- quit
If tftpd is configured correctly, this should transfer espapp.img to the local directory.
Location of Flash Components on Unix Systems
As installed, the flash components are located in /etc/eqnx and /tftpboot/etc/eqnx. How the location of the flash components are specified varies based on whether or not secure mode tftpd is used:
Secure-Mode
Files are accessed relative to the tftpd root directory (i.e. expected to be /tftpboot). Hence etc/eqnx/esp4app.img actually refers to /tftpboot/etc/eqnx/esp4app.img
The leading "/" may or may not be specified (on Linux systems with tftp-server versions 0.16 and earlier, the leading "/" must not be specified).
Non-Secure Mode
Files are accessed relative to the "/" directory. Hence, /etc/eqnx/esp4app.img actually refers to the file by that name.
Generally, the leading "/" must always be specified.
Flash Update Failures
When a flash update failure occurs, it may not always be obvious what the problem was. The following steps may be used to diagnose the failure:
In addition, check the following:
- Verify that tftpd is configured properly.
- Make sure the proper pathname to the image file was specified (see "Location of Flash Images on Unix Systems").
- Check the tftp logfile if one exists. This log will indicate if a successful tftp connection was made and also if there were any abnormal operations.
- Verify that the versions of the new images are greater than the currently installed images.
- TFTP is an un-reliable transport mechanism using UDP. A busy network may result in lost packets which would cause the update to fail.
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