RV50 upgraded from 4.12.0 to 4.16.0 results in modem not connecting

AirLink Routers
1

I inherited a fleet of RV50, RV50X and RV55 routers. The vast majority are RV50. Service is via Verizon. The previous person terminated our Air Link Management Services - AirVantage (I think that is the name) subscription.

All devices were still running the firmware they had when the device was purchased. I have been going through the fleet over the course of the last year as the devices return to the shop and updating them to the latest firmware and putting a common template on them.

Two of the devices were on 4.12.0. They had the same modem firmware between the two devices. On all the other modems with newer OSs, the OS update process would ask for matching modem firmware, but on the first 4.12.0 when I went direct to the 4.16.0 OS, there was no prompt for the modem firmware.

For the second device, instead of going straight to 4.16.0, I went 4.13.0.017, on up through 4.16.0.021 for each OS available on this site: https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/airlink/amm/gateway-software-packages/

The second device did update modem firmware during the OS upgrade without any issue and it now attaches to cellular.

On the first device, I then tried to downgrade the OS to 4.13.0.017 and do the same cycle back up. Once I went back up to 4.16.0.017, I can now see the modem on the first device, but I can not get it to connect. I have swapped the SIMs with other working modems and the problem stays with the first device.

My next troubleshooting step would be to restore the 4.12.0.028 version of OS, but that is not available on the link above.

My first question, what can I do to try and recover this device? I do not need it in the field at the time, but it would be nice to get it off my workbench and have it ready for the next time I do need it.

My second question, can the 4.12.0.028 link on the above site be fixed. This would allow me to try and downgrade to the version that was on the device before the problems.

2

I got this to finally work. Not sure what the critical step was, but here are the steps I took and the intermediate results.

I started by reading this prior post: Error when applying radio firmware update on RV50 which, as it turns out, I had commented on at my prior job.

As I looked it over, I was reminded that a recover reboot also wiped all the other files outside of Aleos, which included the radio firmware. On the wild assumption that the firmware was being loaded from someplace wrong, I ended up attempting the recovery boot and installation of Aleos 4.16.0.021 from https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/airlink/amm/gateway-software-packages/

At the end of recovery reboot, I had a Red/Yellow flashing Network LED and a Red Flashing Signal LED. According to the RV50 Hardware manual, this is due to Network Switching being enabled but the firmware is not found. That is what I would expect given the recovery should have wiped all the extraneous files.

I logged in, changed the password, then navigated to the Admin → Radio Module Firmware → Firmware. The list of firmware was complete empty. I uploaded all the radio module firmware for North America from the above 4.16.0.021 tarball of firmware. When I was complete, I could see firmware for ATT, GENNA-UMTS, SPRINT, and VZW which is what I would expect. The radio LEDS remained unchanged.

I power cycled the modem. At this point, I had both Red Flashing Network and Signal LED. This was confusing as it seemed to indicate it was not receiving a strong signal. To ensure there was a strong signal, I attached an direction external antenna pointed directly at my provider’s tower. No change.

I then attempted to force a network operator switch by loading the ATT firmware by using the ‘Software and Firmware → Radio Module Firmware’ upload. It warned me about network switching, but allowed the upload. Once it rebooted, the Network LEDs went through a series of changed flashes, but after about 2 minutes, settled on solid green for both Network and Signal. I was back in business.

3

Hi @robinmholt,

Based on your description, I understand that you’re having an issue connecting to the network after updating from version 4.12.0 to 4.16.0, and that you’ve found a way to fix the issue.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know.

Thanks,

4

It would be helpful if the https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/airlink/amm/gateway-software-packages/ older versions of Aleos be made available so I can do cleaner debug next time.

5

@mlw
Is getting the 4.12.0 (and, if possible, all of the older Aleos versions) available for RV50, RV50X, and RV55 on https://source.sierrawireless.com/resources/airlink/amm/gateway-software-packages/ something that you could help with?

6

@robinmholt

I will see if I can get someone to look at it but AirLink boxes are not really my area.

Regards

Matt

7

@robinmholt - I will see what i can find for you - those are very old FW revisions and most no longer supported - the latest is 4.18 btw
Looking through the conversation I believe that they are North American variants - can you confirm as the Radio Module FW is relevant to the region of operation (different areas use different modules)

8

@drobinson1

These are North American versions. The later versions of OS all contain both NA firmware modules (5) as well as Europe and Telestar.

As for latest version, I believe the RV50 support ended at 4.16.0. Can I flash the 4.18.0 firmware on a 4.16 device? I keep meaning to try that, but have not gotten to that yet. I assume I can recover the device using the recovery boot, but will not really care if I brick one of my devices as it has a failed modem card anyway.

9

Hello @robinmholt
No you cannot upgrade an RV50 to 4.18
Do you have access to the management platform ALMS? because from there you can download all of the packages for each device that will include the correct radio module FW - for some devices you cannot upgrade directly from a very old FW revision to the latest (this is because there was a change in the way the FLASH memory was formatted)

10

@drobinson1 I did not have one, but have created one and am able to download all the versions. Thank you for this. It is really helpful.