Raptor 700

[fastcon68]

I have a raptor 700 that a friend gave to me.  I can't get the unit to boot properly.  Is there any way to boot the unit, and then boot then flash the fireware?
RC

[fastcon68]

I flashed the HD to the current to the current IPCOP Build but the flash still need to be done.  Is there any way to flash the system board?
RC

[Davesworld]

Without the original os, the only practical way (free of charge) is to flash via serial console, others use the Strongbolt install cd to flash with and then back out before it tries to install Strongbolt. I have never had to serial console flash as all units I have ever flashed either had the original os installed or later on I used the Strongbolt installer cd to just use the flash update portion.

I had purchased Strongbolt for my first  raq xtr a few years ago. I have since used the Strongbolt cd to flash a raq 550 and a raq 3. In order to use theirs, you have to boot the cd on a computer that has either a 3com or intel 10/100 nic and it sets up the nfsroot environment automatically to allow you to boot over the net. Once booted, their installer checks the rom version and does the update semi automatically, it's their installer and automatic rom flashing utility that you pay the money for, not the os itself. I paid 20 bucks for it but actually have Strongbolt running a few XTR's I use as fileservers. Basically a cobalt with any of the roms will boot a kernel over nfs, in fact you could have an entire linux os in nfsroot if you had an nfs server to set it up, you would then boot from the net.

For serial flashing: http://wiki.parvi.org/index.php/ROM_Flash_without_OS_Guide

[fastcon68]

Can anyone guide me through setting up a BOOTP and DHCP to support a network boot?  I am attempting to configure it on SBS 2003.  I have downloaded a copy of  CentOS stronghold.  I never attempted to do this but really would like to get this Raptor up and runing.  I want to get it configured as a spare.

I use PF-Sense as my primary and would like to a few of these for spares and testing.   I can get serveral of theses units from a friend of mine for next to nothing.

RC

[Davesworld]

The Cobalt's don't need any special setup nor can they be set up for pxe and so forth. In Boot From Net mode, it looks for a dhcp server and then once it gets an ip, for an nfs server with a specifically named directory that contains a Cobalt bootable kernel. The easiest way to get a cobalt to boot from the net is to hold down the S button while powering up and you will get to a menu, there you can click the S button until it says Boot From Net, then press the E button. This can be done via serial console as well if you want to do it that way. This of course assumes that you have the Strongbolt cd booted on a pc that has a supported nic and a crossover cable connected between the two.

When you boot a Strongbolt CD on a pc, it will tell you if the nic in the pc is supported and it will also tell you when it's time to boot the cobalt from net.

[fastcon68]

Thanks for the info.  I try that in the morning when I am able to think.
RC