Troubleshooting Tip: FortiGate 70G with newer BIOS version fails to boot after downgrade to FortiOS v7.2
| Description | This article describes an issue where FortiGate 70G devices with BIOS version 0600020x may hang at the 'Initializing firewall…' stage after installing FortiOS 7.2.x firmware. |
| Scope | FortiGate 70G with BIOS version 0600020X, FortiOS v7.2. |
| Solution | After installing FortiOS v7.2 on a FortiGate 70G running BIOS 0600020X, the device consistently stops at the 'Initializing firewall…' stage during boot and does not proceed any further. When the same FortiOS releases are used with an older BIOS (0600010X), the FortiGate 70G boots normally with no hang observed.
To check the BIOS version:
get system status | grep BIOS BIOS version: 06000202 <----- Affected BIOS version.
Example console log from TFTP install on an affected unit:
Image Received. Checking image... OK This firmware image is certified. Save as Default firmware/Backup firmware/Run image without saving:[D/B/R]?D Programming the boot device now... OK Verifying... OK Booting OS... Initializing firewall...
After the 'Initializing firewall…' message appears on an affected system, there is no further console output, the device does not complete the startup sequence, and it does not become reachable.
The issue is not triggered by any particular upgrade method. It occurs both after device format and loading an affected version, or after downgrade from an unaffected version to an affected version.
This behavior has only been observed on FortiGate 70G devices running FortiOS v7.2 together with a 0600020X BIOS version. It has not been reported on devices running v7.4 firmware, or devices with an older 0600010X BIOS version.
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