I managed to get my hands on a few old PIX 506e firewalls, while doing a quick test of them all I found about half didn’t get past the following screen.
I am not 100% sure of why this exactly happens but I think it’s something to do with the internal battery loosing it’s power.
CISCO SYSTEMS PIX FIREWALL Embedded BIOS Version 4.3.207 Compiled by morlee 32 MB RAM PCI Device Table. Bus Dev Func VendID DevID Class Irq 00 00 00 8086 7192 Host Bridge 00 07 00 8086 7110 ISA Bridge 00 07 01 8086 7111 IDE Controller 00 07 02 8086 7112 Serial Bus 9 00 07 03 8086 7113 PCI Bridge 00 0D 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 11 00 0E 00 8086 1209 Ethernet 10
How to FIX:
So if you open up the PIX, by removing the two small screws at the top, and then with a bit of force sliding back the metal cover. You should see a small jumper/selector next to the cell battery labeled J5, remove this and install back into the other usable position, you should now be able to boot up the PIX as normal.
Once you have confirmed that it’s working power off the PIX and move the jumper back to the original location, put the lid on and you should have a working firewall.
5 comments On Cisco PIX 506e Hangs/Stuck on boot
VERY NICE!
Check the battery voltage. In my case it was just under 3 Volts. Having moved J5 to the alternative position it booted correctly however on returning it to the original position it did reboot however took a long time.
A new battery read about 3.25 Volts on my volt-meter. Following the replacement and J5 in its original position the PIX rebooted correctly at the normal speed.
Regards John
Hi John,
Thanks for the info wasn’t aware that it was a charge issue with the battery, will be sure to keep a spare one around now.
Tom
Hello,
I switched the jumper to the other position, boot, power off and revert to the original position.
The system if perfectly working, but I have no clue why.
Thanks.
You saved my butt, thanks a lot!