Cisco SmartNET Contract for Cisco 7940, 7941, 7960, 7961, 7970, 7971
We now provide expedited SmartNET agreements for all Cisco Devices! Your quoted price will be for the Basic One-Year SmartNET agreement unless you specify a different service level in the notes section. All payments are processed via Google Checkout which means we never see your credit card information. If you have had problems in the past with your device having an “invalid serial number” according to cisco use this form here. These agreements are necessary to obtain the firmware for Cisco 79xx series phones.
You’re information will not be reused or sold. All personal information and device information will be kept strictly confidential.
When we say all fields are required, we mean it, Cisco needs them all.
Howto BLF (Busy Lamp Field), SLA (Shared Line Appearance), on the Linksys SPA942, SPA962 and Cisco SPA525G
I’m sure by now you’ve read a few articles saying that you CANNOT do BLF on the SPA942, SPA962 or SPA525G, this is in fact false. BLF works JUST fine on these phones. In fact I have a wall behind me with all three models connected together with Asterisk (elastix) merrily reading each others line states. The red lights are extensions demonstrate extensions in use.
For those of you who do not know what BLF is. BLF or Busy Lamp Field allows you to see which extensions are currently on the phone, or being called. It also allows you to pickup a ringing phone for someone else.
By placing these same configuration details into the SPA932 screen you could also use these instructions to programme a Linksys SPA932 Sidecar.
I’m sure by now you’re jealous of all my little red lights blinking away. Well, fortunately for you the next part of this guide is how you can do it on your own phones. I’m going to break this down into four sections: Configuration in common to all three models, and then three separate sections for configuration elements unique to each phone.
Before Using this Guide Make sure you have the Latest Firmware from Linksys / Cisco
This is NECESSARY
General:
First things first, here is what is more or less common to every model. To do anything you need to log into the phone. To do this you need to get the IP Address of the phone. You can either get it from your endpoint manager or by hitting the settings button, then pressing 9.
Once you’re logged into the phone, we need to log in and switched to advanced.
On the right hand side you’ll see “Admin Login”, once you’ve done that and it’s switched to “User Login”. Go ahead and hit “Advanced”. Do it in that order else it’ll go ahead and switch back to basic mode and you won’t see the options we need. The SPA525G has a slightly differently looking screen but it’s phrased identically.
Next we’re going to setup the actual BLF and shortcut lines. This step is identical on all the phones so we’ll do it first.
Click on the “Phone Tab” on the menu bar up top. Double check that you’re in Advanced Mode and you should see the Line Keys. I typically leave Line Key 1 configured as a normal extension. This means that the phone will be able to handle two simultaneous calls. If you need four simultaneous calls assign Line Key 2 as well to Extension 1.
For the lines that will require BLF Switch the Extension to Disabled, switch the Share Call Appearance to shared. Enter a short name for the line, this is the name that will show up on the button on the screen.
Once you have that you’ll need to enter the following into the extended function section:
fnc=blf+sd+cp;sub=EXT#@ASTERISKIP;nme=SHORTNAMEHERE
Replace EXT# with the Extension number of the phone you would like to monitor, ASTERISKIP with the IP of the Asterisk server that both phones are connected to and SHORTNAMEHERE with the shortname entered above.
You may fill out as many lines as necessary using this same command. The same syntax is used on the SPA942, SPA962 and SPA525G.
There is one additional step necessary to get BLF working. You must now tell the phone that you want it to use Asterisk style BLF.
Save your settings and move on to the next phone-specific section.
SPA942 Specific Instructions:
While you’re on the Phone Tab, You need to scroll down directly below the last Line Key (should be Line Key 4). You’ll see Line Key Extended Function.
Here you must switch the Server Type: to Asterisk, and changed the SPA932 Call Pickup Code to *8 to match the Asterisk call pickup code.
That’s it, save your settings and you’re done.
SPA962 Specific Instructions:
On the SPA962 the setting is located under the SPA932 tab (that’s the model name of the sidecar for the SPA962 and SPA525G).
Once you’ve clicked on the SPA932 tab you should get this:
If you don’t see this, make sure you’re in advanced mode and logged in as admin (Admin Login button). If you do see this, switch Server Type to Asterisk and SPA932 Call Pickup Code to *8.
Save you’re settings and you’re done!
SPA525G Specific Instructions:
On the SPA962 the setting is located under the Att Console tab (this tab is intended to work with the SPA932 which is the Sidecar for the SPA962 and SPA525G).
If you don’t see this, make sure you’re logged in as admin and in advanced mode. Once you see the below dialog we’re ready to change a couple settings for Asterisk:
Switch the Server Type: to Asterisk and change the Attendant Console Call Pickup Code to *8.
Save your settings and you’re done.
Cisco 7961 and 7941 SIP Configuration SEPMAC.cnf.xml
We now sell the SmartNET Service Agreements for these phones! (Necessary to get Firmware)
Use our web form to transmit your device information.
Here is a basic cleansed Cisco 7941/7961 Configuration file. This file was provided by Henry over at Axxtel, LLC in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He was kind enough to provide us his basic configuration file with comments provided.
You will need to make certain that your phone has been reflashed to the SIP firmware. Most phones come with the SCCP firmware on them. To learn more about this procedure check our out article on reflashing Cisco 7940 and 7960 phones over here: Cisco 7940 and 7960 guide. Once you’ve done that you can use this configuration file to register your phone to your Asterisk or other SIP based PBX.
Go ahead and replace the relevant fields with information related to your phone and PBX. You can download that file here. Make sure you right click and go to save target as. This is very important as most modern browsers will attempt to parse the XML file.
Here’s the file copy and pasted, I do not recommend you use more than one line from this file, downloading the XML file will typically work much better. I would recommend editing this file in Notepad++.
<device xsi:type=”axl:XIPPhone” ctiid=”[Employe phone number ex 6785551212]“>
<deviceProtocol>SIP</deviceProtocol>
<sshUserId>[SSH User]</sshUserId>
<sshPassword>[SSH Password]</sshPassword>
<devicePool>
<dateTimeSetting>
<dateTemplate>M/D/Ya</dateTemplate>
<timeZone>Eastern Standard/Daylight Time</timeZone>
<ntps>
<ntp>
<name>192.43.244.18</name>
<ntpMode>directedbroadcast</ntpMode>
</ntp>
</ntps>
</dateTimeSetting>
<callManagerGroup>
<members>
<member priority=”0″>
<callManager>
<ports>
<ethernetPhonePort>2000</ethernetPhonePort>
<sipPort>5060</sipPort>
<securedSipPort>5061</securedSipPort>
</ports>
<processNodeName>[Asterisk IP Address]</processNodeName>
</callManager>
</member>
</members>
</callManagerGroup>
</devicePool>
<sipProfile>
<sipProxies>
<backupProxy></backupProxy>
<backupProxyPort></backupProxyPort>
<emergencyProxy></emergencyProxy>
<emergencyProxyPort></emergencyProxyPort>
<outboundProxy></outboundProxy>
<outboundProxyPort></outboundProxyPort>
<registerWithProxy>true</registerWithProxy>
</sipProxies>
<sipCallFeatures>
<cnfJoinEnabled>true</cnfJoinEnabled>
<callForwardURI>x–serviceuri-cfwdall</callForwardURI>
<callPickupURI>x-cisco-serviceuri-pickup</callPickupURI>
<callPickupListURI>x-cisco-serviceuri-opickup</callPickupListURI>
<callPickupGroupURI>x-cisco-serviceuri-gpickup</callPickupGroupURI>
<meetMeServiceURI>x-cisco-serviceuri-meetme</meetMeServiceURI>
<abbreviatedDialURI>x-cisco-serviceuri-abbrdial</abbreviatedDialURI>
<rfc2543Hold>false</rfc2543Hold>
<callHoldRingback>2</callHoldRingback>
<localCfwdEnable>true</localCfwdEnable>
<semiAttendedTransfer>true</semiAttendedTransfer>
<anonymousCallBlock>2</anonymousCallBlock>
<callerIdBlocking>2</callerIdBlocking>
<dndControl>0</dndControl>
<remoteCcEnable>true</remoteCcEnable>
</sipCallFeatures>
<sipStack>
<sipInviteRetx>6</sipInviteRetx>
<sipRetx>10</sipRetx>
<timerInviteExpires>180</timerInviteExpires>
<timerRegisterExpires>3600</timerRegisterExpires>
<timerRegisterDelta>5</timerRegisterDelta>
<timerKeepAliveExpires>120</timerKeepAliveExpires>
<timerSubscribeExpires>120</timerSubscribeExpires>
<timerSubscribeDelta>5</timerSubscribeDelta>
<timerT1>500</timerT1>
<timerT2>4000</timerT2>
<maxRedirects>70</maxRedirects>
<remotePartyID>false</remotePartyID>
<userInfo>None</userInfo>
</sipStack>
<autoAnswerTimer>1</autoAnswerTimer>
<autoAnswerAltBehavior>false</autoAnswerAltBehavior>
<autoAnswerOverride>true</autoAnswerOverride>
<transferOnhookEnabled>false</transferOnhookEnabled>
<enableVad>false</enableVad>
<preferredCodec>g711ulaw</preferredCodec>
<dtmfAvtPayload>101</dtmfAvtPayload>
<dtmfDbLevel>3</dtmfDbLevel>
<dtmfOutofBand>avt</dtmfOutofBand>
<alwaysUsePrimeLine>false</alwaysUsePrimeLine>
<alwaysUsePrimeLineVoiceMail>false</alwaysUsePrimeLineVoiceMail>
<kpml>3</kpml>
<natEnabled>false</natEnabled>
<natAddress></natAddress>
<phoneLabel>[Employee Name(do not exceed 11 charaters)]</phoneLabel>
<stutterMsgWaiting>1</stutterMsgWaiting>
<callStats>true</callStats>
<silentPeriodBetweenCallWaitingBursts>10</silentPeriodBetweenCallWaitingBursts>
<disableLocalSpeedDialConfig>false</disableLocalSpeedDialConfig>
<startMediaPort>16384</startMediaPort>
<stopMediaPort>32766</stopMediaPort>
<sipLines>
<line button=”1″>
<featureID>9</featureID>
<featureLabel>[Employee phone number ex. 678.555.1212]</featureLabel>
<proxy>[Asterisk IP Address]</proxy>
<port>5060</port>
<name>[Employee Extension]</name>
<displayName>[Employee Name]</displayName>
<autoAnswer>
<autoAnswerEnabled>2</autoAnswerEnabled>
</autoAnswer>
<callWaiting>3</callWaiting>
<authName>[Employee Extension]</authName>
<authPassword>[SIP Password]</authPassword>
<sharedLine>false</sharedLine>
<messageWaitingLampPolicy>1</messageWaitingLampPolicy>
<messagesNumber>*97</messagesNumber>
<ringSettingIdle>4</ringSettingIdle>
<ringSettingActive>5</ringSettingActive>
<contact>[Employee phone number]</contact>
<forwardCallInfoDisplay>
<callerName>true</callerName>
<callerNumber>false</callerNumber>
<redirectedNumber>false</redirectedNumber>
<dialedNumber>true</dialedNumber>
</forwardCallInfoDisplay>
</line>
<line button=”2″>
<featureID>9</featureID>
<featureLabel>Intercom</featureLabel>
<speedDialNumber>[paging group]</speedDialNumber>
<proxy>[Asterisk IP Address]</proxy>
<port>5060</port>
<name>[1 then Employee extension]</name>
<displayName>[Employee Name]</displayName>
<autoAnswer>
<autoAnswerEnabled>1</autoAnswerEnabled>
<autoAnswerMode>Auto Answer with Speakerphone</autoAnswerMode>
</autoAnswer>
<callWaiting>3</callWaiting>
<authName>[1 then Employee extension]</authName>
<authPassword>[SIP Password]</authPassword>
<sharedLine>true</sharedLine>
<ringSettingIdle>4</ringSettingIdle>
<ringSettingActive>5</ringSettingActive>
<contact>[1 then Employee extension]</contact>
</line>
</sipLines>
<voipControlPort>5060</voipControlPort>
<dscpForAudio>184</dscpForAudio>
<ringSettingBusyStationPolicy>0</ringSettingBusyStationPolicy>
<dialTemplate>dialplan.xml</dialTemplate>
<softKeyFile>softkeys.xml</softKeyFile>
</sipProfile>
<commonProfile>
<phonePassword>[Phone Password]/phonePassword>
<backgroundImageAccess>true</backgroundImageAccess>
<callLogBlfEnabled>2</callLogBlfEnabled>
</commonProfile>
<loadInformation309>SIP41.8-5-2S</loadInformation309>
<loadInformation115>SIP41.8-5-2S</loadInformation115>
<vendorConfig>
<disableSpeaker>false</disableSpeaker>
<disableSpeakerAndHeadset>false</disableSpeakerAndHeadset>
<pcPort>1</pcPort>
<settingsAccess>1</settingsAccess>
<garp>0</garp>
<voiceVlanAccess>1</voiceVlanAccess>
<videoCapability>0</videoCapability>
<autoSelectLineEnable>0</autoSelectLineEnable>
<webAccess>1</webAccess>
<spanToPCPort>0</spanToPCPort>
<loggingDisplay>1</loggingDisplay>
<loadServer></loadServer>
</vendorConfig>
<versionStamp></versionStamp>
<userLocale>
<name>English_United_States</name>
<uid>1</uid>
<langCode>en_US</langCode>
<version>1.0.0.0-1</version>
<winCharSet>iso-8859-1</winCharSet>
</userLocale>
<networkLocale>United_States</networkLocale>
<networkLocaleInfo>
<name>United_States</name>
<uid>64</uid>
<version>1.0.0.0-1</version>
</networkLocaleInfo>
<deviceSecurityMode>1</deviceSecurityMode>
<authenticationURL></authenticationURL>
<directoryURL></directoryURL>
<idleURL></idleURL>
<informationURL></informationURL>
<messagesURL></messagesURL>
<proxyServerURL></proxyServerURL>
<servicesURL></servicesURL>
<dscpForSCCPPhoneConfig>96</dscpForSCCPPhoneConfig>
<dscpForSCCPPhoneServices>0</dscpForSCCPPhoneServices>
<dscpForCm2Dvce>96</dscpForCm2Dvce>
<transportLayerProtocol>4</transportLayerProtocol>
<capfAuthMode>0</capfAuthMode>
<capfList>
<capf>
<phonePort>3804</phonePort>
</capf>
</capfList>
<certHash></certHash>
<encrConfig>false</encrConfig>
</device>
0 Removed from Cisco Firmware Naming P0S3-08-11-00 becomes P0S3-8-12-00?
This problem had me going nuts for about 30 minutes. Typically when an update comes out, I just edit all of my configuration files by changing the subversion up by one number. This time around I was having problems with the phones unable to find the firmware on the TFTP Server. My aha moment came when I ran the following commands:
root@pbx:/tftpboot $ ls *08-11*
P003-08-11-00.bin P003-08-11-00.sbn P0S3-08-11-00.loads P0S3-08-11-00.sb2
root@pbx:/tftpboot $ ls *08-12*
ls: *08-12*: No such file or directory
Cisco has changed the syntax ever so slightly from 08-* to 8-*. Hope that helps someone!
Cisco IP Phone Model Breakdown
Cisco 7960 IP Phone
We now sell the SmartNET Service Agreements for these phones! (Necessary to get Firmware)
Use our web form to transmit your device information.
So you ask yourself?
What’s the difference between the Cisco 7940 and 7940G or the 7960 and 7961-GE?
What’s the difference between a Cisco 7940 and a 7945G?
Scroll down for a chart!
The Cisco 79xx series of phones is now a well established line of IP Telephones. Probably best known for their High Quality Speakerphone, and Sturdy construction. There are a number of reasons why they’re not always the best choice when buying an IP Phone. But that’s another story.
The 79xx line of phones is so well established that it has grown to include a variety of subversions. Whereas the product line used to contain just a handful of phones, Cisco has continually upgraded and released subsequent updates to their phones. For this reason we see the current multitude of phones on the market. Fortunately for us the numbering and naming scheme follows a pretty consistent logic.
Although there now exists a multitude of phones, as a general rule of thumb the majority of Cisco phones are based around one of three models. The 7940, 7960 or 7970. Most phones are simply subversions of these phone with different features and capabilities.
The Base Models
The 794x Series of Phones are all 2 Line Grayscale Phones
The 796x Series of Phones are Identical to the 7940s except with the presence of 6 lines instead of 2.
The 797x Series of Phones are Colour Executive Phones with 8 lines, which will drive you insane trying to configure.
The Subversions
The final number, and the letters that come after each of the phone models each represent a different version of the phone. Each with different features and limitations.
79xxG – The “G” in any Cisco Phone stands for “Global” it means that the phone supports Firmwares in Languages other than English. I will not include it in the below graph as it has no other bearing on any other features in the phones. Many of the later models all include this G, that is because Cisco eventually made it a standard feature on all the phones.
79×1 – This was the first generation of revisions to the Cisco line up released in 2006. The 79×1 phones are 802.3af PoE Compliant. For example, the 7940G supports only Cisco’s Prestandard PoE, whereas the 7941G will work with any normal PoE Switch. Additionally the 79×1 typically has a higher resolution screen than the 79×0.
79×1-GE – This is a further revision on the 79×1 phones, phones with the GE feature tag afterwards have been upgraded to support Gigabit Ethernet.
79×2 –An oddball version. High Resolution Greyscale Screen. Can’t find much else about it. Comments!
79×5 – The most recent update in the Cisco Series, now has a higher resolution standard, are colour, and have Gigabit Ethernet Ports standard.
79xx-CH1 – This is the exact same product as the one without the CH1, however the CH1 typically denotes that the CallManager License is included with the phone. (Only applies to customers using CallManager)
| Model | 7940 | 7941 | 7942 | 7945 | 7960 | 7961 | 7962 | 7965 | 7970 | 7971 | 7975 |
| # of Lines | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Gigabitt | N | GE Only | N | Y | N | GE Only | N | Y | N | GE Only | Y |
| Screen Type | Grey | Hi-Res Grey | Hi-Res Grey | Colour | Grey | Hi-Res Grey | Hi-Res Grey | Colour | Colour | Colour | Colour |
| PoE | Cisco | 802.3af | 802.3af | 802.3af | Cisco | 802.3af | 802.3af | 802.3af | Cisco | 802.3af | 802.3af |
| Protocols | SIP, SCCP, MGCP | SIP, SCCP | SIP?, SCCP | SIP, SCCP | SIP, SCCP, MGCP | SIP, SCCP | SIP?, SCCP | SIP, SCCP | SIP, SCCP | SIP, SCCP | SIP, SCCP |
VoIP and IP-PBX Help in Cape Coral and Fort Myers
Are you looking for professional help with your IP-PBX? We specialise in Asterisk based IP Phone Systems, one of the few providers in the Cape Coral / Fort Myers area. Just google online for information on Cisco 7940 and Cisco 7960 phones and you’re going to find one of our guides. If you’re looking to make the jump to VoIP or looking to repair your existing phone system give us a call at 239-444-5522.
NC91-230-LF Linux Installation Guide / Howto / Rant
My new Jetway Mini-ITX ATOM Motherboard as part of my Jetway JBC110C91-230-B Barebones wasn’t as easy as I had hoped to get working. I’m trying to build a PBX and router to replace my current Trixbox PBX and WRT54G running DD-WRT. The hardware seems very capable and speedy but I’m having serious issues getting Linux to run properly on the hardware. Most of the issues I’ve been dealing with seem to be hardware related. The chipset according to Jetway is the INTEL®945GC + ICH7 Chipset. Here are the chronicles of my journey.
UPDATE
After I gave up and installed two Intel NICs, someone else got everything working alright! Here is a walkthrough on the Trixbox Forums, I haven’t actually tried it yet. It looks pretty similar to what I did, perhaps they fixed the problems in the kernel that were causing my crashes.
I will break down the issues based on Operating System:
Gentoo: x86 and amd64 (x86_64)
- Must start with option “nosound” or else startup hangs.
- LiveCD detects IDE hard drive as /etc/hdc then when machine boots it detect as /dev/sda
- Kernel Panics with unable to mount FS (filesystem) even when grub menus are edited to correct hard drive
- IDE Controller driver issues? Did I screw up menuconfig?
- Trys to load RTL8139 Driver module, which will not load (Solved; See Below):
I actually had a separate PCI RTL8139 NIC installed in the machine so I didn’t immediately realise the solution to this problem. What happens is the onboard NIC detects as needing the RTL8139 module, however it is incompatible with it. You must compile support for the card into the kernel to be able to use it correctly, it’s under hardware support / Ethernet
- Unable to test onboard NIC once kernel support is compiled because of IDE issue.
CentOS (PBX in a Flash, Trixbox and CentOS 5.2)
- Will not boot hangs on LiveCD startup, caused by overzealous realtek drivers.
Above error message in Trixbox, PBX in a Flash and CentOS 5.2 LiveCD below.
The issue is with the rtl8169 module. It is not compatible with the onboard NIC but it doesn’t seem to know that. So it attempts to load anyway. This was also happening on Gentoo but I didn’t notice it because it is compiled as a module rather than part of the kernel. The solution is to Disable the PCIE NIC in the BIOS, do the installation with a PCI NIC or a USB Ethernet Adapter and then install the correct drivers.The CentOS Website has an article on the Acer AspireOne which has the same family of NIC as we do.
To get the Onboard NIC to work follow the follow steps under a CentOS based Distro:
Here is what you need to do to get the network adapter working. You can compile it from scratch but I’ve noticed no improvement over the binary.
- Download a version of the kernel module from here
- rpm -Uvh kmod-r8101-1.009.00-1.i686.rpm
- modprobe r8101
- nano /etc/modprobe.conf
Add the Lines:
- alias r8169 off
- alias eth0 r8101
If you see it; Remove the Line:
- alias eth0 r8169
You may issue a problem whereas the machine will crash anytime you try to unload or disconnect the interface. You’ll get an error “BUG: soft lockup – CPU #0 stuck for 10s”. I know I do. I might just disable the onboard network adapter and use two PCI NICs. It’s apparently a known issue. I wasn’t able to determine if they solved based off of googling. It seems as if in order to get the PCI Bus to work properly they had to do a little hacking. The end result is that Linux views the PCI Bus in doubles causing it to get confused. That apparently compounds the r8101 problem, and there are some ACPI issues thrown in for good measure. It seems like they developed a patch but I’m not able to gleam any additional info from the bug tacker.
Jetway JBC110C91-230-B Product Review
I just picked up the Jetway ATOM 230 Mini-ITX
For specific issues in Linux click here.
Barebones machine from Newegg. I have to say, I love it. So far there are very few things I can complain about. Generally the case is a good size, there is plenty of extra room inside. The case is made out of a pretty sturdy metal that I was impressed by. It also comes with metal mounting bars that you can attach to the case if you want to screw it down somewhere. Airflow seems more than reasonable, I have yet felt the heatsink anything hotter than cool to the touch. Even when compiling Linux Kernel 2.6. If you’re looking for a barebones project box, you can’t beat the all in one deal with the power supply and the case.
The ATOM 230 isn’t a powerhouse by any means, but it’s fantastic for what it’s designed to do. Unlike the N270 that’s in my ASUS eee PC, the Atom 230 supports x86_64. It also feels a bit more powerful than it’s netbook cousin.Although it may lag behind a similarly powered Celeron 1.6 it is definitely bearable. Jetway and Newegg have a similar unit minus the PCI slots in the near and with the Dual Core ATOM 330. If you’re looking for some extra oomph I’d definitely recommend it. I only veered away from it because I needed the PCI slot, and I may be distributing these for a Not-For-Profit. As far using it as a router or a PBX, I can’t imagine there being any problems with it, but we’ll soon see.
Now I do have a few complaints. The PCI slot covers are nearly impossible to get out, when you do finally bend them out the case is warped, and then you find that normal PCI cards cause the slot cover to not sit right. It’s frustrating to say the least but with a little bit of bending, and one less screw the case closes cleanly without any problems.
Software-wise so far I have been having a nightmare trying to get it to work in Linux. I intend on building a Router/PBX out of it to replace the variety of other appliances I have. But so far I have had a lot of trouble with it. Gentoo seems to have a variety of strange troubles with the ICH7 southbridge. I couldn’t specifically diagnose the problem but I was having difficulty booting from CD as well as experiencing an issue where the drive would alternate between detecting as SCSI (/dev/sda)Â and IDE (/dev/hdc). To get Gentoo to boot from the livecd I had to use the “nosound” boot option or else it would hang when trying to start the Audio module. I’m going to try CentOS derived Trixbox soon as I’m starting to get frustrated with Gentoo. I think I’m not compiling the proper drivers into the kernel and it’s causing the IDE interface to go wonky.
All and all, I’d definitely recommend this little guy. If you don’t need the PCI slots like I did, pick up it’s Single-Core or Dual-Core cousin with a smaller case. I don’t recommend it for Media, or emulation. Realistically it can do SDTV and SNES Emulation just fine, but for anything more intensive it might make sense to go with a full-powered processor.
Trixbox Bought by Fonality, Where did the Knowledgebase go?
As any of you that have been following links to: http://help.trixbox.com/ lately may have realised. The entire Trixbox knowledge base and all of it’s rather important and helpful articles have disappeared. Furthermore, the whole thing has been rebranded to the Fonality Knowledgebase. Typically I wouldn’t complain, but it seems as if it’s been down for quite sometime, and I can’t access important things like “Minimum System Requirements for Trixbox”. and “Trixbox_Pro_Security”. I wouldn’t mind so much if it was a less important FAQ, but such fundamentals as locking down your new install is pretty serious. At first I thought that maybe Fonality would bring a professional finish to the Trixbox project, but my doubts are starting to grow. If they can’t keep the knowledgebase up without wiping the database, what other mistakes may they introduce into Trixbox?
Flashing the Cisco CP-7912 to SIP (Cisco 7912)
Cisco CP-7912
We now sell the SmartNET Service Agreements for these phones! (Necessary to get Firmware)
Use our web form to transmit your device information.
The Cisco CP-7912 is probably one of the easier Cisco phones to reflash and get configured. In fact, after spending hours wrestling with 7940s, 7960s and 7970s, this one was a breath of fresh air. The phone itself is very simple, uncomplex and surprisingly SIP friendly. I think Cisco might have started out with a nod towards compatibility with this phone before pulling away the carrot.’
Only complaint, no speaker phone, only “monitor mode”. Which sounds great, but they can’t hear you.
To reflash this phone you’re going to need:
- DHCP Server
- TFTP Server
- cmterm-7912-8.0.0-sip.cop
- XMLDefault.cnf.xml configured for the 7912. (make sure you right click save target as, else your browser will try to parse the file)
I’m going to steal a few bits from my Cisco 7970G Guide you can always use whatever TFTP server and DHCP server you like as long as you have the ability to set the DHCP options manually. Here we are goign to use tftpd32, it has both a tftp and dhcp server inside.
To start make a folder on the desktop, I named mine CP-7912.
Extract the cmterm-7912-8.0.0-sip.cop with 7zip or WinRAR. If the archiver doesn’t automatically detect it’s extractable when you right click. Add a .gz to the end, it’ll figure it out.
Now you should have:
- cmterm-7912-8.0.0-sip.cop
- cmterm-7912-8.0.0-sip.cop.gz
- copstart.sh
- CP7912080000SIP060111A.sbin
- load30007_sip.txt
- XMLDefault.cnf.xml
<loadInformation30007 model="IP Phone 7912">CP7912080000SIP060111A</loadInformation30007>
It’s important you add the loadInformation30007, a common mistake is to adde <loadInformation8> because the file already has Cisco 7960 firmwares inside. This number comes from the load30007 text file, and is therefore important.
Next let’s configure TFTPd32
Firstly, determine how you are going to connect your 7912 to your DHCP/TFTP server. You’re going to need to make sure that there is no other routers on the network that could send competing DHCP broadcasts. I recommend one of two scenarios.
- Connecting the Phone and Computer directly with a Crossover cable.
- Connecting the Phone and Computer together on a network switch with no other devices. Notice I say SWITCH not ROUTER. You could use a router if you configured it properly, but that’s another story.
- The switch option works better because it prevents the computer’s LAN interface from going up and down depending on if the phone is plugged in or not.
Next you are going to need to get a copy of tftpd32:
Personally, I like to get the zip file, and extract it into a folder along with the firmwares from Cisco, or whatever underground ftp site you found.
Now that you have tftpd32 open and running, we need to configure it:
- Open up the settings box
- Enable DHCP Server, TFTP Server, and Log Viewer, all others can be unchecked.
- Make sure that you have set the directory into the same directory as your Cisco Firmware Files.
- Make sure you have the correct configuration files in the directory including a XMLDefault.cnf.xml that at least partially resembles this one: (right click save as)
- Set TFTP Security to STANDARD, in the image it says None.
- Make certain that the bind address is set to the correct interface.
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TFTPD32 Configuration
- When done go to the DHCP tab
- Make sure a DHCP and DNS server are set. Under additional options set “150″ and make the IP the same as your TFTP server.
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TFTPD32 DHCP Settings for Cisco 7912
- Check for any settings that I may have missed and double check that everything is correct.
Now it’s time to boot up the phone. Watch the logs. With any luck it should boot up, and try to pull it SEPMAC.cnf.xml then give up and move on to XMLDefault.cnf.xml. When it sees that file it should download CP7912080000SIP060111A.sbin and reboot. If as its rebooting you see the phone look for gkMAC then gkdefault.cfg, your phone is successfully reflashed.
If it isn’t try restarting it a couple times, double check your TFTP settings and make sure the phone is detecting your TFTP server. You may have to go into Network Settings and enable alternate TFTP server. Typically you can do this by moving to the option then pressing **# to unlock it, then typing in the TFTP server address. The most common problem though is an error in the XMLDefault.cnf.xml file.
This will get the phone reflashed, you’ll have to write the configuration on your own. However one of the neat things about these phones is that you can register it from the handset. Unlike it’s newer and more expensive cousins this phone let’s you provision by hand.
