[Asterisk-Users] Sipura 3000 FXO

[Joe Greco]

> On Fri, 1 Oct 2004 22:24:47 -0500 (CDT), Joe Greco <jgreco at ns.sol.net> wrote:
> > We had manually configured it onto our network (no DHCP) and all was fine,
> > and then we downloaded the Sipura firmware update (Windows), and ran it.
> 
> See, that's what you get if you use Windoze. You have to admit, you
> deserved the punishment ;-)

It looked like they expected most people to use Windows for upgrading.  I 
kinda doubt that this played much of a role; nothing happened to the PC.
I don't admit that I deserved the punishment; if a device fails to write
its flash, it ought to keep running the current image so that there's at
least a possibility of fixing it.

> Next time, use the HTTP/TFTP method to upgrade firmware and put the
> firmware on an HTTP or TFTP server that doesn't run Windoze. You'll be
> a lot safer.

That seems it would be a lot more fraught with peril than using an
application which was presumably designed specifically with the device
in mind.  Windows does indeed suck, but it is highly unusual for things
like this to fail on a freshly booted Windows PC.

> > I've updated firmware on hundreds of different kinds of devices, and while
> > I have occasionally made a mistake and blown something up, this is one of
> > a very small number of times where there was no obvious reason for it to
> > have gone awry.
> 
> There's always a first time and Windoze is always a perfect reason for
> stuff to go awry.

That seems like a bunch of anti-Windows FUD.  I've used numerous Windows
based firmware update utilities over the years, including a number of them
for which no other options existed, without any problem.  There were no
apparent problems with the Windows box before or after the attempt.  Poor
device and software design would be a more reasonable reason for stuff to
go awry.

I've seen plenty of devices that say things along the lines of "If the 
flash fails, do NOT turn off the unit, or you may render it unusable.  
Immediately try to flash the device again!"

So I'm not particularly happy with the Sipura for not doing that.  However,
on the flip side, I appreciate the need to keep costs low, especially when
there are a ton of features in the little box.

> > The only thing that struck me as possibly a bit different from normal was
> > that we had configured the IP configuration manually.  And, boy, that
> > process is sure SWEET!
> 
> I still think it is a bit silly to require an analog phone for setting
> up the initial IP address of a device which some people will buy only
> for its FXO port. There should be a factory setting that puts the
> device on a certain private IP so you can just point your browser at
> that and configure the SPA without having to use an analog phone.

That is actually a lot more complicated...  you want people to have to
mess with existing network setups?  Our Windows PC mounts all add-on
apps from a file server, because I don't trust Microsoft with any amount
of data.  That means we /have/ to be attached to the FS in order to run
Mozilla or Opera, so if we change the PC's settings to accomodate your
proposed model, then we have to change the fileserver as well, including
all its ACL's, etc., etc...  and then we have to change it all back, else
we can't use the Internet.

Sipura's model is pretty reasonable.  Most networks that have VoIP stuff
seem to have a DHCP server.  Most people can dig up a POTS phone to
configure it if they don't have the DHCP server.  I would say that your
suggestion would be reasonable if the device was up for 30 minutes and
hadn't received config via DHCP or POTS...  default to some private IP
address.  But I sure wouldn't want that solution to replace the POTS
configuration.

I am relatively certain that this is the smallest device that has ever
talked me through configuring it.  That's /cool/.  ;-)

... JG
-- 
Joe Greco - sol.net Network Services - Milwaukee, WI - http://www.sol.net
"We call it the 'one bite at the apple' rule. Give me one chance [and] then I
won't contact you again." - Direct Marketing Ass'n position on e-mail spam(CNN)
With 24 million small businesses in the US alone, that's way too many apples.