System ZD 1100 USB

[moncef_zellou]

Hello
I format the USB key which is located at the inner casing of ZD 1100 helped me how can I repair my zone director

[john_d]

I've had one ZD1100 where I did something like this, but I have bad news: If you are seeing some sort of reboot loop occasionally which can only be solved by unplugging the hot-glued USB key inside the ZD1100, then you likely have a hardware failure of that USB key and need to RMA your ZD.

Note that you can indeed format and, if you're a Linux guy, even look at its reiserfs filesystem on a computer. But it's rarely helpful. My advice is, if you need to recover your ZD, follow the procedure at https://support.ruckuswireless.com/answers/000001481

If you see this happening a lot, then you should RMA the unit.



(P.S. If you're tempted to try to replace the USB key, I'll save you some time: It doesn't work. The ZD seems to rely on that specific Winbond USB drive. Putting in another identically sized USB2 key, even with the exact same contents, didn't work)

[edmundas_asmont]

(P.S. If you're tempted to try to replace the USB key, I'll save you some time: It doesn't work. The ZD seems to rely on that specific Winbond USB drive. Putting in another identically sized USB2 key, even with the exact same contents, didn't work)

You are wrong. You can make USB image using Linux, and move it to another USB or microsd card. Everything works like a charm. 

[daniel_bronson_]

I was able to resurrect a ZD1100 that was stuck in Rescue Mode. The internal USB stick had died. I removed the stick, and repaired it with the "SMI Mass Production Tool" but decided not to use it, since if it died once, I wasn't going to rely on it. I had another, generic 2GB stick lying around, and used that instead. It's nothing special - just some old compact, folding thumb drive I've had in a desk drawer for years. I tried a larger stick, but that produced some complaint about the size, so there must be a narrow range of sizes that will work.

The real key to my success, however, was to ignore the feedback from the web interface, and rely on the console output instead. In particular, the FDISK function of the web interface reports success far too readily. The console output is much more accurate.

I inserted my generic 2GB USB stick, pressed the FDISK button in the Rescue Mode web interface, then watched the progress in the console. When formatting was done, I tried uploading various firmwares via the web interface. At first, I tried newer ones, but the console output showed 'out of memory' errors of various sorts. I went back as far as 9.3.x, and that was small enough to work. Once I had 9.3.x firmware running successfully, I performed the usual sequence of upgrades, restored my config backup, and all is well.

Maybe this can help someone else keep their older, end-of-life hardware running. Obviously, I would not recommend doing this for a box that's under a current service contract or warranty.

[harley_mckittri]

EDIT: I originally posted that I couldn't get this working following Daniel's steps above, but on second try I got it.

For anyone else in the same situation:

• Replace the memory stick with another 2GB stick
• Connect via the second Ethernet port
• Let the Zone Director reboot a load of times (it will go into Rescue Mode after something like 15 attempts to boot)
• You will know its in Rescue Mode when only the green LED on the ethernet port is lit
• Open http://192.168.0.2/ and run FDISK - Daniels notes above here are crucial, the UI definitely says its done a minute or two before it really is, so let it sit for a few minutes
• Upload firmware, I used 9.3.0.0.87 to start with (earlier FW diddn't work for me)
• You should see the success message after a few minutes and again the device should reboot
• After a further few minutes you should have a red flashing status LED for startup followed by a flashing green LED
• Ready to be configured or continue upgrade path

Thanks again Daniel for the post above!