Super thanks and extra kudos to @fohdeesha for his help with this! This switch threw us some curve balls but fohdeesha was able to over come them at each step. Glad to have a working switch again and ready to put it into the home lab!
Awesome stuff @fohdeesha. I also bricked my switch and am in the same boat as most. Now reading your post i see there is a ray of hope to recover it. Is there any other devise that can perform the same functionality as BDI2000 but is a bit cheaper. I am outside of US and BDI2000 is costing as much as the switch itself. :-(We managed to succesfully revive @Arion 's switch over the weekend via JTAG. Took some figuring out to get the IBM bootloader file split up into the correct 3 pieces (ramdisk, kernel, and uboot). There also seems to be some fpga, cpld, or other component on the board that does something odd with the CPU out of reset that made it very difficult to halt the processor correctly but after some JTAG config trial and error we eventually got it to the point we could read and write flash
here's a zip with the working bdi2000 jtag config, the files needing to be flashed, and instructions. You'll need a BDI2000 running PowerPC firmware. I have one I am willing to lend to existing STH members if they'd like to recover these bricked units
http://fohdeesha.com/data/other/IBM-Recovery.zip
I did a dump of the bricked flash beforehand (the bootloader section anyway), and it was definitely corrupted. The firmware itself is not an issue, it runs just fine on the older G8124's if you write it to flash correctly. However something in the older firmware's flashing process screws up while writing out u-boot. You can see in these screenshots the end gets mangled with garbage data (and the data does not exist anywhere in the firmware file, so it's not like it's just writing the correct information to the wrong place): IBM G8124 brick
Hi @Elijah. Did you try the Lenovo 8.4.10 firmware?Finally, just managed to revive my bricked Blade G8124 switch using the method provided by fohdeesha (Thank You).
It took me some time to gather all the required items, but the update was quite straight forward following the instructions by fohdeesha.
The BDI2000 from the ebay worked, I use a 5V 1A adapter. I did have problem with another similar 5V 1A adapter, I think it does not have enough output so the unit does not turn on.
See latest firmware 7.11.14 by IBM release 8 Mar 19:
IBM Support: Fix Central - Please wait, Select fixes
I managed to update my G8124 to the new 7.11.14 firmware version using the tftp method.
Does anyone know if it is possible to flash the Lenovo G8124E 8.4.10 firmware onto old G8124?
Awesome stuff @fohdeesha. I also bricked my switch and am in the same boat as most. Now reading your post i see there is a ray of hope to recover it. Is there any other devise that can perform the same functionality as BDI2000 but is a bit cheaper. I am outside of US and BDI2000 is costing as much as the switch itself. :-(
The only other cheap solution I know of is the "codewarrior usb tap", it works with software from freescale that works for a 30 day trial. The issue is there's several different types of JTAG units and they all look the same, you need to find one that has a "COP" sticker on the back like these two:Awesome stuff @fohdeesha. I also bricked my switch and am in the same boat as most. Now reading your post i see there is a ray of hope to recover it. Is there any other devise that can perform the same functionality as BDI2000 but is a bit cheaper. I am outside of US and BDI2000 is costing as much as the switch itself. :-(
the files/zip I provded are for use recovering a bricked unit with a JTAG device, IBMs OS isn't going to load them. I would just upgrade normallyJust stumbled across this page, thanks to all that blazed the trail. Was about to push the big red button on my G8124
I have a working switch at 1.1.1.5, is it possible to use the files provided by fohdeesha to upgrade the firmware? I don't want to have to buy a JTAG box if I don't have to. Thanks in advance!
Bricked my switch. LOL.the files/zip I provded are for use recovering a bricked unit with a JTAG device, IBMs OS isn't going to load them. I would just upgrade normally
you'll need a powerPC specific JTAG unit, like a BDI2000 - I have one I may be able to lend you if you pay shipping both ways (fits in a medium flat rate box USPS)Bricked my switch. LOL.
I looked on ebay for "jtag writer" and found a bunch of high dollar devices that look about identical to a raspberry pi.
Going to spend the weekend finding out if I can use the RPI as a poor man's JTAG writer and dig myself out of the hole
I managed to get a codewarrior usb tap (COP) really cheaply. Going to give that a shot first. If that does not pan out I will hit you up for borrowing the BDI2000.you'll need a powerPC specific JTAG unit, like a BDI2000 - I have one I may be able to lend you if you pay shipping both ways (fits in a medium flat rate box USPS)
That'll work, the software is just huge and a pita. Let me know if you need teamviewer assistance. The software is also only good for 30 days before it locks itself but I'm sure you saw thatI managed to get a codewarrior usb tap (COP) really cheaply. Going to give that a shot first. If that does not pan out I will hit you up for borrowing the BDI2000.
Probably all I will need is some pointers on a config file for the flash utility. I can deduce most of the parms from the BDI2000 config (thanks by the way)That'll work, the software is just huge and a pita. Let me know if you need teamviewer assistance. The software is also only good for 30 days before it locks itself but I'm sure you saw that
did some basic translation on the init file for the bdi 2000, this is what i came up with.Probably all I will need is some pointers on a config file for the flash utility. I can deduce most of the parms from the BDI2000 config (thanks by the way)