Fix your Cisco router crash

By Brad Reese on Mon, 11/12/07 - 8:16am.

Contact Reggie Grant - Cisco Router Repair Sales Manager

A Cisco router crash is when the system detects an unrecoverable error and restarts itself.

A Cisco router crash can be caused by software problems, hardware problems, or both.

Important information about the crash is lost if the router is reloaded after the crash, such as from the power-cycle or issuing the reload command.

Collect the information found in the show tech-support and show log command output, as well as the crashinfo file before reloading the router.

To address a Cisco router crash, perform these steps:

1.	Find out the type of crash by issuing a show version command.
2.	Look for the reason the system restarted.

This sample output shows where to look for the reason the system restarted:

Router#show version
Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS (tm) RSP Software (RSP-PV-M), Version 12.0(10.6)ST, EARLY DEPLOYMENT MAINTENANCE INTERIM SOFTWARE
Copyright (c) 1986-2000 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Fri 23-Jun-00 16:02 by richv
Image text-base: 0x60010908, data-base: 0x60D96000

ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 12.0(19990806:174725), DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE BOOTFLASH: RSP Software (RSP-BOOT-M), Version 12.0(9)S, EARLY DEPLOYMENT RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

Router uptime is 20 hours, 56 minutes
System returned to ROM by error - a Software forced crash, PC 0x60287EE8
System image file is "slot0:rsp-pv-mz.120-10.6.ST"
!--- The rest of the output has been omitted.

Getting Information About Your Cisco Router Crash

When your Cisco router crashes, it is extremely important to gather as much information as possible about the crash before you manually reload or power-cycle the router.

Information to Collect if You Open a TAC Service Request

Examples of Output which Indicate Your Cisco Router Crash

All information about the crash, except that which has been successfully stored in the crashinfo file, is lost after a manual reload or power-cycle.

Types of Cisco Router Crashes

The show version and show stacks commands provide you with output that gives you an indication of the type of crash that occurred, such as bus error, or software forced crash.

You can also get crash type information from the crashinfo and show context commands.

Cisco Router Module Crashes

Sometimes, only a specific Cisco router module crashes, and not the router itself.

Less Common Types of Cisco Router Crashes

Some types of Cisco router crashes clearly indicate a hardware or software failure, but others are not that obvious. Common sense is your best ally.

If a router operates properly for months and suddenly starts to reload every 20 minutes, the problem is most likely a hardware issue.

If the router starts to crash after a configuration change, then the problem is probably software-related.

Cisco Router Repair Quotes:

Contact: Reggie Grant - Cisco Router Repair Sales Manager

Email: Reggie@BradReese.Com

Toll Free: 877-549-2680
International: 828-277-7272
Fax: 775-254-3558