Fortigate 50b can't start

[BastienM]

Hello,

I recently got a Fortigate 50b from an old company, i couldn't manage to find the password so i did a factory reset and i downloaded the firmware from fortinet's website, i wanted to install it on the Fortigate but it doesn't start up anymore,

the "status" LED is always on and i can't connect to the CLI using the console cable.

Does any one have a solution ? 

Thank you 

[Dave_Hall]

Make sure you are using the original 12-volt power adapter (I think it was/is rated for 3 amps); leave the console cable connected and reboot the 50b, in your favorite telnet program (e.g. Putty), watch the reboot process.  You should at least see the start up splash screen.

If the unit is a 50B - it's pretty old - I think the last latest firmware for it is on 4.0MR3.

[BastienM]

First of all thank you for your answer.

The fortigate is powered on by it's original power adapter and console cable but i can't even access the console Command Line Interface, i don't know if it's possible to reboot it manually.

Thank you.

[Dave_Hall]

If you haven't actually rebooted since formatting the boot disk then it is likely sitting at the "boot" screen.  You need to reboot it (disconnect the power for 30 seconds).  You should see the boot menu come up, at which point should be an option to press a key to interrupt the boot sequence. 

[BastienM]

I would love to see the boot menu but the putty session can't launch.

i set the baud at 9600, data bits 8, stop bits 1, no parity and no flow control, then i click open and it says "Unable to open connection to COM1 Unable to open serial port.

Im using the original console cable.

i saw in the quick start guide that if the status led is on, the system is "On during start up or reboot", however, this led is constantly on.

[sw2090]

looks like something else is wrong.

Once you have physical com port or connected usb2serial the port should be available and putty should be able to open a session on it even if nothing is connected to it.

So you should check your system wether you have the correct drivers etc.

[BastienM]

I just checked and every driver on the computer is up to date.

is there a specific driver for the COM port ? (im using an HP computer)

[BastienM]

I only have the COM1

and it's configured as it should on the device manager.

I also tried to connect to the web-based manager without success

[Dave_Hall · Accepted solution]

If COM1 is the only COM port showing up in the Device Manager then perhaps you need to confirm the settings for it in the computer's BIOS.

Other suggestions include: swapping out the console cable, try connecting with another computer/laptop, use a serial-to-USB console adapter.

The thing is if you did format the boot disk (partition), there will be no OS installed (thus there is no GUI to connect to because it doesn't exist) - so you need to gain access to the boot menu via a serial/console connection.

[rwpatterson]

The COM1 issue is totally PC related. You should be able to open a console port on any COM, even if no Fortigate is present. Make sure your USB to serial adapter hasn't fried. COM1 is usually present on most PCs, even if there isn't a physical port on the unit. Remove the USB to serial and check device mangler again (misspelled on purpose). See if that COM1 port remains.