wiki:CiscoASA5505CFRAM

Version 1 (modified by iva, 14 years ago) (diff)

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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
#
  1. 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

#
  1. 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          .
#
  1. 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
#
  1. 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#
  1. 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# 

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