My CRS326 went belly-up during a firmware update at least half a year ago.

I was in a hurry and simply replaced it with another routing switch for the time being, and then life happened and I forgot all about it.

Two days ago, I rediscovered the CRS in a box and I decided to make the time and revisit the incident and try to revive it.

So I grab an old Windows 10 PC, hook the CRS up with a USB console cable and run PuTTY to find out what's wrong.

CRS says something about corrupted files and just keeps rebooting every 30 seconds or so.

So I set up Netinstall, download V7 and V6 ARM firmwares, then isolate the PC from the network, hook it up directly to the CRS' port 1 in a fixed-IP LAN like suggested in the netinstall docs, start the netinstall server and restart the CRS in etherboot mode.

So far so good: it fires up, finds the netinstall server, receives the IP defined there and dumps a bunch of log entries ending with "waiting for installation server".

Netinstall shows the CRS in the list of available devices. Still looking good.

At this point it seems clear that there is no network or cable problem. The PuTTY console works, and Netinstall seems to work as well.

So I select the CRS, pick a firmware version and hit "install".

Netinstall says "sending offer" and shows the CRS as "installing".

PuTTY says nothing.

After a few seconds Netinstall returns to normal ("sending offer" vanishes, the CRS status reverts to "ready"), but still nothing on the console log.

I try again, and again, reboot the PC, reboot the router, even change the network cable, nothing helps.

I'm out of ideas.

What's wrong?

I find a Linux VM helpful, as it simplifies the networking without needing you to reconfigure the host stack each time. I’ve posted detailed instructions for that, including a tip that might solve your current problem under Windows.

Hm.

I'm not exactly what you'd call a Linux afficionado, so I'd rather have a bit of guidance with my current setup.

Admittedly, this whole Windows business DOES feel like a house of cards at times, and, to be honest, Netinstall didn't work AT ALL until I stumbled upon a hint that I should use a rather old version of it.

Besides that, the fact that I can essentially brick a device with on-board means is rather terrifying.
The fact that there's no simple way for a full factory reset is even more terrifying.

Don't get me wrong, once they are up and running they are rock stable and I LOVE my Tiks.
But some of the tools certainly have room for improvement.

Thank you in any case, I'll try the Linux approach if the Windows way ends up in a road block

Weird stuff.

So I left the CRS waiting for installation server and then restarted Netinstall ... and it worked!

Whatever happened here is obviously not an exact science.

Thanks again, matter resolved.