== Compact Flash Card, RAM for Cisco ASA5505 == File system information for an original, Cisco-branded !CompactFlash card (128 MB): {{{ asa5505> show flash filesys ******** Flash Card Geometry/Format Info ******** COMPACT FLASH CARD GEOMETRY Number of Heads: 8 Number of Cylinders 980 Sectors per Cylinder 32 Sector Size 512 Total Sectors 250880 COMPACT FLASH CARD FORMAT Number of FAT Sectors 122 Sectors Per Cluster 8 Number of Clusters 31033 Number of Data Sectors 248544 Base Root Sector 245 Base FAT Sector 1 Base Data Sector 277 asa5505> }}} As a replacement will use **!CompactFlash Elite Pro 2 GB** card made by Kingston ({{{CF/2GB-S}}}). 1. Save files/directories from the original CF card to a Linux computer. {{{ # cp -a /media/g . # ls -loga g total 23180 drwxr-xr-x 5 4096 Dec 31 1969 . drwxr-xr-x 3 4096 Apr 6 21:29 .. -rwxr-xr-x 1 8589312 Oct 16 2009 asa724-33-k8.bin -rwxr-xr-x 1 8570880 May 19 2010 asa725-k8.bin -rwxr-xr-x 1 6507516 May 19 2010 asdm-525.bin drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 Feb 13 2007 boot drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 May 30 2007 crypto_archive drwxr-xr-x 2 4096 Feb 13 2007 .private # # umount /media/g # }}} 2. Partition the card, make sure that partition size is 2048 MB (or less), even though an actual card has slightly higher capacity. {{{ # fdisk -l /dev/sde Disk /dev/sde: 2063 MB, 2063597568 bytes 16 heads, 12 sectors/track, 20992 cylinders Units = cylinders of 192 * 512 = 98304 bytes Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System /dev/sde1 1 20834 2000058 6 FAT16 # }}} 3. Create an MS-DOS (FAT16) file system. {{{ # mkdosfs -F 16 -n g -S 512 -v /dev/sde1 mkdosfs 2.11 (12 Mar 2005) /dev/sde1 has 16 heads and 12 sectors per track, logical sector size is 512, using 0xf8 media descriptor, with 4000116 sectors; file system has 2 16-bit FATs and 64 sectors per cluster. FAT size is 245 sectors, and provides 62493 clusters. Root directory contains 512 slots. Volume ID is 4d9df35b, volume label g . # }}} 4. Copy files onto the replacement card. {{{ # mount -t vfat /dev/sde1 /mnt # mkdir /mnt/.private # cp -a --no-preserve ownership .private/mode.dat /mnt/.private # cp -a --no-preserve ownership .private/license.dat /mnt/.private # cp -a --no-preserve ownership .private/DATAFILE /mnt/.private # cp -a --no-preserve ownership .private/startup-config /mnt/.private # cp -a --no-preserve ownership boot /mnt # cp -a --no-preserve ownership crypto_archive /mnt # cp -a --no-preserve ownership asa724-33-k8.bin asa725-k8.bin asdm-525.bin /mnt # sync # umount /mnt # }}} 5. Put new card in to the appliance, boot it up, inspect the file system. {{{ asa5505# show version | grep Compact Flash Internal ATA Compact Flash, 2048MB asa5505# asa5505# dir disk0:/ Directory of disk0:/ 2 drw- 0 03:28:22 Apr 07 2011 .private 7 drw- 0 21:20:48 Feb 12 2007 boot 9 drw- 0 04:16:12 May 30 2007 crypto_archive 10 -rw- 8589312 17:32:04 Oct 15 2009 asa724-33-k8.bin 11 -rw- 8570880 12:23:26 May 19 2010 asa725-k8.bin 12 -rw- 6507516 12:24:42 May 19 2010 asdm-525.bin 2047770624 bytes total (2023784448 bytes free) asa5505# asa5505# show flash -#- --length-- -----date/time------ path 2 0 Apr 07 2011 03:28:22 .private 3 12 Feb 12 2007 21:16:08 .private/mode.dat 4 40 Feb 12 2007 21:19:56 .private/license.dat 5 3390 Apr 04 2011 10:42:58 .private/DATAFILE 6 22185 Apr 04 2011 10:42:56 .private/startup-config 7 0 Feb 12 2007 21:20:48 boot 8 210 Apr 04 2011 10:42:58 boot/grub.conf 9 0 May 30 2007 04:16:12 crypto_archive 10 8589312 Oct 15 2009 17:32:04 asa724-33-k8.bin 11 8570880 May 19 2010 12:23:26 asa725-k8.bin 12 6507516 May 19 2010 12:24:42 asdm-525.bin 2023784448 bytes available (23986176 bytes used) asa5505# asa5505# show flash filesys ******** Flash Card Geometry/Format Info ******** COMPACT FLASH CARD GEOMETRY Number of Heads: 16 Number of Cylinders 7872 Sectors per Cylinder 32 Sector Size 512 Total Sectors 4030464 COMPACT FLASH CARD FORMAT Number of FAT Sectors 245 Sectors Per Cluster 64 Number of Clusters 62493 Number of Data Sectors 4000116 Base Root Sector 491 Base FAT Sector 1 Base Data Sector 523 asa5505# }}} 6. Check main memory on the security appliance. {{{ asa5505# show version | grep RAM Hardware: ASA5505, 1024 MB RAM, CPU Geode 500 MHz asa5505# asa5505# show memory Free memory: 1000734536 bytes (93%) Used memory: 73007288 bytes ( 7%) ------------- ---------------- Total memory: 1073741824 bytes (100%) asa5505# }}} {{{ #!html
}}} If need more memory, can use rather standard **DDR-400MHz CL3 Non-ECC !UnBuffered 184-Pin SDRAM DIMM** from a 4-5 years old PC. The following module will work for sure: 1GB PC3200U-30330 - hynix HYMD512646CP8J-D43 AA \\ Dell: {{{SNPJ0203C/1G}}} \\ Compatible: Dell Dimension 3000, Compaq Presario SR1055CL This module might work as well, most likely: 1GB PC3200U-30331-E0 - Samsung M368L2923CUN-CCC 0635 \\ Dell: {{{DJ0203.D}}} \\ Compatible: Dell Dimension 3000 === See Also === http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/hw/maintenance/5505guide/procs.html \\ Cisco ASA 5505 Adaptive Security Appliance Hardware Installation Guide - Maintenance and Upgrade Procedures http://www.memoryx.net/asa5505.html \\ Cisco ASA 5505 (main memory) http://www.memoryx.net/asa5505flash.html \\ Cisco ASA 5505 (flash memory) http://cisconews.co.uk/2007/12/27/asa-5505-flash-memory-hack/ \\ Upgrade Cisco ASA5505 Flash memory