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Dang Nabit - Bricked my USR Courier 3453C!!!!

S

Shadow Lord

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Was attempting a FW update and I flashed, by mistake, the 3453B FW on the modem. Now modem powers on, but AT commands are non-responsive. Anybody know if there is a way to HARD reset one of these guys and/or force a FW on? I found a utility that supposedly debricks the modem enough so that you can put on the proper FW. But I need a DOS system to get it to work so it will have to wait until I get home to try it. Anything I can try NOW? TIA!
 
I'd have to go dig into mine, but the big USR Couriers used traditional socketed E/EPROMs, as far as I can remember. But I'd have to look into mine to be certain.
 
Okay, I don't have your exact model (I have the V.Everything and the V.34bis as well as the older HST Dual-Standard). I'm guessing that yours is similar to the later two of mine--they use a 20V power supply wall wart that ends in a simple pin-and-barrel power connector and not a 5-pin DIN.

My USR guide says that if you brick your modem during a firmware upgrade, power the modem off, set DIP switches 1, 5 and 10 on and 8 off. Power the modem on and send the new firmware using XMODEM protocol. Power the modem off and return the switches to their normal setting.
 
Chuck,

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure if these modem are socketed like the old USRs. This one is actually made in China. I still have a courier 3453 that was one of the last made in the USA. I tried the dip switches and either I am doing something wrong or it doesn't work for me.

Normally, when i want to upgrade the FW I connect to the modem using a comm program and issue the command ATXMODEM. This gets me an option to xfer the FW using xmodem. This command (along with the other AT commands) is not working for me. I tried setting the DIP switches as you suggested and turned the modem on. Connected w/ a terminal program and AT commands are still not working. I then tried just xferring the FW using xmodem. I set the ul going, waited a while (there was no indication anything was working but just in case) and rebooted the modem. No change. I am not sure if these modem are socketed like the old USRs. This one is actually made in China. I still have a courier 3453 that was one of the last made in the USA.
 
If you take a look inside, you should see an 80C188 CPU near the front of the board and an Intel 29F040 flash PROM. If not, take a photo of the PCB and we'll see if we can make sense of it. Later Couriers all seemed to use the same PCB. For example, I could upgrade my V.32bis Courier to a V.Everything with just a FW upgrade.
 
Well,

I tried the DOS utility that is supposed to fix it and that didn't help. I also did some research and found the info on the DIP switches. Also xmodem is supposed to work even if the FW is corrupted. I got an email into USR to see whats going on. Maybe, there is a slightly different sequence for this model. If not then I guess I need a new BIOS chip. Can that be programmed w/ my Genius G540?
 
If your particular model is one with a Flash chip, the chip is soldered to the PCB, so no hope for a programmer there. Stupid question: Do you know that your cable is correct?
 
Chuck, I haven't cracked open the case yet as I am waiting to hear from USR so I don't know if it is socketed or not. I was just wondering if it is socketed would the G540 do it. As for cable, are you referring to the serial cable? If so, yes. The modem worked fine until operator error yesterday. Basically, I had the FW process going and I went to pick the file to ul using xmodem and I double clicked the wrong file. I tried to cancel immediately but I guess enough damage had been done that the FW won't respond anymore.
 
Okay. No, I don't think your model has the socketed PROM chip. Too bad, that. I also note that the online version of the manual doesn't talk about how to bail out of a bad FW flash--no mention of DIP switches. I hope that USR has some good news for you.
 
Chuck(G) said:
One would hope that they kept a boot block in that EEPROM, but only they can tell you that.
Click to expand...

Well, if I understand it correctly thats what the DIP switch settings do on the older models. I am hoping that they have something similar on the 3453C.
 
Modem Fixed - pretty much!

Modem Fixed - pretty much!

So after no reply to my email from USR I called up tech support and spoke to the Level 1 CSR. Unfortunately, even though he was the most senior Level 1 tech at USR w/ a whole four years of experience, his first response was that the FW is corrupted and it is not covered under warranty. A bit of back and forth and I was able to convince him to look up the file on the USR FTP site which describes how to get the (older) modems to recover from a corrupted firmware. Basically the same procedure Chuck provided. Now that we had established you could recover from a corrupted FW he finally agreed to escalate me to level 2. I got a call back from level 2 and was provided the following:

1. Set modem dips to defaults: 3,5,8,9 ON all others OFF (not sure if this is necessary).
2. Power on modem while holding the Voice Data button.
3. Release Voice Data button as soon as CTS is lit (not really critical when you release the button). The modem will begin self test.

If you are connected via terminal program you will see the following (see my notes below):

TESTING RAM OK
TESTING ROM OK
TESTING NVRAM OK
TESTING DSP OK
TESTING LEDS AND SPEAKER
CURRENT DIPSWITCH SETTINGS
DIPSWITCH #1 OFF
DIPSWITCH #2 OFF
DIPSWITCH #3 ON
DIPSWITCH #4 OFF
DIPSWITCH #5 ON
DIPSWITCH #6 OFF
DIPSWITCH #7 OFF
DIPSWITCH #8 ON
DIPSWITCH #9 ON
DIPSWITCH #10 OFF
SELF TEST COMPLETED
4. The modem should be in bootmode. You can verify by entering the AT command to modem and get the following response:
.bootmodem.
OK
5. At this point you can issue the ATXMODEM command and use he proper firmware file from the website to update the modem.
Click to expand...

Apparently on the 3453B and C all you have to do is hold the voice/data button down during a power cycle to get the bootstrap going. Once you do this you have access not only to the FW but also the bootstrap FW. The modem should now responded to AT commands.

Couple of notes:

1. Looks as if I had screwed up my modem so bad that during the self test it spit out gibberish at me instead of the results of the self test. However, the modem still responded to ATXMODEM w/ legible output). So not getting legible output on the screen is not necessarily a bad thing.
2. The self test can be initiated w/ ATY5 (although you only get an OK for output, not the verbose output) and dip switch settings can be shown w/ ATY15 if you have a functioning modem. These commands are undocumented as far as I know.
3. Even though I have a good FW flash I am still getting a checksum error on the self test of the ROM. No idea why. The modem seems to be functioning perfectly. I've contacted USR and I am waiting to hear back from them.
4. I am not sure if this process also applies to the older 3CP3453 or HST models. I am guessing not. Those models will probably use the dip switches as documented bu Chuck.

Hopefully, this will save someone else some headache as my google fu turned up NOTHING on this.
 
Last edited:
Congratulations on getting some tech support for your modem--since 3com bought USR, I'd given up all hope of any knowledge ever surviving. I'll file that information away for future reference.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Congratulations on getting some tech support for your modem--since 3com bought USR, I'd given up all hope of any knowledge ever surviving. I'll file that information away for future reference.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. I thought I had to trash that unit. Honestly though, if you had not told me about the DIP switches on the older models I would not have pushed the level 1 CSR and I'd still be stuck with a dead modem. Of course no one has gotten back to me again regarding the checksum issue....

The 3Com purchase was okay in my books but when HP bought 3Com all hope disappeared. Up to then all of the old 3COM docs, drivers, and manuals were available. First thing HP did is to get rid of them.
 
Shadow Lord said:
The 3Com purchase was okay in my books but when HP bought 3Com all hope disappeared. Up to then all of the old 3COM docs, drivers, and manuals were available. First thing HP did is to get rid of them.
Click to expand...

I probably don't need to say that my opinion of HP changed radically during the Carly years. Thank heavens they spun off Agilent--the folks there are still among the best in the test equipment area. I shudder to think of what they would have become if they'd been left under the HP umbrella. I still have a fondness for old HP gear.
 
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