Network Management Card 3 (NMC3) unexpectedly restarts every 10 to 14 minutes and/or firmware upgrades are unsuccessful

Description: Network Management Card 3 (NMC3) unexpectedly restarts every 10 to 14 minutes and/or firmware upgrades are unsuccessful.

Affected products: Network Management Card 3;AP9640, AP9641, AP9643 – all variations of these NMC devices.  This does not affect prior versions of the NMC (versions 1 or 2).

Problem: Customers who have their NMC3 installed and in operation may find that their NMC3 device begins to restart and/or firmware upgrades are unsuccessful.  Unsuccessful firmware updates cause the NMC3 to become stuck in the boot monitor; this can be confirmed by observing the Status LED which will be solid amber/orange. NMC3's may also be unable to completely boot, and present an "Incompatible Application" error when trying to access the web interface.

The customer may attempt to correct the issue by removing the NMC3 from the SmartSlot and reinstalling, but the problem continues.

Root cause: In NMC3 firmware versions prior to version v2.3.1.1, database corruption can occur which causes the NMC3 to become stuck in a reboot loop or stuck at the boot monitor.

Solution: Schneider Electric advises that customers upgrade their NMC3 to v2.3.1.1 or later

Note: Some NMCs may encounter upgrade issues, please proceed with caution.

• If your NMC is configured for DHCP, we recommend the following:
  • Download the config.ini file
  • Format the NMC via the format command in the Command Line Interface (CLI)
  • When the NMC3 has rebooted, upgrade the firmware to v2.3+
  • In the CLI, use the format -f command to format the NMC again
  • After the format is complete, upload the config.ini file
• If your NMC IP address is configured manually, we recommend taking additional steps such as upgrading the firmware when local to the NMC3 in case the upgrade is unsuccessful, outlined in more detail below.
• If you require further assistance, please contact technical support.

To resolve the issue, perform the following steps in this order:

1. Download the config.ini from your NMC3.
2. Download the latest NMC3 firmware version from www.apc.com/secure-nmc
3. Be near the NMC3 or have someone local to the NMC3 who can perform a factory format of the and firmware upgrade of the NMC3.
4. Format the NMC3 via the boot loader:
   1. Connect to the NMC3 via the Console port using the NMC3 configuration cable (part number 960-0603).
   2. Restart the NMC3.
      1. If the NMC3 does not restart, press the Reset button on the front of the NMC.
   3. Within 4-5 seconds of restart, press the ENTER key at least 2 times to interrupt the boot loader.
   4. From the BM> prompt, type format.
5. Once formatted, upgrade the NMC3 to the latest firmware version using XMODEM:
   1. Type xmodem. Confirm that the XMODEM process has started by verifying a series of C’s are displayed across the screen.
   2. Transfer the NMC3 firmware (apc_hw21_su_xxxx.nmc3). The transfer should take 30-40 seconds.
   3. Wait for the firmware upgrade to complete, Once you are at a BM> prompt, type reset. The NMC3 will reboot.
6. Once the restart is complete, reconfigure the NMC3 for IP.
7. Once complete, upload the config.ini to the NMC3.

Released for:Schneider Electric Hong Kong