Turbocharge your Quanta LB6M - Flash To Brocade TurboIron - Big Update!

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rz76

New Member
Nov 28, 2022
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I received and installed the RAM module today and the switch is booting up properly now. U-Boot log below.

Code:
U-Boot 2009.06 (Jun 23 2010 - 16:22:08)

CPU:   8541, Version: 1.1, (0x80720011)
Core:  E500, Version: 2.0, (0x80200020)
Clock Configuration:
       CPU0:825  MHz,
       CCB:330  MHz,
       DDR:165  MHz (330 MT/s data rate), LBC:41.250 MHz
CPM:   330 MHz
L1:    D-cache 32 kB enabled
       I-cache 32 kB enabled
I2C:   ready
DRAM:  Initializing
    DDR: 512 MB
FLASH: 32 MB
L2:    256 KB enabled
Service port MAC address: E8:9A:8F:63:F8:1F
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   TSEC0, TSEC1
Hit any key to stop autoboot:  0
### JFFS2 loading 'image1' to 0x8000000
Scanning JFFS2 FS: . done.
### JFFS2 load complete: 8134638 bytes loaded to 0x8000000
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 08000074 ...
   Image Name:   FASTPATH System for lb4m
   Image Type:   PowerPC Linux Multi-File Image (gzip compressed)
   Data Size:    8134458 Bytes =  7.8 MB
   Load Address: 00000000
   Entry Point:  00000000
   Contents:
      Image 0: 1138558 Bytes =  1.1 MB
      Image 1: 1422470 Bytes =  1.4 MB
      Image 2: 474 Bytes =  0.5 kB
      Image 3: 5572930 Bytes =  5.3 MB
   Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Loading init Ramdisk from multi component Legacy Image at 08000074 ...
   Uncompressing Multi-File Image ... OK
   Loading Ramdisk to 1fa0c000, end 1fb67486 ... OK
   Loading Device Tree to 007fc000, end 007ffb63 ... OK
Using Quanta LB4M machine description
Memory CAM mapping: CAM0=256Mb, CAM1=256Mb, CAM2=0Mb residual: 0Mb
Linux version 2.6.21.7 (cmutter@lc-rdub-20) (gcc version 4.1.2 (Wind River Linux Sourcery G++ 4.1-84)) #2 PREEMPT Tue Jan 12 10:22:51 EST 2010
Found initrd at 0xdfa0c000:0xdfb67486
Found MPC85xx PCI host bridge at 0x00000000e0008000. Firmware bus number: 0->0
Zone PFN ranges:
  DMA             0 ->   131072
  Normal     131072 ->   131072
early_node_map[1] active PFN ranges
    0:        0 ->   131072
Built 1 zonelists.  Total pages: 130048
Kernel command line: root=/dev/ram rw mtdparts=physmap-flash.0:32256k(jffs2),512k(u-boot),128k@32512k(u-boot-env)
mpic: Setting up MPIC " OpenPIC  " version 1.2 at e0040000, max 1 CPUs
mpic: ISU size: 4, shift: 2, mask: 3
mpic: Initializing for 60 sources
PID hash table entries: 2048 (order: 11, 8192 bytes)
Dentry cache hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
Inode-cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
Memory: 515456k/524288k available (2284k kernel code, 8404k reserved, 76k data, 86k bss, 128k init)
Mount-cache hash table entries: 512
NET: Registered protocol family 16
PCI: Probing PCI hardware
PCI: Cannot allocate resource region 0 of device 0000:00:12.0
Generic PHY: Registered new driver
NET: Registered protocol family 2
IP route cache hash table entries: 16384 (order: 4, 65536 bytes)
TCP established hash table entries: 65536 (order: 7, 524288 bytes)
TCP bind hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
TCP: Hash tables configured (established 65536 bind 65536)
TCP reno registered
checking if image is initramfs... it is
Freeing initrd memory: 1389k freed
JFFS2 version 2.2. (NAND) (C) 2001-2006 Red Hat, Inc.
io scheduler noop registered
io scheduler deadline registered (default)
Serial: 8250/16550 driver $Revision: 1.90 $ 2 ports, IRQ sharing enabled
serial8250.0: ttyS0 at MMIO map 0xe0004500 mem 0xe1000500 (irq = 26) is a 16550A
serial8250.0: ttyS1 at MMIO map 0xe0004600 mem 0xe1002600 (irq = 26) is a 16550A
RAMDISK driver initialized: 2 RAM disks of 32768K size 1024 blocksize
Gianfar MII Bus: probed
eth0: Gianfar Ethernet Controller Version 1.2, e8:9a:8f:63:f8:1f
eth0: Running with NAPI enabled
eth0: 256/256 RX/TX BD ring size
eth1: Gianfar Ethernet Controller Version 1.2, 00:e0:0c:00:01:fd
eth1: Running with NAPI enabled
eth1: 256/256 RX/TX BD ring size
Broadcom BCM5411: Registered new driver
Broadcom BCM5421: Registered new driver
Broadcom BCM5461: Registered new driver
Broadcom BCM5464: Registered new driver
Broadcom BCM5481: Registered new driver
Broadcom BCM5482: Registered new driver
Broadcom BCM50610: Registered new driver
Broadcom BCM57780: Registered new driver
tun: Universal TUN/TAP device driver, 1.6
tun: (C) 1999-2004 Max Krasnyansky <maxk@qualcomm.com>
i2c /dev entries driver
physmap platform flash device: 02000000 at fe000000
physmap-flash.0: Found 1 x16 devices at 0x0 in 16-bit bank
Amd/Fujitsu Extended Query Table at 0x0040
physmap-flash.0: CFI does not contain boot bank location. Assuming top.
number of CFI chips: 1
cfi_cmdset_0002: Disabling erase-suspend-program due to code brokenness.
3 cmdlinepart partitions found on MTD device physmap-flash.0
Creating 3 MTD partitions on "physmap-flash.0":
0x00000000-0x01f80000 : "jffs2"
0x01f80000-0x02000000 : "u-boot"
0x01fc0000-0x01fe0000 : "u-boot-env"
nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (4096 buckets, 32768 max)
ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
TCP cubic registered
NET: Registered protocol family 1
NET: Registered protocol family 10
lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling driver
sit0: Disabled Privacy Extensions
NET: Registered protocol family 17
drivers/rtc/hctosys.c: unable to open rtc device (rtc0)
Freeing unused kernel memory: 128k init
Starting pid 617, console /dev/ttyS0: '/etc/rc.d/rc.fastpath'
Mounting /dev/mtdblock0 at /mnt/fastpath.
Mounting tmpfs at /mnt/application...done.

FASTPATH Startup Rev: 5.2

Select startup mode.  If no selection is made within 5 seconds,
the FASTPATH Application will start automatically...

FASTPATH Startup -- Main Menu

1 - Start FASTPATH Application
2 - Display Utility Menu
Select (1, 2):
Extracting FASTPATH from image1.....done
Loading FASTPATH ...../mnt/application
done
PCI unit 0: Dev 0xb820, Rev 0x11, Chip BCM56820_B0, Driver BCM56820_A0
SOC unit 0 attached to PCI device BCM56820_B0


FASTPATH starting...started!
When following the Brokeaid guide I ran the memory read command and I got the following output which is not an "exact" match to the example provided. Very similar but, not exact.

Code:
fff80000: 27051956 552d426f 6f742032 3030392e    '..VU-Boot 2009.
fff80010: 30362028 4a756e20 32332032 30313020    06 (Jun 23 2010
fff80020: 2d203136 3a32323a 30382900 60000000    - 16:22:08).`...
fff80030: 3c20d000 60213f80 38000000 9401fffc    < ..`!?.8.......
fff80040: 9401fffc 9421fff8 3c00ffff 6000fffc    .....!..<...`...
fff80050: 9421fff8 9001000c 48000005 7dc802a6    .!......H...}...
fff80060: 800e171c 7dc07214 480020dd 3c600002    ....}.r.H. .<`..
fff80070: 60631200 7c600124 4c00012c 48002065    `c..|`.$L..,H. e
 

fohdeesha

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When following the Brokeaid guide I ran the memory read command and I got the following output which is not an "exact" match to the example provided. Very similar but, not exact.

Code:
fff80000: 27051956 552d426f 6f742032 3030392e    '..VU-Boot 2009.
fff80010: 30362028 4a756e20 32332032 30313020    06 (Jun 23 2010
fff80020: 2d203136 3a32323a 30382900 60000000    - 16:22:08).`...
fff80030: 3c20d000 60213f80 38000000 9401fffc    < ..`!?.8.......
fff80040: 9401fffc 9421fff8 3c00ffff 6000fffc    .....!..<...`...
fff80050: 9421fff8 9001000c 48000005 7dc802a6    .!......H...}...
fff80060: 800e171c 7dc07214 480020dd 3c600002    ....}.r.H. .<`..
fff80070: 60631200 7c600124 4c00012c 48002065    `c..|`.$L..,H. e
you just have a newer version of u-boot than the example, but the offset is correct and you can continue
 

rz76

New Member
Nov 28, 2022
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you just have a newer version of u-boot than the example, but the offset is correct and you can continue
Thank you for confirming, I'll proceed.

Just out of curiosity, when you say the offset is correct, what does that mean exactly? How could I confirm that by looking at these two different output examples?
 

davlaw

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Oct 31, 2017
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Kinda late in the game, I just plugged mine in and have used it for a few years as is

Newbie quesiton, sorry?!

How crippled is the stock firmware over the turboiron?

Just trying to decide if its just a wow factor or a real benefit
 

davlaw

New Member
Oct 31, 2017
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Looking back its a question I would have thrown out a look for, sorry.
If you don't understand the list of improvements then you probably don't need them would be my own response to my own question!!
 
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xnu

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Nov 15, 2023
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Anyone know if its possible to set the fan speed to anything higher then fan-speed 1 since I cannot change it even if I type fan-speed 3 it will default to fan-speed 1
 

Gilbert

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Aug 11, 2016
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Question, does flashing this to brocade give you a gui interface? I hate the command line for configuring switches. I have had my lb6 for a few years now, and I have used the command line a couple of times. Just lazy I guess, lol.
 

Night Shade

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Nov 8, 2018
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Question, does flashing this to brocade give you a gui interface? I hate the command line for configuring switches. I have had my lb6 for a few years now, and I have used the command line a couple of times. Just lazy I guess, lol.
Nope, still going to be a CLI.

I am in a similar situation and just have left the switch alone since it works as is and being in a home environment I don't need a ton of extra features so haven't bothered switching it to the TurboIron firmware. The only funky thing I have setup on it is 2 ports are LAGGed for a 20Gbps link to my 48 port ethernet switch.

Seems like only a few of the 10G switches have a GUI on them so https://www.servethehome.com/netgear-prosafe-xs708t-review-quiet-8-port-10gbase-t-switch/ would be one of the few options that I know of. Most are CLI.
 
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Gilbert

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Aug 11, 2016
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Nope, still going to be a CLI.

I am in a similar situation and just have left the switch alone since it works as is and being in a home environment I don't need a ton of extra features so haven't bothered switching it to the TurboIron firmware. The only funky thing I have setup on it is 2 ports are LAGGed for a 20Gbps link to my 48 port ethernet switch.

Seems like only a few of the 10G switches have a GUI on them so https://www.servethehome.com/netgear-prosafe-xs708t-review-quiet-8-port-10gbase-t-switch/ would be one of the few options that I know of. Most are CLI.
Thanks for the info, appreciate it.
 

soursnob

New Member
Apr 6, 2025
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I'm flashing my LB6M following Brokeaids, everything made it through smoothly to Booting Brocade.

When I ran

boot system flash primary

I got an error

`Bad image header

Since I was past the danger zone, and though I already rebooted once earlier in this section, I thought it was safe to reboot the machine and give it another try. I power cycled the switch, and upon rerunning

copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeimage.bin primary

I found that it was timing out. It seems I might have hit the silicon lottery and been one of the unfortunate few that the management interface doesn't seem to work at all on the brocade bootloader. Unfortunately, I looked into the brocadeimage.bin that I copied to the machine, and it turns out, someone it got corrupted between when I unzipped it, and when it got copied to the machine,

Further, since there wasn't a not saying "Make sure the management interface is working before powering down, otherwise, skip to the management port emergency workaround ((LB6M) Management Port - Brokeaids) I had already rebooted the machine, so the workaround no longer seems to work.

Is there any way to recover from this, or do I now just have an expensive paperweight?
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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I'm flashing my LB6M following Brokeaids, everything made it through smoothly to Booting Brocade.

When I ran

boot system flash primary

I got an error

`Bad image header

Since I was past the danger zone, and though I already rebooted once earlier in this section, I thought it was safe to reboot the machine and give it another try. I power cycled the switch, and upon rerunning

copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeimage.bin primary

I found that it was timing out. It seems I might have hit the silicon lottery and been one of the unfortunate few that the management interface doesn't seem to work at all on the brocade bootloader. Unfortunately, I looked into the brocadeimage.bin that I copied to the machine, and it turns out, someone it got corrupted between when I unzipped it, and when it got copied to the machine,

Further, since there wasn't a not saying "Make sure the management interface is working before powering down, otherwise, skip to the management port emergency workaround ((LB6M) Management Port - Brokeaids) I had already rebooted the machine, so the workaround no longer seems to work.

Is there any way to recover from this, or do I now just have an expensive paperweight?
what do you mean the workaround no longer works? If you can get into the brocade bootloader, you can run the workaround commands, run it, then see if port works, if it doesnt, unplug and replug. if still no work, do it all again: workaround commands, test, unplug / replug, test again. it will work eventually (LB6M) Management Port - Brokeaids
 

soursnob

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Apr 6, 2025
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what do you mean the workaround no longer works? If you can get into the brocade bootloader, you can run the workaround commands, run it, then see if port works, if it doesnt, unplug and replug. if still no work, do it all again: workaround commands, test, unplug / replug, test again. it will work eventually (LB6M) Management Port - Brokeaids
OK, maybe I misread Note 1 on the Management Port page. I thought that was saying, you can use the emergency workaround up until you cold boot the switch, at which point, it's no bueno.

When you say unplug / replug, are you talking about cold booting the switch, or reseating the network connection?

When I run the Ethernet Test all items test, here's the output I'm getting

Ethernet 1 : MAC Internal loopback test .... started


test_tpkt_counter = 100
test_rpkt_counter = 100


MAC 1 Internal loopback test ... PASS


Ethernet 1 : PHY Internal loopback test .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535


PHY 1 Internal loopback test ... FAIL


Ethernet 1 : External loopback test at speed 1000M Full Duplex .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535


External 1 loopback test at speed 1000M ... FAIL


Ethernet 1 : External loopback test at speed 100M Full Duplex .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535


External 1 loopback test at speed 100M ... FAIL


Ethernet 1 : External loopback test at speed 10M Full Duplex .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535

External 1 loopback test at speed 10M ... FAIL


I don't think I've ever seen any difference in these tests, over 30+ runs
 

soursnob

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Apr 6, 2025
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I've been doing a bit of experimentation today. For the tftp server, I have it running on the native port of a raspberry pi, so that I can see if the lights come on.

I verified that this isn't a problem with the Raspberry Pi, by unplugging the RJ45 from MGMT 1, and plugging it into my MacBook Pro. I noticed that when I plugged the network cable into my laptop, the connection and activity lights on the Raspberry Pi turned on. These LEDs have never turned on when connecting to one of the MGMT ports since this started. With the Raspberry Pi set to 192.168.1.49 and my laptop set to 192.168.1.48 I ran tftp 192.168.1.49 then get brocadebot.bin, which completed in 2.8 seconds.

For trying to get the copy working, I generally followed the following steps:

1. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot
2. Run ip address 192.168.1.50/24
3. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot
4. Run t2 followed by 8 (Ethernet Tests) then 6 (All Tests), as set out in the management workaround
5. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot
6. Run ip address 192.168.1.50/24
7. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot
8. Unplug and plug back in the ethernet in MGMT 1
9. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot
10. Run ip address 192.168.1.50/24
11. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot
12. Run t2 followed by 8 then 6, as set out in the management workaround
13. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot
14. Run ip address 192.168.1.50/24
15. Run copy tftp flash 192.168.1.49 brocadeboot.bin boot

I've also tried a number of different things:
  • Power on Switch with Ethernet plugged into MGMT 1
  • Power on Switch with Ethernet plugged into MGMT 2
  • Power On Switch with Ethernet unplugged and then plug in after it starts
  • Power On Switch with Ethernet unplugged and then plug in after I run the workaround steps
  • Power On Switch and interrupt with `b` when prompted, which kicks out to the Monitor> prompt
  • Power On Switch and don't interrupt, which errors with Bad image header, before kicking out to the Monitor> prompt
What I've noticed

* The copy always times out.
* MGMT 1 port always has only one LED on when the switch is powered, and this LED is consistent
* MGMT 2 Ports LEDs always come on a fraction of a second before MGMT 1
* MGMT 2 Ports are usually both on when the switch is powered, but after a cold boot, but sometimes only one is on, but it's inconsistent which one
* Interrupting boot with b when prompted seems to have no effect on which LEDs are on for the MGMT interfaces
* Booting with the network cable in either MGMT port appears to have no effect on the LEDs
* The Ethernet Tests only Mac 1 Internal Loopback Test passes, the others all fail with

Code:
CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535
* Booting the switch without interruption results in

Code:
TurboIron Boot Code Version 7.3.0
Enter 'a' to stop at memory test
Enter 'b' to stop at boot monitor
BOOT INFO: load monitor from boot flash, cksum = 7be5
BOOT INFO: verify flash files...
BOOT INFO: load image from primary copy
Bad image header
BOOT INFO: load image from secondary copy
File not found, 'secondary'
Monitor>
* Interrupting boot results in
Code:
TurboIron Boot Code Version 7.3.0
Enter 'a' to stop at memory test
Enter 'b' to stop at boot monitor
***** Interrupted by entering 'b' *****
BOOT INFO: load monitor from boot flash, cksum = 7be5
BOOT INFO: verify flash files...
Monitor>
* Checking if removing the bad primary image, I ran del primary. This changed the boot up logs to
Code:
TurboIron Boot Code Version 7.3.0
Enter 'a' to stop at memory test
Enter 'b' to stop at boot monitor
BOOT INFO: load monitor from boot flash, cksum = 7be5
BOOT INFO: verify flash files..
BOOT INFO: load image from primary copy
File not found, 'primary'
BOOT INFO: load image from secondary copy
File not found, 'secondary'
* Running reset only seems to cause the system to hang until it's cold booted
 

fohdeesha

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OK, maybe I misread Note 1 on the Management Port page. I thought that was saying, you can use the emergency workaround up until you cold boot the switch, at which point, it's no bueno.

When you say unplug / replug, are you talking about cold booting the switch, or reseating the network connection?

When I run the Ethernet Test all items test, here's the output I'm getting

Ethernet 1 : MAC Internal loopback test .... started


test_tpkt_counter = 100
test_rpkt_counter = 100


MAC 1 Internal loopback test ... PASS


Ethernet 1 : PHY Internal loopback test .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535


PHY 1 Internal loopback test ... FAIL


Ethernet 1 : External loopback test at speed 1000M Full Duplex .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535


External 1 loopback test at speed 1000M ... FAIL


Ethernet 1 : External loopback test at speed 100M Full Duplex .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535


External 1 loopback test at speed 100M ... FAIL


Ethernet 1 : External loopback test at speed 10M Full Duplex .... started


CRC error count = 65535
Frame count = 65535

External 1 loopback test at speed 10M ... FAIL


I don't think I've ever seen any difference in these tests, over 30+ runs
just like the guide says, the failures are normal / expected. by unplug i mean the ethernet cable on the management port. but even that shouldnt be necessary. just run the test and go back to the bootloader and give it an ip again to be sure and try a ping to something (not a windows box as they deny pings by default)
 

soursnob

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Apr 6, 2025
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OK, been trying repeatedly throughout the day

1. Run the All Ethernet Tests
2. Escape out to the Monitor prompt
3. Set the address to 192.168.1.50/24
4. Ping the Raspberry Pi on 192.168.1.49

This results in a Request timed out

From the Emergency Workaround

we've only seen it completely cease linking twice in a hundred flashed chassis
Is there anything else to try, or should I count myself as #3?
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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cold boot the switch a few times, EG completely unplug the switch, wait 30 seconds, then power it back on to completely reset the PHY and everything. try setting IP and ping again. if nothing, run the ethernet tests workaround again and keep trying. it will work eventually. I believe my note about "completely cease linking twice" was in reference to the switch booting fastiron bootloader and refusing to link right away, thus the workaround needed. they still ended up working with the workaround

alternatively you can spend like 90 bucks on a decade newer switch with less power draw, 4x 40gbE ports, IPv6 routing support and a bajillion more features ♻ Arista DCS-7050S-52-R 52 Port 10GbE Switch w/ 4 SFP 10GbE Ports ⚡Fast Ship | eBay

also if you happen to live around indianapolis I have one buried somewhere you can just have, but not gunna deal with shipping

edit: also do a sanity check and make sure that Pi will respond to ping from a known working thing, ensure the management port on the fastiron is plugged into the same network. you should also try a different device/switch on the other end of that management port link, it might just not like whatever you have on the other end of that cable

OK, been trying repeatedly throughout the day

1. Run the All Ethernet Tests
2. Escape out to the Monitor prompt
3. Set the address to 192.168.1.50/24
4. Ping the Raspberry Pi on 192.168.1.49

This results in a Request timed out

From the Emergency Workaround



Is there anything else to try, or should I count myself as #3?