How to: Fix Upgrading, Blank Screen on Cisco IP 7961G, 7941G, 7970

I'm writing this blog post to help those having issues with these IP phones and hopefully get this phone back up and working. I've worked with this phone and searched lots of places online for answers to the problems with this phone and didn't find much information. Cisco site doesn't provide you with much help either, as you've probably noticed.

Lots of ideas, no step-by-step fix to the problems that was occurring with this phone. I spent around 14 hours on this phone in 2 days trying to get it up and running. What really annoyed me the most, is it's not really hard to get it up and working, after around 8 hours you’ll probably get the hang of it on your own, it's just when you’re not a expert with IP phones like myself, it can be very difficult to work with.

If you have this phone you probably will no the problems that comes up, if you fix something you might find something else will be the cause for it not working. Hopefully in this post you will get it back up and running with the latest firmware and how I managed to recover the phone.

TERMS: Before you start, I just want to let you know that I am not an expert with IP phones, nor am i cisco certified, so if anything happens to your phone or you BRICK your phone for trying anything of these steps provided by me, I’m not responsible for it. You’re using my information at your own risk.

How to fix the blank screen issue or stuck on upgrading issue.

I'm going to start off with the hard reset option. If you have done this option using code "3491672850*#" and it's not booting back up and is stuck at a blank screen. Don't worry about it! It's looking for the firmware. If you are stuck at the upgrading screen, then it's the same, its just looking for the firmware to upgrade the phone.

DO NOT TURN OFF THE PHONE!

I just want everyone to know, you might think the phone is dead if its not doing anything, but sometimes it is and it's not dead, so don't keep unplugging it and plugging it back in, as this could brick the phone.

1. Let’s get started. First of all, you need to connect the phone directly to your computers Ethernet port. Unplug your Ethernet from your PC/Modem/router and connect the Ethernet directly to the phone then the other end straight to your computers Ethernet port from the phone. Yes, this will cause your computer to have no internet, so Make sure you got all the firmware files first and everything you need, scroll down this post. Also make sure the power cord is plugged in the phone too.

2. Next you will need to assign an IP address to the computer. Control Panel > Networking & Internet > Network and Sharing Centre > Change Adapter settings (On the left). Find your Local area connection (Ethernet). Right click and select 'properties'. Then Double click on IPv4.

Use the same settings:

Click OK and OK again.

If you did this correctly, you will see at the bottom right hand corner a network adapter with a yellow explanation icon through it.

3. Now you have the IP assigned on '192.168.1.108' the Next step, you need to have a TFTP server running, Note: i'm not going to provide support for MAC/linux. Sorry about that, it's just for this post, im using windows. I'm using TFTPD32 on a Windows 7 box. I recommend using tftpd32 or solarwinds. For this post im going to use TFTPD32 and i will be using Windows 7 32-bit.

4. Once you have downloaded/installed TFTPD32, open the program found on the desktop.

5. Now you have the program open, same as the screenshot above. Click on 'Settings' in tftpd32. This will open a new tab. Use the same information below on all 2 screenshots found below. Global & DHCP Tab.

Click OK

6. Once you have the settings saved. You'll need to configure a directory for the phone to find the firmware files. Again, this is done in the Settings tab and on the main program. Create a Folder on your Desktop called Firmware. Browse to the folder.

Again, Navigate to the settings tab and select TFTP tab Do the same for the Base Directory. Then click OK. Once your back on the main TFTPD32 program, (Not settings tab) Select Log Viewer, on the main TFTPD32 Window.

Now your up and running and ready to connect to the phone. Here you can see the logs between the connections from the TFTPD Server and the Phone. You might see some information, this is because the phone is trying to connect.

Firmware Files

If you don't have the firmware files, you will need to navigate to cisco website CLICK HERE (Products > Cisco Unified IP phone 7900 Series > Phone version. You'll need to signup to download the files. Alternatively, you can visit HERE to get older versions of the files. SCCP & SIP.

Once you have located the correct firmware and phone version, put the firmware files in the Firmware folder on your Desktop. Download the cop.sgn & the zip file. Extract all the files from the zip into the Firmware folder on the Desktop, also put the cop.sgn file in there too.

You should have something that looks like this in your firmware folder:

Getting the phone to communicate with the TFTP Server

Now you have got all the files in the correct place, the IP is set and the Ethernet is plugged from the phone into the computer port. You're ready to get the phone connecting to the TFTPD Server.

Next, complete these steps:

1. Unplug the power cable from the phone, and then plug in the cable again.

   The phone begins its power up cycle.

2. Immediately press and hold # and while the Headset, Mute, and Speaker buttons begin to flash in sequence, release #.

3. Press 123456789*0# within 60 seconds after the Headset, Mute, and Speaker buttons begin to flash.

Now the phone will try to connect with the TFTPD Server on your computer. If you have a blank screen, don't worry. This is normal. If you are stuck at the upgrading… that’s fine too. It's all about time with this phone, don't unplug it and plug it back in, just be patient.

On the TFTPD Server on the Log viewer, you should see some information starting to come up. I'll provide you some examples below, since I no longer have this phone I’m not going through the process with you as I’m writing this post, so ill provide some screenshots from the internet below.

Example (Found from the internet):

Another example (Connected) – Found from the intertnet:

If the TFTPD32 server is successfully connected to the phone and it's located the firmware, you will see the TFTPD server transferring files.

Once done, your phone will reboot and the firmware will be loaded back onto the phone. If you're having issues getting the TFTPD32 to transfer the firmware, see the bottom of this post on some troubleshooting methods to help you.

__________________________________________________

Troubleshooting:

I’m sorry to say there isn’t much help i can give you in the post, but I can provide information, I advise you to post a comment on the comments below to get further help from me and other people. But for now, ill provide you with some methods that could be causing the issue on not transferring the firmware.

Method 1

If you are getting some information on the log viewer on TFTPD32 but the files are not transferring, then it could be the firmware. If you are using the latest firmware from cisco then I recommend you to click here and try another firmware. Version 8.2 or 8.0. Keep going down. 8.3 > 8.2 > 8.1 > etc. Till the phone does eventually communicate with the TFTPD32 server. Remember, don't keep clicking off TFTPD Server, don't unplug the phone, give it at least 10 minutes to properly communicate.

Method 2

If you are not getting any information at all, then there's something wrong. Repeat the steps again above. Make sure you haven't missed anything when going through the process. Make sure you are on the Log View Tab on TFTPD32. Not tftp client, DCHP Server, etc.

Method 3

Sometimes the Windows firewall can interrupt the connection between the TFTPD32 server and the phone, I recommend you to turn off your Windows firewall. Don't allow a program; just turn the firewall completely OFF.

Method 4

If you have tried all the solutions above, tried the firmware, checked all the settings. Click off TFTPD32 server and Re-open it. Click settings and make sure all of the IP information is correct again. Click here

Method 5

If you are still having issues, turn off the phone and repeat all the steps again, you need to make sure on the log viewer there is information coming up. If no information is coming up then there is a definite problem between your phone and your computer/TFTP Server. If you are getting information, it should look something like this example below.

 Rcvd DHCP Rqst Msg for IP 0.0.0.0, Mac 00:21:55:D5:B2:FC [14/03 01:11:58.234] Previously allocated address 192.168.178.201 acked [14/03 01:11:59.750] Connection received from 192.168.178.201 on port 49152 [14/03 01:11:59.781] Read request for file <term65.default.loads>. Mode octet [14/03 01:11:59.781] Using local port 4591 [14/03 01:11:59.781] 3596 Request 2 not processed [14/03 01:11:59.796] <term65.default.loads>: sent 2 blks, 642 bytes in 0 s. 0 blk resent [14/03 01:11:59.859] Connection received from 192.168.178.201 on port 49153 [14/03 01:12:00.765] Read request for file <term65.default.loads>. Mode octet [14/03 01:12:00.765] Using local port 4592 [14/03 01:12:00.765] <term65.default.loads>: sent 2 blks, 642 bytes in 0 s. 0 blk resent [14/03 01:12:00.828] Rcvd DHCP inform Msg for IP 192.168.178.200, Mac 00:13:A9:3B:CA:17 [14/03 01:16:00.203] Rcvd DHCP inform Msg for IP 192.168.178.200, Mac 00:13:A9:3B:CA:17 [14/03 01:16:03.218] 

If you have the same information as above, I recommend you to check another firmware version, i had the same information above on the log viewer and I tried different firmware version, i think it was 8.2.1 and the files uploaded to the phone correctly. If it's not reading the firmware files, search on Google for help on the issues you’re having, search the information what’s coming up in the Log viewer and see if there is any other fixes found. You might find other users are having the same problem as you and there is a fix for it.

If you are still having issues after looking everywhere, post a comment below and i will try my best to help you. I hope this information helped you a little on where to get started. Best of luck!