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Cisco 7940/7960 firmware upgrade/downgrade guide

Here's where we try to take some of the agony out of loading a 7940/7960 with firmware.

I think that a lot of folks will agree that loading a Cisco phone can be either a piece of cake or a total pain in the butt!!! - No in betweens! - But we'll do what we can to make it a little less agonizing for you.

We'll do this by showing you a couple of lists.

From the first list, you'll tell us what firmware's currently loaded in your phone.

Based on what your phone has loaded, we'll then show you a choice of possible firmware(s) you can load into your phone.

After you choose what you want to load, we'll then (try to) explain a little about the loading process and what you need to do.

A few notes before starting (please read - at least once!)

Cisco says there are two ways to load (some) firmware. - One is using Cisco's 'Call Manager' ('CCM') and the other is to use a TFTP server. - We only know how to load a phone via TFTP and have never even tried (nor seen) 'CCM'.

Therefore, when you see your list to choose which firmware you want to load, you'll not see any selections that only load via 'CCM'.
Even if your phone is 'locked' (you don't know it's configuration password), you can still reset the network settings so you can use a TFTP server if it has DHCP capabilities. - This will allow you to load firmware and (later) reset the phone's password. - You can read more on this on our 'password reset page'. - Look HERE for more info. (Just click your browser's 'back' button to return to this page.)

This 'password reset' page also describes the TFTP server we use and a little on how to set it up.
Depending on what your current load is (type and version) and what you desire to load (type and version), there up to six different scenarios you'll need to use. - In fact, some loads require loading an intermediate version before finally getting to your 'destination version'.
At this point, we don't have too many available but where we can, we'll show you screen shots of our own TFTP server when we load various firmware(s).
Don't be afraid to try! - Several times when I first started loading phones, I messed up and thought "omygawd! - I just created a $300 paperweight!". - But with patience (and some luck), you can load a phone. - If you really get into a jam, there's help available. - If you wish, and I'll see what I can do to help.
Lastly.. If there's any input you can provide to help us improve these pages, please let us know (email to the Email Me link above). - Feedback is always appreciated.

Please don't forget this is a 'donation' site. - Whatever we receive in the way of donations is the only thing that covers our operating expenses.

Okay - Ready to get started?

Gosh! What do I do here?

Here's where we need to know what firmware image you have installed in your phone now.

To determine what firmware you have on your 7940 or 7960, just do the following:

Press the 'Settings' button on the phone.

Scroll down to 'Status' and press the 'Select' soft key.

Scroll down to 'Firmware Versions' and press the 'Select'soft key.

Look for 'App Load ID:' - That shows the firmware version loaded in your phone. It should match up to one of the choices in the table on your left.

All you have to do is chose your installed firmware from the table and we'll take you to the next screen. When you get there, you may have to scroll up to the top.

Please double-check & make sure the above matches with your phone's installed firmware before continuing.

If you wish to bail out and re-select your installed firmware, here's your chance.

Based on the firmware version that's currently in the phone, the list on the left shows you all the possible firmware versions you can load.

Just like the previous menu, all you need to do is select which version you want to load and we'll tell you about what procedure you need to use and a little about it.

Cisco specifies what they call 'Procedure A' for this load

Here is Cisco's description for this procedure:

The SEP<mac-address>.cnf.xml file is downloaded when the phone is reset. This file contains the load_information tag that tells the phone which image it should be running. If this image load differs from the one currently loaded on the phone, the phone contacts the TFTP server to upgrade to the new image.

There's not much else to this except that this procedure is only associated with SCCP (skinny) loads and we don't use SCCP on any of our phones.

Cisco specifies what they call 'Procedure B' for this load.

Here is Cisco's description for this procedure:

1. Copy the desired binary image from Cisco.com to the root directory of the TFTP server.
2. Open the OS79XX.TXT file with a text editor and change the file to include the disired image.
3. Specify the desired image in the protocol configuration files.
4. Reset each phone.
The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration files. The phone compares the image that is defined in the configuration file to the image that it has stored in flash memory. If the phone determines that the image in the configuration file differs from the image in flash memory, it downloads the image in the configuration file (which is stored in the root directory of the TFTP server). Once the new image has been downloaded, the phone programs that image into flash memory and reboots.

Cisco specifies what they call 'Procedure C' for this load.

Here is Cisco's description for this procedure:

Specify the image in the configuration file image parameter for the protocol that is being upgraded to (load_information for SCCP or image_version for SIP and MGCP). - Remove any protocol configuration files that are not used for the specified protocol.

For example:

SCCP -- For SCCP, the SEP<mac-address>.cnf.xml file is downloaded when a phone is reset. - This file contains the load_information tag that tells the phone which image it should be running. - If the image load differs from the one that is currently in the phone, the phone contacts the TFTP server to upgrade to the new image.
SIP -- For SIP, the SIPDefault.cnf and SIP<mac-address>.cnf files are downloaded when a phone is reset. - This file contains the image_version parameter that tells the phone which image it should be running. - If the image differs from the one that is currently loaded on the phone, the phone contacts the TFTP server to upgrade to the new image.
MGCP -- For MGCP, the MGCDefault.cnf and MGC<mac-address>.cnf files are downloaded when a phone is reset. - This file contains the image_version parameter that tells the phone which image it should be running. - If the image differs from the one that is currently loaded on the phone, the phone contacts the TFTP server to upgrade to the new image.

Note: For a single step upgrade from an SCCP image to a SIP or MGCP image (manufacturing images, for example) the load information tag in the XML Default.cnf.xml file must reflect the Universal Application Loader Image (P003-xx-y-zz). This step is in addition to the steps listed above for SIP and MGCP. - For example:

Cisco specifies what they call 'Procedure D' for this load.

Here's Cisco's description of this load:

1. Unzip the software_version.zip file in the root (top level) TFTP directory.
2. Reset the phone.
The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration files. The phone compares the image defined in OS79XX.TXT and protocol configuration files to the image that it has stored in flash memory. If the phone determines that the image defined in the files differs from the image in flash memory, it downloads the image that is defined (which is stored in the root directory on the TFTP server). Once the new image has been downloaded, the phone programs that image into flash memory and reboots.

Cisco specifies what they call 'Procedure D2' for this load.

This almost identical to the normal Procedure 'D'. - See my note below.

Here's Cisco's description of this load:

1. Unzip the software_version.zip file in the root (top level) TFTP directory.
2. Reset the phone.
The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration files. The phone compares the image defined in OS79XX.TXT and protocol configuration files to the image that it has stored in flash memory. If the phone determines that the image defined in the files differs from the image in flash memory, it downloads the image that is defined (which is stored in the root directory on the TFTP server). Once the new image has been downloaded, the phone programs that image into flash memory and reboots.

Note: - If you want to upgrade from SIP 5.x or 6.x to 7.x use Procedure 'F'. - Upgrading from SIP 5.x directly to SIP 7.x is not possible. - First upgrade to SIP 6.3 and then go to SIP 7.x.

FYI - 'Procedure F' specifies to further use Procedures 'B' & 'D'. - If you like, we can show you 'Procedure F' and those procedures it specifies:

'Procedure F'

Here's Cisco's description for procedure 'F':

1. Upgrade to the 6.3 image using Procedure 'B'.

Then (if necessary)

2. Upgrade to the desired image using Procedure 'D'.

'Procedure B'

Here is Cisco's description for procedure 'B':

1. Copy the desired binary image from Cisco.com to the root directory of the TFTP server.
2. Open the OS79XX.TXT file with a text editor and change the file to include the disired image.
3. Specify the desired image in the protocol configuration files.
4. Reset each phone.
The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration files. The phone compares the image that is defined in the configuration file to the image that it has stored in flash memory. If the phone determines that the image in the configuration file differs from the image in flash memory, it downloads the image in the configuration file (which is stored in the root directory of the TFTP server). Once the new image has been downloaded, the phone programs that image into flash memory and reboots.

'Procedure D'

Here's Cisco's description for procedure 'D':

1. Unzip the software_version.zip file in the root (top level) TFTP directory.
2. Reset the phone.
The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration files. The phone compares the image defined in OS79XX.TXT and protocol configuration files to the image that it has stored in flash memory. If the phone determines that the image defined in the files differs from the image in flash memory, it downloads the image that is defined (which is stored in the root directory on the TFTP server). Once the new image has been downloaded, the phone programs that image into flash memory and reboots.

Cisco specifies what they call 'Procedure E' for this load.

Here is Cisco's description of this procedure:

There are two possible ways to accomplish this upgrade.

1. Create the configuration file for the desired protocol on the TFTP server that has been specified in the phone and remove all other protocol configuration files. In this configuration file, specify the image using the load_information tag (SCCP) or the image_version tag (SIP and MGCP).
Reset the phone.
For example, if the image on the phone is SCCP and the image desired is MGCP, create an MGCP<mac-address>.cnf or MGCDefault.cnf configuration file with the image_version set to the desi"red" image; remove all other protocol configuration files for this phone.
2. Using the configuration file for the protocol that the phone is currently running, change the image in the load_information tag (SCCP) or the image_version (SIP and MGCP) to represent the protocol that is chosen to run.

For example, if the image on the phone is SIP and the image disired is SCCP, change the image_version paramater to reflect the SCCP image (P000306000200).

Cisco specifies what they call 'Procedure F' for this load.

Here's Cisco's description for this procedure:

1. Upgrade to the 6.3 image using Procedure 'B'.

Then (if necessary)

2. Upgrade to the desired image using Procedure 'D'.

If you like, we can show you these other procedures:

'Procedure B'

Here is Cisco's description for procedure 'B':

1. Copy the desired binary image from Cisco.com to the root directory of the TFTP server.
2. Open the OS79XX.TXT file with a text editor and change the file to include the disired image.
3. Specify the desired image in the protocol configuration files.
4. Reset each phone.
The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration files. The phone compares the image that is defined in the configuration file to the image that it has stored in flash memory. If the phone determines that the image in the configuration file differs from the image in flash memory, it downloads the image in the configuration file (which is stored in the root directory of the TFTP server). Once the new image has been downloaded, the phone programs that image into flash memory and reboots.

'Procedure D'

Here's Cisco's description for procedure 'D':

1. Unzip the software_version.zip file in the root (top level) TFTP directory.
2. Reset the phone.
The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration files. The phone compares the image defined in OS79XX.TXT and protocol configuration files to the image that it has stored in flash memory. If the phone determines that the image defined in the files differs from the image in flash memory, it downloads the image that is defined (which is stored in the root directory on the TFTP server). Once the new image has been downloaded, the phone programs that image into flash memory and reboots.

Uh Oh! - You found a BUG!!

For some reason I can't find any procedure for your installed firmware and you 'target' firmware. - But one surely exists.

This can only mean we have a bug in our program. - While we extensively check all scenarios, it's still possible one may 'leak through'.

PLEASE! and include your 'installed version' and your 'desired version' of firmware from above. - Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. - Thanks!

Hints / Tips / Gotcha's

Here we'll try to pass on some usefull Hints, Tips, & Gotcha's we learned along the way. - Hope you find at least some of them helpfull.

Early SIP versions:

SIP versions 1 & 2 are not recommended due to their age (In fact, we haven't been able to find SIP ver. 1 anywhere.). - However you may need to load an early SIP version as an 'intermediate' load to access the later versions (see next item).

If you have SIP 2.1 or earlier installed:

1 - These versions will not allow upgrading to a version if the number of characters is greater than 8 (it uses old 8.3 DOS filenames). - Cisco recommends re-naming the binary to 8 characters.

1A - Even after re-naming the file, it still won't work if it's larger than 384K in size. - Thanks to a kind soul on the Internet for this info (of course, we can't find anything in Cisco's docs regarding this).

Our recommendation is to first load either SIP version 2.2 or 2.3 which allows longer filenames and larger size loads. - Then you'll be 'good-to-go' for the bigger stuff.

Unlocking a Phone:

On your phone, if you press 'Settings', scroll to the bottom and do not see 'Unlock Config', this means that you have a very early firmware version

To 'unlock' this type of a configuration is to press '**#. - This uses the same method as the 7905/7912 phones use.

If you DO see 'Unlock Config', '**#' will NOT work and you'll have to enter the phone's password. - The default password from the factory is: cisco

Reseting a Phone.

You can do this by a 'power reset' or by pressing:
'asterisk'-'6'-'Settings' all at the same time. - Cisco's version of a
PC's: 'alt'-'ctrl'-'del' (three-finger salute).

Loading a ver. 5 or later onto a Pre-ver. 5 Phone

Please be aware that after loding a ver. 5.x or later onto a pre-ver. 5 phone, you can NEVER revert the phone back to a pre-5.x image (regardless of the protocol).

This is because beginning with version 5.0 (all protocols), Cisco introduced 'signed images' and part of your 'load' will replace the phone's application loader. - This new loader will only accept 'signed' images for any subsequent loads.

Cisco's Firmware Upgrade Matrix

Procedure

Source

Target

Source

Target

Source

Target

Source

Target

Source

Target

Source

Target

Source

Target

Any SCCP

SCCP 3.x/5.x

SIP/MGCP 6.x or earlier

Any SCCP

SIP/MGCP 6.x or later

SIP/MGCP 5.x/6.x

SCCP 5.x or later

SIP 5.x/6.x

SIP/MGCP 7.x or later

SIP or MGCP 7.x or later

SCCP 5.x or later

SIP or MGCP 4.x or earlier

SCCP 6.x or later

SIP/MGCP 4.x or earlier

SCCP 5.x or earlier

SIP 7.x or later

SIP/MGCP 7.xx or later

SIP or MGCP 4.x or earlier

SCCP 6.x or later

SIP/MGCP 4.x or earlier

SIP/MGCP 6.x or earlier

MGCP 7.x or later

SIP/MGCP 5.xx or later

SIP or MGCP 4.x or earlier

SIP/MGCP 7.x or later

SIP/MGCP 5.x/6.x

MGCP 5.x/6x

SIP/MGCP 7.x or later

Here's a link to the Cisco's Firmware Upgrade page that includes a lot of usefull information if you can just wade through it: Cisco's Firmware Guide

Menu

Cisco 7940/7960 firmware upgrade/downgrade guide

A few notes before starting (please read - at least once!)

Okay - Ready to get started?

Uh Oh! - You found a BUG!!

Hints / Tips / Gotcha's

Cisco's Firmware Upgrade Matrix

Procedure